Football today!

[Bezzz]

Who was the coach in the red shirt screaming at the defensive backs on the field all game? That guy was really into it!

 

[uconndogs]

Honestly, the D can’t be much worse than it was last season. They will also be faster at LB. Given the youth we will have to be patient.

The proto type recruiting of the last two coaching regimes is giving way to Edsal’s recruitment of athleticism and speed. Diaco really screwed the roster and it’s taking Edsal a couple of recruiting classes to fix it.

 

[huskysupporter]

Honestly, the D can’t be much worse than it was last season. They will also be faster at LB. Given the youth we will have to be patient.

The proto type recruiting of the last two coaching regimes is giving way to Edsal’s recruitment of athleticism and speed. Diaco really screwed the roster and it’s taking Edsal a couple of recruiting classes to fix it.

They can definitely be worse. People are talking about playing 3 freshmen in the dl rotation. That is not good at all.

I think the d will be horrendous again this year and then begin to play better the following year as Edsall recruits have been in program for a couple of years. There is definitely high end talent at some positions.

 

[uconndogs]

They can definitely be worse. People are talking about playing 3 freshmen in the dl rotation. That is not good at all.

I think the d will be horrendous again this year and then begin to play better the following year as Edsall recruits have been in program for a couple of years. There is definitely high end talent at some positions.

It will progress. We have been so god awful slow at LB and without a speed rusher for so long we have to make changes and live with the youth. I don’t think Diaco had a blessed clue what he was doing on the recruiting front.

 

[Palatine]

It will progress. We have been so god awful slow at LB and without a speed rusher for so long we have to make changes and live with the youth. I don’t think Diaco had a blessed clue what he was doing on the recruiting front.

And yet Diaco's defenses were better than the one Edsall put out there. Diaco only gave up 28 points per game, Edsall gave up a surreal 37. Diaco's D gave up less fewer YPG both rushing and passing. .It cannot all be blamed on Lashlee's offense. Last year's defense is the worse we have seen under any coach. One of the worst by any FBS team in the last few years.

This is not to say Diaco was a better coach. Just leave Diaco out of it. Edsall's D was worse, worse than anything that Diaco or Pasqualoni put out there.

Edsall and Crocker have done an awful job on their own. Is it the scheme? Will the players magically get it and the 3-3-5 becomes a fortress? Maybe. Is it the players? Two years ago Diaco had a team of similar players that held opponents under 20 points a game against basically the same competition.

We have never had a defense as bad as last year. And Edsall needs to own it -- and fix it.

 

[uconndogs]

The scheme has to be called into question. But, we had a senior laden front 6-7 last season that could not come close to pressuring a QB. Couple that with a bunch of young DBs and you have disaster. We are probably in for more of the same, but we will have a little more experience with the DBs.

Diaco’s recruiting was terrible. Under Edsall we will see more speed albeit probably smaller teams.

 

[Palatine]

The scheme has to be called into question. But, we had a senior laden front 6-7 last season that could not come close to pressuring a QB. Couple that with a bunch of young DBs and you have disaster. We are probably in for more of the same, but we will have a little more experience with the DBs.

Diaco’s recruiting was terrible. Under Edsall we will see more speed albeit probably smaller teams.

More speed would be great. But Edsall is responsible for the disaster last year. And if it doesn't get better this year, who else can you blame?

 

[dwalks93]

More speed would be great. But Edsall is responsible for the disaster last year. And if it doesn't get better this year, who else can you blame?

Stop....judging a new coach on anything less than 3 years is unreasonable.

When Coach Edsall took over, UConn football was a true rebuild and that means recruiting new players and coaching/building them up. Last year's defensive product was unacceptable but it also wasn't unexpected. Arguing Diaco (or some other coach) could have gotten more out of that group is just a straw man argument. Diaco's recruiting was getting worse every year so it stands to reason every year the team was going to get less talented...that is how a downward spiral works. Nick Saban could not make UConn's defensive talent look good...

If 3 years from now UConn's defense is still as bad then Coach Edsall is the cause. That means Coach Edsall is failing with players he recruited and coached up to play in his system...we may want it sooner but "want" has nothing to do with it.

 

[gopher2]

Best play I saw on D was a hard, well-timed hit by #28 that knocked the ball loose from a receiver who was in the process of securing it. We didn't see much of that last season. Linebackers at times got quick pressure on the QBs, another thing we seldom saw last year.

 

[uconndogs]

The D was a head scratcher last season in terms of the level to which it fell. Edsall does own the 335 and it has to progress.

That all said, I still maintain that Diaco recruited very poorly. It’s quite possible that none of his recruits will sniff the NFL. I think with Edsall you will see that change. I don’t see any way Edsall allows as to continue to have slow plodding LBs and he will find a way to get a speed rusher on the field.

He will also get RBs with good combinations of speed and size and we’re already seeing that with Mensah and Scott. We have been without a top notch back since Todman left for the NFL. Arkeel was serviceable, the rest could not play consistently at this level and were...........sloooowwwww..........

Honestly, I think next season is another slog with 2019 showing some light, albeit breaking in a new QB. Finally, what we’re seeing with Mensah and Washington sitting out for academics is Edsall sending a clear message regarding expectations. Neither P nor Diaco provided clear guidelines from what I could see. Diaco lost the team at the end of his last season because the kids realized he had a slight flaw.......he did not know how to coach. Benedict saved our bacon jettisoning him.

 

[hardcorehusky]

Enough about last year. The culture had to be rebuilt - guys who had played one way for 3 years couldn't grasp a new scheme. With the lack of talent, Crocker had no answers and couldn't run his defense.

I saw some good things in a glorified scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Scott looks to be a find at RB. Our tight ends will have mismatches on the inside and our receivers will find space outside. Buss looks like he has another level that we did not see last year.

When you breathe on the QB and they call the play dead, you can't really judge anything. Pass rush, pass protection, coverage, etc. No one on D was going to jack someone up and no one on O was going to pancake anyone. Overall, there appeared to be more athleticism on the O line, LB and safeties.

It was a fun day with friends, great weather and the Huskies.

 

[Chief00]

I was concerned about Crocker being a hiring mistake before yesterday and feel no better about it now. True, the talent is lacking except for a few but so is the fundamentals, intensity and scheme. Randy has hitched his cart to Crocker and I think it’s a major mistake.

 

[hardcorehusky]

I was concerned about Crocker being a hiring mistake before yesterday and feel no better about it now. True, the talent is lacking except for a few but so is the fundamentals, intensity and scheme. Randy has hitched his cart to Crocker and I think it’s a major mistake.

You can't judge Crocker until the players he has can grasp the scheme, let him build upon it and oh yeah, get the right players into it. He turned Villanova into an outstanding D so it isn't like he doesn't know his schemes or how to coach a D. Last year, the players did not "buy in" and the lack of talent forced him to do things like "play 10 yards off the ball" , something he never did at Nova.

Regarding his hire, name some bad assistant coach hires Randy has made when he was here before? Randy knows assistant coaches

 

[Woof 101]

Nobody tell this guy that the spring roster is available on the team’s website for the world to see.

Nobody tell Mr Occasionally Constructive that anyone who follows the team could spot multiple errors for the players class without looking up the real roster. Should they do that one would find 23 of the 71 players listed in the wrong class. Some off by 3 years. Not a good look for a world class university to hand out to the public.

It works fine for me! All that rooster information on one sheet.

Spent several years on a chicken farm in my youth. I found not one iota of rooster information on what was handed out.

 

[Stainmaster]

Nobody tell Mr Occasionally Constructive that anyone who follows the team could spot multiple errors for the players class without looking up the real roster. Should they do that one would find 23 of the 71 players listed in the wrong class. Some off by 3 years. Not a good look for a world class university to hand out to the public.


Spent several years on a chicken farm in my youth. I found not one iota of rooster information on what was handed out.

Ah yes, I'm sure a roster printout with incorrect class listing will be "great fodder for other teams to post for sure." This is definitely on other teams' radars.

 

[uconnphil2016]

And yet Diaco's defenses were better than the one Edsall put out there. Diaco only gave up 28 points per game, Edsall gave up a surreal 37. Diaco's D gave up less fewer YPG both rushing and passing. .It cannot all be blamed on Lashlee's offense. Last year's defense is the worse we have seen under any coach. One of the worst by any FBS team in the last few years.

This is not to say Diaco was a better coach. Just leave Diaco out of it. Edsall's D was worse, worse than anything that Diaco or Pasqualoni put out there.

Edsall and Crocker have done an awful job on their own. Is it the scheme? Will the players magically get it and the 3-3-5 becomes a fortress? Maybe. Is it the players? Two years ago Diaco had a team of similar players that held opponents under 20 points a game against basically the same competition.

We have never had a defense as bad as last year. And Edsall needs to own it -- and fix it.

Right, But Diaco never played with all of his own guys. PP at least recruited FBS players. Diacos defense was steadily declining each year, and was on its way to becoming one of the nations worst defenses if trends had continued

 

[Exit 4]

We are hitched to the 3-3-5 and Crocker and so, I have to have faith. No other choice here.

If they play the husky LB at the LOS, then the 3-3-5 becomes more name than substance. I’m expecting to see that this year.

 

[Palatine]

Stop....judging a new coach on anything less than 3 years is unreasonable.

When Coach Edsall took over, UConn football was a true rebuild and that means recruiting new players and coaching/building them up. Last year's defensive product was unacceptable but it also wasn't unexpected. Arguing Diaco (or some other coach) could have gotten more out of that group is just a straw man argument. Diaco's recruiting was getting worse every year so it stands to reason every year the team was going to get less talented...that is how a downward spiral works. Nick Saban could not make UConn's defensive talent look good...

If 3 years from now UConn's defense is still as bad then Coach Edsall is the cause. That means Coach Edsall is failing with players he recruited and coached up to play in his system...we may want it sooner but "want" has nothing to do with it.

So I shouldn't judge Scott Frost?

New coach came in. Put in new defense. Produced one of the wort defenses in program history. Nope. He doesn't get a pass.

 

[blue93]

Right, But Diaco never played with all of his own guys. PP at least recruited FBS players. Diacos defense was steadily declining each year, and was on its way to becoming one of the nations worst defenses if trends had continued

There’s no doubt the defense was trending towards what it is now under Diaco’s watch, he just didn’t have enough time to F it up on his own.

 

[Palatine]

There’s no doubt the defense was trending towards what it is now under Diaco’s watch, he just didn’t have enough time to F it up on his own.

Say what you want about Diaco it's all justified. However, I think he would have had a better defense last year with the same players than Edsall/Crocker. I find these attempts to excuse Edsall for last year's defense to be wishful thinking.

 

[BlueDogs]

Excellent summation pal. Couldn’t have been more spot on with your assessments. The defense definitely looked a tad slow flowing toward the ball. And when they arrived I didn’t see the ball carrier going backwards. I didn’t see the aggression that I had hoped to see. Milling about on the field seems like the defense might have been nervous or a bit apprehensive out there (game setting as opposed to practice). If so, that needs to change becaus the lights will be much brighter on Aug 30th with ESPN on the scene.
Pindell looked like he will be a headache in the field. His legs are very dangerous. O’Reilly reminded me a lot like Woodhead. Very shifty and hard to tackle. Between he and Pindell I see a lot of either short down and distance or first downs picked via the scramble. QB threw the ball well enough for me to surmise that we could be effective with several 4 minute or longer drives which should help things on the other side of the ball. We won’t be a one or two play score kinda team rather I can see a dink and dunk and scramble accented by an occasional big play to our WR’s kinda offense. Which I’m fine with. Running the read option with Pindell, O’Reilly and Scott will force the defense (ends and LB’s especially) to have to be very disciplined. Any bad reads or assignment busts could lead to big plays with our legs.
On the defensive side, the LB’s seemed ok. They all need to hit the weights throw spring and summer and get a bit more nasty and the point of attack.
The Secondary....after seeing what I saw, I believe the incoming freshman have a true opportunity to play if they come in with a plan of aggression. Too many low impact collisions and lots of hanging onto the backs of ball carriers and going for a bit of a ride. Again, like I’ve always maintained, when hungry freshman come in and start to challenge for time, it raises the level of competition amongst the group.
Swann and Co better be ready. There are some good looking and big DB’s coming in.
Finally, Fortt and Coyle held their own and look like they should have a good season if they stay healthy.
In two years, the defense will be one of the best in the conference with the experience. They’re still awfully young and a bit hesitant.
Can’t wait until all the players are together in the Summer. That’s when the true competition begins.

Right on.

 

[BlueDogs]

Bold mine. I got the impression that the defense was told not to blow anyone up. There were a number of occasions where a defender would arrive in a hurry and let up rather than deliver a big hit. So that is one less thing to worry about. There are plenty of other issues on the D.

Possible, but unless the lads get after it, they aren’t getting better. Other than QB nobody should be off limits. Back in my day, there would be some nasty fights breaking out as you went hard against your brothers. I was suprised at the lack of intensity at point of contact. The best way to teach and instill aggression is making it part of the team culture and it starts within the family.

 

[blue93]

Say what you want about Diaco it's all justified. However, I think he would have had a better defense last year with the same players than Edsall/Crocker. I find these attempts to excuse Edsall for last year's defense to be wishful thinking.

Of course it’s wishful thinking. Nobody is saying the defense was good last year. They were terrible. I just think it’s hard to lay the blame on Edsall and Crocker after one year of a new scheme with kids whose only other offers were from Little Sisters of the Poor.

If by the end of this year there isn’t any progress being made, I think it’s fair to start questioning the direction of the defense.

 

[Chief00]

Nobody tell Mr Occasionally Constructive that anyone who follows the team could spot multiple errors for the players class without looking up the real roster. Should they do that one would find 23 of the 71 players listed in the wrong class. Some off by 3 years. Not a good look for a world class university to hand out to the public.


Spent several years on a chicken farm in my youth. I found not one iota of rooster information on what was handed out.

LOL - Chief was referring to format not accuracy of player vital details - did not even look at that level of detail. Lighten up!

 

[uconndogs]

We are hitched to the 3-3-5 and Crocker and so, I have to have faith. No other choice here.

If they play the husky LB at the LOS, then the 3-3-5 becomes more name than substance. I’m expecting to see that this year.

This!

We have to find a way to get pressure and this is the only way I see it happening given the current personnel. Amazes me that Diaco recruited about a million DE/TE prototypes and none of them appears to have panned out.