Coaching search…

[SubbaBub]

The worst Diaco embarrassment was against Missouri. That was only because so many people saw it. The announcers in the studio were laughing hysterically at us at one point because our offense was so simple and so bad. I think it was Jesse Palmer laughing the most. My wife was in the kitchen behind me as my face flushed and she goes “Oh honey, they are laughing at your team. I’ve never seen that happen before.”

It was just more UConn football fan trauma.

The best sign that Diaco never believed in the program and that he had to be clever. Never mind we had match up very well physically the entire game.

 

[RSTuthill]

That's a huge point. 3 years out from the fiesta bowl vs the worst team in college football the last two complete seasons.

And had just almost beaten Michigan. And only four years out from beating Notre Dame in South Bend. UConn had a lot more cred in those days. But I agree that UConn HC should be an attractive proposition. The hero bar is really low. The pay will be good. The institution is first rate and beautiful with a lot of teams performing at a high level. Schools for the family are top rate compared to almost anywhere. Boston, NYC, the Sound, the ski season.

 

[uconnyankee]

Would it be crazy to think that AD David Benedict is looking to orchestrate a "2 for 1 special"?

-Hire a HC with a history of rebuilding a similar FBS program (e.g., Golden w/ Temple) who is still reasonably young and has aspirations of using the turnaround as a stepping stone to another crack at a high-level FBS coaching job

-Plus, bring in a current younger hot FCS (or even D2) coach that would come in as OC/DC and take over the program after the rebuild starts gaining steam?

Something like a Golden / Chesney special?


I know this is something like what we thought could happen with Edsall/Lashlee, but I dont think AD David Benedict was able to pull all the strings necessary to get the right coaches in to make that plan work (i.e., Edsall was the rate-limiting part of the plan).

I think when you hire a guy like Golden, he is picking his staff

 

[CL82]

Who says Golden is going to be offered 2 mil? I would start at 750k and probably hard cap at $1.5.

If you think Moorhead or anyone above him is coming here then you are smoking crack.

I think that you may be pleasantly surprised.

 

[RSTuthill]

I think when you hire a guy like Golden, he is picking his staff

True, but that is discussed before the hire. All a matter of establishing fit.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

‘Edsall and Golden have superficial similarities. But it doesn’t surprise me that you are so easily duped.

What Golden did at an outcast school with no resources was better than what Randy did in a well funded situation in a BCS conference.

This is the only way to look at this.

No comparison to PP and RE.

I'm not sure about that. The high point of his tenure was one nine win season and he had a total of two winning seasons while he was there.

From the late 1980's until not long ago I saw two college teams whose situations baffled me, Temple football and Rutgers basketball. Considering the location of each, they should be able to field decent programs without really trying. Putting up the pathetic results each had for so long was mind boggling. There is so much basketball talent in metro NYC, metro Philly and the stretch (Jersey) in between. Even if bigger names were to take all of the first, second and third tier talent, there would still be enough for Rutgers to field a far more competitive team than they had from the mid 1980's until a few years ago. The same could be said for Temple football, considering the talent within an hour's drive in any direction from the school.

Golden did turn around a program that did nothing for decades, I am not about to diminish that but what exactly had UConn done prior to Edsall? I don't see how what from his arrival through the Motor City bowl cab be viewed as anything less than at worst the equal of Golden's tenure at Temple and the subsequent stretch, ending with three straight bowl appearances was well ahead of Golden's Temple run.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

There's the rub. UCONN can't be an independent for a very long time so something has to give. My guess is the landscape keeps on changing due to the level of competition, geography, and most importantly, greed.

Why can't we be an independent for an extended period of time?

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

I'm not sure about that. The high point of his tenure was one nine win season and he had a total of two winning seasons while he was there.

From the late 1980's until not long ago I saw two college teams whose situations baffled me, Temple football and Rutgers basketball. Considering the location of each, they should be able to field decent programs without really trying. Putting up the pathetic results each had for so long was mind boggling. There is so much basketball talent in metro NYC, metro Philly and the stretch (Jersey) in between. Even if bigger names were to take all of the first, second and third tier talent, there would still be enough for Rutgers to field a far more competitive team than they had from the mid 1980's until a few years ago. The same could be said for Temple football, considering the talent within an hour's drive in any direction from the school.

Golden did turn around a program that did nothing for decades, I am not about to diminish that but what exactly had UConn done prior to Edsall? I don't see how what from his arrival through the Motor City bowl cab be viewed as anything less than at worst the equal of Golden's tenure at Temple and the subsequent stretch, ending with three straight bowl appearances was well ahead of Golden's Temple run.

UConn had potential and a plan. They are the state school. They were building amazing facilities and a new stadium.

Much better situation than temple. Edsall did a great job...but Golden had a tougher road.

That being said...I am still of the belief that Golden is just an ok hire...but could be a strong hire with the right staff. Would love to have Moorhead or Herman...but not sure that is possible. Would love to have someone with Lewis like credentials.

 

[Kolumbo]

Why can't we be an independent for an extended period of time?

We can be but that model only works for ND and BYU, and even BYU is giving up on it.

 

[RSTuthill]

We can be but that model only works for ND and BYU, and even BYU is giving up on it.

You will have to do the 5Y's thing to establish root cause backup for that statement to convince me. I think on the face of it, it is sustainable. Convince us otherwise.

 

[UConnJim]

We can be but that model only works for ND and BYU, and even BYU is giving up on it.

Sure, football drives the bus, but BYU is not in an ideal conference for non-football sports. And, they will probably double or triple their media so the move to the Big 12 is a no brained for them.

 

[Kolumbo]

You will have to do the 5Y's thing to establish root cause backup for that statement to convince me. I think on the face of it, it is sustainable. Convince us otherwise.

I think it is easier to look at the fact that not one FBS Football program other than ND has had sustained success as an independent and is choosing to remain semi-independent (even ND has 5 toes in the conference pond) in light of CR. I'll be happy to play the 5 Y game down the road if UCONN still sucks as a result of remaining independent for an extended period of time.

Sure, football drives the bus, but BYU is not in an ideal conference for non-football sports. And, they will probably double or triple their media so the move to the Big 12 is a no brained for them.

UCONN would also 100% join a P5 conference if invited.

 

[Husky68]

I’d be ok with Golden, as long as he can recruit in New England, NJ, NY, PA, etc, and I think he can, his picks for OC and DC also need to be good recruiters. Fans and the administration alike need to realize this is a 5 year rebuild, and recruiting is pivotal in rebuilding UConn. If the new staff can’t do that then FBS football at UConn will be on borrowed time. Golden also knows the recruiting landscape in Florida and the southeast which is a plus. All that being said, I’d rather see Dave go after Moorhead, Sean Lewis, or Rhett Lashlee.

Why is this a five year rebuild? Not trying to pick on your post but why wouldn't UConn get almost bowl eligible with any decent coach next year. Could have 4 wins this year (or none) so portal, good coaches, retain players, some key players hurt come back - so 2022 is upswing year and 2023 get to bowl eligible.
I guess I want someone who understands that need to score in today's football and knows how to design schemes that work with the talent level he is going to be able to recruit.

 

[Hornet22]

It has to be at the very least a 4 or 5 year plan, and recruiting FBS caliber players is the crux of the entire rebuild. I can count on one hand those players UConn has now. It’s basically an FCS squad at present. Once they start getting these kids and they’re in the program for 2-4 years we’ll hopefully see some major improvement. The portal can get us some instant talent but that only will go so far in getting talented kids. I also hope DB can squeeze in some talent under the present admissions standards.

Disagree. I don’t think we have an FCS squad. The MAJOR issues with UConn football right are lack of an effective QB and very unimaginative offensive game planning. Watching these games, the defense plays decent (especially early) but the offense does it no favors with all the 3 and outs and quick punts. The games where the offense moved the ball kinda sorta well- the outcome was close.

Heck, it took Fresno a while to get going offensively as the defense consistently got us off the field. Eventually, forced fumbles for a td and more punts broke this young defense. Same thing happened in the Purdue game. It was only 7-0 at the end of the first. More punts and a few big plays and the defense broke again.

I truly believe if we had Pindell here with this team the narratives would be so much different. Yeah I may be crazy but we have FBS caliber players on both sides of the ball. Get a solid OC and a good QB (Maybe Tyler Phommachanh? Someone from the portal?) and we would be competitive. I truly believe a defense is at their best when they believe they’re going out to get the ball back for a capable offense. Hate to admit it but I believe at some point our defense says to themselves, “What’s the point?”

PS. We also need to do a better job of getting pressure on the QB. Kudos to our secondary for manning all that space fully knowing they will have to cover for over 5 or 6 secs which is extremely difficult. DB’s on teams that consistently get pressure can be more aggressive and take more chances knowing the ball is coming out in 4 secs or less. Just sayin

 

[uconnbill]

Think about it Zoo, why would Dave even want Lashlee? The guy has more negatives than positives and the main negative, no HCing experience and Dave wants a coach with some kind of HCing experience. Honestly, this job is too much for Lashlee, we’re out of his league at this point. Good not great coordinator that needs a lot more experience to even be considered.

You forget that Dave was at Auburn with Lashlee and why he came here with Diaco to begin with and to get away from Malzahn who was the offensive coach who called his own plays

 

[CONN78SEJ]

One small point. UConn was only three years down the road from the Fiesta Bowl. And the first two years of PP we're not all that bad. In fact, even in the third year Weist had three wins. The Diaco hire was done against a much more hopeful background.

So was the FHCRE 2.0 hire. PP was an stubborn @
whole, his strategic decisions concerning UConn football were idiotic. Moorhead couldn’t stand him, he resigned and left the team for Fordham.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Disagree. I don’t think we have an FCS squad. The MAJOR issues with UConn football right are lack of an effective QB and very unimaginative offensive game planning. Watching these games, the defense plays decent (especially early) but the offense does it no favors with all the 3 and outs and quick punts. The games where the offense moved the ball kinda sorta well- the outcome was close.

Heck, it took Fresno a while to get going offensively as the defense consistently got us off the field. Eventually, forced fumbles for a td and more punts broke this young defense. Same thing happened in the Purdue game. It was only 7-0 at the end of the first. More punts and a few big plays and the defense broke again.

I truly believe if we had Pindell here with this team the narratives would be so much different. Yeah I may be crazy but we have FBS caliber players on both sides of the ball. Get a solid OC and a good QB (Maybe Tyler Phommachanh? Someone from the portal?) and we would be competitive. I truly believe a defense is at their best when they believe they’re going out to get the ball back for a capable offense. Hate to admit it but I believe at some point our defense says to themselves, “What’s the point?”

PS. We also need to do a better job of getting pressure on the QB. Kudos to our secondary for manning all that space fully knowing they will have to cover for over 5 or 6 secs which is extremely difficult. DB’s on teams that consistently get pressure can be more aggressive and take more chances knowing the ball is coming out in 4 secs or less. Just sayin

You’re entitled to your opinion, doesn’t mean you’re right.

 

[freescooter]

I think with a good quarterback and some imagination on offense, and maybe a bit of luck on the injury front where after all we lost our 2 best receivers, we are not terrible. We need to Upgrade for sure. And not a lot of depth especially on the offensive side of the football which has been a problem. And we had very little margin for error, but I think saying we are fcs level is not true. We werent capable of going 12-0 but there were multiple winnable games on the schedule. A good coach isn’t coming into nothing. I don’t see a 5 year rebuild but more like 3.

One really disappointing thing is that our schedule gets tougher starting next year. That makes it tricky for a new guy. Alas this was the year to start the process.

 

[UCSouth]

You’re entitled to your opinion, doesn’t mean you’re right.

Remember this the next time you offer your opinion.

 

[Yup!]

You forget that Dave was at Auburn with Lashlee and why he came here with Diaco to begin with and to get away from Malzahn who was the offensive coach who called his own plays

I didn’t forget… Dave brought him in as an OC not HC, two different roles. Lashlee lacks the experience UConn needs.

 

[Bubba1957]

The team that had Tyler Phommachanh at QB and Malzone helping out was fun to watch and competitive. If every game was like those, the narrative would be way different. So, we are not that far away and the next coach needs to have no excuses.

 

[Yup!]

One small point. UConn was only three years down the road from the Fiesta Bowl. And the first two years of PP we're not all that bad. In fact, even in the third year Weist had three wins. The Diaco hire was done against a much more hopeful background.

SMH… I give up.

 

[huskymedic]

SMH… I give up.

Good… give it a rest.

 

[Hornet22]

You’re entitled to your opinion, doesn’t mean you’re right.

It’s not a right or wrong thing at all. Just respectfully disagreed with your take. We are all entitled to our opinions for sure. Just looking at the games and how they progressed you can see our talent. No way we’re competing with Fresno for an entire half, taking Wyoming and Vanderbilt down to the wire with an FCS roster. Not happening.


I get that it hurts to see the losses piling up. But when you remove the emotions, it’s not difficult to see that we have solid players on this team- on both sides of the ball. Just need a few pieces and some better coaching

 

[Bongo Fury]

The team that had Tyler Phommachanh at QB and Malzone helping out was fun to watch and competitive. If every game was like those, the narrative would be way different. So, we are not that far away and the next coach needs to have no excuses.

And maybe next year they will be older and more importantly improved. Say that every year but has yet to happen.