Bob Diaco, RKG’s and the Recruiting Model
Sitting across from Bob Diaco in the main conference room that resides across from the coaches offices in the Burton Family Football Complex, it’s hard not to see how much thought the head coach, who is entering his second year here at UConn, has put into every minute detail involved with the football program.
In front of me is a white board, which displays all current recruits who have committed and the remaining targets broken down by position. Just off to the right is a breakdown of competing FBS schools in the region, the usual suspects of Syracuse, Rutgers and that who will not be named, from the city known for Tea Parties.
“This was empty when we first got here,” Diaco states. “There was nothing here.”
Above the board is a quote from Bill Parcells. In fact, every wall has a saying displayed.
“Every single meeting room has a quote to help us focus on the task at hand, to remind us why we are here,” Diaco says.
He talks in great detail about how they are finding the right guys for UConn, for this program, that will be, without a doubt, moving back to the UConn that Husky Nation knows well. He references the term RKG multiple times, when speaking about recruiting.
Asking for clarification of what that acronym means, Diaco is quick to respond, “the right kind of guys, for us.”
And then, this.
“We made a list of what we would consider to be RKG’s, to be sure that we have the information present,” Diaco says as he opens the binder in front of him and shows me a laminated copy of what can be described as a recruiting code.
“I went through it with the guys to be sure that we know the areas to inspect, where to find the information of RKG, so that’s the next level. For example, we covet that the player is a responsible person and smart person,” he says, as he points to the very first line.
“Now you don’t have to be able to launch a rocket into outer space, but we like players that are responsible, they have shown responsibility and have achievement as it relates to brain power and smarts. So where do you find that?
“Well, obviously transcript and their GPA is a better indicator than test score,” he continues. “Nothing against a test score, but GPA is a nice indicator. If you’re a high level athlete and you have an F in gym class, you are irresponsible and you’re probably a jerk. You fail gym class, you are probably a jerk. So you can find it in the transcript, if you’re willing to look.”
Think that’s it? Far from it.
“Absences and tardy’s,” Diaco excitedly states. “If you have fifteen absences, how many tardy’s do you have? Let’s say twenty tardy’s. If that’s the case, then why? What’s the story there?
“Well maybe you have a great story. You walk, cause I’ve heard this story, you walk to the bus, bus to the subway, subway to the bus and walk, every day. True story. If you live on one side of Brooklyn and you go to school on the other, that’s your life. It’s going to take you an hour, so you can see how if that was your lifestyle, how it might be easy to collect twenty tardy’s. But if mommy is driving you to school and you live two miles away and you’ve got twenty tardy’s, there’s a red flag. That’s something you’ve got to vet out.”
There’s more.
“Now obviously legal issues, other center activities, other activities that the person does, social media, what that looks like. Those are the areas that the coaches are expected to inspect, just to check this one box. Just to check this one box: ‘Is this player smart, is this player responsible?'”
Want to know the second?
“The next box is toughness, specifically contact toughness,” Diaco reinforces. “You can’t coach football players that are not contact tough, people overlook that. You’ve got to love and be a willing contact player, or you won’t be a good football player. So the areas to find that?
“Coach-ability. Coach-able, respectful, unselfish,” he explains. “So think about that, as part of your profile of being the right kind of guy for UConn. So where do you find it? I know it’s simple and I’m sure it’s in other areas, but is it an only child or does this person have siblings? I had two brothers and we had one bedroom, so we all slept in the same room. So you already know that I have some kind of aptitude of coach-ability. I mean, I just spent my life as the younger brother of two others in one room, I must have some kind of ability to take information, take advice and take leadership. So, it’s not just in talking to a coach and asking is this player coachable? They’re all going to say they are.”
Those are just two of the maybe dozen areas Diaco’s staff is looking at, with every recruit.
“That shows the level of respect that we’re after,” he says. “It’s a hell of a group.”
And he knows everything about them. Talking candidly about one commit in particular, he tells me, “did you know today’s his birthday?”
Now behind me, is a similar board as the one in front, only this one displays the current roster of Huskies.
“We cannot wait for this 2015 team to come back and recruiting to be done, so we can work with the guys. These guys,” Diaco points to the recruiting board, “although they might play, we’ve got to prepare and understand that this 2015 team, is the team that’s on that board behind you.”
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