Bob Diaco is Not Getting a Fair Shake
There has been blame, malicious attacks, snarkyness and just about anything you can think of being directed at first-year head coach Bob Diaco after his team fell to 2-8, following a 41-0 loss to Cincinnati, the first time the Huskies have been shut out since 1978.
Well, for the fans, media, pundits and skeptics, Bob Diaco is not the reason UConn football is now 2-8 and Warde Manuel is certainly not second guessing the hire of the former top assistant coach from Notre Dame, just two seasons ago. The type of criticism and the malicious nature of the comments towards Diaco and the program he is trying to build is absolutely unwarranted, unfair and irresponsible for those in the profession.
There’s the claim that former interim head coach TJ Weist would have been the better hire, pointing to the final three games of last season. The problem with that thought process, is it ignores the roster turnover.
The following players were key contributors from those three games and were unavailable to play in last night’s loss, either due to transfer, graduation or injury. QB Casey Cochran, RB Lyle McCombs, RB Martin Hypolite, WR Shakim Phillips, WR Kamal Abrams, LT Jimmy Bennett, LG Steve Greene, RG Tyler Bullock, TE Spencer Parker, TE Elijah Norris, DE Jesse Joseph, DT Shamar Stephen, DE Tim Willman, LB Jefferson Ashiru, LB Ryan Donohue, LB Yawin Smallwood, CB Byron Jones, S Ty-Meer Brown and CB Taylor Mack.
That would be the starting quarterback, starting running back, 60% of the starting offensive line, 75% of the starting defensive line, 100% of the starting linebackers and 75% of the starting secondary. The comparisons just don’t work.
In fact, 13 of the 20 members of the senior class, when they originally committed to the Huskies, are no longer with the program, or were unavailable to play last night and the majority of them left before Diaco’s first day on the job. Translation, the team is young, inexperienced and learning on the fly.
Diaco came in following the atrocious three years under a previous regime and promptly lost his quarterback after just one game into the season, the same quarterback that set the UConn passing record in the final game of 2013. That hinders progress offensively.
Since that time, the offense slowly improved under Chandler Whitmer. There was East Carolina, then Central Florida, who left Rentschler Field with their first ever conference loss in AAC play, since it formed. The offense struggled against Army, yes, before waking up late. They only scored 21 points, but there were less opportunities, as a young defense went against an option attack that they have never seen previously. The result led to the Black Knights dominating possession. The loss eliminated the Huskies from bowl play and immediately the shift was made towards the future, full born.
Tim Boyle became the starter, Ryan Crozier took over for Gus Cruz and the offense went back to square one, starting over.
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The previous regime:
Following the 2010 Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma and Randy Edsall’s abrupt departure for Maryland, Paul Pasqualoni was named head coach of the program. He immediately struggled and excuses began to flow down by members of the media and fans that the cupboard was left bare. That bare cupboard led to the Huskies having the most players drafted in their history during the 2013 NFL draft, following two abysmal 5-7 seasons.
Even then, Pasqualoni was given a free pass. Only after the shocking loss to Towson last season did it bring the amount of criticism that is being seen here with Diaco. Coach P finished with a career record of 10-18, before being fired after last year’s 0-4 start. The player’s he inherited, recruited and oversaw coaching, have now gone 15-31, including this season. It wasn’t a lack of talent when he first got here. It was lack of coaching, which led to the departure of a number of upperclassmen following last season. For some reason, however, the blame has been placed on Diaco, rather than Pasqualoni.
Why?
First, Bob Diaco is not from Connecticut, like Pasqualoni was. He did not grow up here, he did not coach high school here and he did not have some tight relationship with the coaching society of the state, as if any of that matters in the success of a college football program. While Connecticut does produce quality football talent, it is not New Jersey, it’s not Pennsylvania, it’s not Ohio, Texas or Florida either. There are MAYBE a handful of players that make an immediate impact on a program that come from this state annually and some are on this team currently, like QB Tim Boyle and RB Arkeel Newsome. Diaco and his staff will continue to bring in those players and they will make the state proud.
Second, Bob Diaco is unique, different and what seems to be the case for many critics, too good to be true. Connecticut resides in New England, an area full of opinionated know-it-all’s and some believe that his demeanor is just a fake facade. It’s not, it’s who he is. When people from this region see a good-natured, honest and humble person, who isn’t afraid to say what is really going on in today’s politically correct world, the excuse is made that he’s blaming others, when in fact, he’s letting the fans and the media know why they are losing, how bad it really was and what needs to be done to fix it. Brutal honesty is sometimes the best medicine. There has been no ambiguity and he consistently gives the clear reasons of why this program was and is where it is.
He’s slowly begun to change the culture here and he has also highlighted the process to get to the championship level he knows this program is capable of.
What is that?
Winning, at everything you do. Classroom, relationships and football. Getting better everyday and improving on that moving forward.
Second, develop who is here.
Third, recruit great people. Bring in players who love the game, are big and athletic. Prior to last night’s game, I had the opportunity to talk with some of the commits who were in attendance yesterday, at length. They are great people, who come from great families. Describing it is hard to do, but mature beyond their years is one way. They cannot wait to be a part of what they say is going to be something special here. They have a very tight relationship, despite being scattered all around the country. They text each other all the time, throughout the day and night and push each other to work harder.
Talking with the families, it immediately became clear why their sons have committed. It has everything to do with Bob Diaco and the coaching staff here at UConn. As one father put it, ‘I could die tomorrow, not that I want to die, but I could die tomorrow and know that I wouldn’t have to worry about my son over the next four to five years. I have the absolute trust in Bob Diaco that if I wasn’t here, I know he would be in good hands and taken care of.’
On today’s conference call with the media, Diaco talked about his recruiting process, reinforcing the fact that him talking about future recruits and the recruiting process, does not mean he does not value who is here.
“I told the team this and when you answer these type of questions, it can read to the guys on the team that they don’t fit that model and that’s totally not the case,” Diaco said. “Independent of the guys on the team right now, who we love, moving forward, our recruiting model, has some conditions. We have a model that we recruit to and we’re going to stick to that model and we believe it’s a winning model based on tangible and intangible traits. I’m glad you could see what that model is. To me a team with a plan, you can see it in their personnel, as opposed to a team without a plan. I’m not talking about production, it’s more the outside linebackers run out of the tunnel and they all look the same, like there’s a cookie cutter, just like stamping them. The safeties run out of the tunnel and they all look the same. There’s not a big one, a little one, a fat one a small one.”
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Unwarranted Criticisms
There are many and it started back in camp when the staff wouldn’t let the media watch practice, something that occurs at a large number of institutions around the country.
Next, it was the unique way he answers questions. Problem with that, no matter how much he goes off the beaten trail to answer questions, he always tries to answer them honestly, truthfully and in great detail.
Injury news? Take one from the Bill Belichick playbook. Cryptic is the word here and it’s called gamesmanship. Do you want your opponent to know the situation or not? What will give the team the best chance to win?
Finally, there are some that believe he is placing blame on the players for the current situation. That is clearly not the case, which he has reinforced, time and again. Describing the situation he took over is not blaming the players. It’s stating a fact that the program was in disarray. They are also part of what is going to turn this thing around as Diaco noted again this afternoon.
“We have enough talent and enough personnel to have a damn good football team next season, absolutely,” he said.
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The point is, Bob Diaco will succeed here, it just shouldn’t have been expected to happen overnight.
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