Well, it's a full fledged disaster and it's only going to get....

[whaler11]

We suck at AWAY games.

As opposed to Towson, Maryland and USF?

 

[noeynox]

We suck at home games too.

 

[UConnDan97]

We're pretty good in practice...

 

[metsfan2323]

The difference is the players who were here in 2011 and 2012. Do people not get how good Gratz, Moore, BBW and Williams were last year. This talk is insanity.

If Don Brown were the mastermind he's purported to be here why the hell was he working for a doomed administration here and was only saved by Boston College.

So you are an Edsall left the cupboard bare guy too? You guys seem to be popping up everywhere these days. I think our coaching stinks.

How do you explain Smallwoods dropoff? No negative yardage plays from him this year. Whatever happened to Pruitt, does he play anymore? I seem to remember Willman actually making some plays last year behind the line, this year he is a complete dud. Jesse Joseph?? Who is that guy pretending to be Jesse Joseph? I thought Shamarr Stephen would be a beast this year, but nope just average. Our secondary can't tackle to save their life. But you don't think its coaching? It's all explained away as a dropoff in talent. All of Edsall's Seniors, Juniors, and Sophomores stink? Its all Randy's fault, No talent on this team?

 

[UConnDan97]

So you are an Edsall left the cupboard bare guy too? You guys seem to be popping up everywhere these days. I think our coaching stinks.

How do you explain Smallwoods dropoff? No negative yardage plays from him this year. Whatever happened to Pruitt, does he play anymore? I seem to remember Willman actually making some plays last year behind the line, this year he is a complete dud. Jesse Joseph?? Who is that guy pretending to be Jesse Joseph? I thought Shamarr Stephen would be a beast this year, but nope just average. Our secondary can't tackle to save their life. But you don't think its coaching? It's all explained away as a dropoff in talent. All of Edsall's Seniors, Juniors, and Sophomores stink? Its all Randy's fault, No talent on this team.

Nobody enjoys a good battle with Whaler like I do, but....this post is so crazy that I don't even know where to begin!

First, Smallwood is having a dropoff??? Are you insane? The man is #6 in the nation....not in the league, in the nation...in total tackles:

http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/individual/34

Second of all, his tackles not being for negative yards are due to the fact that we don't blitz anywhere near what we used to under Brown. That isn't a statistic that should shock you at all.
Third, Jesse Joseph.....did it ever occur to you that he might not have come back to what he was before his injury?
Fourth, Shamar Stephen is a beast and has been terrific against the run.
Fifth, the fact that our secondary can't tackle supports Whaler's argument more than it supports yours (Gratz, Blidi). You can't lose two lock-down NFL-caliber corners and expect that everything is going to be alright in the secondary.
Sixth, and finally....nowhere did Whaler say that Edsall left the cupboard bare. What he's saying is the defense lost four people to the NFL. Period. That's a huge loss. If you think that any defense can absorb a loss like that and be the same, you're out of your mind.

The worst part is that your post compelled me to defend Whaler....that's the worst travesty of this whole thing!!!

 

[metsfan2323]

Nobody enjoys a good battle with Whaler like I do, but....this post is so crazy that I don't even know where to begin!

First, Smallwood is having a dropoff??? Are you insane? The man is #6 in the nation....not in the league, in the nation...in total tackles:

http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/individual/34

Second of all, his tackles not being for negative yards are due to the fact that we don't blitz anywhere near what we used to under Brown. That isn't a statistic that should shock you at all.
Third, Jesse Joseph.....did it ever occur to you that he might not have come back to what he was before his injury?
Fourth, Shamar Stephen is a beast and has been terrific against the run.
Fifth, the fact that our secondary can't tackle supports Whaler's argument more than it supports yours (Gratz, Blidi). You can't lose two lock-down NFL-caliber corners and expect that everything is going to be alright in the secondary.
Sixth, and finally....nowhere did Whaler say that Edsall left the cupboard bare. What he's saying is the defense lost four people to the NFL. Period. That's a huge loss. If you think that any defense can absorb a loss like that and be the same, you're out of your mind.

The worst part is that your post compelled me to defend Whaler....that's the worst travesty of this whole thing!!!

So how do explain the disaster that is our defense then? You don't actually think we have a good defense do you? Our defense got ripped a new one by Buffalo and Towson among others.

I see two choices, either our talent stinks or the coaching stinks. Where do you stand?

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

So you are an Edsall left the cupboard bare guy too? You guys seem to be popping up everywhere these days. I think our coaching stinks.

How do you explain Smallwoods dropoff? No negative yardage plays from him this year. Whatever happened to Pruitt, does he play anymore? I seem to remember Willman actually making some plays last year behind the line, this year he is a complete dud. Jesse Joseph?? Who is that guy pretending to be Jesse Joseph? I thought Shamarr Stephen would be a beast this year, but nope just average. Our secondary can't tackle to save their life. But you don't think its coaching? It's all explained away as a dropoff in talent. All of Edsall's Seniors, Juniors, and Sophomores stink? Its all Randy's fault, No talent on this team?

I really don't understand your infatuation with Don Brown. We lost HALF of our defensive starters last year. I haven't heard one mention of Wirth in this thread yet. That kid played his of last year and created havoc in the middle. To talk about the dropoff in D and pretend it's because the DC left is just mind numbing.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

So how do explain the disaster that is our defense then? You don't actually think we have a good defense do you? Our defense got ripped a new one by Buffalo and Towson among others.

I see two choices, either our talent stinks or the coaching stinks. Where do you stand?

Here is how I explain it:

Wirth < Campenni
Trevardo < Anyone playing DE
Sio < Steward, Ashiru, Vann
BWW & Gratz < Mack, Jones, Williams
Jory Johnson < Ryan Donahue

This is not a knock on the current guys, but the guys who left were better by a mile. I mean come on now.

 

[FAIRTIDES]

"Black the color of dispair."

 

[UConnDan97]

So how do explain the disaster that is our defense then? You don't actually think we have a good defense do you? Our defense got ripped a new one by Buffalo and Towson among others.

I see two choices, either our talent stinks or the coaching stinks. Where do you stand?

This year's talent is nowhere near last year's. You can't lose 4 NFL players, along with Jory and Wirth, and think that everything is going to be okay. Especially since Stewart and Donohue have both had bouts with injury. Many of the players in their current positions are young (Obi, Jhavon, etc.). They will improve, no doubt. But they are not NFL-ready players right now. Period.

I feel like I am battling with you and UConnFamily once every three days over the very same subject. I know that you love Don Brown, but your worship of him doesn't make any sense whatsoever...

 

[metsfan2323]

I really don't understand your infatuation with Don Brown. We lost HALF of our defensive starters last year. I haven't heard one mention of Wirth in this thread yet. That kid played his of last year and created havoc in the middle. To talk about the dropoff in D and pretend it's because the DC left is just mind numbing.

So Edsall left the cupboard bare for you too aye?

I thought Don Brown coached up Wirth and Gratz. Nobody gets coached up anymore. Wirth had a much better year last year than Stephen is having this year. Not even close.

 

[metsfan2323]

and a bunch of Trevardo sacks were scheme sacks where Brown would overload his side and Trevardo would get to the QB untouched, have we schemed any sacks this year? Brown helped make Trevardo a better player too.

and if Sio were on this year's team he would not have any sacks, because as Dan said, we don't Blitz anymore.

Our coaching stinks!

 

[UConnDan97]

and a bunch of Trevardo sacks were scheme sacks where Brown would overload his side and Trevardo would get to the QB untouched, have we schemed any sacks this year? Brown helped make Trevardo a better player.

I just don't know how to simplify this thing any more than Jimmy did, but here goes:

Blitz + man-to-man coverage with Blidi and Dwayne = "scheme sack"

Blitz + man-to-man coverage with current DB's = UConn vs. Cincinnati, 2013

 

[whaler11]

So how do explain the disaster that is our defense then? You don't actually think we have a good defense do you? Our defense got ripped a new one by Buffalo and Towson among others.

I see two choices, either our talent stinks or the coaching stinks. Where do you stand?

Both.

 

[ruskin]

For all the people ripping Brown go to wherever you look at past games and watch the 2013 defense pre-snap. Once they line up THEY DONT MOVE. There's no attempt to disguise anything. Stunned that HH would totally throw out the DB philosophy

 

[whaler11]

So Edsall left the cupboard bare for you too aye?

I thought Don Brown coached up Wirth and Gratz. Nobody gets coached up anymore. Wirth had a much better year last year than Stephen is having this year. Not even close.

Edsall left all the draft picks and Smallwood. I don't know how his last classes would have turned out if he stayed.

He didn't leave a QB. But rarely had one when he was around anyway and still got bowl eligible 6 years out of 8.

Your conclusion that anyone is saying he left the cupboard bare is the exact opposite.

 

[metsfan2323]

Both.

Good, we both agree our coaching stinks.

 

[huskymedic]

Wirth had a much better year last year than Stephen is having this year. Not even close.

We've been down this road for SS. Compare the stats.

Wirth through first 7 games last year - 12 solo tackles, 31 asst tackles, total tackles 33, 5.5 TFL and .5 sacks
Stephens through first 7 games this year - 14 solo tackes, 31 asst tackles, total tackles 34, 5 TFL and 1 sack.

I'm not taking a swipe @ Wirth by any mean. He was an under recognized player last year and had a great remaining season picking up 2 more sacks and 4.5 TFL. I just think that Stephens is more than holding his own in a comparison.

 

[freescooter]

I'm really not sure that this has to be an either-or situation. Brown was a better defensive coordinator than Hughes, but he also had a number of very good player. their replacements are not as good though some (Obi for example) might reach that level eventually. We clearly don't have the same quality at certain positions that we had the last few years, but that doesn't mean guys we do have are being coached in a way to get the maximum from their talents. Coaching on this team has been a disaster. And while it made sense to make a change, it didn't really address the let's call them technical problems. It also doesn't help when the head coach says he doesn't know much about defense so he leaves it to the DC. But that is what happens when the coach is fired mid season.

 

[whaler11]

Good, we both agree our coaching stinks.

There is not a single person on Earth that disagrees with that. Well may srqhusky is the last holdout.

 

[metsfan2323]

Brown was a better defensive coordinator than Hughes,

There are a number of people who don't want to admit that or do so reluctantly. I have no idea why because it is so obvious.

 

[ruskin]

I just don't know how to simplify this thing any more than Jimmy did, but here goes:

Blitz + man-to-man coverage with Blidi and Dwayne = "scheme sack"

Blitz + man-to-man coverage with current DB's = UConn vs. Cincinnati, 2013

Didn't see a whole lot of blitzes in that or any other game

 

[whaler11]

There are a number of people who don't want to admit that. I have no idea why because it is so obvious.

Can you name one?

 

[metsfan2323]

Can you name one?

"If Don Brown were the mastermind he's purported to be here why the hell was he working for a doomed administration here and was only saved by Boston College"

- Whaler11

"I know that you love Don Brown, but your worship of him doesn't make any sense whatsoever..."

- Whaler11

 

[UConnDan97]

"If Don Brown were the mastermind he's purported to be here why the hell was he working for a doomed administration here and was only saved by Boston College"

- Whaler11

"I know that you love Don Brown, but your worship of him doesn't make any sense whatsoever..."

- Whaler11

The second one was mine, I think. And there should be a healthy distance between love and worship...