Diaco recruited all kinds of size over the last 2 years

[Jax Husky]

And now we get Randy Edsall to develop it. Diaco wasn't making anyone better, but we should all be able to agree that Edsall's biggest strength was developing players. Exciting times folks. I don't think 7 wins is out of the question for next year.

 

[JMick]

My expectations are still tempered for 2017 but I'm hoping for big things in 2018. If we win 5 or more games next year and look like a real football team again I'll be happy.

 

[Papadukes]

I never make predictions but I'm all in after the OC hire. Randy def has a good history here. It feels good to be pumped up for Uconn football again.

 

[UConnDan97]

I make predictions all the time...

 

[BlueMAB]

I'm excited about the future, but even if Shirrefs comes back I don't think 7 wins is a realistic expectation.

I'd enjoy being wrong, but I think this is a 2-3 year rebuild.

 

[Jax Husky]

I'm excited about the future, but even if Shirrefs comes back I don't think 7 wins is a realistic expectation.

I'd enjoy being wrong, but I think this is a 2-3 year rebuild.

I can understand that, but we should have been a 6 win team this year, so I am not looking at it as a true increase from 3 wins. Coaching literally cost us 3 games this year.

 

[MattMang23]

In true Boneyard fashion I predict 9-3, just like we were going to be this year when everyone predicted in August.

 

[sportsart]

In true Boneyard fashion I predict 9-3, just like we were going to be this year when everyone predicted in August.

OK

 

[DoctorWho85]

15-0 national championship #3 offense in the country

 

[Colt house75]

No predictions, forecasts on wins etc for me.
Wins will come with staff being put together.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

"Exciting times folks. I don't think 7 wins is out of the question for next year."

That made me lol.

 

[Hoophound]

After the 3 losses that were 100% on Diaco, it is literally unreasonable to call this team 3 win talent. If you want to predict 6+ wins, you have to be assuming Bryant is the QB or that we get someone better from outside the program. I doubt Williams can produce right off the bat. Lots of learning to do with a new offense.

Noel Thomas is gone. With Noel, I can see getting 8-9 wins if things unfolded perfectly. Without him, we need serious production from an unknown source. I suspect short passes to tight ends, a huge year from Newsome and a return to form for Ron Johnson are the places to look. Johnson is a wildcard. He was great year 1, slow and bulky year 2, trimmed down and yet ineffective year 3. I tend to think there just weren't any holes for him. Arkeel is slippery and makes something out of nothing, It seems like RJ was hurt more by how bad the line was. It will be big to see a dramatic improvement in the line that allows these guys to go out with a bang and restablish us as a team that beats people down.

I'm guessing 7 wins, but I'm going out on a limb with that because I have no idea who the QB is or how long it will take Lashlee to teach everyone his offense. Still, I'll assume BS comes back and we improve a lot. I don't think people should temper expectations too dramatically. The team needs to know we believe in them and the new staff. We should expect success because it will help them expect success. This year's team was truly a 6 win team and probably would have continued improving if they hadn't had the completely gut wrenching Diaco induced losses. They might have won 7-8 games with some cohesiveness and self confidence.

I'm all in on assuming we are pleasantly surprised next season. I realize I may be disappointed, but that's ok. I know we have better coaches and they will figure it out eventually. For now, I want to be excited for next season and I will presume that a better product will be on the field. At the same time, I am prepared to see slow improvement and accept that as well. Improvement and progress are my only true expectations.

 

[storrsroars]

I'm excited about the future, but even if Shirrefs comes back I don't think 7 wins is a realistic expectation.

I'd enjoy being wrong, but I think this is a 2-3 year rebuild.

Six is certainly possible and not unreasonable. 4-3 at home vs a weak sked, 2-3 on road vs an even weaker sked.

At this point, playing in a crappy bowl vs a lower conference looks like the Super Bowl.

 

[Marty Jackson]

I'm excited about the future, but even if Shirrefs comes back I don't think 7 wins is a realistic expectation.

I'd enjoy being wrong, but I think this is a 2-3 year rebuild.

That may be true.... But it feels different. you don't get the feeling the coaches aren't out to win each game.
I think Diaco got too caught up in winning his way. He would rather lose than give in.
That cost us a lot of games.

 

[uconndogs]

Diaco's recruiting scares the hell out of me. I really fear we have a whole bunch of size that doesn't run all that well. Sincerely hope I am wrong.

 

[noeynox]

Diaco's recruiting scares the hell out of me. I really fear we have a whole bunch of size that doesn't run all that well. Sincerely hope I am wrong.

I want to see what Skanes, Dixon, Herring, Hahn, etc look like. But yeah, he never impressed me either.

 

[Excalibur]

If you look at offers from other schools (including P5), the 2016 class was as good as any we've had. I just don't trust that Diaco had any clue when evaluating talent.

 

[BlueMAB]

I can understand that, but we should have been a 6 win team this year, so I am not looking at it as a true increase from 3 wins. Coaching literally cost us 3 games this year.

Right, but last year's team =/= next year's team.

Noel is gone. People thought Shirreffs was bad, what we got from DW was basically the worst QB play in the FBS. He could turn into a good player, but he's going to need time and much better coaching. Anything is possible, but I don't think we should expect to see that much improvement.

Size is good, speed is better. Hopefully Lashlee can bring in a dual threat QB with some speed to help move the chains.

 

[businesslawyer]

I'm excited about the future, but even if Shirrefs comes back I don't think 7 wins is a realistic expectation.

I'd enjoy being wrong, but I think this is a 2-3 year rebuild.

This is a multi-year rebuild, but 2017 is a bubble season, in that we have a lot of senior starters. If BS were to come back, we could have 7 senior starters on O (Shirreffs, Newsome, Bloom, Myers, Rutherford, Vachery and Hopkins) and 8 senior starters on D (Bell, Summers, Joseph, Levenberry, Diggs, Carrezola, Fatukasi and Ormsby). The '18 season will be when the rebuild starts, with all of them gone and HCRE's first full recruiting class being true freshman.

So while I don't doubt the seriousness of the rebuild to come, 2017 has to be where we get a taste of success and at least see 6 or 7 wins. If we have a QB, I think that is possible.

 

[BlueMAB]

This is a multi-year rebuild, but 2017 is a bubble season, in that we have a lot of senior starters. If BS were to come back, we could have 7 senior starters on O (Shirreffs, Newsome, Bloom, Myers, Rutherford, Vachery and Hopkins) and 8 senior starters on D (Bell, Summers, Joseph, Levenberry, Diggs, Carrezola, Fatukasi and Ormsby). The '18 season will be when the rebuild starts, with all of them gone and HCRE's first full recruiting class being true freshman.

So while I don't doubt the seriousness of the rebuild to come, 2017 has to be where we get a taste of success and at least see 6 or 7 wins. If we have a QB, I think that is possible.

Good points. I know he hasn't announced anything officially, but I won't believe BS is coming back until he says so. But IIRC those Seniors (depending on RS status) are on their 2nd or 3rd, HC, and 3rd or 4th OC/DC. It's hard to predict how they'll play in a new system on both sides with only this spring and summer to come together. Luckily, Edsall won't treat the first 3-4 games as pre-season.

I disagreed with playing Williams last year. Now that we have Lashlee, it's even worse. If Williams is going to come close to what Diaco said he could be it's probably in a system like Lashlee's; where he has a much better chance to show us what Diaco saw in him. Instead of 4 years with the new offense, he only gets 3.

-ing Diaco.

 

[MattMang23]

Good points. I know he hasn't announced anything officially, but I won't believe BS is coming back until he says so. But IIRC those Seniors (depending on RS status) are on their 2nd or 3rd, HC, and 3rd or 4th OC/DC. It's hard to predict how they'll play in a new system on both sides with only this spring and summer to come together. Luckily, Edsall won't treat the first 3-4 games as pre-season.

I disagreed with playing Williams last year. Now that we have Lashlee, it's even worse. If Williams is going to come close to what Diaco said he could be it's probably in a system like Lashlee's; where he has a much better chance to show us what Diaco saw in him. Instead of 4 years with the new offense, he only gets 3.

-ing Diaco.

If we get a grad transfer or a JC QB, can we just redshirt DW this year? I don't know that there is a rule that your redshirt year must be your Freshman year.

 

[FDNY99]

If we get a grad transfer or a JC QB, can we just redshirt DW this year? I don't know that there is a rule that your redshirt year must be your Freshman year.

They can redshirt DW if he doesn't play this year.

 

[whaler11]

This is how we end up in dark places mid-season.

Predicting 7 win seasons without even a clue of who the quarterback will be or if the offensive line can be more than marginally improved in one off season.

 

[businesslawyer]

This is how we end up in dark places mid-season.

Predicting 7 win seasons without even a clue of who the quarterback will be or if the offensive line can be more than marginally improved in one off season.

To be clear, I was not trying to make a prediction. I was trying to make the point that this was a somewhat unique situation for a rebuild in that (if we have a QB) we have a senior laden squad, with experience, where it may be much, much easier for a coach to win in year 1 than it will be to win in years 2 and 3.

 

[MattMang23]

They can redshirt DW if he doesn't play this year.

Good. That's what I thought. So, hopefully we can get a more experienced QB in here and give DW his lost year back.