Assistant coaching news...

[PUPPY4]

ok. this makes sense. but still, this guy doesnt seem like the real deal as far as an OC is concerned. I think i'm afraid because of the similarities to GDL. me.
Can someone please re-inflate the bubble here and give us some reason why this guy will kick some and get this offense steam rolling opponents?

Quick, cover your necks!!

 

[FDNY99]

I just got back from taking my dog for a walk before heading to the firehouse...while I was out I got to thinking about the Cummings and Patterson hires. Now I am not bowled over by the Cummings hire what so ever but I did think about this. What if Patterson with his vast OC/HC experience and Asst HC title was in the box helping with play calling like HH did for TO when HH was Asst HC for D and TO was DC under Edsall. It does make sense some what. All I know is this...whom ever Diaco hires has to be able to sell UCONN and the football program on the recruiting trail better than the last group that was here. If they can't do that then it doesn't matter who is in what position under Coach D because things won't get any better.

 

[Husky25]

ok. this makes sense. but still, this guy doesnt seem like the real deal as far as an OC is concerned. I think i'm afraid because of the similarities to GDL. me.
Can someone please re-inflate the bubble here and give us some reason why this guy will kick some and get this offense steam rolling opponents?

There is only one "Coach" Deleone. Is that good for you?

 

[FDNY99]

You don't have to hire coordinators, you hire position coaches and promote them to Coordinators.

Like Tuberville did with Eddie Gran

 

[sportsart]

You don't have to hire coordinators, you hire position coaches and promote them to Coordinators.

So in other words you want an unproven coach to move up and hope he does well, yes? The next tailgate I see you at I will tell you this. You are out of your mind!

There is too much risk involved and we can not afford to fail. While an experienced OC or DC can certainly fail, at least they've been there already.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

So in other words you want an unproven coach to move up and hope he does well, yes? The next tailgate I see you at I will tell you this. You are out of your mind!

There is too much risk involved and we can not afford to fail. While an experienced OC or DC can certainly fail, at least they've been there already.

As if he hasn't heard that at any tailgate before...........

 

[FDNY99]

I don't think a lot of them know yet, being home for break and all.
And I don't think they look up a coaches background, they go by personal interaction.
But HC Diaco got the thimbs up.

That must have been like night and day compared to what they were used to under P and GDL

 

[FDNY99]

In other news...Edsall looking for new OL coach:
@testudotimes
Offensive line coach Tom Brattan, the longest tenured coach on the #Terps' staff, will not be retained http://sbn.to/JpYLGp

Could he reach out to Foley and possibly test the waters?

 

[Carl Spackler]

For the love of Terry Caulley will everyone please CALM THE DOWN?

Why Terry Caulley? just wondering.

 

[HawkHusky]

You guys are crazy. It's not that Diaco is hiring only MAC guys..he's hiring guys that he or his staff have history with. These are coaches that HCBD has trust in and thinks can come together to build the program. I'd rather have a well-gelled staff than some wildcard OC from a P5 conference. We already got our big-time hire from a major program. His name is UCONN Head Coach Bob Diaco.

 

[huskymedic]

I just got back from taking my dog for a walk before heading to the firehouse...while I was out I got to thinking about the Cummings and Patterson hires. Now I am not bowled over by the Cummings hire what so ever but I did think about this. What if Patterson with his vast OC/HC experience and Asst HC title was in the box helping with play calling like HH did for TO when HH was Asst HC for D and TO was DC under Edsall. It does make sense some what. All I know is this...whom ever Diaco hires has to be able to sell UCONN and the football program on the recruiting trail better than the last group that was here. If they can't do that then it doesn't matter who is in what position under Coach D because things won't get any better.

Poor dog probably wanted to just take a nap...

FWIW from an article I read back when he was hired @ CMU: "Based on the players that Mike Cummings recruited at Marshall, it looks like we might have a foothold in the great state of Alabama. 42% of the players Cummings recruited at Marshall were from Alabama. Western Pennsylvania and Florida also seem to be strong areas for Cummings."

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Why Terry Caulley? just wondering.

Why not?

 

[HuskyHawk]

Everybody calm down. We don't know how good a coach this guy is. We know less and can tell less from his record, than people in the game like HCBD. We have a young coach who needs to win to achieve his goals here and beyond. He's not going to just hire bad coaches.

As for records, go back and look at Bill Belichick with the Browns. His defense gets better every year up to #1 in points against, and then drops in 1995. His D coordinator in the three years before 1995...Nick Saban. By the way, Jim Schwartz was on the staff as well, along with Mangini and Al Groh at various times. But essentially it was one good year in four...and he was dumped. I point this out to show only that team performance isn't always indicative of coaching ability, the players matter a lot. Central Michigan has to recruit in the MAC, and against MSU and Michigan, plus everybody else in the B1G. It is not an easy place to find offensive talent.

 

[BlueDogs]

You don't have to hire coordinators, you hire position coaches and promote them to Coordinators.

True. Good point. It would be nice if they would spend up selectively, but HCBD has got the rope until he either hangs himself with it or rounds up a great staff. I think he has the energy and smarts to put together something pretty special. We just need to let it play out.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Why not?

Well, for the love of Ed Long, or Wilbur Gilliard, or Andre Dixon I guess. I don't see why Terry gets the point on this. For the love of a UCONN running game Jimmy - that's why.

 

[The Viking]

If Diaco is truly given free reign to bring in the guys he wants and money is not an issue, than I have no qualms with any of it. Diaco will live or die by the coaches he brings in to help recruit and coach. Just like any other coach.

I will assume and hope that money for assistants for his staff is not an issue because it would be INCREDIBLY short-sighted of Warde, Susan and the University to skimp at a time where it is of the UTMOST importance to put together the best staff possible.

So I'm going into these hires with positive assumptions that money is not an issue for Diaco bringing in the guys he wants. Because so help me god....especially since Diaco himself is making the same or less than PP. It's not like we're paying him the rumored 2 mil and upwards that we were willing to give a Narduzzi..if reports and Warde's own comments about his financial flexibility going into the search are to be believed.

 

[06029]

You guys are crazy. It's not that Diaco is hiring only MAC guys..he's hiring guys that he or his staff have history with. These are coaches that HCBD has trust in and thinks can come together to build the program. I'd rather have a well-gelled staff than some wildcard OC from a P5 conference. We already got our big-time hire from a major program. His name is UCONN Head Coach Bob Diaco.

The issue is that Diaco has never been the head coach and this is his first time putting together a staff. Now he may know, like and trust these people. They may be wildly successful as a staff together. Or, it could go the other way. But, on face value alone, if Cummings is true as OC, it has some hollowness to it and certainly is not the splash people wanted. But check the thread below about Cummings from the Chips message board. And the hire from ND, a GA is not the same as hiring a position coach from ND.
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=340&f=2793&t=12461809

 

[tduconn]

I'm not as excited with some of these coaches being named, with a lot being from the lower level BCS programs. A good recruiting coordinator from a MAC team means he excelled at getting good MAC type talent. The question becomes, can any of them recruit the athlete needed for a former BCS caliber team.

Probably wouldn't get a P5 coordinator to come to UConn as a coordinator.....it would be a major step down. As some have suggested, P5 coordinators are looking to move into HC positions.

However, why wouldn't a P5 position coach succeed as a coordinator at UConn's level. Uconn has taken a chance (twice) of coordinators succeeding at HC positions. One was RE, who did o.k.......the other is BD.....whose story is yet to be written. Why can't a position coach with drive succeed at the next level.

Compare this to movement in the business world. When a person has been a mid level manager for a long time and is given a chance to a senior management position, if he was paying attention to his bosses, he learned a lot to help guide him to success at a higher level. If he has the desire to succeed at the next level....he will do o.k.

As an alternative perspective, sometimes when upper management moves laterally between firms, they find out they are not as good as they thought.

We've also experienced this at UConn.........I think his initials were PP.

Back to my first premise, I would have liked it better if BD was able to grab a P5 position coach who had the experience at a P5 level, and came with a desire to succeed at the next level in the coaching ladder.

Same as BD.......coordinator at P5 to a HC........with a desire to succeed.

 

[BlueMAB]

If these rumors are true, and the hiring trends continue, it looks like Diaco is mixing together young guys, with some very experienced support staff as positional coaches. I like it.

 

[johnhuskies95]

Chippewas Total Offense
2013- 108th
2012- 64th
2011- 57th

http://www.cfbstats.com/2013/leader/national/team/offense/split01/category10/sort01.html

HCBD should of hired an OC that's been at least in the top 25 offensively for a few years.

Sorry, but those guys aren't going to a team that hasn't shown to be any better than an average AAC school over the last few years.

 

[noeynox]

I dont get the boards angst over the hires. Diaco knows what is at stake, his job. Pretty sure he is hiring the best people he feels could help him win given all the circumstances including the budget. Would like to see Foley kept as Oline coach.

 

[CTMike]

I dont get the boards angst over the hires. Diaco knows what is at stake, his job. Pretty sure he is hiring the best people he feels could help him win given all the circumstances including the budget. Would like to see Foley kept as Oline coach.

Way too logical, not enough panic.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I realize that this may be an extremely radical position but I am actually willing to wait to see some results before praising or condemning the hires that have been rumored and/or announced.

I remember when Jim Fassel took over as HC for the Giants. I was quite disappointed in his choice of DC, a guy named Fox who was part of a Raiders' staff that hadn't done a lot with what they had to work with. He ended up being the best of the assistants on the Giants' staff from day one and was the first to move on to a head coaching position. Another one of Fassel's first hires, Sean Payton, began as QB coach and was promoted within a couple of years to OC, only to have play calling duties taken away from him very shortly after gaining the OC title. Today who would most here prefer calling offensive plays for their team, Fassel or Payton?

I don't know what Diaco has planned for these coaches and I don't know what any are capable of doing within the constraints that Diaco will place on them. I do know that it is possible that the (now former) CMU coach may well end up with OC duties and the privilege of calling his own plays and I believe that it is possible that he may be a bit better at calling plays than his boss at CMU was.

As far as what we are going to pay the assistants, I realize that we will in no way, shape or form will have the budget of most P-5 schools, I do have very good reason to believe that we have not been bargain hunting either. I will be surprised (and disappointed) if we don't begin spring practive with the highest paid set of assistants ever at UConn and I fully believe that what we will be paying each member of the staff will be both fair and competitive.

 

[Carl Spackler]

I'm not as excited with some of these coaches being named, with a lot being from the lower level BCS programs. A good recruiting coordinator from a MAC team means he excelled at getting good MAC type talent. The question becomes, can any of them recruit the athlete needed for a former BCS caliber team.

Probably wouldn't get a P5 coordinator to come to UConn as a coordinator.....it would be a major step down. As some have suggested, P5 coordinators are looking to move into HC positions.

However, why wouldn't a P5 position coach succeed as a coordinator at UConn's level. Uconn has taken a chance (twice) of coordinators succeeding at HC positions. One was RE, who did o.k.......the other is BD.....whose story is yet to be written. Why can't a position coach with drive succeed at the next level.

Compare this to movement in the business world. When a person has been a mid level manager for a long time and is given a chance to a senior management position, if he was paying attention to his bosses, he learned a lot to help guide him to success at a higher level. If he has the desire to succeed at the next level....he will do o.k.

As an alternative perspective, sometimes when upper management moves laterally between firms, they find out they are not as good as they thought.

We've also experienced this at UConn.........I think his initials were PP.

Back to my first premise, I would have liked it better if BD was able to grab a P5 position coach who had the experience at a P5 level, and came with a desire to succeed at the next level in the coaching ladder.

Same as BD.......coordinator at P5 to a HC........with a desire to succeed.

I want to respond to this but I'm perplexed at where or how to even begin. The first premise? Going back? What was the second premise again? Never mind.

If your desire is to find a position coach to elevate to a unit coordinator job role, that's fine. I don't see the purpose of narrowing your candidate pool that way - but hey - it's the internets and were going online these days with anything we can write.

So, if that's what you're looking for, and then If you're going to limit your candidate pool to 1A programs in the Big 14, Big 12, Pac 19, SEC or Tobacco Road conferences? Again - that's fine, but why you would intentionally narrow the candidate pool down that way......seems Hathawayian.......but again, you've narrowed your candidate pool a big way now, without even interviewing anybody.

If for some god-forsaken reason, you decide that you want your chosen candidate pool to have certain qualities, like say......recruiting and coaching experience in the regions where UCONN will recruit, then you've basically narrowed down that candidate pool to very small group of position coaches currently at Boston College, Syracuse, PSU, University of New Jersey, and every other program in the AAC conference. Now, each of those candidates would have to actually be paired down again, to people that are actually looking for new jobs, and are interested in UCONN....I suppose this would have been the interview process you expected Diaco to go through in the past 2 weeks? Contacting position coaches systematically down the list of qualified individuals as defined, to see if they were interested in being a co-ordinator at UCONN?

Oh yeah, and then there's guaging knowledge about actually being able to work together, and get along together, because you'll be spending 16 hours a day together, and there is that pesky thing about payroll too.

You know, I think I want to know what that second premise was again, because I don't think I agree with the first one.

This coaching staff as it begins to come together, has very clear, connecting themes, and relationship to a "P5" conference is not an important part of it. once again, it's hard to get excited about a new coaching staff, after the lessons of the last one, because there are strengths and weaknesses to look at, but it's hard not to be enthusiastic about the direction of the program.

I think Jimmy is right.

For the love of Mark Didio, everybody should really calm down.

 

[metsfan2323]

I don't want to be a energy vampire, BUT I hope Diaco knows what he's doing with this OC hire. The Chippewas were ranked 108th offensively, 97th in rushing, 84th in passing this year.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/teams/stats/CMICH/central-michigan-chippewas/TOUCHDOWNS

We don't know what kind of talent CMU has, Look at our squad this year, TJ and Shane Day looked like complete dolts until Cochran took over and then suddenly Weist and Day look like world beaters.