Coaching & Players

[FASTEDDY]

No doubt about it, our coaching has been woeful this season with a lot of very dubious and questionable decisions. The coaches have not properly developed players and specific areas such as OL have been particularly bad. Bottom line - the coaches have SEVERELY underperformed and IMO mass changes are required.

However, the lack of talent and particularly speed are glaring areas in need of immediate help. It is obvious to me that we have incorrectly evaluated player talent and taken A LOT of players that are not at the upper level of D1 Football or we simply cannot recruit the players we need and our message is not being well received and we aren't properly selling all that UCONN has to offer a prospective player. Again, I put a lot of the blame here on the coaching staff, as they are responsible for recruiting and are not getting it done.

But the players also deserve A LOT of blame here as they just don't seem to be playing hard, gave up at parts of the season and started many of the games in a haze, as most of our opponents got out to big leads on us right at the start of the games. The players need to play hard and come out strong and this simply did not happen this year. It was not an isolated case but rather this came up nearly game after game after game.

When schools like Temple, Memphis, USF, Cincinnati and others can get enough good players there is no reason why UCONN, a vastly superior school and name brand athletic program, can't get the talent that is needed to be successful. Simply NO EXCUSE. Our recruiting pitch, approach, philosophy and coordinators / leaders need to change AND QUICK.

Its the witching hour for this program and noticeable progress is needed ASAP!

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

It's blasphemous around here to say we lack talent or that the team has quit, buts it's obviously true.

Our recruiting approach needed to change years ago. Our admissions process needs to be loosened up. We have been recruiting "RKG's" with no or few offers and it's shown on the field.

 

[FASTEDDY]

It's blasphemous around here to say we lack talent or that the team has quit, buts it's obviously true.

Our recruiting approach needed to change years ago. Our admissions process needs to be loosened up. We have been recruiting "RKG's" with no or few offers and it's shown on the field.

Jimmy, you are absolutely correct. Recruiting has largely, with a few exceptions, been a disaster. We are either misevaluating player talent thinking that they are better than they really are or we are spotting the talent but cant seem to get them to UCONN.
I know that we aren't going to get the players who are at a Michigan/Wisconsin/Alabama etc. level (even the ones within CT) but we should be able to get enough of the players needed to consistently win at our level. We have so much more to offer in terms of quality of university, name brand, outstanding facilities etc. that we should get the players that a Temple, Memphis, UCF/USF and others get. We should be able to routinely get some of the players that we go up against with Syracuse or BC. Just doesn't seem as though we are getting the talent that we need. No surprise that our recruiting ranking are normally very low;

I guess we are in the minority on our thinking on this since so many have viewed this thread but have not responded.

 

[huskymedic]

I guess we are in the minority on our thinking on this since so many have viewed this thread but have not responded.

or just...

 

[06029]

I guess we are in the minority on our thinking on this since so many have viewed this thread but have not responded.

I stopped complaining about his recruiteing after his first class because I was told that he knew what he was doing and was hired because he could recruit. Of course, recruiting ND and Uconn are worlds apart, but he was going to get players that he wanted for his system.

One thing about your opening post is this concept that Uconn is vastly superior to...whomever. For FB players, the 10-20 real players that you need on the roster that lead to wins, they don't have a view of vastly superior. They have a view of what advances me forward, who gives me the best exposure and who will let me showcase my skills. Uconn has two key players on O that fit that description and 2, maybe 3 on D. Diaco has done very little to showcase their talents and I will say on O, Thomas has had recognition and success in spite of the coaching.

I don't think its fair to pin 100% of the lack of recruiting on Diaco as PP's tenure did nothing to entice the difference makers. I will put at least 75% on Diaco, however, for seemingly being unable to compete for players that peer schools sign. By compete, I mean, he does not get them on campus, they do not list Uconn as even medium interest and they show no sign of even wanting to consider Uconn. In that respect, I agree with you about his inability to sell his vision and his school.

One thing I have wondered about, does he use incredibly bizarre metaphors when recruiting like he does to the press?

 

[Tdaley]

Questionable coaching aside, I do believe most UConn fans do believe the lack of talent is a huge problem. We have little speed on both sides of the ball. Compare our talent with just the schools in our conference and we are right at the bottom. Look at the skills positions. How many teams did we have better quarterback than? Maybe only in the Cincinnati game did our qb outplayed the other qb. Is there a power running back on our roster who will commit to a hole? Is there a wide receiver with any speed other than Thomas. Fatukasi was doubled teamed all season and yet the rest of the d line had very few quarterback sacks. We never found anyone who could play the tight safety position and had to move Summers there who never looked comfortable playing that position. Of all the underclassman on the roster, other than Diggs, did anyone impress us? Nope. We heard some good things about Aaron McLean and he couldn't even get on the field. This team is NOT good and I'm afraid its going to worse next year even if we get a decent OC. Recruiting is more important than coaching at this level and Diaco has not delivered in this area as well.

 

[freescooter]

I'm not sure that talent is a huge problem. You can go in a couple of ways. 1. Get great players and overpower people or 2. Get players who fit your system and use them effectively. There are system guys who seem to win regardless of talent. How many here think Ward will be a top NFL pick? Heck he wasn't even a top college qb pick until Herman found him and put him in a system that maximized his talents. I suppose the ultimate example is Navy. They don't get anyone who hopes to get to the pros. Yet here they are ranked in the top 25. Scored 75 points the other day. But there are others too. My sense is Diaco has a system that doesn't match his players skill sets. I've said it about the oline all season. Big power guys trying to play finess style. Same with the backs. Trying to read hole when they are better straight ahead runners. Thomas and Megala are possession type guys. Not burners. Build a passing attack around that and the tight ends. There are similar issues on defense. He is trying to run systems that don't fit the talent and it is killing us.

 

[FASTEDDY]

Good points and I agree with the perspectives provided.

 

[Tdaley]

No doubt the coaches have not utilized a system that best fits the talents of the players that we have here. Still, the lack of speed and playmakers especially on the offensive side of the ball makes the job of any offensive coordinator very difficult. Six years of terrible offensive teams would seem to support this point of view.