Locked On UConn - Daily Podcast on University of Connecticut Huskies Football and Basketball
Jul 30, 2026 · 28 min · 20 segments
UConn Huskies football enters a new era as Head Coach Jason Candle empowers a player-led culture with the introduction of a leadership council. Can veterans like Ty Chan, Matt Ragan, Kenji Christian…
Who are the players you need to know about? Who are gonna be the leaders of this team that dictate how this thing goes in Jason Cannell's first season in Storrs? He's implementing a leadership council.
It's been done here in the past, but in Jason Cannell's words, when he met with the media during UConn Football Media Day last week, he talked about what he likes about a leadership council, how he's entrusting this team to a group of individuals that will then oversee the rest of the group, because these are the people, these are the people within a program that know the vibe on and off the field, see these players each and every single day, knows that if something's arising, how they can handle it with each of those players, how they can put out any potential fires and make sure everyone continues to steer in the right direction.
Leadership council, that's the intent of this thing, to turn this program to the players and see how they manage the team, because it's easier that way as an organization of this size to have that sort of, just call it upper management, call it your executive level.
You've got Jason Cannell and his staff, that's your top level, that's your C-suite.
Then you've got your executive level underneath there, all your VPs and above.
Those are your captains, so to speak, your VPs and above, the ones that go out and execute each and every single day.
That's a great comparison from a business standpoint, for those of us in business.
Specifically, we can definitely look at who are gonna be the leaders across some of these positions.
On the offensive line, it should be no surprise, Ty Chan, returnee from the Jim Mora era, came to UConn from Notre Dame.
He's been front and center, both in the spring and now here last week at UConn Football Media Day, taking questions from the media.
Somebody that Jason Cannell talked about at length about his experience and his ability to connect with players and lead.
I think two of your other leaders that you see here on the screen, Kenji Christian we talked about from a running back standpoint earlier this week.
Name to the- Shrine Bowls, 1,000 players to watch as you look ahead to the next NFL draft, players to watch for that draft.
I expect him, given his experience, originally at Virginia Tech, transferred for, to Toledo, clearly has a lot of upside and is recognized nationally.
Who are the players you need to know about? Who are gonna be the leaders of this team that dictate how this thing goes in Jason Cannell's first season in Storrs? He's implementing a leadership council.
It's been done here in the past, but in Jason Cannell's words, when he met with the media during UConn Football Media Day last week, he talked about what he likes about a leadership council, how he's entrusting this team to a group of individuals that will then oversee the rest of the group, because these are the people, these are the people within a program that know the vibe on and off the field, see these players each and every single day, knows that if something's arising, how they can handle it with each of those players, how they can put out any potential fires and make sure everyone continues to steer in the right direction.
Leadership council, that's the intent of this thing, to turn this program to the players and see how they manage the team, because it's easier that way as an organization of this size to have that sort of, just call it upper management, call it your executive level.
You've got Jason Cannell and his staff, that's your top level, that's your C-suite.
Then you've got your executive level underneath there, all your VPs and above.
Those are your captains, so to speak, your VPs and above, the ones that go out and execute each and every single day.
That's a great comparison from a business standpoint, for those of us in business.
Specifically, we can definitely look at who are gonna be the leaders across some of these positions.
On the offensive line, it should be no surprise, Ty Chan, returnee from the Jim Mora era, came to UConn from Notre Dame.
He's been front and center, both in the spring and now here last week at UConn Football Media Day, taking questions from the media.
Somebody that Jason Cannell talked about at length about his experience and his ability to connect with players and lead.
I think two of your other leaders that you see here on the screen, Kenji Christian we talked about from a running back standpoint earlier this week.
Name to the- Shrine Bowls, 1,000 players to watch as you look ahead to the next NFL draft, players to watch for that draft.
I expect him, given his experience, originally at Virginia Tech, transferred for, to Toledo, clearly has a lot of upside and is recognized nationally.
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