 Eventually, a new site emerged across the Connecticut River in East Hartford, when Pratt and Whitney donated their land on the old Rentschler Airfield to the state for purposes of building an off-campus football stadium which is 20 miles away from the main campus.Randy Edsall was named the 27th head football coach at the University of Connecticut on December 21, 1998 and led the Huskies from Division I-AA into Division I-A.UConn officially began the upgrade process in January 1999 by applying to join the Big East football conference.