Storrs — A driving force is pushing UConn football veteran Junior Joseph this spring.

Joseph will do whatever it takes to turn the Huskies into a winner again.

Since arriving in Storrs in 2013, he's won just 14 games.

Plain and simple, the redshirt senior linebacker is sick of losing.

"We haven't won here in a while," Joseph said Tuesday after the 13th spring practice. "All I want to do for my last year, I just want to win (an AAC) championship. I won a lot of championships in high school. I grew up winning championships. ... I'm tired of losing. That's all I'm thinking about is winning a championship."

It's hard to project the Huskies as a championship contender next season. They're coming off six straight losing seasons, last winning in 2010 during coach Randy Edsall's last season in Storrs before departing for Maryland.

During the spring, they've gradually improved but remain inconsistent. Edsall called Tuesday's performance disappointing. Questions remain about every position, and Edsall said leadership is lacking.

Edsall's intention is to take the program from the gory days to glory days.

"I have a lot of pride in what took place here for the 12 years that I was here and the success that those young men that were here during that time frame had," Edsall said. "All I want to do is put these young men in a position where they can enjoy that same success that the previous guys had."

"It's a game where you've got to enjoy it, because it's hard. I'm just pleased that they're working to try to do everything that we're asking them to do. Yes, you do get disappointed and you do get frustrated when you don't maybe have that consistency, you don't have as much improvement as you would like to see. But, as a coach, you understand it's a process that you go through.

"Eventually, we'll get to where we need to get to by the time it really starts. It counts now. But it really counts starting August 31."

That's the season opener against Holy Cross at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.

Joseph, the team's third leading tackler last season, is doing his part to help instill a championship-driven mentality in his teammates, especially the underclassmen.

His advice: "Strive for a championship. Don't think about anything else. Don't think about yourself. ...  Just think about the team and winning championships, good things will happen to you.

"That's what I want to teach the younger kids."

The bad taste of last season still lingers for Joseph, who had 81 tackles in 12 games.

The Huskies got off to a promising start, winning two of their first three games, before experiencing a free-fall. They dropped eight of their last nine to finish at 3-9.

"It was very tough," Joseph said. "Everyone was down the whole year."

UConn already has undergone a transformation since Edsall arrived for his second stint. There's an upbeat attitude, positive vibe and a renewed hunger to win.

The Huskies have one more practice on Thursday before closing the spring season with the annual Blue-White spring game at 7 p.m. Friday at Rentschler Field.

Then off-season workouts begin and run until preseason practice starts in late July. Edsall will continue to look to upgrade the roster at every position.

Is it far-fetched to think UConn could win a championship before Joseph graduates?

"I definitely think it can happen," he said. "The whole summer working hard and fall camp, we've just got to keep working every day, take it game by game, day by day."

News and notes

• Several players recently switched positions, including Tyler Davis who went from tight end to wide receiver. "He fits better there right now," Edsall said. Redshirt freshman Tyler Coyle was moved back to safety while redshirt sophomore Nazir Williams is now at inside linebacker. ... Edsall on his tight ends: "I'd like to take something from each of them and then put them into one and then I'd have exactly what I would need." ... The Huskies have been relatively healthy this spring. "So far, so good," Edsall said. "We had a knucklehead that didn't tape his ankles the other day and he missed practice." ... The Huskies will work on special teams in Thursday's practice.

g.keefe@theday.com