Former UConn quarterback Dan Orlovsky visited Storrs on Wednesday for UConn Social Day. Students, faculty, and guest speakers converged at the Student Union with the goal of informing students about the plentiful opportunities on social media for any career interests.
Orlovsky delivered a compelling presentation as one of those guest speakers. Despite being a college football star who spent a long time in the NFL, his story came off as relatable. Previously, he didn’t take Twitter or Instagram very seriously, but eventually through hard work and creation of quality content the platforms helped him land a dream job.
“(This time last year) I was [unemployed],” he told the audience. “Telling people I was hoping to do some radio.”
The Shelton, Conn. native drew on his 12 years of NFL experience, mostly as a backup, to teach football fans a new way to look at the game. He started off doing it for free online but soon networks came calling.
First, he got a few radio spots. Then he booked some studio appearances and in July of last year he signed on to work for ESPN. His niche became identifying the nuances of outstanding quarterback play and focusing on the exciting offensive evolutions going on in today’s NFL.
It often took Orlovsky up to 8 hours of watching film just to find enough insight to make a two-minute Twitter video, but that effort has landed him on sports media’s biggest stage. Through the experience, he has learned how to engage audiences and create meaningful commentary as an analyst.
In the fall of 2017, after announcing his retirement from the NFL, Orlovsky explored multiple avenues for his next career move. He even spent time with Randy Edsall and the staff of the Husky football team as a student coach while he completed his degree.
“I know that lifestyle,” Orlovsky said with a smile, about coaching and other career paths he could have chosen. Ultimately, media offered the best fit.
“It’s the right amount of work for me right now,” he told Storrs Central. “It’s not an overwhelming, ‘I’m never home’ amount of work.
“I grind Monday through Friday a lot but a lot of times it’s at my house,” the father of four shared.
Though he was about to start evaluating many of his former teammates and coaches, and other friends around the game, Orlovsky wasn’t worried about making the transition to media. His general bend has been towards positive commentary and finding hidden moments of greatness that the average fan might not see.
On top of that, in the media world, he doesn’t see harsh criticism to be very productive or interesting.
“There’s enough people out there telling everybody that this person sucks and that person sucks,” he said. “I don’t need to be that person.”
Quickly becoming one of the worldwide leader’s favorite football analysts, the former UConn gunslinger isn’t afraid to speak the truth.
“At the end of the day, my friends don’t pay me,” he said with a chuckle. “A guy that I value and respect said to me, ‘You’ve got to focus on criticizing the performance not the performer.’ So that’s what I try to do.”
One thing he did need to do for his new job was re-acclimate himself to the college game. He was in the booth calling games and also doing studio analysis.
“I fell in love with college football again this year,” he said. “Having the opportunity to go to campuses, meet the student-athletes, be around that energy, is something I haven’t experienced in 13 years. I fell in love with all the nostalgia and the production of it.”
He even did some UConn games, and offered refreshing, honest feedback about the state of the program.
“I don’t necessarily anticipate [2019] to be much different from [2018],” he said. “I really think 2020, 2021 is the judgement time for them.”
Orlovsky acknowledges that growth may not be so easy to see this upcoming year, but if they can be competitive in more games that’ll be the marker.
So what will it take to break through?
“For it to get really going in the right direction it’s gonna take one kid,” he said. “One kid to go ‘Yeah I’m okay going to UConn even though I can go here, here, here.’”
With status outside of the power five, a string of bad coaching hires preceding Edsall’s return, and sparse recruiting territory, the program has an uphill battle to restore the glory of the Dan Orlovsky years, let alone build on it.
Perhaps down the road, Orlovsky could be part of the solution as a coach for the Huskies—especially if a game-changing quarterback recruit might be more attracted to UConn for the opportunity to learn under a former NFL player.
For now, Connecticut’s favorite football son is more than content with his current job and the extraordinary vantage point he has on America’s favorite sport. The same meticulous and hard-working approach that made him a success on the field has made him just as successful off of it, and he’ll have plenty of options in the future, even if he spends time in the studio.
“The game hasn’t changed that much,” he said, noting how teams like Virginia Tech and Nebraska, with Michael Vick and Eric Crouch, respectively, spread the ball around a lot and ran up-field in ways that are very similar to what’s happening more broadly across all levels of football.
“It’s still about who can do the little things best,” he added. “That team wins.”
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