“I couldn’t want it more than anything in my life besides my family".

[metsfan2323]

This is the bar the other candidates need to clear:

“I couldn’t want it more than anything in my life besides my family" - TJ Weist.

A record setting offensive performance doesn't hurt either.

I hope TJ gets the job.

 

[whaler11]

Also what doesn't hurt? Playing Memphis, Rutgers and Temple.

Ignore that at your own peril Warde.

 

[UConn07]

Also what doesn't hurt? Playing Memphis, Rutgers and Temple.

Ignore that at your own peril Warde.

Or ignore Whaler for being blind.

 

[metsfan2323]

Also what doesn't hurt? Playing Memphis, Rutgers and Temple.

Ignore that at your own peril Warde.

Rutgers is our arch rival. That was a big win even though you are trying to crap on it, and Temple was playing better after they switched to their freshman QB, they were incredibly close to beating UCF.

and we didn't just win today, it was a win with all kinds of records being broken.

But thanks for your opinion Debbie Downer.

 

[huskysupporter]

I think it is important to hear others opinion of Coach Weist, and I would hardly label those against his hire as Debbie Downers.

I would not be disappointed if Coach Weist gets the permanent job. But WM needs to interview several candidates. Thoroughly. This is an important hire. And it does not need to be a "name". It just has to be a very good coach.

 

[jdb50]

Anyone else starting at 4 games into the season with the remains of PP/GDL and having to make a QB change to a freshman and then another freshman would have struggled to show immediate results. TJ turned around a battleship that was heading to oblivion in pretty short order. The man is going too be a success and we should not ignore him because he was on staff when the season started. He came from a successful program like our other candidates and has a strong record at all his stops while producing productive WR's. Just look at the improvement in UConn's wideouts. If Narduzzi says no then I would choose TJ. I don't want Quinn dammit! I want TJ. I'm a TJ man! Just channelling some "O' brother where art thou?" there.

 

[Storrsbred]

Also what doesn't hurt? Playing Memphis, Rutgers and Temple.

Ignore that at your own peril Warde.

Just so I understand, you are saying that any coach worth his salt should have been handed the reigns several games ago and immediately turned the corner into winning the remaining games? No slack given to undo the damage after two plus years? No slack given to change thought processes? Show me any company that changes CEO's and the culture is immediately altered. There are none, IMO. It takes time.

I am amazed that TJ was able to get everyone headed in the 'right' direction, down two coaches, in the short amount of time it took. You don't think UConn would have won a couple of those games they lost had the team played the way they have the last two weeks? It's a bloody miracle, I don't care who they were playing.

 

[joey3$trike$]

and the other 5 games were barn burners? You can consider Weist, I like the emotion he brought, but he is 3-5. I'm happy that he and the kids didn't give up and kudos to them, but it's time for a change. Lets not forget his first 5 games.

 

[amory]

This is the bar the other candidates need to clear:

“I couldn’t want it more than anything in my life besides my family" - TJ Weist.

A record setting offensive performance doesn't hurt either.

I hope TJ gets the job.

Was that quote from an interview? Got a link?

 

[huskymedic]

Was that quote from an interview? Got a link?

http://the-boneyard.com/threads/tj-weist-deserves-a-real-chance.48981/#post-778388

NHRJimFuller4:42pm via Tout Industries
T,J. Weist said he wants UConn job and honor to coach at UConn
http://www.tout.com/m/ezu6nx

 

[ASweet3781]

Don't be discouraged whaler. Some of us like hearing you play the devils advocate.

I remember this board during the Pasqualoni hire. For the complete disaster it turned out to be, I recall there being soft opposition to the hire on here at the time. Most took a wait and see approach. That hire has put the long term future of UConn athletics in jeopardy. I wish more people were vocal about it at the time. It was obvious we were doomed. Not sure when I first realized it. When I saw P's mummy like old squinting eyes at me on the UConnhuskies Welcome Coach P page. Or blowing the first game at Vanderbilt. Or just the basic research I did of his final years at Syracuse. That hire should have never happened. We should have never allowed it to happen. If UConn had beat writers that weren't mailing it in and actually gave a damn (What's good Dez?) it would never happen.

There are names that concern me more than TJ though.

I am very happy TJ got the team playing well down the stretch. 3-9 is better than 0-12. I also realize how important this hire is. And how bad Memphis, Temple, and Rutgers are. P couldn't even beat bad teams so this is an improvement. But is it the right move? Questions need to be asked. We can't get this wrong.

 

[metsfan2323]

and the other 5 games were barn burners? .

SMU and USF were decided in the 4th quarter. We were inches (as in close catches) away from beating USF.

 

[ruskin]

if the right thing had been done last December, we wouldn't have been in this predicament. A TJ led team would not have lost to Towson would have been better prepared for USF and may have been able to pull out one more win to get to 6-6 and a bowl.

I love TJs passion and am grateful for his righting the ship but to Whaler's point can't ignore that Memphis is 95th, Rutgers 114th and Temple 122nd in Sagarin (somehow UConn is 132nd???).

Get a defensive guy like Narduzzi and find a way to keep TJ.

 

[jostar1]

Was that quote from an interview? Got a link?

After the game Weist made it more than clear that he wants to stay on.
“How badly do I want to be the head coach?” Weist responded to a reporter’s question. “I couldn’t want it more than anything in my life besides my family. I think it’s an honor to coach here. I think it’s a very special team. It’s my profession. It’s what I want to do to.
“I want to be a head coach. I’m the head coach right now. It’s not my decision. I couldn’t want it any more. But that’s any coach. . . . Warde will make his decision based on his candidates and we’ll go from there.”

Said Manuel: “I’ll tell you I’ve been very impressed with T.J. and what he has done. The qualities and the reason I selected him to be the interim coach are the ones you all have seen. He’s really gotten the team to buy into his lead, to buy the effort, to show the character they have, to keep fighting and to keep playing hard. I’ve been impressed with what T.J. has done, very impressed.”

http://kendavisfiles.com/2013/12/07/manuel-ready-to-ramp-up-uconn-coaching-search/

 

[metsfan2323]

Get a defensive guy like Narduzzi and find a way to keep TJ.

This is my second choice (after TJ), this could work if Narduzzi and TJ were agreeable to it, but that might be difficult.

If Warde and Burton's money could thread the Narduzzi and Weist needle we will be set to take off like a rocket.

 

[huskysupporter]

if the right thing had been done last December, we wouldn't have been in this predicament. A TJ led team would not have lost to Towson would have been better prepared for USF and may have been able to pull out one more win to get to 6-6 and a bowl.

I love TJs passion and am grateful for his righting the ship but to Whaler's point can't ignore that Memphis is 95th, Rutgers 114th and Temple 122nd in Sagarin (somehow UConn is 132nd???).

Get a defensive guy like Narduzzi and find a way to keep TJ.

I don't understand this line of thinking. Same thing for those who want an "offensive" guy as a head coach. There is a difference between a head coach and a coordinator. We need a head coach who can manage all aspects of a team - recruiting, coaching staff, and players. Narduzzi might come in, run the same style of defense as he did at MSU, and the defense could be horrid because he can't recruit here, or he hires some terrible assistants. Conversely, he might come here, and hire an O Coordinator who runs an Oregon style offense and we win games 56-44. We just won't know.

I am looking for the head coach to be a great manager with a vision. I want WM to have him lay out all out his vision. If Narduzzi is the best manager, awesome. If Weist is, great. I just really want UCONN to get it right.

 

[Marty Jackson]

if the right thing had been done last December, we wouldn't have been in this predicament. A TJ led team would not have lost to Towson would have been better prepared for USF and may have been able to pull out one more win to get to 6-6 and a bowl.

I love TJs passion and am grateful for his righting the ship but to Whaler's point can't ignore that Memphis is 95th, Rutgers 114th and Temple 122nd in Sagarin (somehow UConn is 132nd???).

Get a defensive guy like Narduzzi and find a way to keep TJ.

so you readily admit TJ won games where the other team was favored.

 

[huskysupporter]

This is my second choice (after TJ), this could work if Narduzzi and TJ were agreeable to it, but that might be difficult.

If Warde and Burton's money could thread the Narduzzi and Weist needle we will be set to take off.

There is about a .000005% shot Coach Weist is retained as the O Coordinator.

 

[Rumrunner]

I don't know if Weist will be the next head coach, but I gotta say- if you're downplaying the job that he did, creating organization where there was chaos, unity where there was wandering, perseverance through adversity, then you're stupid.

I guess some (or really, just a couple) of you have forgotten that making a first down against Towson seemed an impossibility.

Well between then and now, something changed. For the better. Think about this- there isn't a UConn fan that wanted the season to end after the last 3 games. We want more. I want more. More Cochran. More Davis, Lamelle and Foxx. But the calendar says otherwise. So here we sit, with the thought that the seniors haven't a wasted year, that UConn's youth will mature and only get better, and that the architect behind it gave everything he had to make it all happen.

It's been three games of fun versus three years of stagnation and clockwatching.

We saw the fruits of Weist's labor, and for me, that's enough to say that even if we don't get Weist as a head coach, I hope that whoever comes in possesses even a fraction of his tenacity.

 

[CTMike]

I think there are a handful of more proven commodities who I'd put ahead of him. But in no way would I feel like UConn was giving up on football if Weist was hired. I would not ditch my tickets. I would expect Weist to lead and win, and I think he's capable.

Summing up TJW as "3-5" without considering everything that went in to it, everything about him as a coach- is stupid. Evaluate his philosophy, evaluate his decision making, evaluate what the rest of the staff has to say about him... evaluate everything about the guy, and then evaluate him against the other candidates. Every coach had to climb the ladder at some point in their career.

 

[J187Money]

Memphis or not. This was the best coached game I've seen since Edsall left. That's all I know. Can't say that earns him the job but I applaud what I saw today.

 

[sportsart]

and the other 5 games were barn burners? You can consider Weist, I like the emotion he brought, but he is 3-5. I'm happy that he and the kids didn't give up and kudos to them, but it's time for a change. Lets not forget his first 5 games.

Yes, he should won right out of the gate.

 

[Matt (Chicago)]

This is my second choice (after TJ), this could work if Narduzzi and TJ were agreeable to it, but that might be difficult.

If Warde and Burton's money could thread the Narduzzi and Weist needle we will be set to take off.

wait so you're off the Mangini wagon now? just a couple wks ago you acted as though Warde would be a fool to even consider anyone else.

 

[metsfan2323]

wait so you're off the Mangini wagon now? just a couple wks ago you acted as though Warde would be a fool to even consider anyone else.

never said that, never even said he was my top choice.

 

[noeynox]

It's a nice, sentimental line. Should not factor into the decision though. He is not a realistic candidate for any other FBS coaching job, so of course he would feel that way. What's he making now 350k? Imagine going from that to 1.5 million overnight????

What I will say is if we strike out on Lembo, Clawson, and Narduzzi, and were looking at the likes of Jeff Quinn, then well I'd be okay with TJ. If we have a shot at the aforementioned three or the Herman guy, how could we pass up making a splashy hire to re energize the fanbase?