Diaco did not inherit a complete disaster. Quite the opposite.

[Carl Spackler]

They had a crap game against Cincy. It was the first real crap game of the season, and hopefully the only one.

They're a young team and an inexperienced coaching staff, that still has a lot of liabilities and weakness, and they just got to keep working and improving. Coaches and players.

How you respond to a crap game, is a big deal though. Yes, the season without a bye so far, has got them fatigued and beat up, but they're not the only team that is fatigued and beat up. No excuses.

There is no excuse for coming out at home on Friday night and not giving the very best effort they've got and put on the field in nearly month.

THat is on the coach(s) to set the tone and direction, to make sure that they respond to poor performance properly, and for the players to respond and follow through.

3-5, does not mean a lost season. This is a home game, and we don't have many left.

 

[Durks07]

Actually, he inherited a team on the rise. A team that had won it's last three games under T.J. Weist. He inherited an offense that averaged 33+ points a game in those last three contests and had just set an offensive record in its season closer.

I'm not saying this was a team that could compete for a championship in year one. But it was a solid squad with a star receiver and a decent defense.

Diaco decided his time was better spent repainting the Burton and changing diets rather than worrying about wins. He spent his time on culture. He refused to look at tape of his players saying he wanted to form his own opinion. His priorities were playing a lot guys and using the season to evaluate his team.

This was his choice. It resulted in a 2-10 season. That was the disaster. Now, as he tries to pull the team out of hole mostly of his own making, people point to 2013 and say the cupboard was bare. Diaco inherited all his problems.

I'm of an opposite mind. I think the 2013 team showed amazing character. They were in disarray in the middle of the season. They had lost a coach. They were on a bad losing streak. Yet somehow they stuck together. Got it changed. And ended the season on a high note. That is the team that Diaco inherited.

And that is the story many on the Boneyard have either forgotten or chose to ignore.

 

[HomeKing93]

This conversation is certainly more entertaining than reading 3 pages about Urban Meyer, you have to admit.

 

[freescooter]

I don't buy pal's argument in it entirety but I have to say part of it is true. And I also think that it was possible to put together a more competitive team in 2013. But Diaco made a decision to tear the thing down and start from scratch. I think he could have brought in a juco quarterback and maybe a running back and competed. As far as Cochran is concerned he was never totally sold as his use/substitution in Game 1 showed. And his designation of Whitmer as a key backup or such. Finally Diaco is being paid as a big time head coach. Forgive me if I don't buy the "still learning" argument. He made a decision to go in a certain direction. The pressure is on to show it was right.

 

[freescooter]

Let's not over state the Missouri game there. Pretty much anyone with a pulse it seems can hold Missouri from scoring. Their last 4 games they scored 10, 3, 6, 3 so they are t exactly an offensive juggernaught.

 

[Marty Jackson]

Actually, he inherited a team on the rise. A team that had won it's last three games under T.J. Weist. He inherited an offense that averaged 33+ points a game in those last three contests and had just set an offensive record in its season closer.

I'm not saying this was a team that could compete for a championship in year one. But it was a solid squad with a star receiver and a decent defense.

Diaco decided his time was better spent repainting the Burton and changing diets rather than worrying about wins. He spent his time on culture. He refused to look at tape of his players saying he wanted to form his own opinion. His priorities were playing a lot guys and using the season to evaluate his team.

This was his choice. It resulted in a 2-10 season. That was the disaster. Now, as he tries to pull the team out of hole mostly of his own making, people point to 2013 and say the cupboard was bare. Diaco inherited all his problems.

I'm of an opposite mind. I think the 2013 team showed amazing character. They were in disarray in the middle of the season. They had lost a coach. They were on a bad losing streak. Yet somehow they stuck together. Got it changed. And ended the season on a high note. That is the team that Diaco inherited.

And that is the story many on the Boneyard have either forgotten or chose to ignore.

The three teams uconn beat were Memphis, Temple and Rutgers. Memphis and Temple had 5 wins total between them. Rutgers went bowling with 6 wins, 3 of which came from Norfolk State, NJTI, and Sisters of Mercy...
You are taking a scheduling bonanza and making it out like this team was primed for a breakout year, had it not been for Diaco.

But then, when Diaco does win his first two games this season, you still don't see improvement because they only beat villanova and army. 2 similar teams your vaunted 2013 team lost to.

 

[hexlub]

The three teams uconn beat were Memphis, Temple and Rutgers. Memphis and Temple had 5 wins total between them. Rutgers went bowling with 6 wins, 3 of which came from Norfolk State, NJTI, and Sisters of Mercy...

Thank you.

Scores of those games:
Temple - 28-21
Rutgers - 28-17
Memphis - 45-10

They get to 33 points a game by scoring 45 points against a really, really, really bad Memphis team.

This has been entertaining.

 

[Dogged]

Guys seriously, at this point I have no reason to believe that Pal isn't trolling us. The OP doesn't even deserve a serious response.

I totally agree. Haven't we beaten this dead horse enough already?

 

[31GuardTrap]

I hate myself for reading this entire thread.

 

[Palatine]

Sure you can argue it's half player, half coaches - whatever you like.

The only conclusion to take from Pal's OP is that it's 100% coaching.

If that is someone's view they are entitled to the opinion. Seems like a tough opinion to hold and have any hope going forward - but it's not like cognitive dissonance is rare around here.

No, that is not the only conclusion. My point is Diaco made plenty of his own mess. Frankly I just get tired of posters and the media throwing the players under the bus.

The Diaco plan can still work. This may be a great way to build a progam. We'll see. I hope it works.

But he did not inherit a complete mess. He made his own mess on purpose. The team he inherited was on the uptick. And 28 points a game is pretty darn good as well.

 

[RedSoloCup]

I hate myself for reading this entire thread.

The yard needs a self-help group for those of us sucked into reading these.

We watch bus accidents... Palatine threads...

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

No, that is not the only conclusion. My point is Diaco made plenty of his own mess. Frankly I just get tired of posters and the media throwing the players under the bus.

The Diaco plan can still work. This may be a great way to build a progam. We'll see. I hope it works.

But he did not inherit a complete mess. He made his own mess on purpose. The team he inherited was on the uptick. And 28 points a game is pretty darn good as well.

Jimmy Bennett
Xavier Hemingway
Steve Greene
Tyler Bullock
Bryan Paull
E.J. Norris
Spencer Parker
Kamal Abrams
Casey Cochran
Lyle McCombs
Shakim Phillips
Jesse Joseph
Shamar Stephen
Tim Willman
Ryan Donahue
Yawin Smallwood
Tyree Clark
Taylor Mack
Ty-Meer Brown
Cole Wagner
Chad Christen

Who are players on the 2013 finale two deep who left the program after that game? I'll take "2014 Starters" for $500 Alex.

Angelo Pruitt
Jefferson Ashiru
Byron Jones
David Stephenson

Who are players who were injured or quit in the middle of the season?

 

[Pudge]

Well ...

When I look at all of those names, I see something that I absolutely think has gotten far better in the Diaco short time than from Pasqualoni: Individual players actually have gotten better. I see a bunch in the list of the departed that I thought never got better. Never developed. Diaco has gotten kids to play better. Who? I do think - as abysmal as we state - that some of the OLine is better. Certainly Hopkins, Levy, Knappe. RB Newsome is better. WR Noel Thomas. TE Bloom and Myers are better. DLine - lot have improved, particularly Fatukasi and Adeyemo. LB - Joseph (I guess). And the starting secondary have all improved.

We are cleaner - few penalties from simple lack of focus.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Well ...

When I look at all of those names, I see something that I absolutely think has gotten far better in the Diaco short time than from Pasqualoni: Individual players actually have gotten better. I see a bunch in the list of the departed that I thought never got better. Never developed. Diaco has gotten kids to play better. Who? I do think - as abysmal as we state - that some of the OLine is better. Certainly Hopkins, Levy, Knappe. RB Newsome is better. WR Noel Thomas. TE Bloom and Myers are better. DLine - lot have improved, particularly Fatukasi and Adeyemo. LB - Joseph (I guess). And the starting secondary have all improved.

We are cleaner - few penalties from simple lack of focus.

I think with effective coaching that the core of players that will be on the field for the next 2 years has a great chance to do achieve high levels of success - meaing competing for league title and post season bowls.

We are not the far away from that right now, but it's the attention to detail, the focus, and the consistency in all aspects of coaching and playing that's lacking. Understandable from a young coach and young team.

Understandable does not mean acceptable. It's not acceptable, if there is no consistenst improvement and learning from mistakes demonstrated.

What's most important, is that the recruiting trail and classes continue to improve as well, so that when this group of young players matures and graduates in 2-3 years, that we're not back right where we started after the Fiesta Bowl.

The most impressive thing to me about Diaco to date, is his attention and focus on the recruiting plan and trail - which is translating into success in bringing in quality players that fit the mold of what he and the university want.

THe worst thing about Diaco, to me, to date, is his lack of what appears to be an emotional keel and stability as a head coach. The team and program, when it comes to competing on the field, and more importantly preparing to compete on the field during the weeks, as a collective group - always takes on the personality of the leaders = the head coach. Doesn't matter if it's a football team, or any other gropu of people working together toward a common goal. The team takes on the personality of the leadership. He's got to be less of an emotional rollercoaster and more of a ship's captain. Nothing wrong with being high energy and passionate and whacky - but when it comes to preparation for competition, you got to have your system and you can't ride huge waves of emotion and motivational ploys and tactics.

TInker with a team's psyche with motivational ploys, but if that's all you got - the motivational ploys -it's a paper house, house of cards. You got to have the actual preparation procedures and practices set in stone that are going to be consistent.

Just my blathering on a Wednesday.

 

[UConnDan97]

What an interesting thread!

Here' s how I see it:

1) Pal is right that Diaco did not inherit a complete disaster. But he DID inherit an incomplete disaster. It was nowhere near being "quite the opposite" as the thread title claims. He had players that I have argued have talent. But they were extremely mistake-prone, confused, and by most accounts, low on the strength-and-conditioning meter (which is nearly criminal!).

2) Spackler is right that Diaco has a lot of learning to do as a new coach, and that he seems to be getting better and learning. We have to remember that this is his first time doing this, so the head-scratching decisions at big moments will happen. The time management issues will happen. But they are getting fewer and further between. At least he has motivated this team and has them believing again.

3) Pudge is right that the individual players have gotten better, even the much maligned offensive line; the majority of which are still very young.

As is classic form for the Boneyard, an issue goes up and people jump to a side to prove something is black or white. Most often times, the truth is actually gray. Feel free to argue how dark a shade of gray, but please stop the insane hyperbole on the board!

Oh, by the way, we're going 15-0 next year...

 

[BlueDogs]

They had a crap game against Cincy. It was the first real crap game of the season, and hopefully the only one.

They're a young team and an inexperienced coaching staff, that still has a lot of liabilities and weakness, and they just got to keep working and improving. Coaches and players.

How you respond to a crap game, is a big deal though. Yes, the season without a bye so far, has got them fatigued and beat up, but they're not the only team that is fatigued and beat up. No excuses.

There is no excuse for coming out at home on Friday night and not giving the very best effort they've got and put on the field in nearly month.

THat is on the coach(s) to set the tone and direction, to make sure that they respond to poor performance properly, and for the players to respond and follow through.

3-5, does not mean a lost season. This is a home game, and we don't have many left.

Go to throw USF in the crap bucket too. Was a winnable game marked by underwhelming performances and lack of execution.

 

[BlueDogs]

Well ...

When I look at all of those names, I see something that I absolutely think has gotten far better in the Diaco short time than from Pasqualoni: Individual players actually have gotten better. I see a bunch in the list of the departed that I thought never got better. Never developed. Diaco has gotten kids to play better. Who? I do think - as abysmal as we state - that some of the OLine is better. Certainly Hopkins, Levy, Knappe. RB Newsome is better. WR Noel Thomas. TE Bloom and Myers are better. DLine - lot have improved, particularly Fatukasi and Adeyemo. LB - Joseph (I guess). And the starting secondary have all improved.

We are cleaner - few penalties from simple lack of focus.

I agree but I think the case is way over stated, and improvement is spotty and not nearly impactful enough thus far:
Running game other than Arkeel is worse. RB pass protection is worse. Certain pieces of the OL have improved, but others have made no progress and appear to have regressed. TEs are way under utilized, despite flashes of being very good hands in traffic. Receiver corps still can't separate or run routes open. LB corps is a disaster and regressing, and DBs are not allowed to improve just play off them and not give up the deep ball. D Line is one dimensional being excellent at run stop, but still cant get penetration or keep QB in a box.

 

[sdhusky]

Huh? He didn't inherit the team that was under Weist? Interesting take.

You prove to be a douchibag yet again.

 

[J187Money]

There is another way to look at it. Diaco chose to do a complete tear down and rebuild. This is a path he chose.

The squad was not a complete disaster. It had actually taken some steps forward. It just was not to Diaco's liking. Weist had no such prejudice. He got different results because his priorities were different.

You made about 750,000 posts about how bad Whitmer was last year. And after you got Boyle after screaming about it for 10 weeks, he was worse. TJ would have won 6 games with that team? I'll be the first person to say that I wish TJ was here as OC at a minimum (and maybe he would have been a better head coach). But be serious.

Without CC, TJ would have won 0 of those last 3 games. End of story.

 

[Pudge]

I agree but I think the case is way over stated, and improvement is spotty and not nearly impactful enough thus far:
Running game other than Arkeel is worse. RB pass protection is worse. Certain pieces of the OL have improved, but others have made no progress and appear to have regressed. TEs are way under utilized, despite flashes of being very good hands in traffic. Receiver corps still can't separate or run routes open. LB corps is a disaster and regressing, and DBs are not allowed to improve just play off them and not give up the deep ball. D Line is one dimensional being excellent at run stop, but still cant get penetration or keep QB in a box.

I'd agree with all of that.

 

[businesslawyer]

You prove to be a douchibag yet again.

We need him to prove it?

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

You prove to be a douchibag yet again.

He may be insanely wrong, but he's not a douchibag. If he were a douchibag he'd of just popped onto a thread to call someone a name. You know anyone like that?

 

[whaler11]

No, that is not the only conclusion. My point is Diaco made plenty of his own mess. Frankly I just get tired of posters and the media throwing the players under the bus.

The Diaco plan can still work. This may be a great way to build a progam. We'll see. I hope it works.

But he did not inherit a complete mess. He made his own mess on purpose. The team he inherited was on the uptick. And 28 points a game is pretty darn good as well.

So yes you've concluded the coaches have done a bad job. They created a mess out of nothing. You didn't disagree.

 

[Palatine]

So yes you've concluded the coaches have done a bad job. They created a mess out of nothing. You didn't disagree.

No. No. No. This was a team that had a rough season then bailed themselves out. Won three straight. Showed a lot of character. They were back on the right path.

Diaco came in. Decided to do a complete do over. That resulted in 2-10.

Why is this so hard to understand? It simple. Diaco did not inherit a complete mess. People need to stop jumping all over the kids. They are not a bunch if junk. They were down and got back up. The fact that Diaco wanted to do a complete tear down and build is not their fault.

And it is probably too early to make a judgement on whether Diaco's way was the right way or not. We'll see. I have NOT concluded anything about Diaco. But the 2-10 is on him not the kids. We'll see.

 

[cohenzone]

So besides losing CC:

McCombs got thrown out and Brown and Phillips transferred out before HCBD starting coaching.

An already decimated senior class was wiped out further with injuries to maybe our two best players -- Jones and Davis -- and Adams up front.

Our OL graduated the only remaining players who had played for Edsall and then lost its best starting OT on opening day.

The only "fact" in your starting point was that the 13 team did in fact show amazing character by not giving up on the season 0-9 and way down on the road to Temple on a cold November night.

Facts tend to confuse Pal.