Dave Benedict/Bob Diaco Holiday Coordinator Shopping List

[#BleedBlueFam]

It wouldn't surprise me I know we will hear more after Jan. 1st. Those three coaches could fit our system. I really like Moorhead because he has experience at UConn and he can recruit. Benedict definitely has plans but it is in the wraps and we won't hear too much about it and that the right thing to do. Lower publicity the better sometimes.

It would honestly surprise me. If those coaches are moving on, they'll most likely do so before then as the time for college programs to make that decision is in December. Firing a coach a month before national signing day would be a disaster. The recruiting class isn't loaded, but you would probably have to kiss any of the good ones goodbye. As much as fans don't like HCBD, the recruits signing love him, other wise they wouldn't be coming here.

 

[zls44]

It would honestly surprise me. If those coaches are moving on, they'll most likely do so before then as the time for college programs to make that decision is in December. Firing a coach a month before national signing day would be a disaster. The recruiting class isn't loaded, but you would probably have to kiss any of the good ones goodbye. As much as fans don't like HCBD, the recruits signing love him, other wise they wouldn't be coming here.

The recruits signing? They've offered 85+ kids and have 8 commits.

 

[Huskyforlife]

It would honestly surprise me. If those coaches are moving on, they'll most likely do so before then as the time for college programs to make that decision is in December. Firing a coach a month before national signing day would be a disaster. The recruiting class isn't loaded, but you would probably have to kiss any of the good ones goodbye. As much as fans don't like HCBD, the recruits signing love him, other wise they wouldn't be coming here.

Or most of them only have FCS offers.

 

[#BleedBlueFam]

The recruits signing? They've offered 85+ kids and have 8 commits.

Yes, it's not a great recruiting class. One bad decision shouldn't lead to another to try to fix it. How many of those 8 would decommit? How many from our current roster would transfer? How many in the 2018 class would no longer consider us because they don't know when the program is going to fire their next coach?

It's not a good look when the last seniors who played their entire career under one coach graduated in 2010, especially because of firings.

 

[TheDrifter75]

As much as I like the ideas of Moorhead and/or others coming back, I doubt it's gonna happen. It's not because they don't want to or are waiting on other offers. The fact is DB is his own man and has, to the best of my knowledge, no history with those guys. Could they be considered in his evals, sure, but his decisions won't be based off UCONN fandoms nostalgia.

 

[jtb26!]

The recruits signing? They've offered 85+ kids and have 8 commits.

I agree the recruits this year besides Swenson are just okay. If they will change coaches maybe next year will be it. But I honestly think we need to bring in a coach with new coordinators to build up this team and not experiment for four years. Uconn football isn't aggressive enough to be moving up in football as I can see for the next two to three years in my opinion.

 

[HuskyHawk]

As much as I like the ideas of Moorhead and/or others coming back, I doubt it's gonna happen. It's not because they don't want to or are waiting on other offers. The fact is DB is his own man and has, to the best of my knowledge, no history with those guys. Could they be considered in his evals, sure, but his decisions won't be based off UCONN fandoms nostalgia.

My hunch is that, if Diaco is indeed let go, Moorhead won't be the guy. I don't think it's because Benedict would avoid an ex UConn guy, but because I think he'd avoid hiring a coordinator from a big program with no HC experience. So the same applies to Applewhite or Todd Orlando. It's a "fool me once, fool me twice" scenario.

I think Benedict would love P.J. Fleck, but he may not be able to get him here. I'm not sure who else is out there. I certainly don't think Les Miles is coming, although he'd be a slam dunk. Rich Rod...tough call there. He really hasn't been very good since leaving WVU.

I actually think the fact that Diaco is in limbo is partly because we don't know who we could replace him with. My gut says: Neal Brown is the answer if we make this move.

 

[ktuck911]

I still think its pretty nuts that we haven't heard a peek from Benedict on Diaco's future or football in general after this horrible year.
Any thoughts?

This part hasnt changed much when it comes to football changes at UConn. Us fans get the short end of the stick on updates. Im just holding out hope that we get an update before the holiday season starts. If we don't, then expect an updatearound signing day..... a looooong way off. Not a good look for us if this happens.

 

[SonsOfNutmeg]

This part hasnt changed much when it comes to football changes at UConn. Us fans get the short end of the stick on updates. Im just holding out hope that we get an update before the holiday season starts. If we don't, then expect an updatearound signing day..... a looooong way off. Not a good look for us if this happens.

You have to wonder what's going on inside the Burton right now. Has Benedict told Diaco his job is safe and giving him the chance to evaluate and re-build the staff? Or is he just going through the motions and planning a New Year's suprise for us fans?? I have nothing against Diaco- I think he'd make a great DC, I just think he's been in over his head as HC for us.

 

[#BleedBlueFam]

You have to wonder what's going on inside the Burton right now. Has Benedict told Diaco his job is safe and giving him the chance to evaluate and re-build the staff? Or is he just going through the motions and planning a New Year's suprise for us fans?? I have nothing against Diaco- I think he'd make a great DC, I just think he's been in over his head as HC for us.

I think the best evidence to look at is the OC search. You don't let a guy you're planning to fire in a month hire people.

 

[UConnSportsGuy]

I still think its pretty nuts that we haven't heard a peek from Benedict on Diaco's future or football in general after this horrible year. Could this mean he's got plans in the works to make it happen?

Any thoughts?

In trying to apply common sense and logic to our current situation, here is what I think is happening with the current UConn coaching situation (and my first problem is probably applying logic and common sense):

• Diaco isn't coming back. I have to believe that they have decided that Diaco is not coming back. For UConn (specifically Benedict) to go completely silent since the end of the season, they better be getting rid of him. If they are really going to keep him for next year, they have completely undermined his ability to recruit players and attract quality assistant coaches. Between the on-field collapse at the end of the year, the prospect of significant financial losses due to tickets and attendance in '17, and the potential long term harm to the program if he stays--they have to be willing to accept the hit to their ego's and the current budget by getting rid of him. Given the radio silence from UConn, I have believe that the decision has been made to fire Diaco.
• They are waiting until after 1/1/17 to fire him. Once the decision to move on from Diaco has been made, the next decision is whether to fire him immediately, or wait until 1/1/17 and save $1.5MM. This decision is based on what your plan is going to be for a replacement. If you are going to hire another coach from college, then you need to take the $1.5MM hit and fire Diacao now in order to let the new coach have the benefit of time to hit the recruiting trail for '17 and find quality assistant coaches. This becomes even more important given that your key competitors (fellow AAC schools) are all beginning the same process now (Houston, Temple, Cincy, and USF). You do not want to be hiring a coach AFTER your four conference mates have already had their choice to pick from the cream of the crop out there. You would have to believe that we have a commitment from someone in college to come to UConn, but are willing to wait until 1/1/to get the offer. UConn is not a program that you would be willing to pass up all other discussion with other programs for. Therefore, my guess is that :
• UConn will hire a coach who is currently in the NFL. If you have decided to fire Diaco, but are not doing it now--you have to be going the NFL route. Because if you are going the college route, it is much too late. However, if you are going to hire a current NFL guy--then you cannot hire him until after the NFL season anyway. So why not just save the $1.5MM buyout by waiting until after 1/1/17 if you can't hire the replacement until then anyway. And another reason why they may be deciding to go the NFL route is--who have been the few examples of successful coaches in the Northeast in the past 10 years? They are : Matt Rhule (Temple), Doug Marrone (Syracuse), and Bill O'Brien (Penn St). What do they all have in common? They were all hired from the NFL, not from college.

So my best guess at this point is that UConn has decided to fire Diaco, have decided to wait until after 1/1/17, and are going to hire a current NFL guy.

At least that is my hope. Because if we really are keeping Diaco for '17, we are basically done as a football program.

 

[bobbyinaz]

In trying to apply common sense and logic to our current situation, here is what I think is happening with the current UConn coaching situation (and my first problem is probably applying logic and common sense):

• Diaco isn't coming back. I have to believe that they have decided that Diaco is not coming back. For UConn (specifically Benedict) to go completely silent since the end of the season, they better be getting rid of him. If they are really going to keep him for next year, they have completely undermined his ability to recruit players and attract quality assistant coaches. Between the on-field collapse at the end of the year, the prospect of significant financial losses due to tickets and attendance in '17, and the potential long term harm to the program if he stays--they have to be willing to accept the hit to their ego's and the current budget by getting rid of him. Given the radio silence from UConn, I have believe that the decision has been made to fire Diaco.
• They are waiting until after 1/1/17 to fire him. Once the decision to move on from Diaco has been made, the next decision is whether to fire him immediately, or wait until 1/1/17 and save $1.5MM. This decision is based on what your plan is going to be for a replacement. If you are going to hire another coach from college, then you need to take the $1.5MM hit and fire Diacao now in order to let the new coach have the benefit of time to hit the recruiting trail for '17 and find quality assistant coaches. This becomes even more important given that your key competitors (fellow AAC schools) are all beginning the same process now (Houston, Temple, Cincy, and USF). You do not want to be hiring a coach AFTER your four conference mates have already had their choice to pick from the cream of the crop out there. You would have to believe that we have a commitment from someone in college to come to UConn, but are willing to wait until 1/1/to get the offer. UConn is not a program that you would be willing to pass up all other discussion with other programs for. Therefore, my guess is that :
• UConn will hire a coach who is currently in the NFL. If you have decided to fire Diaco, but are not doing it now--you have to be going the NFL route. Because if you are going the college route, it is much too late. However, if you are going to hire a current NFL guy--then you cannot hire him until after the NFL season anyway. So why not just save the $1.5MM buyout by waiting until after 1/1/17 if you can't hire the replacement until then anyway. And another reason why they may be deciding to go the NFL route is--who have been the few examples of successful coaches in the Northeast in the past 10 years? They are : Matt Rhule (Temple), Doug Marrone (Syracuse), and Bill O'Brien (Penn St). What do they all have in common? They were all hired from the NFL, not from college.

So my best guess at this point is that UConn has decided to fire Diaco, have decided to wait until after 1/1/17, and are going to hire a current NFL guy.

At least that is my hope. Because if we really are keeping Diaco for '17, we are basically done as a football program.

How do we know if Belichick can recruit?

 

[zls44]

Y'all gotta stop with the weird conspiracy theories. He's gonna be the coach next year. Accept it.

 

[politics]

Yes, it's not a great recruiting class. One bad decision shouldn't lead to another to try to fix it. How many of those 8 would decommit? How many from our current roster would transfer? How many in the 2018 class would no longer consider us because they don't know when the program is going to fire their next coach?

It's not a good look when the last seniors who played their entire career under one coach graduated in 2010, especially because of firings.

If you're suggesting that these are valid reasons to keep Diaco, I hope you're prepared to buy lots of season tickets next year. The fact there's only 8 commits (if that) is yet another reason to fire crazy Bob.

 

[politics]

Y'all gotta stop with the weird conspiracy theories. He's gonna be the coach next year. Accept it.

would be nice if the school announced it with the same zeal it trumpeted the sanctuary thing

 

[#BleedBlueFam]

If you're suggesting that these are valid reasons to keep Diaco, I hope you're prepared to buy lots of season tickets next year. The fact there's only 8 commits (if that) is yet another reason to fire crazy Bob.

I'm simply arguing that firing any coach in January is not a good move.

There are literally 5,000,000 reasons why Bob Diaco will be the coach next year.

 

[Husky92]

In trying to apply common sense and logic to our current situation,

This is where you went wrong.

 

[politics]

I'm simply arguing that firing any coach in January is not a good move.

There are literally 5,000,000 reasons why Bob Diaco will be the coach next year.

Agree that any firing should have been done Nov. 27. Benedict/Herbst have no clue that the longer they say nothing recruiting will suffer. This pipe dream that Diaco can be fixed with an OC is ridiculous. What decent coach is going to risk his career hitching his wagon to that horse.

The thing about Benedict is, if he was the AD at Auburn, and the coach just had an awful year, he could not get away with saying nothing for two weeks. Silence says more about CT than anythingelse.

 

[Papadukes]

I don't want to keep being negative so I just want to say my dinner tonight was very good and Diaco SUCKS. That felt real nice, it's good to have a positive attitude

 

[Hoophound]

If he isn't being retained, Benedict is certainly figuring out who to hire. My guess is that he already knows who he'll be bringing in or at least has a few people interested that are available. The best case scenario here is that we are going to hire a good coach very covertly and then be surprised one day soon with Diaco fired and a quick job posting.

If Diaco is truly staying, we are acting so far beyond incompetent right now that it is hopeless. Make a big announcement that he's staying, find an OC that knows what he's doing and publicize it so they can recruit. The only thing worse than Diaco is a lame duck Diaco.

 

[ktuck911]

If Diaco is truly staying, we are acting so far beyond incompetent right now that it is hopeless. Make a big announcement that he's staying, find an OC that knows what he's doing and publicize it so they can recruit. The only thing worse than Diaco is a lame duck Diaco.

This. Publicizing the OC now makes way more sense than next month or on signing day.

 

[Caronimo]

Coach Shopping List: 2016 Broyles Award nominees

Fascinating that 4 have cycled through Storrs in recent past.

Alabama - Jeremy Pruitt, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
Arkansas State - Joe Cauthen, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
Army - Jay Bateman, Defensive Coordinator
Auburn - Kevin Steele, Defensive Coordinator
Boise State - Scott Huff, Co-Offensive Coordinator
BYU - Ed Lamb, Special Team Coordinator/Safeties
Clemson - Brent Venables, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
Colorado - Jim Leavitt, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
Colorado State - Will Friend, Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line
Georgia Southern - Chad Lunsford, Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends
Houston - Todd Orlando - Defensive Coordinator
Indiana - Tom Allen, Defensive Coordinator
Iowa State - Tom Manning, Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line
Louisiana Tech - Todd Fitch, Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers
LSU - Dave Aranda, Defensive Coordinator
Miami (FL) - Manny Diaz, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
Michigan - Don Brown, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
Missouri - Glen Elarbee, Offensive Line
Navy - Ivan Jasper, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Nebraska - Trent Bray, Linebackers
North Carolina - Larry Porter, Special Teams Coordinator/Running Backs
North Carolina State - Ryan Nielsen, Defensive Line
Oklahoma State - Mike Yurcich, Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Old Dominion - Brian Scott, Offensive Coordinator
Ole Miss - Matt Luke, Co-Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line
Ohio State - Kerry Coombs, Special Teams Coordinator/Cornerbacks
Penn State - Joe Moorhead, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Pitt - Matt Canada, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
South Carolina - Travaris Robinson, Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs
Stanford - Mike Bloomgren, Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line
Temple - Phil Snow, Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
Troy - Matt Moore, Co-Offensive Coordinator
UCF - Erik Chinander, Defensive Coordinator
USC - Clancy Pendergast, Defensive Coordinator
Wake Forest - Mike Elko, Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
Washington State - Alex Grinch, Defensive Coordinator/Secondary
Western Kentucky - Tony Levine, Co-Offensive Coordinator/Special Teams Coordinator
Western Michigan - Kirk Ciarrocca, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
West Virginia - Tony Gibson, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
Wisconsin - Justin Wilcox, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers

None of these guys will want to work under Diaco. It's a one year job. Diaco is gone after this coming season.

 

[HuskyHawk]

In trying to apply common sense and logic to our current situation, here is what I think is happening with the current UConn coaching situation (and my first problem is probably applying logic and common sense):

• Diaco isn't coming back. I have to believe that they have decided that Diaco is not coming back. For UConn (specifically Benedict) to go completely silent since the end of the season, they better be getting rid of him. If they are really going to keep him for next year, they have completely undermined his ability to recruit players and attract quality assistant coaches. Between the on-field collapse at the end of the year, the prospect of significant financial losses due to tickets and attendance in '17, and the potential long term harm to the program if he stays--they have to be willing to accept the hit to their ego's and the current budget by getting rid of him. Given the radio silence from UConn, I have believe that the decision has been made to fire Diaco.
• They are waiting until after 1/1/17 to fire him. Once the decision to move on from Diaco has been made, the next decision is whether to fire him immediately, or wait until 1/1/17 and save $1.5MM. This decision is based on what your plan is going to be for a replacement. If you are going to hire another coach from college, then you need to take the $1.5MM hit and fire Diacao now in order to let the new coach have the benefit of time to hit the recruiting trail for '17 and find quality assistant coaches. This becomes even more important given that your key competitors (fellow AAC schools) are all beginning the same process now (Houston, Temple, Cincy, and USF). You do not want to be hiring a coach AFTER your four conference mates have already had their choice to pick from the cream of the crop out there. You would have to believe that we have a commitment from someone in college to come to UConn, but are willing to wait until 1/1/to get the offer. UConn is not a program that you would be willing to pass up all other discussion with other programs for. Therefore, my guess is that :
• UConn will hire a coach who is currently in the NFL. If you have decided to fire Diaco, but are not doing it now--you have to be going the NFL route. Because if you are going the college route, it is much too late. However, if you are going to hire a current NFL guy--then you cannot hire him until after the NFL season anyway. So why not just save the $1.5MM buyout by waiting until after 1/1/17 if you can't hire the replacement until then anyway. And another reason why they may be deciding to go the NFL route is--who have been the few examples of successful coaches in the Northeast in the past 10 years? They are : Matt Rhule (Temple), Doug Marrone (Syracuse), and Bill O'Brien (Penn St). What do they all have in common? They were all hired from the NFL, not from college.

So my best guess at this point is that UConn has decided to fire Diaco, have decided to wait until after 1/1/17, and are going to hire a current NFL guy.

At least that is my hope. Because if we really are keeping Diaco for '17, we are basically done as a football program.

This is one of those fantasies that has just enough basis in reality to keep your interest. Josh McDaniels....come on down! Unfortunately, he makes $1.5 now.

I'll say this, if they do fire him in January, an NFL coach is a possibility. So which current NFL assistants have college HC experience?

 

[#BleedBlueFam]

Agree that any firing should have been done Nov. 27. Benedict/Herbst have no clue that the longer they say nothing recruiting will suffer. This pipe dream that Diaco can be fixed with an OC is ridiculous. What decent coach is going to risk his career hitching his wagon to that horse.

The thing about Benedict is, if he was the AD at Auburn, and the coach just had an awful year, he could not get away with saying nothing for two weeks. Silence says more about CT than anythingelse.

Just to be clear the 5,000,000 reasons he is still the head coach is money. $5 million buyout is too pricey.

 

[ktuck911]

None of these guys will want to work under Diaco. It's a one year job. Diaco is gone after this coming season.

If we're successful and are winning it won't be.. Gotta put my glass half full hat on with that in mind.. It just doesn't make sense to lose more $$$ long term keeping Diaco. Gotta look at things that way right now. With that said , would be nice to see one of these guys (at the very least) get consideration:

Boise State - Scott Huff, Co-Offensive Coordinator
Western Kentucky - Tony Levine, Co-Offensive Coordinator/Special Teams Coordinator
Western Michigan - Kirk Ciarrocca, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks