The student section cheers during the Huskies loss to Syracuse on Sept. 24, 2016 at the Rent. Football returns to the Rent on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. (Jason Jiang/The Daily Campus)
After a quarterback shake-up late in the 2016 season and an offseason competition at the position, UConn head coach Randy Edsall finally landed on his starting signal caller in August: David Pindell, a junior college transfer who hasn’t played a second of Division I football but won the coaching staff over with his poise and presence.
Pindell will make his debut Thursday night against Holy Cross at Rentschler Field, along with his 2017 teammates, and the soft-spoken leader seems ready to go.
“I’m excited, I think it will be a fun environment,” Pindell said at media availability Sunday afternoon. “[I need to be] calm, not rush into anything, not get overwhelmed, so I’m excited about the opportunity.”
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“He’s gotten better, you can see he’s getting more comfortable. He’s starting to be a little bit more vocal and he’s starting to take charge a little bit more.”
Edsall and new offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee have gradually tailored the offense to Pindell’s strengths, which extend to both the ground and the air. Pindell threw for 31 touchdowns and ran for seven more during an undefeated regular season at Lackawanna Community College last year.
“You do what your players can do,” Edsall said. “They’re the ones that are playing and have to execute the gameplan that we have so it has to be a gameplan that they can execute.”
Pindell is learning, and will continue to do so along with his offense, which will be moving towards an up-tempo pace this season.
“I’m pretty familiar with what we have with the game plan and the offense so far,” Pindell said. “Each week, I just get more and more comfortable as I get more reps with the offense, so it just gets slower and slower for me as the weeks go on.”
As Pindell becomes more comfortable, he is beginning to actively take on the leadership duties that come with being the starting quarterback.
“He’s gotten better, you can see he’s getting more comfortable. He’s starting to be a little bit more vocal and he’s starting to take charge a little bit more,” UConn head coach Randy Edsall said.
After a long spring and summer of dress rehearsal, the show begins Thursday, and fans will be able to see the Huskies’ new offense live in action. As the quarterback goes, the offense often does, and this new quarterback is, as always, quietly confident.
“I feel that if everyone takes it as another day, and goes out and does their job, there should be no major surprises or anything. Do your job, and good things will happen,” Pindell said.
Tyler Keating is the sports editor for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at tyler.keating@uconn.edu. He tweets @tylerskeating.