The tri-captains of the 2003 UConn football team were sitting in the top row of Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn., waiting patiently to be posed for a photograph. Defensive tackle Sean Mulcahy '04 (BUS), defensive end Uyi Osunde '04 (CLAS) and wide receiver Shaun Feldeisen '04 (BUS) surveyed the new home for Husky football with approving nods.

"We started this dream as freshmen four years ago," Osunde says, describing UConn's move into Division I-A football competition. "Look how far we've come.

We're sitting in a stadium that's one of the top facilities in the nation. Hopefully we can back it up on the field."

If the end of UConn's 2002 season is any indication, the football team's four straight wins, including a 37-20 victory over bowl-bound Iowa State, have raised the expectations of fans to a level reaching as high as the top of the new 40,000-seat stadium, which opens a new era in UConn football on August 30, 2003.

"Students are really starting to get excited about it," says Mike Nichols, a junior political science major who is the student representative to the UConn board of trustees. "There's a lot of discussion about how the team will do. The Iowa State game really created a buzz."

Jim Marchiony, associate director of athletics, sees interest building for UConn football in a more tangible way. "We had a spring football game and 2,500 people showed up," he says. "We used to average three or four hundred. We have 28,000 season tickets committed as we speak. We're much further along than we anticipated."

For head coach Randy Edsall, all of the planning he and his coaches started four years ago has resulted in reaching the goal they set then - to have as strong a team as possible for the opening of Rentschler Field. That meant recruiting players who understood the challenge of building a competitive Division I-A program. "We had to find kids who have great character, who wouldn't go out and wave the white flag, but would just keep coming, keep working and getting better," he says. "We had to find the overachievers."

One such player is Terry Caulley '06 (CANR), the 5-foot-7-inch tailback who gained 1,247 yards and led all NCAA Division I-A freshmen in rushing yards last season while setting a UConn record averaging 124.7 yards per game. He was named a Freshman All-America by The Sporting News and selected as Independent Rookie of the Year by ESPN.com.

After only two years, Dan Orlovsky '05 ranks in the top five of most UConn career passing categories.

"We also decided that to build a successful football program at the University of Connecticut, we would recruit student-athletes who were committed to graduating," Edsall says. That commitment was recognized earlier this year when UConn was presented with the Academic Achievement Award from the American Football Coaches Association. The award honors Division I-A schools that graduate 90 percent or better of its football players. UConn was one of just seven institutions in the nation to earn such recognition, and it was the only public university so honored.

While Edsall and his team have worked toward preparing for success on the field, there also have been efforts off the field to prepare the University for the move to a larger football presence. A Football Traditions Task Force was formed with representati on from students, faculty and administrators to look at how Division I-A football traditions can develop at UConn. Task force members visited other campuses, including Iowa State, Vanderbilt and Penn State, to observe the various traditions and activities built around football.

"Literally it's been a team approach," says John Saddlemire, UConn's dean of students. "For this to be successful it's going to require an institutional commitment. We have a really good track record of solid athletic programs that work in partnership with the rest of the institution. That's where the football traditions committee came from. As a group we came together with the intention of maximizing this opportunity and creating a meaningful UConn experience for the entire community."

When UConn played at Iowa State, a group of task force members traveled with the team, spoke with fans and gathered ideas. Among the activities they saw were a parade path for the players to enter into the stadium, a car show in the parking lot, games and activities for children, "team spirit buses" fashioned from old school buses, and a roller-skating mascot.

"Students are involved, alumni are involved. There was a huge community presence," says Alisa Autuori '03 (CLAS), one of the students who traveled to Iowa. "It was an impressive event."

Other campuses have school spirit and decoration competitions among residence halls that help to build enthusiasm prior to game days, and dining halls have theme meals built around a team's upcoming opponents.

One of the challenges to developing new Husky football tradition is the off-campus location of the stadium in East Hartford. Saddlemire says shuttle buses will take students from Storrs to the stadium and a variety of student activities will occur at the stadium. One university with an off-campus facility, for example, holds a student activity fair outside its football stadium where various student organizations offer entertainment and activities, he says.

"There are several national football programs with stadiums a distance from their campus and they don't have any problem getting students involved as long as there is an attractive event," Saddlemire says.

The concept of football as a unifying event for colleges and universities is part of the history of higher education.

As part of a course he teachers in higher education administration, Saddlemire discusses how in the early part of the 20th century attending college football games was a way for distinguished faculty from different universities to see each other and reinforce collegial bonds. It also served to bring faculty, students and staff from the same university together in a unique setting, fostering unity.

"We talk about how it creates an important connection on the campus and the surrounding community," Saddlemire says. "It may sound like a romantic notion, but I think it's true. I worked at Penn State. That's what you're talking about in the fall - How's the team doing? Are you going to the game?"

UConn alumni in other parts of the country are eager to expand their support of football, says John Feudo, director of the UConn Alumni Association. Calls have been coming into the alumni office with offers to assist in planning activities in connection with this season's football road games.

"This allows us to reach out to national alumni who are eager to see UConn compete in a local or regional venue," Feudo says. "It provides an opportunity for alums who love UConn and our athletic programs to cheer on our Huskies wherever UConn football is going to be."

The increased attention focused on Division I-A football will also keep UConn in sports headlines and prominently before alumni throughout the year. "Every Sunday you'll be able to read about UConn football from late summer into the fall," Feudo adds. "With the attention given to our basketball teams, alumni will be hearing and talking about UConn athletics throughout the year."

The difficulty of building a successful football program is not lost on UConn students, even as they take pride in their national champion basketball, soccer and field hockey teams.

"There is a great deal of respect for the football team," says Nichols, who last year served as president of the UConn Student Government Association. "They're taking the bruises now. Students recognize it's much more difficult to build the program than to maintain it. The team will be good. We're looking forward to when we hit our first bowl game."

Jeffrey Hathaway, UConn's new director of athletics, says Coach Edsall and his team are ready to open the new era of UConn football and its new stadium. "We look forward in the months and years ahead to playing a highly competitive schedule against some of the nation's finest football programs and achieving a level of excellence worthy of the University of Connecticut."

Perkins leaves a winning legacy

The University of Connecticut Huskies athletics program grew to unprecedented national prominence under the 13-year tenure of Lew Perkins, who left UConn in June to become director of athletics at the University of Kansas.

Since 1990, UConn's teams have won six national championships, 37 Big East regular season championships and 33 Big East tournament championships, appeared in 60 NCAA tournaments and 15 final Fours. Perkins led UConn's initiative to be recognized as a leader in gender equity in athletics. He was the prime advocate for the successful upgrade of Husky football to NCAA Division I-A status. Perkins also emphasized classroom success for student athletes, and since 1990 more than 800 athletes have been named to academic all-star teams.

"Things have gone stunningly well in athletics over the past 13 years and it has to be attributed to Lew Perkins, who brought it all together," says UConn President Philip E. Austin. "It's with sadness and gratitude that I extend to Lew, and his wife Gwen, our best wishes and our great appreciation for a job well done."