UConn Football’s Present Scenario
Since the Connecticut Agricultural College Aggies started playing full-fledged college schedules in 1915, there have been only three coaches who have a worse winning percentage than our present head coach, Paul Pasqualoni, who has a winning percentage of .357 with a 10-18 record. All of them were between 1915 and 1920. The only other coach who comes close was Walt Nadzak between 1977 and 1982, who finished with a winning percentage of .385. No other coach finished his tenure with a winning percentage below .400. UConn bypassed future Hall of Famer Bill Belichick for an internal hire in Tom Jackson after Nadzak’s tenure. Jackson coached from 1983 to 1993, ending his time in Storrs with an overall winning record. After Jackson, UConn began to aim for somewhat splashy hires in Skip Holtz, Lou Holtz’s son, Randy Edsall, who coached alongside present NY Giants head coach Tom Coughlin for 7 seasons before becoming Georgia Tech’s defensive co-ordinator in 1998, and Paul Pasqualoni, the Big East’s winningest coach of all-time.
Unfortunately, Pasqualoni made a horrible mistake in bringing along his old-time friend George DeLeone to handle offensive coordinator and offensive line duties. In what some were hoping would be a ride into the sunset with a dream ending for these two long-time coaches, became a nightmare for everyone else associated with the university. Board of Trustees chairman Larry McHugh insisted on hiring Pasqualoni in what seemed to be an attempt to bridge the university’s football program to the state’s high school football community due to Edsall’s inability to do so and Pasqualoni did succeed in doing that to a relatively good degree. But the on-field coaching and game results have caused immense grief for fans and players and their families that no one ever imagined or experienced in their lifetimes.
Pasqualoni only won two games that UConn was supposed to lose and those were against Maryland and Louisville in 2012. It can be arguably said that 9 of his 18 losses were games UConn was supposed to win. And right now the program is in a complete free fall, primarily due to the offensive line being unable to play competently. The blame for that, as a coach, falls on George DeLeone and perhaps Pasqualoni for hiring him. All this just for loyalty. It’s as if Paul had to stay within “La Famiglia” in hiring George DeLeone when he’s proven himself to be inept as an offensive line coach or an offensive coordinator.
The bright side in all this is that UConn has not had a coaching tenure as horrible as Pasqualoni’s since 1920. 93 years.
Since 1920, UConn generally has been enjoying some success, with the exception of Nadzak’s and Pasqualoni’s tenures. Between Nadzak and Pasqualoni, UConn has a winning percentage of .531, higher than the program’s overall winning percentage dating back to 1896.
Between 1896 to 1920, the school endured the pains of having a football program in the overwhelming shadow of Yale, being a school relatively new and not having immediate access to deep pockets to fund a quick development of the school. Starting especially with Sumner Dole in 1923, UConn began to consistently win games much more than ever before. There have been historic losses in recent times, such as losing to New Haven in 1992 and SMU in 1989. But the good has outweighed the bad, as UConn reached it’s zenith in reaching the Fiesta Bowl in 2010.
There are 8 games left in the 2013 season. If Pasqualoni is retained, it can be said that will be 8 more games of torture left in this regime. If he is fired during the season, at least the program will have a fresh perspective and try to reorganize the offensive line, which has been the program’s Achilles’ heel since Pasqualoni and DeLeone took over. The only obstacle to avoiding this free fall was Jeff Hathaway, who couldn’t maintain a positive working relationship with Randy Edsall. Edsall left for Maryland to only earn $500,000 more and is now coaching a ranked Maryland team. Many of us now yearn for the days when Edsall was coach, while we’d complain about his play calling on offense but still had a great scheme for the offensive line. But history proves we can bounce back easily from the Pasqualoni debacle. Everyone wants it to end right now. Eventually we will bounce back.
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