Diaco to Arkansas As DC??? or Nebraska.

[#BleedBlueFam]

... and will get close to a $mil to do it.

Well at least we can confirm Bob Diaco did a great job hiring his agent

 

[huskymedic]

Well at least we can confirm Bob Diaco did a great job hiring his agent

Diaco's agent is one of the best in the business. Same agent w/ Bill Belichick, the Stoops brothers, Kirk Ferenetz, Bo Pelini, Pat Narduzzi, Kevin Wilson and Brett Belima among others.

 

[Confident Carl]

Arkansas seems like a cultural mismatch, but I guess if they keep him away from all microphones he could be alright. Nebraska otoh seems to make a heck of a lot of sense. A former B1G Player with recruiting ties throughout Big 10 Country would probably be an easy sell to their fan base.

Rhett Lashlee is a cultural mismatch for UCONN but if he can get our offense going, I don't care if he is from the planet Vulcan!

 

[FDNY99]

I dont know. The next 5 years will tell us if that is true. His recruiting philosophy for size/height vs speed and what he did with our defense this year which was loaded with returning players gives me plenty of pause.

He did just fine recruiting for ND. His "recruiting philosophy" as a DC is that of the HC he works for. Take off your jaded glasses you have on from him being HC here at UConn. He's gone..that era of UConn football is in the rearview mirror. Fact of the matter is he didn't win the Broyles Award in 2012 and was the DC for a ND team that went to the NC that year because he had nice hair. He is a good DC...and most likely that's his ceiling after what he did here at UConn as a HC.

 

[Exit 4]

He did just fine recruiting for ND. His "recruiting philosophy" as a DC is that of the HC he works for. Take off your jaded glasses you have on from him being HC here at UConn. He's gone..that era of UConn football is in the rearview mirror. Fact of the matter is he didn't win the Broyles Award in 2012 and was the DC for a ND team that went to the NC that year because he had nice hair. He is a good DC...and most likely that's his ceiling after what he did here at UConn as a HC.

And sometimes the system around you puts you in the right place at the right time and the coach gets to take credit it when it was the kids. Time will tell on Diaco's 2012 Broyles award. Jaded glasses, absolutely - because his 3 years with our defense was probably the most uninspired we have seen in 10 years.

 

[BlueDogs]

He did just fine recruiting for ND. His "recruiting philosophy" as a DC is that of the HC he works for. Take off your jaded glasses you have on from him being HC here at UConn. He's gone..that era of UConn football is in the rearview mirror. Fact of the matter is he didn't win the Broyles Award in 2012 and was the DC for a ND team that went to the NC that year because he had nice hair. He is a good DC...and most likely that's his ceiling after what he did here at UConn as a HC.

Not sure I can get there with you. His D was weak here and deteriorating. The test is working with non-4/5 star premium players. Speed and talent can cover a lot.

 

[FDNY99]

Not sure I can get there with you. His D was weak here and deteriorating. The test is working with non-4/5 star premium players. Speed and talent can cover a lot.

Yup I agree with you there..BUT he is looking at 2 jobs where he can get 4* and 5* star kids..1 a SEC school and the other a B1G school with NC history.

 

[FDNY99]

And sometimes the system around you puts you in the right place at the right time and the coach gets to take credit it when it was the kids. Time will tell on Diaco's 2012 Broyles award. Jaded glasses, absolutely - because his 3 years with our defense was probably the most uninspired we have seen in 10 years.

Hey Narduzzi won't the Broyles award too...so didn't Jeff Quinn. At the end of the day he is looking at a DC job at Arkansas a SEC school coached by a former teammate of his..and a B1G school with some pretty solid history as a football power with a few NC's to boot. Both are not in the AAC and both schools aren't on UConn's schedule.

 

[Jerry1714]

Not sure I can get there with you. His D was weak here and deteriorating. The test is working with non-4/5 star premium players. Speed and talent can cover a lot.

What star recruits go to Nebraska and Arkansas?

 

[FDNY99]

What star recruits go to Nebraska and Arkansas?

They get 4* and 5* kids...not many 5* but they do get them.

 

[ctchamps]

Not sure I can get there with you. His D was weak here and deteriorating. The test is working with non-4/5 star premium players. Speed and talent can cover a lot.

Could be he needs a certain talent level to start with to coach them up. Could also be that keeping the defense on the field because the offense can't maintain drives impacts defense. Could be that not scoring a lot changes the way you have to play a defense that you might not play. Could be that losing demoralizes the defense and you get less and less out of them each game. Particularly so if you know you (the defense) is doing your part and they (the offense) is not.

 

[Exit 4]

Hey Narduzzi won't the Broyles award too...so didn't Jeff Quinn. At the end of the day he is looking at a DC job at Arkansas a SEC school coached by a former teammate of his..and a B1G school with some pretty solid history as a football power with a few NC's to boot. Both are not in the AAC and both schools aren't on UConn's schedule.

I don't know what you are getting at. Lots of people win awards that are worthy and sometimes people win who aren't, particularly in coaching. for Diaco I am leaning towards the ladder.

There are 127 other FBS schools and Diaco is a young guy, of course he is going to get interviews and other opportunities. I haven't said otherwise. Anyone who has spent 10 minutes looking at college coaching bios will quickly learn that in this business you get a lot of opportunities...its on par with cats. Just look at Verducci, Cummings and Pasqualoni. Diaco has enough DC cred from Cincy and ND to trip and fall a couple more times. I'm just in the camp that tripping and falling again seems likely to me.

 

[FDNY99]

I don't know what you are getting at. Lots of people win awards that are worthy and sometimes people win who aren't, particularly in coaching. for Diaco I am leaning towards the ladder.

There are 127 other FBS schools and Diaco is a young guy, of course he is going to get interviews and other opportunities. I haven't said otherwise. Anyone who has spent 10 minutes looking at college coaching bios will quickly learn that in this business you get a lot of opportunities...its on par with cats. Just look at Verducci, Cummings and Pasqualoni. Diaco has enough DC cred from Cincy and ND to trip and fall a couple more times. I'm just in the camp that tripping and falling again seems likely to me.

I'm getting at this: as a DC he didn't trip and fall. As a HC he crashed and burned! You seem to think that his lack of success as a HC will translate back to what he will do as a DC when his track record in the past isn't true. Stop trying to compare what he did here as a head coach with what he did as a DC...you are comparing an apple to an orange! You do know that as a DC he works for the guy who hires him and there for takes on his recruiting philosophy and possibly gets input from said coach on his game plan or what is called in game.

 

[UConnJim]

Not sure I can get there with you. His D was weak here and deteriorating. The test is working with non-4/5 star premium players. Speed and talent can cover a lot.

Actually, we may not have liked the Diaco bend, but don't break style of defense, but, statistically, the defense was OK.

2016: Total defense 65th, Scoring defense 65th, Red Zone Scoring Defense 7th, Big plays > 20 yards 20th.

2015: Total defense 33rd, Scoring defense 15th, Red Zone Scoring Defense 7th, Big Plays > 20 yards 23rd.

2014: Total defense 50th, Scoring defense 86th, Red Zone Scoring Defense 84th, Big Plays > 20 yards 19th.

Where Diaco's defense really failed him was in takeaways. Look at these stats:

2016: 120th in takeaways
2015: 24th in takeaways
2014: 110th in takeaways.

At Notre Dame and Cincinnati, it was similar problem with takeaways:

2013: 103rd
2012: 48th
2011: 112th
2010: 36th
2009: 79th (Cincinnati)

Here are the UConn takeaway stats before Diaco:

2013: 40th
2012: 118th
2011: 10th
2010: 11th
2009: 32nd
2008: 42nd

Look at UConn's sack trend over time:

2016: 111th (Diaco)
2015: 94th (Diaco)
2014: 121st (Diaco)
2013: 109th (PP/TW)
2012: 29th (PP)
2011: 18th (PP)
2010: 49th (Edsall)
2009: 26th (Edsall)
2008: 38th (Edsall)


Bottom line is that the UConn defense became a passive, bend, but don't break defense under Diaco and it was somewhat effective, except the defense did not create turnovers which was costly. And, the defense was very boring to watch with few big plays. I hope Edsall brings back a more aggressive style of D.

 

[Exit 4]

You do know that as a DC he works for the guy who hires him and there for takes on his recruiting philosophy and possibly gets input from said coach on his game plan or what is called in game.

<--Bingo and hence my skepticism that he is in fact a stand out defensive coach. His prior success may have more to do with Brian Kelly and the kind of talent BK could bring in when his stock was on the rise. Time will tell, but in my opinion based on his three years here where is was the defacto DC, I am not convinced he is going to more than an avg DC in the future. And had he been left here to continue to load up on 235 lbs lanky hybrid DE/TEs, I'm not sure his defense would not have continued is downward slide.

Perhaps I should have clarified, I think its more likely he proves to be an avg DC going forward than above avg. Simple as that.

Final thought, I don't recall any standout players on the D being a Diaco's recruits. Haven't we been living off PP's players?

 

[FDNY99]

<--Bingo and hence my skepticism that he is in fact a stand out defensive coach. His prior success may have more to do with Brian Kelly and the kind of talent BK could bring in when his stock was on the rise. Time will tell, but in my opinion based on his three years here where is was the defacto DC, I am not convinced he is going to more than an avg DC in the future. And had he been left here to continue to load up on 235 lbs lanky hybrid DE/TEs, I'm not sure his defense would not have continued is downward slide.

Perhaps I should have clarified, I think its more likely he proves to be an avg DC going forward than above avg. Simple as that.

Well after 4 posts to finally clarify your stance I think you're wrong. SO we will agree to disagree.

 

[Exit 4]

Well after 4 posts to finally clarify your stance I think you're wrong. SO we will agree to disagree.

Exactly.

 

[BNich]

Actually, we may not have liked the Diaco bend, but don't break style of defense, but, statistically, the defense was OK.

2016: Total defense 65th, Scoring defense 65th, Red Zone Scoring Defense 7th, Big plays > 20 yards 20th.

2015: Total defense 33rd, Scoring defense 15th, Red Zone Scoring Defense 7th, Big Plays > 20 yards 23rd.

2014: Total defense 50th, Scoring defense 86th, Red Zone Scoring Defense 84th, Big Plays > 20 yards 19th.

Where Diaco's defense really failed him was in takeaways. Look at these stats:

2016: 120th in takeaways
2015: 24th in takeaways
2014: 110th in takeaways.

At Notre Dame and Cincinnati, it was similar problem with takeaways:

2013: 103rd
2012: 48th
2011: 112th
2010: 36th
2009: 79th (Cincinnati)

Here are the UConn takeaway stats before Diaco:

2013: 40th
2012: 118th
2011: 10th
2010: 11th
2009: 32nd
2008: 42nd

Look at UConn's sack trend over time:

2016: 111th (Diaco)
2015: 94th (Diaco)
2014: 121st (Diaco)
2013: 109th (PP/TW)
2012: 29th (PP)
2011: 18th (PP)
2010: 49th (Edsall)
2009: 26th (Edsall)
2008: 38th (Edsall)


Bottom line is that the UConn defense became a passive, bend, but don't break defense under Diaco and it was somewhat effective, except the defense did not create turnovers which was costly. And, the defense was very boring to watch with few big plays. I hope Edsall brings back a more aggressive style of D.

All stats aside, I agree with the bolded sentence for one reason, the offense wasn't effective enough to put up points and stay on the field which killed the defense. With an offense that could move the ball effectively, give the defense better starting field position and keep them off the field longer, the team could have performed better overall. With that said, I still can't believe this team didn't score a touchdown for over a month!

 

[Husky25]

Diaco's defense can work if it's not on the field all G.D. game. Diaco's downfall was his admitted weakness: The offense. If the O gained even a couple 1st downs on each drive, things would have probably been different.

 

[uconnphil2016]

Our D was fine, but using # of big plays as a stat to support that is bogus. Of course we didn't give up big plays, because 5-7 yard pass plays were always open for the taking. When your CBs are 10 yds off the ball it's tough to get beat deep.

 

[Bubba1957]

To me it is a simple as this:
1) you have to pressure the QB. Everyone they play are good enough to perform with no pressure, few are good enough to perform with pressure. If you can get that with a 3 or 4 man rush - great. If not, you need to do more. He was too stubborn to do that. I can think of so many games where shaking up the QB would have made a difference.
2)Our defenders played a very vanilla style. It allows the opponent practice for exactly what they will be seeing. No guessing where the Xs are going to be lined up or come from. To me, that is another terrible fault.
So I don't see how BD can be considered a good defensive coach. He might know a ton about technique and assignments. His players may have actually gotten better, but his game time calls seem to miss the obvious.

 

[Jax Husky]

Lots of new pants to buy...probably blue this time around.

You must not be real familiar with the colors of Arkansas and Nebraska, lol
In fact, maybe he's ONLY looking at schools where he can sport the red pants

 

[Jax Husky]

And i thought i was done with him.. They're is nothing but love for him on the arkansas boards.

Hog, as an LSU fan.....please please hire Diaco

 

[BNich]

You must not be real familiar with the colors of Arkansas and Nebraska, lol
In fact, maybe he's ONLY looking at schools where he can sport the red pants

I think that was part of the sarcasm. With UConn Blue he wore red pants, with Arkansas and Nebraska red/white a polar opposite would be blue.

 

[Jax Husky]

I think that was part of the sarcasm. With UConn Blue he wore red pants, with Arkansas and Nebraska red/white a polar opposite would be blue.

Whoosh.......



Right over my head