A familiar name is headed back to UConn.
Randy Edsall, who coached the Huskies from 1999 to 2010 and helped transition to the program from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision, will coach the program again. The school announced Edsall's hiring Wednesday morning.
"We are excited to welcome back Coach Edsall to the University of Connecticut," university president Susan Herbst said in a statement. "He possesses the passion, experience, and commitment to lead our program and develop our student-athletes, both on and off the field."
Edsall replaces Bob Diaco, who was fired earlier this week after going 3-9 in 2016. Diaco was 11-26 in his three seasons with UConn.
"It is my goal to get us back to that level of success and I hope all of the Husky fans out there will be along for the ride," Edsall said.
Following the 2010 season, in which the Huskies won the Big East championship and played in the Fiesta Bowl, Edsall left UConn to coach Maryland. Edsall went 74-70 at UConn, including 33-19 in his last four seasons and a 70-63 record at the FBS level.
However, Edsall was criticized for how he left UConn. Many players learned of his departure through media reports or text messages.
"If I could do it over again, I wish that there was some way that I could see the players and tell them face-to-face that I was going to leave and come to Maryland," Edsall said in 2012. "But due to the circumstances surrounding that, I wasn't able to do that and that's something that I've gotta live with."
Edsall was let go as Maryland's coach midway through the 2015 season after amassing a 22-34 record. He's spent the past year as the director of football research for the Detroit Lions.
