UConn Press Conference (Tuesday 9/2) Quick Hits

[noeynox]

I walked away from the BYU GAME thinking Newsome and Ron Johnson, are probably deserving of the majority of the snaps. Diacos comments sort of confirm that. I think Marriner and Delorenzo are also talented.

Newsome, looks like he could be special. We've had some really good backs, this kid looks like a real threat with ball. Hope he can withstand the pounding.

 

[Vowelguy]

Winning, if it does not follow the process, does not appear to be a good thing for him.

I believe most great coaches would agree with that statement.

I don't know if you've followed Geno, but he is very clear that he is expecting his players to play the "right" way, and he is going to drill it into them until they do. The score is secondary.
I saw a 60 minutes profile of Saban, and was struck by how his statements were almost identical to the things I've heard Geno say for years.

 

[businesslawyer]

I believe most great coaches would agree with that statement.

I don't know if you've followed Geno, but he is very clear that he is expecting his players to play the "right" way, and he is going to drill it into them until they do. The score is secondary.
I saw a 60 minutes profile of Saban, and was struck by how his statements were almost identical to the things I've heard Geno say for years.

Gene Hackman in Hoosiers. Just sayin ....

 

[J187Money]

06029 says something

BL shoots back

06029 shoots back about "ad hominem" attacks

BL tells him to look it up

06029 says BL didn't attack him

Is anyone else lost?

 

[Vowelguy]

Until Diaco establishes winning as priority #1, for now, the goal and top priority he has established is "improvement".

Question:
Suppose that Cochran and 4 other key players clearly violated team rules and Diaco suspended them, would you be upset?

If not, why not? I mean, by suspending them, the team would likely lose, thus showing that winning was not priority 1 for Diaco.

Or would you agree that for long term success, the coach sometimes has to focus on learning and development over near-term wins?

 

[junglehusky]

Burning the 2 OL redshirts was definitely a premeditated move on the coaching staff (this year). Redshirts are sometimes a luxury, one that we don't have right now.

 

[sdhusky]

There are a lot of things you can criticize me for. But over the years I admit to being wrong as much as any regular poster here. (Which means that on a percentage basis I must do it much more frequently. )

Its nice to see you have something to "apologize for" and are back with the coaching apologista's team.

Thanks for the view from...

 

[businesslawyer]

06029 says something

BL shoots back

06029 shoots back about "ad hominem" attacks

BL tells him to look it up

06029 says BL didn't attack him

Is anyone else lost?

Yes. But I was/am perfectly willing to let it go.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

This is going to be some year. Perhaps, even fun.

 

[freescooter]

Don't apologize Carl, the past is relevant in so far as it defines the present. I will add to this conversation the observation that our discussion at this point is all about HCBD and his process (minus a little qb talk which is the standard background noise in here). It's a nice 180 from "not my fault, the players suck."

I'm not so sure that Diaco's line is that much different from "not my fault, the players suck." He just says it like some over caffeinated MBA student. I'm inclined to agree with him FWIW. But I don't like his "exhibition game" approach.

 

[Excalibur]

If we're still playing 2 QB's come end of September, and claiming victories by having 50+ players getting game time reps, then I will be perplexed, to say the least. For now, I get it. I don't agree with it, but I get it.

Exactly where I am at this point.

 

[Excalibur]

I'm not so sure that Diaco's line is that much different from "not my fault, the players suck." He just says it like some over caffeinated MBA student. I'm inclined to agree with him FWIW. But I don't like his "exhibition game" approach.

He's not the first coach to take that approach. As someone pointed out, Nick Saban did it in his first year at Alabama, where they lost to Louisiana-Monroe. He just may be one of the first to be so open about it.

 

[Dogged]

06029 says something

BL shoots back

06029 shoots back about "ad hominem" attacks

BL tells him to look it up

06029 says BL didn't attack him

Is anyone else lost?

06029 just wanted to say "ad hominem."

 

[Husky25]

He's not the first coach to take that approach. As someone pointed out, Nick Saban did it in his first year at Alabama, where they lost to Louisiana-Monroe. He just may be one of the first to be so open about it.

Not only that, but the non-conference schedule for UConn was typically FCS, MAC, Low-end BCS conference (Kentucky, NCSt, WF, Iowa St. etc.), in that order. It didn't hurt UConn to play a large number of players. Now UConn is the cupcake and a first year coach has little depth and doesn't know exactly which combinations work the best under fire. I'm willing to give Diaco a few games in year 1, while still going at least 6-6 and a bowl game, provided if he goes in the area of 10-4 with a conference championship and NYD6 bowl appearance for the next 4 years.

It happens in basketball all the time. Calhoun's bench was routinely 10-11 deep in November/December and then it shortens to 7-8 when the Conference schedule starts.

 

[freescooter]

He's not the first coach to take that approach. As someone pointed out, Nick Saban did it in his first year at Alabama, where they lost to Louisiana-Monroe. He just may be one of the first to be so open about it.

Here's the thing...Saban had won a national championship 2 years earlier at LSU and turned the Michigan State program around. That sort of gives you, oh I don't know, maybe a bit more credibility perhaps. And as for winning the right way, I take most of that as coachspeak. Top notch coaches like Saban and Geno say that stuff because they need to have some reason to keep after their players. It also helps them to maintain their "mystique" so to speak. But give them a choice of winning a national championship playing the "wrong" way and losing it playing the "right" way, and I guarantee that to a man they would take the win. Oh, and for what its worth, Saban's first year at Alabama he was 6-6 and won the first 3 games he coached, and upset the #16 team in the country in game 3 and the #20 team in the country. I don't think his approach was quite the same somehow.

 

[businesslawyer]

Exactly where I am at this point.

FWIW, that's about where I am. There is a difference between liking something and being willing to accept and understand it. I accept and understand it. It is not what I preferred either. I just think that it's unfair to treat a debatable strategy as if it's just dumb.

 

[businesslawyer]

Here's the thing...Saban had won a national championship 2 years earlier at LSU and turned the Michigan State program around. That sort of gives you, oh I don't know, maybe a bit more credibility perhaps. And as for winning the right way, I take most of that as coachspeak. Top notch coaches like Saban and Geno say that stuff because they need to have some reason to keep after their players. It also helps them to maintain their "mystique" so to speak. But give them a choice of winning a national championship playing the "wrong" way and losing it playing the "right" way, and I guarantee that to a man they would take the win. Oh, and for what its worth, Saban's first year at Alabama he was 6-6 and won the first 3 games he coached, and upset the #16 team in the country in game 3 and the #20 team in the country. I don't think his approach was quite the same somehow.

Somehow, I'm willing to guess that the difference between the Bama roster Saban inherited and the UConn roster HCBD inherited is greater than the difference between the philosophies that they brought with them. Seriously, you need to do better than comparing us to Alabama.

 

[sdhusky]

Here's the thing...Saban had won a national championship 2 years earlier at LSU and turned the Michigan State program around. That sort of gives you, oh I don't know, maybe a bit more credibility perhaps.

The fact that you are don't like this AND you have a track record of being the dumbest, stupidest, worst idiot moron when it comes to coaches makes me think Diaco is fine.

Why don't you go back to complaining about why Ollie isn't the right guy?

 

[Husky25]

Somehow, I'm willing to guess that the difference between the Bama roster Saban inherited and the UConn roster HCBD inherited is greater than the difference between the philosophies that they brought with them. Seriously, you need to do better than comparing us to Alabama.

Mike Shula also wasn't tire fire. He had a winning record over his 4 years at 'Bama and he was fired just before the Independence Bowl. Saban had a tad more to work with and he still lost to UL-M his first year.

 

[Husky25]

Oh and for the record, Rich Rodriquez turned 'Bama down. Saban was 2nd choice.

 

[freescooter]

Not only that, but the non-conference schedule for UConn was typically FCS, MAC, Low-end BCS conference (Kentucky, NCSt, WF, Iowa St. etc.), in that order. It didn't hurt UConn to play a large number of players. Now UConn is the cupcake and a first year coach has little depth and doesn't know exactly which combinations work the best under fire. I'm willing to give Diaco a few games in year 1, while still going at least 6-6 and a bowl game, provided if he goes in the area of 10-4 with a conference championship and NYD6 bowl appearance for the next 4 years.

It happens in basketball all the time. Calhoun's bench was routinely 10-11 deep in November/December and then it shortens to 7-8 when the Conference schedule starts.

H25,
I get what you are saying, but I disagree on the Saban comparison. He won his first 3 games including an upset over the #16 ranked team in the country. His problems actually came later as his depth wasn't there. and the basketball analysis is really faulty for a few reasons. First is 30 games vs 12. Second is that you approach games with big teams differently than you do games with Stony Brook. Yeah, Calhoun's bench was very long against Stony Brook. Against say Texas, not so much. When you play name teams you don't screw around. the benefit of beating BYU would have gone beyond anything we gained by "getting better" and losing by 25 points. Now I'm not saying we could have beaten them. But we didn't even try. That is what frosts me.

 

[Palatine]

What on earth does he see in Whitmer? Nice kid, but he melts when there is a pass rush. That should have been obvious to Diaco on Friday.

 

[freescooter]

Mike Shula also wasn't tire fire. He had a winning record over his 4 years at 'Bama and he was fired just before the Independence Bowl. Saban had a tad more to work with and he still lost to UL-M his first year.

Actually Shula was a tire fire. Alabama had scandals, had to vacate a bunch of wins from his tenure and on top of all that he was 0-4 against Auburn. Even without the vacted wins he only had 1 winning season.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

What on earth does he see in Whitmer? Nice kid, but he melts when there is a pass rush. That should have been obvious to Diaco on Friday.

I dunno, what do people on the board see in Cochran? At least Whitmer didn't throw any picks. Not that I'm saying Whitmer is great but one of the things we've been hammering home is not making bad turnovers, which is exactly what Cochran did.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Don't apologize Carl, the past is relevant in so far as it defines the present. I will add to this conversation the observation that our discussion at this point is all about HCBD and his process (minus a little qb talk which is the standard background noise in here). It's a nice 180 from "not my fault, the players suck."

I agree. I've written it a few times here and there in the past few days, but again, now, that the team had every opportunity to crumble and cave in mentally, emotionally, in that BYU game, but they didn't. That in and of itself, is the major triumph that Diaco has achieved, and already puts us way, way far ahead of where we were in the past 3 seasons. Maintaining that, is priority #1 (it's a lot easier to maintain, when you're winning actual games though!!!)

I don't buy that the game was not winnable, that we were overmatched, and that's what gets so annoying for me - at least - we lost because we made mental errors, turned the ball over, early and dug ourselves in a big hole, and lacked consistency in the basic fundamentals of sound blocking and tackling, as individuals and as a team. Basics. It's that - about this 'process' program we are labeled at right now that gets me - I want to be labeled as a 'winning' program, and you only do that by winning games, and you do that by having the kind of foundation that Edsall built on disciplined, hard nosed fundamental football, and I just don't see how we can practice that way, with the max reps for max # of players plan we are running right now. I would agree that long term success is more important than short term success, but there has to be a balance.

I won't let myself have that opinion about any opponent - yet, that we are over matched physically too much to have a chance, the opinion that we are not physically able to match up and compete for a win? I don't buy it.

Talk to me after Stony Brook about that, though.