AAC Head Coaches 2018 Ranked

[Drew]

Ranking every football coach in the AAC from 1-12 ahead of the 2018 season

9 CONNECTICUT

Randy Edsall: It feels easy to forget that Edsall once took UConn to the Fiesta Bowl. Even though it was eight years ago, that still counts for something, right? Maybe a shred of hope of what the Huskies could be again some day? For now, though, Edsall is in full rebuilding mode and his last head coaching gig at Maryland was a disappointment.

 

[YoungFree]

Fair assessment IMO.

 

[Pudge]

I thought that article sucked.

PROGRAM? My opinion is that both Major Applewhite and Geoff Collins have proven nothing. They got a plum start … and based purely on what we saw and who they brought in as Staff, neither has risen beyond the predecessor in ANY component. Both, with a tougher building league, can be easily gobsmacked. I buy his assessment of Strong; I am high on Fritz; and think Dykes is a good fit for SMU. Norvell ain't lasting 5 years if he repeats 2017.

We have our work cut out for us; but I do trust in Edsall. I do not think Maryland ever was a good place for Randy. He tried to do his break them down to build them up magic … and he just had an awful first year. Lost the team (after happy days of Friedgen) and lost the Media (and therefore … had troubled fanbase). They had him climbing white knuckled from like the 4th game.

I expect both UCF and USF will be tough. For a long time. But … we can rise above Navy and Temple in this sector. We can be better than most. But … we have to suck it up as Fans. We won't ever feel for Tulsa or East Carolina like we felt for Pitt and Syracuse.

 

[Palatine]

I thought that article sucked.

PROGRAM? My opinion is that both Major Applewhite and Geoff Collins have proven nothing. They got a plum start … and based purely on what we saw and who they brought in as Staff, neither has risen beyond the predecessor in ANY component. Both, with a tougher building league, can be easily gobsmacked. I buy his assessment of Strong; I am high on Fritz; and think Dykes is a good fit for SMU. Norvell ain't lasting 5 years if he repeats 2017.

We have our work cut out for us; but I do trust in Edsall. I do not think Maryland ever was a good place for Randy. He tried to do his break them down to build them up magic … and he just had an awful first year. Lost the team (after happy days of Friedgen) and lost the Media (and therefore … had troubled fanbase). They had him climbing white knuckled from like the 4th game.

I expect both UCF and USF will be tough. For a long time. But … we can rise above Navy and Temple in this sector. We can be better than most. But … we have to suck it up as Fans. We won't ever feel for Tulsa or East Carolina like we felt for Pitt and Syracuse.

Breaking them down to build them up is a stupid strategy with a 9-3 team. It's why Edsall never succeeded at Maryland.

 

[Pudge]

I bow to the wisdom of the great Palatine (and you’re closer to College Park and the media articles). But I thought there was a good reason Friedgen was ousted.

Edsall? He never ever ever got traction. Gradually - I thought - he got a better staff and recruiting.

 

[Waquoit]

I bow to the wisdom of the great Palatine (and you’re closer to College Park and the media articles). But I thought there was a good reason Friedgen was ousted.

Edsall? He never ever ever got traction. Gradually - I thought - he got a better staff and recruiting.

We went to that Maryland game HCRE's 1st year. Even the shuttle bus driver was asking us to take him back with us.

 

[uconndogs]

Randy was brought in to clean up the program. He made a poor career move and was probably over the top on his typical disciplinarian approach. Following Friedgen with that strategy was at best high risk from a career perspective. He had to be hell bent on getting away from Hathaway, because there were better opportunities on the horizon.

 

[Palatine]

I bow to the wisdom of the great Palatine (and you’re closer to College Park and the media articles). But I thought there was a good reason Friedgen was ousted.

Edsall? He never ever ever got traction. Gradually - I thought - he got a better staff and recruiting.

I am a bit biased because I worked with Fridge's wife on a charity. But he had two big sins. One was he was very lax with the players and they were slacking academically and getting in a bit of trouble. And the second was he was a big, overweight, sloppy man. He wasn't really a very warm guy and he wasn't great with donors. Not exactly the image the school wanted.

But he was very good on the football side of things. He took over a program that sucked for over a decade and produce a consistent winner. His record had dipped and he had an awful season (2-10) before rebounding to 9-4 the year they fired him.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

Has Edsall ever commented on what happened at Maryland? Or what he learned?

It felt like his teams were getting good in years 2 and 3. He had a crazy amount of injuries at the qb position and never seemed to recover. Then it seemed like he lost the team.

Has he said why it went south? What he would do different?