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Duncan Idaho said:Makes me want to vomit every time I hear how badly conditioned this program became.
I was in denial for quite some time. I supported guys that were leading this program, based on nothing more than respect from 25 years ago. Stupid. Won't make that kind of mistake again. THe signs and symptoms built upon each other over and over. Kudos to those that "knew" very early on. I didn't. I saw progress at the end of 2012. By September 2013, it was a disaster. HIndsight always 20/20, and looking back now, the only thing that seemed to keep eerything clothespinned together, was the individual motivation, each player - and coach - must have had - to take the field at home against Michigan. After that game, it was done.
I lost my sh---t after the UCF game. The demeanor of the players and coaches. THe things that were happening on the sideline. The mental mistakes and false bravado. All of it - LOST MY SH____T. Disgusting how fast and how far the team was allowed to fall. All respect whatsover lost for those in charge.
DIaco has a tall order, and the guy is spot on the mark on what it is for 2014. It's turning a very mentally weak group of individuals into a mentally strong team. Not impossible, but need to be realistic.
How these players come back in a few weeks, and then again in the fall - will be a great sign. We get more Scott McCummings - and we're going to have a bad season. If everybody comes back like a Sio Moore, we will compete.
BTW: Physical strength, is nothing more than the application of mental strength to the physical world.
Amazing to me how much criticism Diaco has implicitly directed at the former regime. I have rarely heard a new head coach be so critical of his predecessor, even if the predecessor stunk up the joint. Even though it might be true, I sort of think its time to talk more about where we're going and less about where we were. Other than that, I like the way this guy seems to be organizing things. I'm as excited about the upcoming season as I have ever been.
freescooter said:Amazing to me how much criticism Diaco has implicitly directed at the former regime. I have rarely heard a new head coach be so critical of his predecessor, even if the predecessor stunk up the joint. Even though it might be true, I sort of think its time to talk more about where we're going and less about where we were. Other than that, I like the way this guy seems to be organizing things. I'm as excited about the upcoming season as I have ever been.
I absolutely agree with uconndogs about Edsall's recruiting/player development. The list of guys who were "too slow" or "too small" or "too raw" or "too whatever" who turned out to be really good football players is pretty long. Did we need to upgrade at some positions? and did we need to get start getting guys with better upsides? Sure. To get to the next level we needed to start getting a few more impact guys, as well as a quarterback and some pass catchers. But over all, Edsall's system was darned effective.
The head coach sets the attitude of a program. The players learn what is and isn't accepted, and what gets rewarded, and take it from there. Edsall put a premium on player development, strength & conditioning and it took through the program. Clearly Pasqualoni did not. Diaco appears to be, we'll see what happens.
The head coach sets the attitude of a program. The players learn what is and isn't accepted, and what gets rewarded, and take it from there. Edsall put a premium on player development, strength & conditioning and it took through the program. Clearly Pasqualoni did not. Diaco appears to be, we'll see what happens.
It was organizational rot and much like a fish the rot starts at the head and makes it way to the body.
There wasn't any leadership throughout the coaching staff. No one monitoring conditioning, team cohesion, preparation, etc.
The staff failed on every measurable metric. And they failed the eye test too.
A few months ago someone wrote on here about watching body language of both teams for the Towson game and knowing UConn was cooked. Watch the tape. He was 100% correct.
By calling out Jones and Mateas by name as starters and leaders, you can bet those were two of the first players to go ten toes in with Diaco and his philosophy and have been doing their best to infuse their teammates with the same.
The thing that speaks the loudest to me is that Diaco has zero respect, and perhaps outright contempt for the prior regime. I think he was shocked at just how bad things had gotten here.
Too much time past between head coaching opportunities for the Former Regime. The college game essentially past them by. In the NFL, a player is supposed to be self motivated. If he fails? No problem. Next guy up and their probably isn't much difference in talent between the two.
Even if the second guy fails, NFL teams can always make free agent moves or trades.
While there are theoretically more players on a given college roster , the need and/or desire to redshirt a dozen or more players actually equalizes the volume of resources, Along with the inability to pickup quality players during the season, Next Guy Up is hampered by a talent gap. The only way to bridge that gap is with motivation. College ball is the ultimate sieve and only the total packages move onto the next level. After all, less than 1% of NCAAstudent-athletes make it to the NFL.
The former regime prided itself on recruiting prototypical players, but in size and weight only. Because of the players' size, he thought he was recruiting men, but in reality they were only boys. Former "Coach" Pasqualoni was not a coach. He was an administrator and a delegator, and y ones at that. If he were a good coach, fans would see some improvement over a two year span. We'd see some adjustment. A good coach doesn't force a square peg into a round hole. A good coach either makes the peg round or the hole square. The evidence are the results and that shapes perception. 3 teams did not bother to send a representative to UConn's Pro Day. Two offensive linemen couldn't push 225 lbs. of dead weight up more than 20 times. What does it say about UConn's OL NFL potential where they are going to have to push 300 moving lbs. of solid muscle? Only two players were drafted and in the 7th round this year, whereas 4 players were drafted before the start of the 3rd round just 4 short years ago!!!
Only in the last 3 games last years did the team look mentally prepared. Even vs. Michigan, they were up by 14 and playing not to lose. They got their teeth kick in in the last 20 minutes and folded like a card table until Temple.
All that said, Coach Diaco is talking the talk, and while I am not 100% ready to drink whatever Kool-Aid he puts in front of me. I have cautious optimism that he will walk the walk as well.
I agree.The thing that speaks the loudest to me is that Diaco has zero respect, and perhaps outright contempt for the prior regime. I think he was shocked at just how bad things had gotten here.