Commit #7 - Aaron Mclean

[Jimmy Serrano]

I understand what you are saying and on paper it doesn't look like a P5 type class. But I think we have to look at it this way. Diaco and his staff have mega experience, much more so than RE's coaching staff.

I think they are using the approach of finding athletic, high character, overachievers who can be molded into quality players. As I've said before, there are basically 2 types of players. The first kind are those who are close to peaking and show they can play at a high level. The second are those who show improvement from year to year but aren't quite there yet.

I keep thinking of Albert Fincher and others like him. He was hungry, had no offers to speak of and played with a chip on his shoulder. I have no doubt Diaco has a plan and knows exactly who has the "DNA" to succeed with this team.

If this staff can coach up, and I think they can, we will be just fine.

I'm agreement with this. I don't judge recruiting classes until they're 3 years into college. That being said, as I mentioned in my last post, we've clearly moved to the next level of the recruiting board.

 

[noeynox]

@spackler. Yep, the Fiest Bowl was a wasted opportunity. Edsall bounced, Hathaway whiffed, and conference realignment screwed us. Look no further than that to where we are at the moment in the recruiting landscape.

 

[uconndogs]

I'm not doing this to pick on Graham Stewart. He seems like a good kid and I sincerely hope he has success over the next two seasons.

That said, if you followed his recruitment out of HS he was very closely followed. The Currant did a big piece on his recruiting, Rivals had him as a 3*, he eventually decided on BC instead of UCONN, saying some rather silly things that 17 year olds are likely to say. Then Florida comes sniffing around and low and behold, he is a 4* recruit and rescinds his verbal to BC and commits to Florida.

Plays some ST there as a true frosh - quite an accomplishment - and then they want to move him the following season to FB. Mind you, the LB crew that Florida had for the following season was not as good as the one UCONN had with Sio, Yawin and Johnson. Graham decides to transfer and ends up at UCONN. So we've seen him play a little and I will ask this simple questions, has his level of play been that of a Fincher, Lansanah, Lutrus, Wilson, Moore, Smallwood? Take a look at how those guys rated out on TOS........

 

[Doggie Style]

I like where we're going here, the thought of a 6'6 receiver can change everything on the field and not just limit us to a TE for passing options. I'll b honest, I was growing real tired of the 5'something receiver mold we have been seemingly stuck w/ here for so many years. This is a good sign for our future potential!

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I think it's fair to analyze the recruiting based on peer offers to our commits without half the board jumping down your throat and citing player X as an example of where this was proven incorrect.

We've had a lot of success with under the radar players, no doubt, but while we built up a solid program we were never more than a fringe top 25 team. Which I think is actually a big accomplishment.


Is it reasonable to think we can return to that level given our conference situation? Not sure.

Just saying, I'm not a slave to the star system, in fact the sites be damned. I am concerned that otherccoaches of peer programs don't seem to be as a high on these kids as we are.

As always, time will tell.

 

[BlueDogs]

We are going to be very big when we hit the field like "B1G" big.

 

[noeynox]

I think it's fair to analyze the recruiting based on peer offers to our commits without half the board jumping down your throat and citing player X as an example of where this was proven incorrect.

We've had a lot of success with under the radar players, no doubt, but while we built up a solid program we were never more than a fringe top 25 team. Which I think is actually a big accomplishment.


Is it reasonable to think we can return to that level given our conference situation? Not sure.

Just saying, I'm not a slave to the star system, in fact the sites be damned. I am concerned that otherccoaches of peer programs don't seem to be as a high on these kids as we are.

As always, time will tell.

Your post is 100% valid. I just think to most of us, recruiting under Diaco is looking exactly like we expected, except he is getting kids to commit sooner.

 

[John Greene]

It seems to me that HCBD is in the process if recruiting a team that will fit in well in the B1G. Big slow white guys, not that there is anything wrong with that since it would probably describe 90% of the BY.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Your post is 100% valid. I just think to most of us, recruiting under Diaco is looking exactly like we expected, except he is getting kids to commit sooner.

Personally, I'd like to see more offer lists like Murphy has. But it's silly to speculate how these kids will pan out in college. Just have to hope the staff knows what they're doing.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Personally, I'd like to see more offer lists like Murphy has. But it's silly to speculate how these kids will pan out in college. Just have to hope the staff knows what they're doing.

At this point, with the roller coaster and then downhill slide we've been no since really, 2008-2009, I just want to see us have adequate numbers of players that have actually been recruited with a plan throughout a period of time. I really don't care too much anymore about the quality - thinking about it that is - of course I care that we have high quality players - but I agree - you just got to hope the staff knows what they're doing with their evaluations. I just want to see our numbers of actual scholarship recruits that have gone through the whole process start to go up. We need consistency in the coaching staff, and we need a consistent approach to recruiting to regularly have enough players every year, spring and fall, to disperse 85 scholarships per year among a roster that has been recruited for the level of competition we have on our schedules.

 

[UConnJim]

I like what Diaco is doing. He is recruiting athletic kids with big frames that can be developed. Redshirt most/all of them the first year. Most top P5 schools are not going after kids that have to be developed as they go after the most developed kids that are easier to project and/or closer to contributing. Grabbing kids that need to be developed is an area in which UConn excelled under Randy Edsall and I think it is the right strategy for UConn football.

My only concern with the early verbals is that other schools may make a run at them down the road.

 

[sportsart]

At this point, with the roller coaster and then downhill slide we've been no since really, 2008-2009, I just want to see us have adequate numbers of players that have actually been recruited with a plan throughout a period of time. I really don't care too much anymore about the quality - thinking about it that is - of course I care that we have high quality players - but I agree - you just got to hope the staff knows what they're doing with their evaluations. I just want to see our numbers of actual scholarship recruits that have gone through the whole process start to go up. We need consistency in the coaching staff, and we need a consistent approach to recruiting to regularly have enough players every year, spring and fall, to disperse 85 scholarships per year among a roster that has been recruited for the level of competition we have on our schedules.

Have we been running the program at less than 85 scholarship players for the past 5 years? No wonder we sucked.

 

[John Greene]

At this point, with the roller coaster and then downhill slide we've been no since really, 2008-2009, I just want to see us have adequate numbers of players that have actually been recruited with a plan throughout a period of time. I really don't care too much anymore about the quality - thinking about it that is - of course I care that we have high quality players - but I agree - you just got to hope the staff knows what they're doing with their evaluations. I just want to see our numbers of actual scholarship recruits that have gone through the whole process start to go up. We need consistency in the coaching staff, and we need a consistent approach to recruiting to regularly have enough players every year, spring and fall, to disperse 85 scholarships per year among a roster that has been recruited for the level of competition we have on our schedules.

Carl, recruiting is like dressing at work, we should try to recruit for a level of competition that is above our current level of competition. Recruiting for our current level is a way to insure we never get to a higher level.

 

[Dynasty]

Carl, recruiting is like dressing at work, we should try to recruit for a level of competition that is above our current level of competition. Recruiting for our current level is a way to insure we never get to a higher level.

That's not true.

 

[UConnRock]

McLean and Freeborn are guys that have excelled in other sports and football wasn't their first sport. Guys that UConn has had that are similar are Blidi who played soccer and didn't play football until his jr year in HS and Ryan Griffin who played hoops. These guys are earning nice pay checks in the nfl. Finding these guys and developing them was an Edsall specialty. Diaco is going along the same track with the new Balis the new S&C coach. He is looking at these 6'4" + frames and visualizing what they could be in 2-4 years. The simple fact is that 16 and 17 year olds with that height are not going to be big time stars until they grow into their bodies.

Do I wish Uconn could make a splash and win a couple of recruiting battles? Yes.....but there are lots of very experienced UConn coaches on the recruiting trail who see tons of potential. It will be fun to watch these kids throughout their sr seasons and see how much they develop.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Carl, recruiting is like dressing at work, we should try to recruit for a level of competition that is above our current level of competition. Recruiting for our current level is a way to insure we never get to a higher level.

That actually is a recipe for disaster.

 

[cttxus]

I like what Diaco is doing. He is recruiting athletic kids with big frames that can be developed. Redshirt most/all of them the first year. Most top P5 schools are not going after kids that have to be developed as they go after the most developed kids that are easier to project and/or closer to contributing. Grabbing kids that need to be developed is an area in which UConn excelled under Randy Edsall and I think it is the right strategy for UConn football.

My only concern with the early verbals is that other schools may make a run at them down the road.

This. Our "secret" weapons right now are 1) our facilities and 2) our highly experienced coaching staff, including Matt Balis. All of these guys love teaching young; men with raw talent and a desire to be part of something great, into real men and an unstoppable force. Think United States Marine Corps. This love for teaching was one of the common threads you saw as each new member of the coaching staff was announced by HCBD. It seems HCBD's strategy is to leverage these two strengths to the max.

 

[The Viking]

Like UConnJim and cttxus, I also like what Diaco's doing. He's a realist. I think he found out quick he can't wave a Notre Dame magic wand around and get recruits. He's come to a realization of the place this program is in, the conference we are in and the perception of our team to recruits.

I have a feeling at first he was a bit jarred by reality but now he and his staff came up with a new gameplan - a halftime adjustment if you will - to go aggressively after guys quickly who have character and size and pairing these kids with this new strength guru and a coaching staff he believes in.

THAT is how he intends on getting the hottie on Prom night. Not by asking the hottie when she's a senior and she can a pick of the litter, but going after the girl no one thinks twice about but has a lot of potential to grow into hottie-ness while they're both freshmen.

I like our odds better of him landing the possible freshman hottie than the current senior hottie.

 

[weyuo]

We're back where we started from Sportsart. We got to a new years day game, and we're back where we started from. My hope is that when we get there again, we've learned from the past.

What's that? Make sure the head coach boards the same plane as the players on the way home?

 

[UconnFamily]

Its still early in recruiting game guys. I wouldn't spend an excessive amount of time on the ratings of these 2 star commits, who I cerebrate a few of them in no time will eventually ascend to 3 stars. Diaco and crew will eventually bring in some 3 star commits and maybe a 4 star by the time the recruiting process is over. If we don't get a 4 star, who cares. In the mean time they're endeavoring to find some diamond in the rough kind of guys and develope them like Khalil Mack (Buffalo), Sio Moore, Jimmie Ward (N. Illiniose), Darius Butler etc... were developed.

 

[UConnDan97]

Welcome to the Dog Pound, Aaron!!!

 

[FAIRTIDES]

I'm not doing this to pick on Graham Stewart. He seems like a good kid and I sincerely hope he has success over the next two seasons.

That said, if you followed his recruitment out of HS he was very closely followed. The Currant did a big piece on his recruiting, Rivals had him as a 3*, he eventually decided on BC instead of UCONN, saying some rather silly things that 17 year olds are likely to say. Then Florida comes sniffing around and low and behold, he is a 4* recruit and rescinds his verbal to BC and commits to Florida.

Plays some ST there as a true frosh - quite an accomplishment - and then they want to move him the following season to FB. Mind you, the LB crew that Florida had for the following season was not as good as the one UCONN had with Sio, Yawin and Johnson. Graham decides to transfer and ends up at UCONN. So we've seen him play a little and I will ask this simple questions, has his level of play been that of a Fincher, Lansanah, Lutrus, Wilson, Moore, Smallwood? Take a look at how those guys rated out on TOS...

You're making a really relevant point about recruiting. But given what's come to light S & C-wise, I think evaluation of returnees should be put on hold until the new staff's impact takes hold; one way or the other. Graham looked like a different kid at the spring game. And while one big (very big) hit does not make a LB, he did knock the snot out of someone (I forget who). He also looked quicker, at least, to me.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Seven commits in for year one of recruiting and an obvious theme is occuring. Take very good athletes who excel at multiple sports, one of which is football, and coach 'em up. These are big kids who haven't been playing football year round since age 6.

 

[pj]

The service academies and others have shown you can put together competitive teams by focusing on a power running game that, in our case, will be complemented by a power passing game to 6'6" WRs and TEs. That can make a successful, reliable, clock-consuming offense, and if you can get enough speedy athletes for the defense, you can have a good team. It's a good strategy. At the moment, it may be the only one open to UConn.

 

[UConnDan97]

All I know is this: If you have a 6'6" WR with ANY wheels whatsoever, you are going to have a successful offensive player. The level of success will depend on the level of wheels. Keep in mind that he will be going up against defensive backs that are a half-foot shorter...

EDIT: Also, you've gotta figure that this kid has the hands if he's a hoops player too. Just sayin'...