Then they should resign now and not wait since obviously they aren't getting done in the recruiting arena. Coachspeak? If the backups are crap, then stop touting them in February and simply say "Sorry, it wasn't a great haul, but it was the best we could do". Can't have it all ways. Either they suck at recruiting, suck at coaching players up, suck at designing and playcalling an offense, or all of the above. Joe Williams is PP's recruit. Either he can play or he can't play at this level. And if Lyle McCombs gets hurt, we're stuck with one of these guys anyway, only now with no experience (but then some of fans love this excuse . . . Oh Johnny McE is only 10 games into his starting QB experience. Oh Whitmer is only starting his third game). Inexperience only suggests that a player will get better with more snaps, it doesn't mean they don't have talent and can't get it done sooner rather than later.
The difference could well be that they think McCombs can on occasion turn a 2 yard gain into 5 or 15, while at least right now they would turn a 2 yard gain into, well, a 2 yard gain. I have high hopes for Williams in the long term but i suspect right now he is still on a learning curve. they use him on kickoff and punt coverage to more or less get him acclimated to the speed of the game and by mid-October we will see him getting a few carries...just a guess though.
they have exactly one recruiting class, so lets not get carried away on recruits. Very very few players are ready for the transition to 1A football as true freshmen. We saw 1 at Maryland but how many others have you seen?
The 2012 recruiting class was defense and QB focused. We've gotten some good players on defense out of it, notably Elijah Norris. The 2013 class is offense heavy and looks good so far.
If I heard him say something like we might try some different things on first down or throw them off balance or get some more guys some touches it would tell me they have some flexibility in their approach. I didn't hear any of those things so I expect more of the same. We have another week to find that out but as a coach I'd like to know if we have more than 1 guy who can contribute before conference play starts. Many here seem to think you can settle that in practice. I'd rather not find out in a close game if our #1 gets nicked up.
Here's the second part of the DeLeone conversation with Des: http://courantblogs.com/uconn-footb...fensive-coordinator-george-deleone/#more-1532 “We have struggled running the ball. We made some progress against Maryland,” DeLeone said. “Our run consistency, which is the most important thing I care about – how many run attempts do you have that go over four yards – was were up around 49 percent and our goal is 40 something percent so we made some progress there. “I think there was an emphasis to run the ball, allright, in this specific case. The other emphasis we have to understand is, we’ve got to put this team and our quarterback, which did not happen against N.C. State, in manageable third down situations. “Against N.C. State it was second-and-13, third-and-18. If you want to come down and call those plays, go right ahead. What I’m saying is, this was an attempt to get the game changed on our side. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn’t. We fell down more on third down than we did anywhere else but I thought that was a conscious attempt to get the chains on our side because second-and-10, you throw an interception, now you’re behind the chains again. We couldn’t do that this game. “The other thing you have to realize too is I’m a great believer in complimentary football. Right now, under the direction of Don Brown and the defensive coaches, our defense is playing lights out – bottom line. So, don’t turn it over; score, kick to score, punt the ball over the opponents 30. Give our defense the long end of the field to defend. That’s part of it. That’s not real flashy but that’s part of our philosophy here. Play to the strength. Our defense right now is playing lights out. All that goes into some thoughts like this. What’d you think of Chandler Whitmer’s play? “He didn’t turn the ball over other than the fumble,” Deleone said. “I told our football team if we don’t turn the ball over we can win games. I think that’s going to be true because of our defense…We made progress without turning the ball over, there were no forced balls except maybe one. I think that’s where we are.” I'm beginning to warm to the Lance Kiffin approach - no information to be shared with anyone before the game! Less bulletin board material! Just like in life - you a being feed what they want you to hear. You don't want the truth.
A. Deleone confirmed what much of what I thought. They went into the game figuring they would work on the run game. They didn't think Maryland's offense could beat our defense so don't screw up and we'll run and run some more. B. It worked. We won. C. He needed to get Whitmer thinking a certain way...don't turn it over. D. That doesn't mean they won't open it up in the future. Anyone else stuck by how different this is from Edsall as far as access to coaches? I doubt Dez had access, and certainly not "quoting access" to both the Offensive coordinator and the running backs coach in all the time he covered UConn football never mind both in one day...
I think this is right. My main concern is the lack of an offensive identity. It doesn't seem like they know what they're good at and so they can't focus on improving a certain style or method of picking up first downs. Instead it's working on getting to a 3.5 yard average per carry on runs with better blocking/execution and a low rate of interceptions on passes by accepting a low rate of yardage per pass. Now, competent running and avoiding turnovers are both important things but they're sort of basic execution that should occur in any offense, they don't really show that the team is developing an ability to threaten the opponent on offense and make plays. The focus is all on avoiding mistakes, not on creating opportunities. Lack of an ability to make plays means that first downs can be hard to come by and drives hard to sustain.
He sounds like Randy Edsall. Not saying that's good, not saying that's bad. But he certainly sounds different than the mad scientist we saw confusing both defenses and his players last year.
We have a defensive mentality (#1 goal don't turn the ball over) on offense and an offensive mentality ("we don't game plan for teams, we make teams game plan for us") on defense. I just don't understand why Nick Williams is not touching the ball. The first series against UMASS he had two running plays and a catch and it seemed as if the coaches were going to finally utilize him this year. Since then the coaches have shut Williams down. This is a mystery that has no explanation and it is beyond frustrating. If it wasn't for Williams' TD last week DeLeone's rear would be in a sling right now.
Please don't hang me in effigy but I'm thinking this is more about the Jimmies and Joes than X's and O's. This remains a young team per se on the offensive side of the ball. The message i keep hearing (and it is being as politely said as it can be) is that we have execution/ performance issues and based on what they (coaches) see daily keep peeling off plays that don't have a snowball chance in hell of working consistenty. We can piss and moan about PP, GD, CW, and whoever else we want to criticize on a moments notice but these folks have infinitely more football experience than all of us (or 97% of us). Something else is going on other than GD channeling his inner Lombardi/Rockne/Hayes.
