Manuel Tears into Football Team

[sportsart]

I'd prefer he be hands on and in tune with what's going on, than in his office pushing paper. This was and end of season talk, not a case of micromanagement.

Doesn't mean he feels P can't get the job done or hasn't gotten his message across, either. Though I'm sure after the discussion there was zero ambiguity for coaches and players about expectations for next season. And I'm ok with that.

I think you nailed it. My feeling is he obviously knew there were some unhappy players on offense early in the year that may have carried through the season.

He is also smart enough to figure out our offense was offensive and something had to be done.

My guess is he laid into the coaches, obviously responsible for the GDL move, laid into the players and said enough. Get it done and no more excuses.

I'm quite sure a big time college AD somewhere has done this before.

 

[freescooter]

yeah, that BC clown who disparages UConn every chance he gets is great!!

I said he gets it on the issue of the importance of football, not that he's great. He happens to be a total dope mostly. But he's right on this issue. Maybe its the broken watch thing.

 

[fortebleedsblue]

Worst part of the entire article was even hinting that people want Uconn to drop football in favor of Hocky and Womens scholarships. Talk about having your priorities screwed up.. but I would not put it past the state of CT to take the easy road and give up on something.

 

[BlueDogs]

Don't kid yourself, the "passion" Warde is feeling is a directly propotional to the heat be applied to his fat from fans, and that is good. Of course, play harder is not a plan, nor is maintaining status quo. This upcoming season is pivitol in the future of UConn football. Wins aganst great opponents changes the trajectory. Another dismal season and ...it gets uglier still, if thats possible.

 

[upstater]

I said he gets it on the issue of the importance of football, not that he's great. He happens to be a total dope mostly. But he's right on this issue. Maybe its the broken watch thing.

Football is important. But hockey is more important... M. DiMauro!

 

[ZooCougar]

He kept Pasqualoni. I think he will regret that in December. Next December he can chew his own ass.

 

[ZooCougar]

And for the record, I am glad he gave them that talk.

Everything is not fine and under control. Far from it. We're not looking at year three being the year "where it all comes together".

The players will have to win despite the head coach this next season.

 

[Carl Spackler]

I think you nailed it. My feeling is he obviously knew there were some unhappy players on offense early in the year that may have carried through the season.

He is also smart enough to figure out our offense was offensive and something had to be done.

My guess is he laid into the coaches, obviously responsible for the GDL move, laid into the players and said enough. Get it done and no more excuses.

I'm quite sure a big time college AD somewhere has done this before.

I think this is probably close to the truth. Whether or not it actually happened or not, none of us outside the facilities know, but the impression was repeatedly given that players had packed it in, or simply weren't putting in their best efforts day in and day out for some reason (#1 given was disliking the OC).

I remember getting frothy at the mouth at the suggestion myself, and I'm no fan at all of Deleone as an offensive coordinatr, but not liking a coach, is no reason not to perform as hard and best you can day in and day out.

I'm jsut a ticket buyer, never mind the AD for the school. I've got no problems with the AD laying into a team that underperformed (laying into both the coaches and players), and when you can go on the road and beat a Maryland and a Louisville, and you finished the season 5-7, that's underperforming.

Coaching changes have been made, new recruits are coming, and the returning players need to make sure they consistently repeat the efforts in those two road games, and don't repeat that kind of effort that went into losing the other games at home.

 

[upstater]

And for the record, I am glad he gave them that talk.

Everything is not fine and under control. Far from it. We're not looking at year three being the year "where it all comes together".

The players will have to win despite the head coach this next season.

These are still 20 year old kids. You don't put it on them to win "despite" the coach. This is a university. Manuel is an administrator. If any other administrator took that attitude, he'd be embarrassed. These kids are essentially the clients.

 

[jdb50]

Bravo Warde! Since this wasn't planned he must have been mulling this over and it came out because the opportunity was there. Screw the protocol or chain of command. This is no time for people to be comfortable with what has been happening. Since Warde has been around the block football wise he knows what it takes and hearing it from him should wake up anyone who was coasting last year. The players have got to play better for us to win more. It wasn't all just GDL.

 

[ZooCougar]

These are still 20 year old kids. You don't put it on them to win "despite" the coach. This is a university. Manuel is an administrator. If any other administrator took that attitude, he'd be embarrassed. These kids are essentially the clients.

Good grief.

 

[HuskyPete]

I think Warde stepped out of line. It's up to Warde to put pressure on the head coach and the head coach put pressure on the team. To me just just shows the great amount of pressure or the urgency in this man job. Think about it, the football program has taken three steps back (yes!!! I was there for the Notre Dame game) and look where we are today. I've had football season tickets since 1998 and I will tell you this is the lowest I felt about UConn football, but I will never give up my tickets because I know what we can become. We are a great state, we are winner's, we like to win, we win championships, we will keep winning championships, it's who we are and that's UCONN.

Now I'm all fired up, Good Night.

 

[Excalibur]

I'm not a huge fan of it, either, but the guy could cure cancer and a some people here would criticize him for contributing to the surplus population.

 

[UConn990411]

Didn't know Manuel was now the football coach......

I'm honestly wondering if this guy isn't completely in over his head. Very concerned..........

He talks, people are concerned. He doesn't saying anything, and people make "donuts" and "monitoring" jokes.

This board is certainly in over his head...with duck*ing idiots.

 

[HuskyPete]

He talks, people are concerned. He doesn't saying anything, and people make "donuts" and "monitoring" jokes.

This board is certainly in over his head...with duck*ing idiots.

Opinions are like A hole's...everyone has one.

 

[Bootsthemonkey]

These are still 20 year old kids. You don't put it on them to win "despite" the coach. This is a university. Manuel is an administrator. If any other administrator took that attitude, he'd be embarrassed. These kids are essentially the clients.

They're not kids. Please lose this mentality. They're adults playing division 1 football in front of thousands, receiving thousands of dollars in scholarships for a program that generates millions. If getting a talking to about your effort and what expectations are is too much to handle then leave. Give these student-athletes more credit than this. I'm sure they're tough enough to take it.

 

[upstater]

They're not kids. Please lose this mentality. They're adults playing division 1 football in front of thousands, receiving thousands of dollars in scholarships for a program that generates millions. If getting a talking to about your effort and what expectations are is too much to handle then leave. Give these student-athletes more credit than this. I'm sure they're tough enough to take it.

You're wrong on this. These are schools. You don't put the coach's and administrator's responsibilities on the players. It's the players' responsibilities to play their best and play their hearts out. What Manuel was talking about was something quite different. He's concerned with the program.

This is the new mentality in this country. People need constant assessment and passing the buck. Need to evaluate teachers? OK, have the kids tested. But what's in it for the kids? Nothing. They simply have to concentrate on their studies and on playing. That's it. Not on the circus pressuring Manuel.

 

[Jax Husky]

I will chime in that I think Warde is out of line addressing the team. He is the AD, not a coach. He has no business interacting with a team in particular, nor do I think he is really in the know. He can "speak to" coaches all he wants, but he is not one of them. To me, it is like the architect yelling at the electrician. That is the General Contractor's job. If the GC isn't doing his job, fire him.

ETA: Yes, his addressing the players directly does suggest to me that he may be in over his head.

 

[huskymedic]

How do we know ? The OP labeled it as "tears" into football team, WM called it a discussion and the article said it was a unplanned full throated monologue. Was this a mandatory meeting, a full team meeting, or an impromptu gathering?

I"m reserving judgement on appropriateness - to many unanswered questions on context. Couldn't have been that much of a deal since nobody else has reported in detail on it.

 

[UConnDan97]

How do we know ? The OP labeled it as "tears" into football team, WM called it a discussion and the article said it was a unplanned full throated monologue. Was this a mandatory meeting, a full team meeting, or an impromptu gathering?

I"m reserving judgement on appropriateness - to many unanswered questions on context. Couldn't have been that much of a deal since nobody else has reported in detail on it.

So I guess this statement is the thing that is giving me pause in typing my following comment. I'm just not sure how or to what level all of this went down.

Having said that, IF it was truly a tongue-lashing rather than a "yay, rah, rah," then it was completely out of line. If the AD believes that he has the right head coach, then let the head coach and the assistant coaches handle moments like this. If the AD believes that he does NOT have the right coach, then fire the coach and get someone who you believe is the right guy. But don't pretend to BE the coach...

 

[Adios]

Manuel was a football player coached by a legend. You think the players are not going to listen? Give me a break. Why the heck would people get paranoid about him talking to the football team? What hypersensitive fans we have.

 

[UConnDan97]

Manuel was a football player coached by a legend. You think the players are not going to listen? Give me a break. Why the heck would people get paranoid about him talking to the football team? What hypersensitive fans we have.

One has nothing to do with the other. Yes, we have hypersensitive fans. Yes, Warde was a football player coached by a legend. Perhaps, players will listen to him.

But here are a few questions. Does Warde believe that nobody on the coaching staff has conveyed the message that 5-7 isn't a good record? Does he believe that his saying it is somehow more effective than guys like Don Brown (past tense) or like Hank Hughes or Foley or any of the other assistant coaches? Does he believe that the Athletic Director should be the one to mix it up with the student-athletes instead of the guys that he's paying combined millions of dollars to?

I know that only Warde can truly answer those questions, so I'm not looking for you to do so...

 

[sportsart]

I expect a news conference on this matter from Susan Herbst in about 20 minutes.

The theme will be...."Stop all the hate"

 

[Adios]

Maybe this action is a product of a lack of confidence in PP's ability to motivate his own players.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Nobody knows what Warde said or didn't say in this 'speech'.

To sit here and make critical and declarative statements about his words to the team is pretty foolish.

If it was a motivational type thing, I am all for it, I guess.

If he really did 'chew' the team out, I'm sure it went in 1 ear and out the other. If I'm a 3 - 4 year player in this program, I don't give a what some 'Michigan Man' has to say to me about my commitment to UCONN Football.

Remember, the only investment Warde has in UConn is financial. It's not a life long commitment like we have as alumni and fans. He's only a UConn fan until the day they stop signing his checks. That's just a fact.