Cargo Cult Athletic Directors

[BlueMAB]

Edsall was terrible his first two years at UConn as well. Though I guess he'll get a pass because he's allowed to have context and Pasqualoni isn't.

Fail again. Pasqualoni took over a BCS program playing in a watered down Big East. Edsall took over a mediocre 1AA program with fewer players on scholarship than most of the teams we were facing.

Edsall was building something. Pasqualoni was supposed to take the next step, instead we took two steps backwards.

 

[ZooCougar]

Actually, Pasqualoni was much better than Edsall in his first two years if we're going apples to apples. Luckily, our AD isn't a kneejerk reactionary like you who would've fired Edsall after two years.

Really? You mean when we were transitioning to I-A football? Could you be a little more intellectually dishonest? Seriously, you're impressing Waylon.

Yeah, that's apples to apples.

Edsall took us from I-AA to I-A, Pasqualoni looks to be doing the reverse.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

Fail again. Pasqualoni took over a BCS program playing in a watered down Big East. Edsall took over a mediocre 1AA program with fewer players on scholarship than most of the teams we were facing.

Edsall was building something. Pasqualoni was supposed to take the next step, instead we took two steps backwards.

So suddenly there's context? Edsall has a reason? But Pasqualoni has none? What about the fact that Edsall absolutely mailed in his last 2-3 recruiting classes? Doesn't count? Only Edsall gets a pass?

Also, please stop saying fail, you sound like a 12 year old girl.

 

[noeynox]

Eh, we all need to accept P will be here year three. If he doesn't show improvement he is gone end of story. P is recruiting at a better level than Edsall. He has too get to a bowl to see what he can do with his own recruits going forward. 5-7, the last two years has sucked, but he hasn't been GRob either. Edsall on the other hand is looking like GRob at UMD.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

Really? You mean when we were transitioning to I-A football? Could you be a little more intellectually dishonest? Seriously, you're impressing Waylon.

Nonono, according to your logic, all that matters is wins and losses. If we lose, it's directly the coach's fault. That was direct from your mouth. It's not talent. It's coaching. Edsall earned those losses.

Except of course that you have one set of rules for Edsall and one set of rules for Pasqualoni. Luckily you are just some guy on the Internet and not capable of making these kinds of decisions.

 

[ZooCougar]

Eh, we all need to accept P will be here year three. If he doesn't show improvement he is gone end of story. P is recruiting at a better level than Edsall. He has too get to a bowl to see what he can do with his own recruits going forward. 5-7, the last two years has sucked, but he hasn't been GRob either. Edsall on the other hand is looking like GRob at UMD.

Only on paper. Nobody here ever put any faith in the star system before. No reason to start.

I'll believe it when all of these studs actually qualify and report to campus.

 

[ZooCougar]

So suddenly there's context? Edsall has a reason? But Pasqualoni has none? What about the fact that Edsall absolutely mailed in his last 2-3 recruiting classes? Doesn't count? Only Edsall gets a pass?

Also, please stop saying fail, you sound like a 12 year old girl.

Oh please. Go back and look at some of the people in those recruiting classes. Your argument is flippant and lacks credibility, you might even be Desmond Conner.

 

[ZooCougar]

Nonono, according to your logic, all that matters is wins and losses. If we lose, it's directly the coach's fault. That was direct from your mouth. It's not talent. It's coaching. Edsall earned those losses.

Except of course that you have one set of rules for Edsall and one set of rules for Pasqualoni. Luckily you are just some guy on the Internet and not capable of making these kinds of decisions.

Pasqualoni took over an established BCS program that went to four bowls in a row.

He proceeded to post two losing seasons against a joke of a schedule and has set the program back.

Edsall took over a nothing that was working out of a port a potty.

Edsall had some challenges from starting from scratch.


It's not apples to apples.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

Oh please. Go back and look at some of the people in those recruiting classes. Your argument is flippant and lacks credibility, you might even be Desmond Conner.

Psht, I'm no Syracuse fan, don't be gross. Just cause I disagree with you doesn't mean I'm an idiot.

 

[Palatine]

This board is full of Cargo Cult wannbe ADs who think the problems of UCONN can be solved by different answers to radio interviews or billboards or how we handle an out of season luncheon.

What made Michigan, ND, Alabama, TX etc was winning. At the highest level. For decades.

UofL showed a commitment to winning by overpaying Strong. That is a real commitment to winning. They gave Krags 3 years and only fired him after he could win only 2 BE games in the final two years.

Entertaining press conferences don't equal winning. Just look at the coaches in New England and the Jets.

HFD, ZLS and ZooWhiner all committed members of the Cargo Cult concept.

If you aren't familiar, Cargo Cults refer to the post WWII cults that sprung up in in the south pacific.

"After World War II anthropologists discovered that an unusual religion had developed among the islanders of the South Pacific. It was oriented around the concept of cargo which the islanders perceived as the source of the wealth and power of the Europeans and Americans. This religion, known as the Cargo Cult, held that if the proper ceremonies were performed shipments of riches would be sent from some heavenly place. It was all very logical to the islanders. The islanders saw that they worked hard but were poor whereas the Europeans and Americans did not work but instead wrote things down on paper and in due time a shipment of wonderful things would arrive.
The Cargo Cult members built replicas of airports and airplanes out of twigs and branches and made the sounds associated with airplanes to try to activate the shipment of cargo."

Winning is no excuse not to follow best marketing practices.

Losing makes it that much more important.

 

[ZooCougar]

Psht, I'm no Syracuse fan, don't be gross. Just cause I disagree with you doesn't mean I'm an idiot.

I never called you an Idiot. I didn't even say you were fat. ( Thats for JungleHusky )

 

[noeynox]

Only on paper. Nobody here ever put any faith in the star system before. No reason to start.

I'll believe it when all of these studs actually qualify and report to campus.

True, but its nice to see a kid commit to us immediately following an official visit to Iowa. This staff is going after and getting kids with multiple offers at the wr position. How many Wrs have gotten over the years with multiple offers. Kashief, Kanuch, Stephens, and maybe Jeffers.

You are right its on papers till they do it here.

 

[sdhusky]

Winning is no excuse not to follow best marketing practices.

Losing makes it that much more important.

Winning makes all marketing practices moot. As does losing.

If we finish the next 2 years in the top 15, I bet we'll sell more tickets than if we market better.

 

[sdhusky]

True, but its nice to see a kid commit to us immediately following an official visit to Iowa. This staff is going after and getting kids with multiple offers at the wr position. How many Wrs have gotten over the years with multiple offers. Kashief, Kanuch, Stephens, and maybe Jeffers.

You are right its on papers till they do it here.

We've had plenty of great players who were underestimated in HS.

To get to the next level, we need more talent everywhere.

 

[sdhusky]

BS Alert! One of the reasons he was hired is that he came in fully formed, ready to coach. He wasn't supposed to need three years to get going like a 1st time HC would. PP is WYSIWYG. He's shown us his best result. The longer he stays, the more damage he inflicts.

And what about the players? Were they ready to immediately adjust to a new offensive and defensive philosophy?

We changed quite a bit up. Its not surprising we didn't get immediate results.

If we brought in someone with Edsall philosophy, we would have done better.

But its where we end up that counts.

I still have faith this staff can get us there.

 

[BlueMAB]

So suddenly there's context? Edsall has a reason? But Pasqualoni has none? What about the fact that Edsall absolutely mailed in his last 2-3 recruiting classes? Doesn't count? Only Edsall gets a pass?

Also, please stop saying fail, you sound like a 12 year old girl.

That Western Michigan team is absolutely loaded with NFL prospects right? USF? Vandy, Iowa St were loaded last year. If Buffalo didn't have all that talent those games might not have been as close as they were.

Pasqualoni had reasons not to win 9, 10 games. He had no reasons not to win 6. Not with that defense. Not when he's responsible for the decision to change the OL coach which was an epic fail.

Yeah, Edsall mailed it in. Moronic.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/connecticut/football/recruiting/commitments/2009

Dwayne Difton
Kevin Friend
Malik Generett
Martin Hyppolite
Jesse Joseph
Mike Lang
Shamar Stephen
Nick Williams
Trevardo Williams
Micheal Box

http://rivals.yahoo.com/connecticut/football/recruiting/commitments/2008
Bennett
Delahunt
Gratz
Griffin
Masters
Sio Moore
Todman
BWW


http://rivals.yahoo.com/connecticut/football/recruiting/commitments/2010
Geremy Davis
Taylor Mack
Lyle McCombs
McCummings
Smallwod
Stlouis
Steg


There are a number of players above who have a chance at the NFL, and there are quite a few who where 3 stars (on paper) or higher on the field, who were recruited by other BCS programs. Micheal Box never really got a chance here, had he stuck around and not transferred I don't know how good he would be, but I think he would have beat out Johnny McEntee for the job. Nebrich may not have been the answer either, but as a RS Frosh, he was arguably as good as McEntee, but he left. He was a 3 star recruit with offers from Marshall, Miami (OH), and Ohio.

Edsall was never a great recruiter at UConn, but the talent level was not so bad we shouldn't expect 6 wins against our schedule, and the transfers out of the program at the QB and WR position had an impact as well.

On paper, Pasqualoni has been a better recruiter (by far), he's also selling a program based on his predecessor's accomplishments to recruits who have grown up with UConn in the Big East, not the Yankee conference. However, his record is still 10-14 against a weak schedule with enough talent to at least go .500. And I haven't bothered to mention the boneheaded clock management and personnel issues.

Your argument is "edsall sucked too". Accepting that argument (which is a dumb one), how does that help the defense of Pasqualoni? Accepting the stupid argument that transitioning to BCS from 1AA and having to play with fewer scholarship players than your opponents is an "excuse", then your defense of Pasqualoni is essentially "nothing is his fault".

 

[BlueMAB]

Winning makes all marketing practices moot. As does losing.

Wrong. See: "Rutgers football"

If we finish the next 2 years in the top 15, I bet we'll sell more tickets than if we market better.

No . I'll ask once more. What grade would you give Pasqualoni's performance of the last 2 years? What have you seen that could make you think we'll have a couple top 15 finishes in the next two years. Especially considering how terribly our conference will be viewed and the hugely negative impact that will have on poll voters.

 

[Srqhusky]

Wing great write up and I respect your opinion because you at least see coach p has done some good, notably his recruiting.

I want to say that I view myself not as a p supporter but just an optimist that realizes all the negativity gets us no where. And I ask all the bashers on this board I u landed from outer space and read these posts would u want to be associated with uconn football

The western Michigan argument is an interesting one because most people bash p n Deleone or their offense and our offense excelled those two games and the defense did t show up. But which coach do most of us agree did a great job... Don brown. We were manhandled those two games. I think that was a case if we were maybe too aggressive and playing more zone or cover two. I don't know but jordan white dragged our secondary into the end zone , embarrassing!

Edsall may not have left the cover bare but most of the successful names are on defense. Who went to the senior bowl. All defense.

The fact that out offense looked meek against umass shows the lack of talent on offense. Even with bad play calling they should have out up fifty points. Sorry but if the tale t gap there was

Just lets hope the new oc which we greatly needed turns the offense around. We need to score thirty a game. Period. We are transitioning from an edsall run 250 pass 100. Offense to a pass 250. Run 150 offerense. I think we are close and I don't mind waiting another season to find out

 

[Uconnalliance]

Can't see smoke and gunfire everywhere,and it's friendly fire.

 

[zls44]

"For a period of four or five years, UConn won quite a bit and did no selling."

I must have missed out top 25 finishes. And top 25 wins.

I remember Rutgers, BC, SU, UofL all being top 10. I remember UofL and WVU winning BCS games.

I must have missed when UCONN did that.

I said won quite a bit. Doesn't mean they were top 10.

The stuff I bitch about, btw, is stuff that gets done at every program in America. Every one. Sun Belt to SEC.

Maybe you think UConn Football is above marketing. I don't.

 

[metsfan2323]

BS Alert! One of the reasons he was hired is that he came in fully formed, ready to coach. He wasn't supposed to need three years to get going like a 1st time HC would. PP is WYSIWYG. He's shown us his best result. The longer he stays, the more damage he inflicts.

Unless GDL was the problem. There have been enough good wins the last two years to conclude that maybe a third year with a new offensive coordinator will return us to our previous glory of 8 wins.

 

[sdhusky]

Wrong. See: "Rutgers football"

You think RU benefited more from billboards or beating UofL and finishing in the top 10???

It's what drove the stadium expansion.

 

[sdhusky]

I said won quite a bit. Doesn't mean they were top 10.

The stuff I bitch about, btw, is stuff that gets done at every program in America. Every one. Sun Belt to SEC.

Maybe you think UConn Football is above marketing. I don't.

The stuff you bitch about is fine to bitch about. You can bitch about the size of the toilets in the Rent. The color of the grass.

Bitch all you want.

Just don't expect anyone to take you seriously when you suggest the difference between the B1G and the BE is how we handle luncheons.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

Pasqualoni took over an established BCS program that went to four bowls in a row.

Pasqualoni took over a team that lost one of the best running backs ever to attend our university, one of the best fullbacks in the Big East ever, period, as well as a some of the best offensive linemen who have ever played for us. Also, our senior leader (and only player with game-day experience) at QB, and pretty much anybody who had put in significant time at wide receiver.

Honestly, I think it could've been a lot worse.

Despite what you may believe, I wasn't even a huge fan of the Pasqualoni hire, but I don't think he's done anything to warrant a firing. I'm willing to give him another year, especially given he appears to be about to pull in a better recruiting class than I would've thought possible given all the conference realignment stuff.

Call me what you want. I just try to think rationally about the program and where I think it's going. If you think firing everybody and starting over is a brilliant move, fine. But if you think you've proven it, then you and I are clearly using different ideas of the word "proof."

 

[Palatine]

Winning makes all marketing practices moot. As does losing.

If we finish the next 2 years in the top 15, I bet we'll sell more tickets than if we market better.

Wrong. Winning is the most important. But the basketball team WON the NC in 2011 and the showing at the F4 in Houston was a disgrace. And it didn't translate into attendance in 2012.

Or weren't you watching? Or learning?