Edsall stands tall for team

It was certainly one of the ugliest days of the year. A cold rainy day turned into a cold snowy day. It would end up being one of the ugliest days in the history of UConn. A beloved football player and father-to-be was dead, and as of yet there are still no answers.

It's days and events like what has unfolded over the past 48 hours that put sports in perspective. Just hours before his life would be taken away Jasper Howard had played arguably the best game of his career at UConn. None of that matters now. The celebration of a win was quickly taken away with the startling reminder of the fragility of life.

Lost in the tragedy have been the actions of Randy Edsall - who has never stood taller and has proved why he has been here for so long - not because of his coaching acumen but because of how well he plays his role as mentor and father to over 100 players.

Edsall provided a chilling play-by-play of the events of Sunday morning at what will be probably the saddest press conference I will ever attend. From identifying Howard's body. To breaking the news to Howard's mother. To telling Howard's teammates they had lost one of their own.

"Needless to say that was not a very enjoyable moment for me," Edsall said on Sunday. "Then the counseling began with the players who were there. To comfort them, to guide them, to be a father, to be a coach and let them know what we were going to do to get through this terrible tragedy that occurred to this young man."

Edsall's role as a father was no more apparent than when he stood beside a grief-stricken Desi Cullen and consoled him as he delivered a heart-wrenching statement on behalf of the team.

"We will do what it takes to get through this," Cullen said. "Every single player on this team will take something away from this and become better men because of Jazz."

I'm not going to pretend like I knew Jasper Howard. In the two months that I've been covering the team, I've never had a one-on-one discussion with him and only heard him talk a few times. But in the limited exposure I had, everything that's been said about him - great teammate, great player, great person - seemed true.

At the press conference after the game on Saturday, Howard was milling around the meeting room after Edsall spoke and was joking around with reporters. I never thought that when we would next be there - on Oct. 31 - Howard would not be.

If there's a team that can overcome such a tragic death it's this one. If there's a coach that can help them get there, it's this one.

"I told them that what we have to do as a family, as a team, and remember Jazz for who he was and what he would want us to do in this situation," Edsall said. "What Jazz would want these young men to do is to take their moment for grieving, move forward and go on and get ready to play another game. That's what Jazz would want to do."

The suddenness of Howard's death and the shockwave that has spread through campus suggests how quickly life can be taken away - a fact that was not lost on Edsall on Sunday, and should not be lost on anybody.

"Life is very, very precious and we all have to understand that each day that we're alive that we have to be thankful for who we are and what we are and don't worry about being somebody else," Edsall said.