At the beginning of 2014, right after Diaco was hired, theuconnblog projected the starters for 2014, Diaco's first season:
QB: Cochran - Lasted one game before retiring.
RB: McCombs - Gone in June due to behavior.
WR: Davis
WR: Phillips - Transfered to BC in July.
WR: Foxx
TE: McQuillen - Played in 2014, booted in July 2015 due to arrest.
OL: Hemingway - Gone in June due to behavior.
OL: Samra
OL: Mateas
OL: Cruz/Schafenacker
OL: Gifford
DL: Pruitt - Played 2 games, then retired due to injuries.
DL: McBride
DL: Campenni
LB: Ashiru - Left team with games still to play.
LB: Vann
LB: Hicks
LB: Frank
DB: Jones - Injured during ECU game in October and missed rest of season.
DB: Williams
DB: Melifonwu
DB: Brown - Disqualified in May due to injury. Transferred to BC.
Plus, Joe Williams, RB, and Elijah Norris, TE, were booted in January and Bryan Paul, OL, retired due to injury in September.
In other words, UConn was a dumpster fire when Diaco got here as the roster was decimated, especially on offense and the OL had little experience.
And, his 2014 recruiting class was mostly PP's. So he had had 2 full recruiting classes and those kids are mostly RS FR and FR who are redshirting. Obviously, the recruits will not have had a big impact on the field yet as all the skill players in the 2016 class redshirted and linemen take multiple years to develop.
All that said, Diaco has been learning on the job and he has made some horrible game day decisions. And, I think he needs to bring in more QBs and skilled players instead of big framed prototypes and I hate the bend but don't break defense. Plus, I have a hard time listening to his interviews and he would be better off saying less. This coming season, Diaco has to prove he can win.
I'm not happy with the results since Edsall left, but I recognize Diaco inherited a mess and I think the team is in a better place than when he was hired. The OL that Diaco has recruited that have played (Crozier, Oak, Peart) are better than the two seniors who just graduated. Now, we need QBs.