Coach P

[mattp]

Agreed. Things have been encouraging since the close of the '11 season. Now . . . fans need to see improvement on the field. Last season was awful. Need to win more than 5 games. Need a "benchmark/signature" win (an NC State win will offer a lot more "currency" than a win over Buffalo). Oh and while I'm at it . . . some exciting football, particularly on offense and perhaps through the air. : )

last season wasn't awful. i agree we do need to win more than 5 games, if you think last season was awful you really need to get a passport out of fantasy land. we had an awful lot of issues going into the season with a new coach, new scheme, new QB and RB, among other issues, but all that being said we were in bowl contention until our last game. sometimes college football teams have bad years. it the nature of the short term career of a college athlete. how do you think Texas fans felt when they went 5-7 in 2010? it happens

 

[BigEastCT]

I wasn't sure where else to put this but check this out. Is Randy Edsall kidding me?

Dwayne Gratz ‏ @DJG24_7
Can't believe I just seen Randy Edsall in Storrs with nothing but Uconn gear on, **** was too funny

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Wants his job back on staff as water boy???

 

[TouchdownHusky]

last season wasn't awful. i agree we do need to win more than 5 games, if you think last season was awful you really need to get a passport out of fantasy land. we had an awful lot of issues going into the season with a new coach, new scheme, new QB and RB, among other issues, but all that being said we were in bowl contention until our last game. sometimes college football teams have bad years. it the nature of the short term career of a college athlete. how do you think Texas fans felt when they went 5-7 in 2010? it happens

It wasn't just the seven losses,matt. It was the way they lost. . .ZZzzzz. On a few occasions the defense was alright on defense and were more effective than the offense in putting points on the scoreboard. Score some points for gosh sakes. And, the posterboy play for '11 was the sack, strip, TD to open the Cincy game. Come on, throw it away or take the safety, but to get your lunch money taken away?

 

[CTMike]

Score some points for gosh sakes.

With the pieces they had to work with?

And, the posterboy play for '11 was the sack, strip, TD to open the Cincy game. Come on, throw it away or take the safety, but to get your lunch money taken away?

That was on Coach P? I think it reinforces the point above about the pieces they had to work with.

Overall, I'm with ya TDH- want to see a strong O. I think we'll take a big step in the right direction this year, provided our O-Line holds.

 

[IMind]

P should shave his head bald and go with the Bruce Willis look . He would look 10 years younger and this nonsense of him being too old would go away. I'm saying this as someone who has successfully shaved away the gray. It works.

Only if you have the right head shape for it... I would look like Butterbean and King Kong Bundy had a child... not attractive.

 

[IMind]

last season wasn't awful. i agree we do need to win more than 5 games, if you think last season was awful you really need to get a passport out of fantasy land. we had an awful lot of issues going into the season with a new coach, new scheme, new QB and RB, among other issues, but all that being said we were in bowl contention until our last game. sometimes college football teams have bad years. it the nature of the short term career of a college athlete. how do you think Texas fans felt when they went 5-7 in 2010? it happens

Even with all the issues on offense, you could argue that if not for the injury to Blidi, and the lack of depth in the secondary we would have gone to a bowl game.

 

[ruskin]

just want to remind everyone the hideous way the Vandy, Iowa State and Western Michigan games were lost. All three had various levels of coaching blunders. Please don't make those losses Edsall's fault, there was enough talent on the field to win. Good thing is I don't think Manuel/Herbst are giving P the long leash others seem to want to give him.

 

[defense]

Edsall was in Storrs because his daughter was graduating. As for wearing UConn gear..............no explanation.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

just want to remind everyone the hideous way the Vandy, Iowa State and Western Michigan games were lost. All three had various levels of coaching blunders. Please don't make those losses Edsall's fault, there was enough talent on the field to win. Good thing is I don't think Manuel/Herbst are giving P the long leash others seem to want to give him.

Can you please explain to me how the Iowa St. loss was on the coaches? That's the one game that I think people have no right to rip the coaches for. There were plays to be made all over the field that night. All night long.

That loss is on the players. It happens sometimes.

 

[BNich]

Can you please explain to me how the Iowa St. loss was on the coaches? That's the one game that I think people have no right to rip the coaches for. There were plays to be made all over the field that night. All night long.

That loss is on the players. It happens sometimes.

That was a tough one to swallow, 3 picks in the first quarter that were only turned in 3 points is just unacceptable. That needed to be a win. The WM game was another tough one to take. Vandy too. Just a few plays away from being bowl eligible and having 6 or 7 wins instead of 5. Just leaves me shaking my head. Oh well. On to 2012. No sense in looking back on it now.

 

[Srqhusky]

That was a tough one to swallow, 3 picks in the first quarter that were only turned in 3 points is just unacceptable. That needed to be a win. The WM game was another tough one to take. Vandy too. Just a few plays away from being bowl eligible and having 6 or 7 wins instead of 5. Just leaves me shaking my head. Oh well. On to 2012. No sense in looking back on it now.

Wise words no looking back. Past is in the past. Water under the bridge. ! All that matters is next season.

 

[BNich]

Wise words no looking back. Past is in the past. Water under the bridge. ! All that matters is next season.

Let's go! Looking forward to this season. A few good looking pieces have been brought in to bolster the roster, add depth and give viable starting options at positions of need from a year ago. It is hard not to agree this team is, at the very least, better on paper than a year ago.

 

[businesslawyer]

I can't wait to see what happens after we win the league this year and see our conference prospects improve by leaps and bounds.

See, I just don't get this at all. I thought the entire goal was to win the league this year. Not to win it for the sake of seeing what happens.

 

[UConnDan97]

See, I just don't get this at all. I thought the entire goal was to win the league this year. Not to win it for the sake of seeing what happens.

Oh yeah, well just wait until we win the National Championship. Then someone will DEFINITELY want us!!!

 

[UconNate]

Oh yeah, well just wait until we win the National Championship. Then someone will DEFINITELY want us!!!

Yeah, everyone would want us but I'm sure BCU would find a way to block us. (JK)

 

[TouchdownHusky]

See, I just don't get this at all. I thought the entire goal was to win the league this year. Not to win it for the sake of seeing what happens.

Unfortunately, that's the position UConn finds itself in for the foreseeable future. Every win, every program needs to do well. The long term success of this institution as a legit athletic program is in a conference like the ACC. The promise of a Big East Championship showdown between SMU and San Diego State (if it were to happen) has zero appeal on the east coast - and probably nationally. So yeah, win the BE this year and make yourself as appealing as possible to others while this landscape upheaval continues in college football. Think of it as the TCU approach - Win enough to free yourself from a lesser-light conference, get an offer from a somewhat disparaged BCS conference, play zero games in that conference, keep winning and hit the jackpot in an offer to a much more prominent (Texas & Oklahoma) BCS conference. That is the Blue Print, unless of course Notre Dame does the decent thing and join the BE for football, thereby guaranteeing stability.

 

[metsfan2323]

See, I just don't get this at all. I thought the entire goal was to win the league this year. Not to win it for the sake of seeing what happens.

Context. This thread was started because of the recruiting coup of Graham Stewart. This is a recruiting thread.

BTW IMO the best part of winning the league in 2010 is the subsequent coaching change. No League win = No offer from Maryland / No P / No Whitmer / no Cochran. Get it now?

 

[businesslawyer]

Can you please explain to me how the Iowa St. loss was on the coaches? That's the one game that I think people have no right to rip the coaches for. There were plays to be made all over the field that night. All night long.

That loss is on the players. It happens sometimes.

I fully agree with that. The Iowa State game was lost by players not making plays.

 

[businesslawyer]

Context. This thread was started because of the recruiting coup of Graham Stewart. This is a recruiting thread.

BTW IMO the best part of winning the league in 2010 is the subsequent coaching change. No League win = No offer from Maryland / No P / No Whitmer / no Cochran. Get it now?

No, I said what I meant and I meant what I said. Recruiting is a means to the end of winning football games. Trying to turn that around and implying that winning football games is a means to recruiting puts all the emphasis in exactly the wrong place. It emphasizes what a kid does in high school, and what people think of him as an individual, as opposed to emphasizing the achivements of a team.

 

[pj]

Eggs are a means to getting chickens. Trying to turn that around to say that chickens are a means to getting eggs puts the emphasis in exactly the wrong place. It puts the emphasis on the lovely yellow yolks, as opposed to the welfare of the whole henhouse.

 

[metsfan2323]

No, I said what I meant and I meant what I said. Recruiting is a means to the end of winning football games. Trying to turn that around and implying that winning football games is a means to recruiting puts all the emphasis in exactly the wrong place. It emphasizes what a kid does in high school, and what people think of him as an individual, as opposed to emphasizing the achivements of a team.

Well, I guess I think different then you. Nothing wrong with that. To me the end game is a championship. To make a basketball analogy:

NIT championship = improved recuiting / dream season / improved recruiting Donyell and Ray Allen / Khalid and RIP / and finally, as Calhoun put it "pulling the sled over the finish line" vs Duke.

We have different end games in mind. But that's cool. I'll stand with Carl, call me crazy.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Well, I guess I think different then you. Nothing wrong with that. To me the end game is a championship. To make a basketball analogy:

NIT championship = improved recuiting / dream season / improved recruiting Donyell and Ray Allen / Khalid and RIP / and finally, as Calhoun put it "pulling the sled over the finish line" vs Duke.

We have different end games in mind. But that's cool. I'll stand with Carl, call me crazy.

So your end game is a championship, but once we achieved that, the best part of that was getting rid of the coach who led us there.

Yes, you are crazy.

 

[metsfan2323]

So your end game is a championship, but once we achieved that, the best part of that was getting rid of the coach who led us there.

Yes, you are crazy.

You had already made your opinion of me very clear. You think I am an idiot.

BTW don't be an idiot, I was refering to a national championship, Edsall was never going to get us over that finish line, he didn't think it was possible here.

 

[sdhusky]

No, I said what I meant and I meant what I said. Recruiting is a means to the end of winning football games. Trying to turn that around and implying that winning football games is a means to recruiting puts all the emphasis in exactly the wrong place. It emphasizes what a kid does in high school, and what people think of him as an individual, as opposed to emphasizing the achivements of a team.

Well, with the kind of recruiting we had before, we stalled at about the top 35 or so in a "peak" season. I think everyone is excited that we are getting players that may help us break into the top 25. We weren't going to do it with just "under the radar" type players.

Finally, we are winning some recruiting battles. Something the previous regime could not do.

 

[businesslawyer]

You had already made your opinion of me very clear. You think I am an idiot.

BTW don't be an idiot, I was refering to a national championship, Edsall was never going to get us over that finish line, he didn't think it was possible here.

I don't think it's possible here. And you will not find many sane non-UConn fans who think it's possible here. Compare us to Penn State. We have a fraction of its history (which does have an effect on recruiting, fanbase and marketability), a fraction of its fan base, and we are a flagship university for a state with a fraction of itspopulation and less of a high school football culture. So any "goal" of being better in any given year than not just Penn State but fifteen or so other schools with similar huge, unchangeable (at least in the short and intermediate terms) structural advantages is, frankly, a dumb plan. And using basketball in the discussion -- a sport where Butler can get to back to back finals and come within a heave of winning one -- shows how dumb it is.

Would I love to win a national championship? Heck yes. Is there more than a 0% chance of that happening in the next ten years? Sure. Anything is possible in any particular athletic contest, and you could win a national championship is a team that was not the best team in the country. (See, e.g., 2007 West Virginia, which was only two games away and played Oklahoma well enough that particular day to think they could have competed in the championship game that day.) But the goal of thinking we could actually be the best team in the country is so unrealistic at the moment that even throwing it out there shields us from any rational discussion of what we should be accomplishing and how we get there. (And, by the way, would explain much of the entirely irrational criticism of Esall's performance and, I bet down the road, criticism that will quickly be coming of P's performance if we don't get better fast.) I'd love for my law firm to triple profitability per partner from last year to next year. But it's so unachievable as a goal that allowing people to talk about it prevents them from focusing on the achievable goals that could be reached if we weren't wasting time with goals that couldn't be reached.

We need to win the Big East. We need to improve how we rank nationally. And then we need to build our fanbase to where the ceiling rises over time.