As bad as the AAC is..

[Dooley]

The window that we had to win recruiting battles against Rutgers, Pitt, BC, Cuse, Penn State, Maryland, etc closed shut after Pasqualoni's first year. In all reality, that window probably closed when Edsall left and Hathaway made his horrendous hire. We've never been a program that is a destination for top 3 and 4 stars...we found quite a bit of success mining for talented but under-recruited project type of players under Edsall. If UConn is going to become competitive again, it has to get back to those recruiting grass roots. The "sell job" to get a kid to come to UConn to play football has to be incredibly difficult given the recent craptastic seasons we've had and our conference affiliation. I'm going to guess that just about every 4-star kid who gets a pamphlet in the mail from UConn is going to discard instantly.

It's back to basics on recruiting. Trailer park recruiting, if you will. Edsall established the program to a level that it could have competed with the local programs for top talent but we could never cash in because he left and Pasqualoni ushered in his era of certain mediocrity. It's almost as if we are making the move up to D-1 all over again...or at least, trying to make the move up again. What Whaler wrote is not wrong - everyone should be concerned about recruiting. Edsall was able to find gems, coach them up, and now many of them play in the NFL. That was exactly what the program needed to do entering the Big East. What the biggest concern is Diaco hasn't proven he can recruit Edsall's way. That isn't to say he can't or won't (there just isn't nearly enough time to determine that). It's just saying that he is used to recruiting top talent while at Notre Dame, who obviously don't have to worry about things like playing in the AAC, playing in front of 5K at home games, or 2 win seasons. I hope that with guys like Coach Balis on the staff that many of these big-framed, athletic "project" type kids that Diaco brought in last year can eventually turn into the level of talent that Edsall produced. But it is going to take time...which is something, unfortunately, that we don't have a lot of given the dire straits our school and this program faces. These projects have to get to work, produce/win, and re-start the momentum train in our program again before we can go toe to toe for the talented 3 or 4 star guys.

 

[Srqhusky]

I'm not sure what you're getting at. I can't tell if you agree with me or not.

Just in case you don't; Am I to assume that all 13 spots will be filled by players with better credentials than 3 stars and top40 Virginia-type talent? Because the only way that anyone can be mad about picking this kid up is if they truly believed that ALL of the spots would be occupied by people with better credentials. And to that, I would say to them that they should check our recruiting history over the last....ever....

Its too early too panic is my point. Diaco did some nice recruiting in a short time. I think all thirteen spots will be filled nicely. Can we beat p5 schools now. No. I agree with whaler on that. Our best bet is to beat mid tier power 5 schools like Syracuse and pit and Maryland. That may happen in like one recruit a season. If diaco can build his rep by winning that will change

 

[jdb50]

The belief that at the time Edsall left the best thing for this program would have been to bring in an offensive guru type coach is something we will all want a second chance on. UConn is now stuck with really no identity other than losing. Even as we have struggled our defense has not been the reason. A competent offense has always been our mountain to climb. I wasn't surprised to see other AAC programs going for the offensive minded head coaches. Warde made his choice. We have to hope that the new OC can give us some direction and make the best use of the players we have. We have dug a huge hole and last year was just surreal in it's dysfunction. It is possible to make decent strides when you are at the level we were at as last year ended. A stinkfest in year 2 and the recruiting gets that much harder. A good year and we get some momentum back.

 

[Marty Jackson]

Other than "everyone loves to pile on against Whaler"... I don't see what is so awful about his OP. Is there anyone here that would be upset if we were winning recruiting battles against BC, Cuse, Pitt, Rutgers? Even against peers in our league? We'd all be thrilled if we were doing that, and we are not. You are being dishonest if you say otherwise.

We are a bad football team in a league that doesn't get respect. That is our reality. That makes recruiting that much harder. Diaco has the deck stacked against him. Now some might say - tough, you are the coach, figure out how to get more "vetted" recruits - but he's taking the only approach he can right now. Good, hungry, overlooked kids with chips on their shoulder who want to work hard. It can work. I think he's crazy enough and smart enough to pull it off given enough time - but we will have to see if Diaco earns more time this year. I blame no one for being concerned after year 1.

We are prone to like our recruits because we are fans with no other option. We would all be lying if we said we wouldn't feel better if we were beating out BC for recruits in the process.

You've sort of answered your own question. And then you indirectly blame Diaco right before saying 'I blame no one'....
I want uconn in the p5 as much as anyone. And I was as pumped up as anyone about Diacos hire and thought the ship would turnaround his first year. Hindsight, that was a tall order.
Diacos future is now linked to the success of uconn. He is the bacon vs the egg in breakfast (said differently, he is all in)... I just don't see how anyone can judge his potential after one season. Or suggest that he is on the hot seat to win this year.
As for whaler, his act wear's thin after a while. I root for uconn because I grew up in ct, became a bb fan with the hire of Calhoun, and then followed uconn's jump to big boy football. I enjoy it. I like following the program, take pride in the success, and get frustrated when they come up short. its not fun when someone spends their entire time looking for things to complain about. To the extent that you wonder why they are a fan if they find no joy in it.
Those types of people suck to hang out with.

 

[Ldandy]

Bob Diaco is not overly concerned about recruiting. He has said that in the core region there are like 50,ooo,ooo people. (Boston -Washington/VA west to PA). He also talks about direct flights to all AAC cities from Bradley. He stated on signing day that the UCONN brand was solid and they actually turned away some good players who couldn't qualify or were not RKG's that want what UCONN (top 20 public University) had to offer.

Asking at this point in time if Diaco was the right choice for Head Coach is way too premature. Give him 2-3 seasons under his belt with his players. Making a value judgement after 1 year is silly.

1)He should be concerned. Recruiting is the lifeblood of all college sports. Maybe he did turn away some non qualified prospects, and if so bravo to him. That said he has a monumental task in front of him which may require taking a few risks here or there in order to infuse talent into the ranks. When he was at ND this was a non starter, because acquiring talent there is never an issue. The program sells itself. However, when you find yourself outside the P5 or even at the lower end of it, this may be the only way to field competitive teams.

2)My question remains. Was Diaco the fan's preference leading up to his hire, or were there other candidates preferred by posters on this board?

3)I openly stated that since he is the HC, he should be afforded(but not guaranteed) 4-5 seasons to prove if he can get it done with his recruits and his O/D systems. That's not a value judgement after 1 year. That being said, if he lays an egg next season while continuing to make head scratching decisions on and off the field would it be fair to be critical of him as HC then?

 

[Confident Carl]

1)He should be concerned. Recruiting is the lifeblood of all college sports. Maybe he did turn away some non qualified prospects, and if so bravo to him. That said he has a monumental task in front of him which may require taking a few risks here or there in order to infuse talent into the ranks. When he was at ND this was a non starter, because acquiring talent there is never an issue. The program sells itself. However, when you find yourself outside the P5 or even at the lower end of it, this may be the only way to field competitive teams.

2)My question remains. Was Diaco the fan's preference leading up to his hire, or were there other candidates preferred by posters on this board?

3)I openly stated that since he is the HC, he should be afforded(but not guaranteed) 4-5 seasons to prove if he can get it done with his recruits and his O/D systems. That's not a value judgement after 1 year. That being said, if he lays an egg next season while continuing to make head scratching decisions on and off the field would it be fair to be critical of him as HC then?

Of course he is concerned about recruiting. He is not concerned that there is not enough winning talent in the footprint.

Speaking of recruiting, here is a good article on Missouri and Mississippi State who have had great success in the SEC, (arguably the best conference) with 3 star talent. Both teams had only one 5 star player in 4 years. Missouri averaged 9.2 wins and Mississippi State 8.2 wins. This gives confidence that Diaco and Company can achieve similar success as they continue to build.

http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/sec-football/teams-least-sec/

 

[whaler11]

The irony in these threads always amazes me.

The boards is filled with thousands of posts about how great UConn is. How UConn should be in the Big 10. How UConn should be in the ACC. Mocking of Rutgers, Syracuse and BC...

Yet when I point the coaching staff should be held to a higher standard in their recruiting because of what the school is and offers I'm a bad guy.

For someone who is supposed to be the ultimate sales guy - why doesn't that show up in the place where being a sales guy would pay the highest dividends?

As for the narrative that Diaco and the staff are going to coach up underdog RKGs with high GPAs... this isn't Hoosiers or the Mighty Ducks. You have completely disconnected how college football works versus reality. You also must have stopped watching last season at 14-0 BYU.

As for the idea this is how we've always recruited... um yeah that's the problem it's not good enough. Bob Diaco isn't concerned about recruiting lol - it's a wild coincidence they flipped an FCS verbal for their first commit half way through June.

For the Art's and Marty's who don't want to hang out. Don't worry I wasn't asking. Why not hit the ignore button instead of personally attacking me because you can't attack my content?

 

[junglehusky]

Whaler may not be wrong, but it is a tad douchey to time this post after our first commit. What would you think if you were the kid's parents and you happened to visit the board for the first time the day after he signed? I don't know what the solution is, fans should be free to criticize the coach and definitely the coach should be held to a standard. But over time, it does reflect on the brand.

 

[whaler11]

Whaler may not be wrong, but it is a tad douchey to time this post after our first commit. What would you think if you were the kid's parents and you happened to visit the board for the first time the day after he signed? I don't know what the solution is, fans should be free to criticize the coach and definitely the coach should be held to a standard. But over time, it does reflect on the brand.

Please this is one of the softest boards on the internet. If message boards and twitter reflected on football brands there are a hundred schools that would be negatively impacted before UConn was.

Nothing I posted has anything to do with any single player so nobody should be personally offended. The kid from Virginia could be better than Orlovsky - it has nothing to do with the macro point and trends I'm taking about.

Is during recruiting really not the right time to talk about recruiting?

 

[Marty Jackson]

The irony in these threads always amazes me.

The boards is filled with thousands of posts about how great UConn is. How UConn should be in the Big 10. How UConn should be in the ACC. Mocking of Rutgers, Syracuse and BC...

Yet when I point the coaching staff should be held to a higher standard in their recruiting because of what the school is and offers I'm a bad guy.

For someone who is supposed to be the ultimate sales guy - why doesn't that show up in the place where being a sales guy would pay the highest dividends?

As for the narrative that Diaco and the staff are going to coach up underdog RKGs with high GPAs... this isn't Hoosiers or the Mighty Ducks. You have completely disconnected how college football works versus reality. You also must have stopped watching last season at 14-0 BYU.

As for the idea this is how we've always recruited... um yeah that's the problem it's not good enough. Bob Diaco isn't concerned about recruiting lol - it's a wild coincidence they flipped an FCS verbal for their first commit half way through June.

For the Art's and Marty's who don't want to hang out. Don't worry I wasn't asking. Why not hit the ignore button instead of personally attacking me because you can't attack my content?

You complain about recruiting...
Uconn gets the first recruit... Recruits are not good enough because he was committed to an fcs school.

So you immediately judge this kid as unworthy, before you've seen him play, or before he's even played one down for uconn. Rather than learn about this kid and understand this is a step forward, you pull your same crap. Bah humbug!

An then you cry to mommy about personal attacks. What a ???
Btw, that is a personal attack.

 

[Carl Spackler]

2 things here that aren't surprising.

1. You missed the point.
2. You are worried about the wrong things.

No, I think I answered the question you posed quite accurately, and if you intended to get a different answer, you should have asked a different question, and I'm not worried about anything except how I'm going to be able to convince my wife and family that going to late season games will be worth the day's effort if we suck as bad as we have the past few seasons again.

I like you whaler, and I do sometimes wonder about your negativity. Happy Father's day - go enjoy it. I'm turning this damn device off now and taking my own advice.

 

[uconndogs]

I disagree that we never faired well against them. That is just not true.
Going back to 2003, below is UCONN's record against Cuse, BC, Rutgers and Pitt.

vs. Cuse UCONN is 6-3
vs. Rutgers UCONN is 4-6
vs. Pitt UCONN is 4-4
vs. BC UCONN is 0-2

Overall Record against above 14-15. I call that holding there own.

Carl, that's exactly my point. The recruiting sites would have you believe that our recruiting was completely uncompetitive, yet the results on the field say differently. To say nothing of the fact that those sites are fraught with incomplete information and inaccurate information.

The stupid Twins had plenty of talent to continue the good trajectory of the program. Instead, they allowed a systemic breakdown.

Is Diaco the guy to fix it? I don't know.

 

[whaler11]

No, I think I answered the question you posed quite accurately, and if you intended to get a different answer, you should have asked a different question, and I'm not worried about anything except how I'm going to be able to convince my wife and family that going to late season games will be worth the day's effort if we suck as bad as we have the past few seasons again.

I like you whaler, and I do sometimes wonder about your negativity. Happy Father's day - go enjoy it. I'm turning this damn device off now and taking my own advice.

I like you too Carl but it was a rhetorical question. That's how you missed the point.

 

[whaler11]

You complain about recruiting...
Uconn gets the first recruit... Recruits are not good enough because he was committed to an fcs school.

So you immediately judge this kid as unworthy, before you've seen him play, or before he's even played one down for uconn. Rather than learn about this kid and understand this is a step forward, you pull your same crap. Bah humbug!

An then you cry to mommy about personal attacks. What a ???
Btw, that is a personal attack.

Most of you guys who complain about what I post have nothing but personal attacks.

I don't see anyone's mommy here and it doesn't really bother me - I just like to point out that a good number of you don't actually attempt to debate anything football related - but instead take shots at me.

I should probably just give up because the level of reading comprehension for so many here is about zero - but pointing out the macro level recruiting issues this program is experiencing is not a statement or judgment about any one player.

If you think Diaco has magic beans that allows him to beat teams on the field without ever beating them in recruiting... I'd say I'm not surprised you are the type of person who believes in magic beans.

 

[uconndogs]

Most of you guys who complain about what I post have nothing but personal attacks.

I don't see anyone's mommy here and it doesn't really bother me - I just like to point out that a good number of you don't actually attempt to debate anything football related - but instead take shots at me.

I should probably just give up because the level of reading comprehension for so many here is about zero - but pointing out the macro level recruiting issues this program is experiencing is not a statement or judgment about any one player.

If you think Diaco has magic beans that allows him to beat teams on the field without ever beating them in recruiting... I'd say I'm not surprised you are the type of person who believes in magic beans.

You sound like a victim Whaler. That's a big part of what I take away from that post.

I'm serious.

 

[huskymedic]

For someone who is supposed to be the ultimate sales guy - why doesn't that show up in the place where being a sales guy would pay the highest dividends?

There is an article in today's Courant discussing Southington's Jay Rose and his recruitment process. Here's a snippet:

>>Rose is being recruited by former UConn coach Randy Edsall, now at Maryland. Edsall didn't have much success in keeping top talent at home when he was at UConn, but he has a whole new bargaining chip with Maryland being in the Big Ten, a Power Five conference.

Boston College of the ACC also plays in a Power Five conference and has Connecticut native Steve Addazio as its coach. He has helped turn around BC in his two years there and has a track record of getting state players.

UConn is led by second-year coach Bob Diaco, who doesn't have a Power Five pin on his lapel but is trying to build the Huskies into an AAC power and keep state talent at home.<<

Besides these 2 - there are West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wake Forest, Pittsburgh and N.C. State as well). These are the head to head's you reference --- If you were the Coach Whaler - what's you're sales pitch to overcome the conference affiliation debacle they face each trip into a family's living room (service to the state only goes so far )?

Heading out for Father's Day brunch... be back.

 

[whaler11]

You sound like a victim Whaler. That's a big part of what I take away from that post.

I'm serious.

LOL if you say so.

I might rant and rave but somehow I take these posts a lot less seriously than many of you.

 

[uconndogs]

LOL if you say so.

I might rant and rave but somehow I take these posts a lot less seriously than many of you.

Good. God knows nothing on these boards should be taken too seriously and ultimately it should be about having some fun.

 

[whaler11]

There is an article in today's Courant discussing Southington's Jay Rose and his recruitment process. Here's a snippet:

>>Rose is being recruited by former UConn coach Randy Edsall, now at Maryland. Edsall didn't have much success in keeping top talent at home when he was at UConn, but he has a whole new bargaining chip with Maryland being in the Big Ten, a Power Five conference.

Boston College of the ACC also plays in a Power Five conference and has Connecticut native Steve Addazio as its coach. He has helped turn around BC in his two years there and has a track record of getting state players.

UConn is led by second-year coach Bob Diaco, who doesn't have a Power Five pin on his lapel but is trying to build the Huskies into an AAC power and keep state talent at home.<<

These are the head to head's you reference --- If you were the Coach Whaler - what's you're sales pitch to overcome the conference affiliation debacle they face each trip into a family's living room (service to the state only goes so far )?

For one - I'm not guaranteed 8.5 million dollars to sell the school to high school recruits - so it's not really my job to come up with their pitch.

It's like the poster who told me to follow women's basketball the other day... is there no middle ground between where they are and where people are pretending I'm saying they should be?

FWIW I would never pitch service to the state because that is horsecrap.

What I'd pitch a kid like Rose is the opportunity to become a local legend. The opportunity to step in and play early and often and do it
on front of tens of thousands of people who are dying for a local
kid to lead them out of the dark valley.

Let's not try and pretend I'm holding Diaco's feet to the fire for not consistently beating BC, Rutgers and Maryland for players. You'd need to pretend nothing exists football-wise between the P5 and FCS.

 

[noeynox]

@whaler, my only point of contention is that we've never gotten kids with multiple offers to commit here. Edsall got a few, Kanuch, Difton, Fogarty. P got a few, Myers, Jhavon Williams. Mostly though, recruiting looks the same it ever has while recruiting to a lesser conference than the BCS Big East. It's a tall task, when our local peers from the Big East all went P5 and we were essentially left behind.

You are right in that Diaco is being paid P5 money, to overcome this disadvantage, and last year's results aside, his tenure hasn't exactly inspired confidence. So far he seems like a guy who talks big from February through August, but when the games start it's about patience and and program building and the future and not sacrificing future success for a few wins which makes no damn sense but whatever.

 

[Dooley]

Seems like most of us are saying the same things. 1) UConn football grew and found most of its success mining for the under-recruited talents under Edsall. 2) We all wish UConn could recruit better but won't be able to until we start winning again. 3) More time is needed to effectively evaluate the current staff's ability to find under-recruited talent and coach/train them up. 4) the AAC blows and we are all frustrated that we aren't running roughshod through this sh1tstorm of a conference on and off the field.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I agree with whalers overall point about recruiting, but it seems like this guy may be pretty good?

3* from VA, with interest from the regional P5 teams?

Recruiting is a mess, but maybe I don't know. I'm more concerned with the New England guys we got with Bryant, Lehigh type offers.

 

[Pudge]

ONE ... whaler11 is wrong about these first two kids. Just crazy throwing bricks in June, particularly relating to the Quarterback position. If a kid gets a UConn offer, and senses that he is at his highest & best, he grabs it early. The QB position is far different than all others. The exception is the kid that climbs dramatically in his Senior year and that is a low percentage of kids who get either P5 or AAC/MWC or even MAC scholarships.

You can't judge UConn or Diaco by the standards of other schools. We just have a far different paradigm in recruiting. And now we have the P5 - Syracuse, BC, Rutgers, Pitt - issue. Diaco, with 15-17 scholarships, is probably a better evaluator/recruiter than I initially suspected; and in relationship to Edsall, he goes for a higher pedigree. Edsall was an amazingly good selector of potential - RE Will Beatty or Blidi Wreh-Wilson.

SECOND ... I abhor this tendency to be dismissive to others. Yes, I name names of those that are bullies. Have a problem with that? I know several guys my age who aren't around here any longer. If someone does disagree, it's not because you are superior. Maybe you can learn something.

as some clearly state ... no one is playing the apologist for Diaco and his staff ... we just really want to be better and go to fun games.

 

[Srqhusky]

The irony in these threads always amazes me.

The boards is filled with thousands of posts about how great UConn is. How UConn should be in the Big 10. How UConn should be in the ACC. Mocking of Rutgers, Syracuse and BC...

Yet when I point the coaching staff should be held to a higher standard in their recruiting because of what the school is and offers I'm a bad guy.

For someone who is supposed to be the ultimate sales guy - why doesn't that show up in the place where being a sales guy would pay the highest dividends?

As for the narrative that Diaco and the staff are going to coach up underdog RKGs with high GPAs... this isn't Hoosiers or the Mighty Ducks. You have completely disconnected how college football works versus reality. You also must have stopped watching last season at 14-0 BYU.

As for the idea this is how we've always recruited... um yeah that's the problem it's not good enough. Bob Diaco isn't concerned about recruiting lol - it's a wild coincidence they flipped an FCS verbal for their first commit half way through June.

For the Art's and Marty's who don't want to hang out. Don't worry I wasn't asking. Why not hit the ignore button instead of personally attacking me because you can't attack my content?

Do you even have a clue on how to fix the problem?? Are you going to start doing 100 dollar handshakes

 

[whaler11]

It's interesting how people talk about Edsall now versus when he was here.

A common theme in this thread seems to be well Edsall did it this way maybe it will work again - let's take a look at the sustainability of the approach.

The formula seems to be generally considered:
- Have a better eye for talent and land under appreciated recruits
- Coach them up better than the competition
-Make fewer mistakes/outcoach them on Saturdays

Is that sustainable? Does that leave you any margin for error? Well what were some of the things that happened during the Fiesta Bowl season that he had no control over?

Louisville was digging out of the Kragthorpe era.

Syracuse had a decent season but was digging out of the Robinson era.

Brian Kelly left Cincinnati the year before.

Bill Stewart was a huge downgrade at West Virginia.

They lost to Temple were the only team Rutgers beat in conference.

How narrow was the margin of error? There were 3 plays that were the difference between the Fiesta Bowl and not being bowl eligible. WVU fumbling in OT, Pittsburgh not getting a 4th down stop and Teggert bombing a kick in a blizzard (also some good fortune to catch USF in a December blizzard).

There is a reason why what happened with Edsall was remarkable - it almost impossible to replicate. Unless the other teams in the AAC are willing to mismanage themselves as badly as the Big East did at the end of the decade.