Dooley
Done with U-con athletics
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2012
- Messages
- 9,960
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I think we all agree that this season is lost. Getting blown out by a FCS team in our home opener in front of sparse disinterested crowd = the writing on the 2013 wall is up. So, let's think big picture: conference realignment. We are all hyper sensitive to our AAC affiliation and what we need to do to better position ourselves for the B1G, ACC, or B12. It was so important for this team to get 8+ wins and back to a bowl game this year. Now that those chances are crushed before we exit the month of August, I think we can all agree that keeping Pasqualoni around is crushing our CR chances. What are the biggest negative perceptions of UCONN around the country (non-academic/AAU related)?
1. UCONN doesn't invest/care in football
2. UCONN fans don't support the team(s)
I haven't found a single post from anyone on the Boneyard (the core diehard UCONN fans) saying anything positive about Pasqualoni, DeLeone, the team or the chances for our 2013 season after the loss to Towson. I've even read a few posts here and in other places that season ticket holders are already looking to dump or eat the remainder of the season and we aren't even out of August yet. And we are the diehards who will support this program and university through thick and thin. If Boneyarders and other diehard fans not on the Boneyard are giving up on 2013, then it is a pretty safe bet that the casual fan has also given up on the season. So, we can expect attendance to be down (again) in a year that UCONN themselves billed as the "greatest schedule in the history of ever" and that would only further cement the negative perceptions across the country against UCONN.
The announced attendance for Towson was what, 30,000 and change? That is ridiculously poor for a home opener. The crowd looked alot less than 30,000 and by the time the normal 3rd quarter mass exodus began, it was friends and family in the stands. Pasqualoni has lost the team, the fanbase, most of the Connecticut media, and the national CR perception machine (every bit as important). We will probably get somewhere between 33-35,000 for Edsall's return (although they'll announce more I'm sure) and the crowd will be reserved and in "prove it to me" mode. We will definitely sell out Michigan but that is only because the Rent will resemble the old Hartford Civic Center for Whalers vs Bruins/Rangers games in the early 90s (50/50 split of fans for those who are too young to remember). After Michigan, attendance will go into a free fall for the remainder of the season and likely clock in under 30,000 for Memphis to watch two winless teams battle it out for absolute AAC irrelevance.
As for the team itself, Warde gave Pasqualoni year 3 to not disrupt consistency. The only consistency that the team has shown in the Pasqualoni era is losing to opponents that we shouldn't (W Michigan, Temple, Iowa State, Vanderbilt, USF, and now Towson). This Towson loss isn't a one time freak show, it's a consistent pattern of losing to inferior teams because he is not a good coach. Plain and simple. We didn't just lose to Towson, we were blown out. They out gained us, pushed around on both sides of the ball, were better coached, and had better players at many positions than we do. Who exactly are we going to beat this year in the "greatest schedule in the history of ever" year? Nobody. But...
...here's what firing Pasqualoni and DeLeone would do RIGHT NOW:
1) INSTANTLY re-energizes the fanbase - I don't care who they name as interim (Weist, Hughes, Buggs, Foley, or Warde can come out his office and coach...who cares?), the move is addition by substraction. We are the diehards and we all want him out. The casual fan will stay away from the Rent like the plague this year because why waste hard-earned money on the same ol' same ol'? But with a new coach comes spark. A new coach brings energy. A new coach brings life back to this flatlined program. Why? Because it will show that somebody somewhere cares about this friggin' program and university as much as we do. It would be a sign that says "look, we know we stink but we are going to try to stop the downward spiral right here and right now". Even if this team lost every game this year under the interim coach, the playcalling would improve and maybe just maybe the brand of football might excite some folks. And even if doesn't, we KNOW that a new coach is coming in 2014 and we will finally have something to get excited about.
2) holds the players accountable - every player from the true FR to redshirt SR will all be held accountable. They are instantly reminded that going through the motions in games against the likes of Towson, W Michigan, and Temple is unacceptable. We are UCONN (the Administration likes to beat its chest and even say that we are winners) and 2+ years of these types of losses is unacceptable. Each player on the roster will have to re-prove himself, including #s 33, 10, 85, 43, 91, 16, and 8. You want playing time? Earn it. You want respect? Earn it. You want to finally be taken seriously? Earn it. If you don't want to earn it, guess what? We are going to use 2013 as a player evaluation year and see what our redshirts, 2s and even 3s can do. Knappe, Cochran, Boyle, Williams, etc...go grab your helmets.
3) sends a powerful message to the country that losing is unacceptable at UCONN and that we are willing to invest in our football program. Buyouts and remaining years on contracts be damned. We are going to bring in the best possible leader for our football program. Period. 2013 is a lost year so let's give somebody/anybody the interim label and see what he can do. He can't possibly do any worse than the Pasqualoni/DeLeone leadership has done. Warde now has all of 2013 to evaluate the interim coaching staff AND external candidates to find his 2014 guy. Bobby Petrino? Gerritt McGee? Doug Marrone (Buffalo is going to win 2 games this year)?? Let's find somebody who is going to energize this fanbase once again. I don't care if they have head coaching experience or if they are an ambitious coordinator buried behind a coaching legend at a top program. Open up the wallet and spend the money to turn this thing around. But hey, you might not even have to! If interim guy can get us to a bowl game and win it, we've had 2013 to evaluate practices, games and classroom work. Interim guy might be what we need. But if he isn't, Warde has a full year to get his list ready and can hire somebody on the spot if he has to. No ridiculous search committee needed.
We are the laughingstock of everything right now. Two consecutive 5-7 seasons and now we can't even win our "cupcake" game. Attendance is putrid and going down. If we win 2 games this year, we will be very fortunate. Three years ago, we were in a BCS bowl game and one of the fastest rising programs in the country. Today, we are on the outside looking in of the Power 5 and our chances of being tapped are shrinking every single day that Pasqualoni/DeLeone are in charge of our money making program. A change MUST be made if nothing else than to send the message that UCONN cares about football and wants to win and wants to invest the necessary resources to do it.
But hey, maybe UCONN doesn't want this. Maybe our AD is content with a mediocre product and won't bring in a new coach to upset the status quo. Maybe he'll let UCONN slide further into CR irrelevance like Syracuse did decades ago under Pasqualoni and beyond. If that's the case, and football isn't a priority, I wish somebody would just tell me so I can stop caring too.
1. UCONN doesn't invest/care in football
2. UCONN fans don't support the team(s)
I haven't found a single post from anyone on the Boneyard (the core diehard UCONN fans) saying anything positive about Pasqualoni, DeLeone, the team or the chances for our 2013 season after the loss to Towson. I've even read a few posts here and in other places that season ticket holders are already looking to dump or eat the remainder of the season and we aren't even out of August yet. And we are the diehards who will support this program and university through thick and thin. If Boneyarders and other diehard fans not on the Boneyard are giving up on 2013, then it is a pretty safe bet that the casual fan has also given up on the season. So, we can expect attendance to be down (again) in a year that UCONN themselves billed as the "greatest schedule in the history of ever" and that would only further cement the negative perceptions across the country against UCONN.
The announced attendance for Towson was what, 30,000 and change? That is ridiculously poor for a home opener. The crowd looked alot less than 30,000 and by the time the normal 3rd quarter mass exodus began, it was friends and family in the stands. Pasqualoni has lost the team, the fanbase, most of the Connecticut media, and the national CR perception machine (every bit as important). We will probably get somewhere between 33-35,000 for Edsall's return (although they'll announce more I'm sure) and the crowd will be reserved and in "prove it to me" mode. We will definitely sell out Michigan but that is only because the Rent will resemble the old Hartford Civic Center for Whalers vs Bruins/Rangers games in the early 90s (50/50 split of fans for those who are too young to remember). After Michigan, attendance will go into a free fall for the remainder of the season and likely clock in under 30,000 for Memphis to watch two winless teams battle it out for absolute AAC irrelevance.
As for the team itself, Warde gave Pasqualoni year 3 to not disrupt consistency. The only consistency that the team has shown in the Pasqualoni era is losing to opponents that we shouldn't (W Michigan, Temple, Iowa State, Vanderbilt, USF, and now Towson). This Towson loss isn't a one time freak show, it's a consistent pattern of losing to inferior teams because he is not a good coach. Plain and simple. We didn't just lose to Towson, we were blown out. They out gained us, pushed around on both sides of the ball, were better coached, and had better players at many positions than we do. Who exactly are we going to beat this year in the "greatest schedule in the history of ever" year? Nobody. But...
...here's what firing Pasqualoni and DeLeone would do RIGHT NOW:
1) INSTANTLY re-energizes the fanbase - I don't care who they name as interim (Weist, Hughes, Buggs, Foley, or Warde can come out his office and coach...who cares?), the move is addition by substraction. We are the diehards and we all want him out. The casual fan will stay away from the Rent like the plague this year because why waste hard-earned money on the same ol' same ol'? But with a new coach comes spark. A new coach brings energy. A new coach brings life back to this flatlined program. Why? Because it will show that somebody somewhere cares about this friggin' program and university as much as we do. It would be a sign that says "look, we know we stink but we are going to try to stop the downward spiral right here and right now". Even if this team lost every game this year under the interim coach, the playcalling would improve and maybe just maybe the brand of football might excite some folks. And even if doesn't, we KNOW that a new coach is coming in 2014 and we will finally have something to get excited about.
2) holds the players accountable - every player from the true FR to redshirt SR will all be held accountable. They are instantly reminded that going through the motions in games against the likes of Towson, W Michigan, and Temple is unacceptable. We are UCONN (the Administration likes to beat its chest and even say that we are winners) and 2+ years of these types of losses is unacceptable. Each player on the roster will have to re-prove himself, including #s 33, 10, 85, 43, 91, 16, and 8. You want playing time? Earn it. You want respect? Earn it. You want to finally be taken seriously? Earn it. If you don't want to earn it, guess what? We are going to use 2013 as a player evaluation year and see what our redshirts, 2s and even 3s can do. Knappe, Cochran, Boyle, Williams, etc...go grab your helmets.
3) sends a powerful message to the country that losing is unacceptable at UCONN and that we are willing to invest in our football program. Buyouts and remaining years on contracts be damned. We are going to bring in the best possible leader for our football program. Period. 2013 is a lost year so let's give somebody/anybody the interim label and see what he can do. He can't possibly do any worse than the Pasqualoni/DeLeone leadership has done. Warde now has all of 2013 to evaluate the interim coaching staff AND external candidates to find his 2014 guy. Bobby Petrino? Gerritt McGee? Doug Marrone (Buffalo is going to win 2 games this year)?? Let's find somebody who is going to energize this fanbase once again. I don't care if they have head coaching experience or if they are an ambitious coordinator buried behind a coaching legend at a top program. Open up the wallet and spend the money to turn this thing around. But hey, you might not even have to! If interim guy can get us to a bowl game and win it, we've had 2013 to evaluate practices, games and classroom work. Interim guy might be what we need. But if he isn't, Warde has a full year to get his list ready and can hire somebody on the spot if he has to. No ridiculous search committee needed.
We are the laughingstock of everything right now. Two consecutive 5-7 seasons and now we can't even win our "cupcake" game. Attendance is putrid and going down. If we win 2 games this year, we will be very fortunate. Three years ago, we were in a BCS bowl game and one of the fastest rising programs in the country. Today, we are on the outside looking in of the Power 5 and our chances of being tapped are shrinking every single day that Pasqualoni/DeLeone are in charge of our money making program. A change MUST be made if nothing else than to send the message that UCONN cares about football and wants to win and wants to invest the necessary resources to do it.
But hey, maybe UCONN doesn't want this. Maybe our AD is content with a mediocre product and won't bring in a new coach to upset the status quo. Maybe he'll let UCONN slide further into CR irrelevance like Syracuse did decades ago under Pasqualoni and beyond. If that's the case, and football isn't a priority, I wish somebody would just tell me so I can stop caring too.
