On behalf of The UConn Blog, Mike Sivo and I are very pleased to present the first part of a three-part video series on the Civil Conflict rivalry.

At first, this project may seem like a joke to people, but it’s actually an interesting saga that warrants a more nuanced discussion. The Civil Conflict’s story isn’t as cut and dry as “silly coach had a silly idea and it failed,” which seems to be the prevailing belief.

In Part One, we look at Bob Diaco’s arrival at UConn, the origins of the rivalry game he announced with UCF, and its initial reception.

We hope you enjoy it.