John Neider was a problem on UConn’s scout team offense.
The former star quarterback at Jonathan Law High in Milford came to Storrs as a preferred walk-on after being named the Gatorade CT Player of the Year in 2022. He was barely recruited at the Division I level and considered some Div. III schools before deciding to “roll the dice,” as he put it, and follow in the footsteps of other homegrown talents like Bristol’s Victor Rosa, who preceded him as the state’s top player and made an immediate impact for the Huskies.
Like Rosa and many other Connecticut high school football stars, Neider played all over the field. He moved back to receiver once he got to Storrs and quickly put himself on the radar of head coach Jim Mora.
“He just gave the defense fits when he was on the scout team giving us opponent looks. You just always kind of felt, hey, there’s something there with this guy,” Mora said. “And he’s had to overcome some stigma. He was a walk-on, he was a quarterback, and you’ve got to fight through some things when you’re that guy. You get a reputation, and that reputation can sometimes hurt you in the eyes of the people that are judging you.”
Before he became the guy making ridiculous one-handed catches featured on SportsCenter’s top plays, Neider had to prove himself.
Neider with the top play of the weekend! pic.twitter.com/ThY2qH1UYD
— UConn Football (@UConnFootball) September 21, 2025
He redshirted his freshman season and spent each week preparing the Huskies’ defense as a method actor when he received the nickname “Top Shelf” from a veteran player, referencing the extraordinary catches he’d make behind the scenes. Neider eventually earned his scholarship and carved his way onto the field with the special teams unit last season, playing in every game and finishing the year with 12 tackles and a forced fumble.
Mora always included Neider’s name when he raved about the depth of the Huskies’ receiver room during fall camp: “You notice when he’s out there because he just doesn’t drop the ball, he catches everything,” he said.
His efforts in practice were so noticeable that even Mora’s wife, Kathy, was vouching to get him more playing time. “You should get the ball to John Neider more, I think he’s a really good player,” she told Mora late one night.
Kathy was right.
UConn’s John Neider celebrates a 29-yard reception in the second quarter of the Huskies’ game at Delaware on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025. The catch set up a Cam Edwards touchdown to give UConn its first lead. (Courtesy of UConn)
Three weeks in a row, Neider has gotten almost as much attention as Skyler Bell, who’s second in the nation in receiving yards, and Cam Edwards, another former CT star from Norwalk who is sixth in the nation in rushing.
“I like talking about John Neider,” Mora said. “People don’t get to see it as much as we do, you can see it on game day. He’s winning opportunities by the way that he prepares and practices and then he goes out on Saturday and makes the plays. … He just earns more repetitions and further confirms what we’ve seen out of him since he’s been here, which is he’s very athletic, he’s got great hands, great concentration, he’s incredibly smart, he’s very competitive, he’s a hard-worker.”
The attention really started to come when the Huskies put Neider back into a familiar position, throwing the ball on a trick play at Syracuse. On a double pass from 15 yards out, he fired a perfect ball to tight end Alex Honig for UConn’s first passing touchdown of the year against an FBS opponent.
The next week at Delaware, Neider made a series of spectacular catches – including one he dove for in traffic near the goal line – and finished with 60 yards on four receptions.
“See the ball, get the ball, make the play,” Neider said.
On Saturday, he contributed on special teams, downing a punt at the 1-yard line, and made the catch that landed him on SportsCenter when he reached around a defender on a critical 4th-down conversion attempt and snagged the ball with one hand.
UConn wide receiver John Neider (80) avoids a tackle by Central Connecticut cornerback Dekavis Preston (28) during an NCAA college football game at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025. (Jessica Hill/Special to the Courant)
“We call him Mr. Top Shelf. Anything thrown to him, he’s gonna go catch it for sure,” said Tyquan King, a linebacker from West Haven. “It’s definitely great seeing him get his roses in games now.”
His teammates light up when they’re asked about him.
“That’s Money Man right there,” Bell said. “He’s a Swiss Army Knife, he can do it all. Inside, outside, make plays, block, he does the whole thing.”
“He’s been a ball-player since he’s gotten here so my trust with him has always been there,” quarterback Joe Fagnano added. “He just makes plays wherever you put him.”
In this new world of highlight plays and congratulatory texts he’s created, Neider hasn’t lost the humility he came in with.
“You talk about a success story – a still developing success story. John Neider walked-on here as a quarterback, we move him to receiver and nobody can cover him on the scout team. Now he’s a scholarship athlete helping us win games,” Mora said. “Guys like that, they make it fun to coach.”
