Diaco. Wow

[jdb50]

While Coach Diaco was recruiting this class we were in the midst of and then coming off a 2-10 season. I like the speed in this class. We are building up the depth. Gonna need DB's in this conference.

 

[Stainmaster]

Stars are amateur opinions and marketing tools for the scouting sites. There are very strong arguments for most of out 2-stars were simply placed there or never bumped up of because UConn's reputation and lack of paying customers. I will work with TOS ratings as they are the most referenced. The following are UConn's 2-stare. If they committed to the right P-5 school with lots of customers to keep happy there are fairly strong arguments for 3-stars. Always remember that Jordan Todman was a 3-star for 2 days when it looked like he was going to flip to Penn St. When that didn't happen he went back to 2-stars


Jay Rose - is he really a 2-star? He has offers from Wisconsin, West Virginia and several others. He commits to Uconn and is forgotten. He Commits to Wisky and he is an immediate 3-star.
Tyler Coyle - Defensive MVP at West Virginia camp and defensive MVP in NY vs. NE game with many P-5 commits
Keyion Dixon- classic out of position recruit. QB that will play WR at college.
Leone - Killer tape, incredibly agile big guy. Late interest from Neb, LSU, BC
Vickers - 1st team 4A all-state
Nate Hopkins - Illinois, Kansas, Navy, Boise offers
De George - multiple P-offers

As for the others, Gilmartin and Brouse both had a P-5 offer. 2 other 2-stars were specialists (K and LS) that rarely get 3-stars. Garson was the only 2-star with no P-5 offer and no camp or all state stand out performance.

Garson had Oregon State.

 

[Redding Husky]

The only bad thing about this week is the season is still seven months away.

 

[Dooley]

I have drunk every drop of 2016 Kool-Aid there is. If we don't challenge for the AAC championship this year, I will buy Rutgers basketball season tickets.

 

[Waquoit]

I have drunk every drop of 2016 Kool-Aid there is. If we don't challenge for the AAC championship this year, I will buy Rutgers basketball season tickets.

Hey, let's not get crazy now. Stuff happens. And you may end up needing that 20 bucks.

 

[The Viking]

If any of you haven't been to a Diaco recruiting "seminar" I highly recommend you take in the next one in 2017 at the Rent.

First of all, very good food.
Secondly there is a cash bar - although the selection sucked and after this year's large turnout, I'd hope they improve that.
Lastly, its great to see each coach breakdown 2 or 3 of the great kids coming into the program - not just the stats - but the stories of visiting their houses, the stories of their incredible commitment to football, academics, their visits up to UConn, the parents behind the kids, etc.

We aren't reaching for kids who can just catch the ball or just run with the ball or just throw the ball. Diaco is getting kids who are quality players who you can be PROUD of when they represent the school and the state when they take the field.

These are FANTASTIC young men who they are bringing in.

Diaco talked about a process where by after a recruit takes his usual 48-hour visit over the weekend, he'll ask his current players what they thought of the kid. If even ONE current player thought the player didnt' cut the mustard, Diaco would delete him from the database.

Diaco is creating an impressive football culture here that we can be proud of. Just ride the wave and enjoy. And don't even get me started about the Jay Rose quotes as well as the other CT kids who can't stop gushing over playing here for their state school and playing for Diaco.

If we are in a P5 soon, Diaco is going to light the northeast on fire and BC and Cuse and Rutgers might as well close up shop and give up.

 

[RedStickHusky]

Loved his closing line..."the cement is still wet"

Jimmy Hoffa's last words...

 

[RedStickHusky]

Well, if I'm going for it on 4th down, I would rather make the wrong call and have Tom Brady and Gronk than make what you think is the right call and have Tim Boyle.

But thats just me.

My take on fourth down play calling is that he had to wrestle with knowing what the right call was, wanting to teach aggressiveness, and lacking the confidence that we could execute the right call -- especially if it involved pushing the defense off the line of scrimmage. If you've got the horses up front, you line up and smash it for a yard; if you don.t you run something cute that's likely to blow up on you.

 

[RedStickHusky]

I have drunk every drop of 2016 Kool-Aid there is. If we don't challenge for the AAC championship this year, I will buy Rutgers basketball season tickets.

You're just looking for some 'me' time.

 

[Ldandy]

The star system is clearly not some exact science that anyone should be taking as gospel. There are hundreds of examples of kids who were 2 stars or even unrated coming out of HS that went on to have great success in college and The NFL. I bleed a different Blue and White than you guys, but understand your argument. Just this year our DE Carl Nassib, a former unrated walk on, became a consensus first team All American and swept the awards circuit taking home the coveted Lombardi Trophy among several others. It obviously can happen. All star systems really can confess to be(outside of a ridiculous cottage industry) are evaluations of a player's potential based on the athletic ability demonstrated in high school. That's it. Once they are in a college program it is up to the kid to perform to whatever their true potential might be.

Saying all of that, you can not dismiss the fact that the teams who regularly win on National Signing Day, usually are the same ones winning in January. Sure there are exceptions such as Oregon, TCU, or Stanford , who regularly out perform their class rankings, but looking at 247 Sports Composite Rankings you will find a top ten of Bama, FSU, LSU, OSU, UM, Ole Miss, UGA, USC, Auburn, and Clemson. The majority of these teams have either won the title, played for it, or at least contended for NY6 Games in the last several seasons.

I've seen the argument that kids rankings get artificially inflated when they start being recruited by higher profile programs. I'm sure there might be some truth to that, as this is a for profit industry, however I think the primary issue with under the radar types is that they simply lack serious evaluation until the big boys start sniffing around. Kids playing football in Ct Prep Schools are going to get a lot less exposure than kids playing 7A BAll in Miami. It doesn't make them lesser players, simply less known. When a major school/s come into the picture suddenly multiple new sites/reviewers are looking at these kids, evaluating them, and comparing them to other similar prospects. I get that its frustrating to see a 2* OL flip to Michigan and suddenly become a 3*. Did he get any better? Obviously not, but he likely was only fully evaluated by multiple entities for the first time when UM came into the picture. If I was Diaco, I would be perfectly OK if my kids kept a low profile. Play things close to your vest because when kids start to blow up nationally, the vultures will all start circling.

 

[Adesmar123]

Honestly, he makes $1.7m a year, just had the worst recruiting class in the AAC, barely top 100 overall, went 6-6, lost to a C-USA team in bowl, etc.

Thank you for your interest in UConn football Mr Pasqualoni.

 

[Adesmar123]

Jimmy Hoffa's last words...

Actually his last words were "Is the cement still wet? Tell Michael it was only business."

 

[UConn66]

I just reviewed the national rankings for our recruiting class and it was pretty brutal assessment. It was embarrassing to see UMass ahead of us in some of these recruiting rankings. I hope a power five invitation come soon because we are not going to be able to recruit while we are in this conference.

Who gives a darn what some recruiting service says? Does anyone think that the best teams consult services before making offers or care what some talking head think? Not a chance. I'll trust this staff.

 

[pepband99]

Everyone is entitled to their own personal opinions. Personally, I still liked the fake FG call by Diaco vs Mizzou, it just didn't work out, unfortunately.

Look at what happened to Dabo Swinney vs Oklahoma this year with much larger stakes on the line:

" Swinney called a fake punt and threw the ball to a defensive tackle in the biggest game of his coaching career -- with a spot in the national championship game on the line..."

"...That play, perhaps more than any other this season, might have embodied what the Tigers and their 46-year-old coach are all about. Just like that... Swinney turned the table on one of college football's traditional heavyweights..."

Don't remind us of that play, please. Why?

Because the name of that play in the Clemson playbook? That's right - UConn - based on the home state of the guy who made the catch.

http://www.foxsports.com/college-fo...tian-wilkins-fake-punt-cfp-orange-bowl-010716

 

[MarkT]

The star system is clearly not some exact science that anyone should be taking as gospel. There are hundreds of examples of kids who were 2 stars or even unrated coming out of HS that went on to have great success in college and The NFL. I bleed a different Blue and White than you guys, but understand your argument. Just this year our DE Carl Nassib, a former unrated walk on, became a consensus first team All American and swept the awards circuit taking home the coveted Lombardi Trophy among several others. It obviously can happen. All star systems really can confess to be(outside of a ridiculous cottage industry) are evaluations of a player's potential based on the athletic ability demonstrated in high school. That's it. Once they are in a college program it is up to the kid to perform to whatever their true potential might be.

Saying all of that, you can not dismiss the fact that the teams who regularly win on National Signing Day, usually are the same ones winning in January. Sure there are exceptions such as Oregon, TCU, or Stanford , who regularly out perform their class rankings, but looking at 247 Sports Composite Rankings you will find a top ten of Bama, FSU, LSU, OSU, UM, Ole Miss, UGA, USC, Auburn, and Clemson. The majority of these teams have either won the title, played for it, or at least contended for NY6 Games in the last several seasons.

I've seen the argument that kids rankings get artificially inflated when they start being recruited by higher profile programs. I'm sure there might be some truth to that, as this is a for profit industry, however I think the primary issue with under the radar types is that they simply lack serious evaluation until the big boys start sniffing around. Kids playing football in Ct Prep Schools are going to get a lot less exposure than kids playing 7A BAll in Miami. It doesn't make them lesser players, simply less known. When a major school/s come into the picture suddenly multiple new sites/reviewers are looking at these kids, evaluating them, and comparing them to other similar prospects. I get that its frustrating to see a 2* OL flip to Michigan and suddenly become a 3*. Did he get any better? Obviously not, but he likely was only fully evaluated by multiple entities for the first time when UM came into the picture. If I was Diaco, I would be perfectly OK if my kids kept a low profile. Play things close to your vest because when kids start to blow up nationally, the vultures will all start circling.

Great post and I completely agree with you. It's not a coincidence that the majority of the schools that rank in tr

The star system is clearly not some exact science that anyone should be taking as gospel. There are hundreds of examples of kids who were 2 stars or even unrated coming out of HS that went on to have great success in college and The NFL. I bleed a different Blue and White than you guys, but understand your argument. Just this year our DE Carl Nassib, a former unrated walk on, became a consensus first team All American and swept the awards circuit taking home the coveted Lombardi Trophy among several others. It obviously can happen. All star systems really can confess to be(outside of a ridiculous cottage industry) are evaluations of a player's potential based on the athletic ability demonstrated in high school. That's it. Once they are in a college program it is up to the kid to perform to whatever their true potential might be.

Saying all of that, you can not dismiss the fact that the teams who regularly win on National Signing Day, usually are the same ones winning in January. Sure there are exceptions such as Oregon, TCU, or Stanford , who regularly out perform their class rankings, but looking at 247 Sports Composite Rankings you will find a top ten of Bama, FSU, LSU, OSU, UM, Ole Miss, UGA, USC, Auburn, and Clemson. The majority of these teams have either won the title, played for it, or at least contended for NY6 Games in the last several seasons.

I've seen the argument that kids rankings get artificially inflated when they start being recruited by higher profile programs. I'm sure there might be some truth to that, as this is a for profit industry, however I think the primary issue with under the radar types is that they simply lack serious evaluation until the big boys start sniffing around. Kids playing football in Ct Prep Schools are going to get a lot less exposure than kids playing 7A BAll in Miami. It doesn't make them lesser players, simply less known. When a major school/s come into the picture suddenly multiple new sites/reviewers are looking at these kids, evaluating them, and comparing them to other similar prospects. I get that its frustrating to see a 2* OL flip to Michigan and suddenly become a 3*. Did he get any better? Obviously not, but he likely was only fully evaluated by multiple entities for the first time when UM came into the picture. If I was Diaco, I would be perfectly OK if my kids kept a low profile. Play things close to your vest because when kids start to blow up nationally, the vultures will all start circling.

Great post and I completely agree with you. It's not a coincidence that the majority of the schools that rank in ur top 20 in recruiting tend to be the top programs. 5 star prospects are kids with enormous talent that are above the rest in terms of their ability and where they are currently (they are more developed physically and most will be playing on Sunday's) Right behind the 5 star recruits are the 4 star recruits who are exceptional players that are just behind the 5 star kids. With that said, people don't realize how good a 3 star recruit is-if you are a 3 star High School football recruit, odds are you were a studd in High School you just are not as mature or ready for the next level as the 4 and 5 star recruits (for example while a 4-5 star linebacker may already be 6'1"-6'2" 240-245 lb linebacker a 3 star kid may be 220-225lbs). If the 3 star (and even some 2 star recruits) have the drive and the right coaching staff, they can become very good college players that find their way to playing on Sunday's (it may just take them a full 4-5 years as opposed to the 4-5 star kid who will leave after his true junior year).
Diaco has recruited very good high school players that are big (and fast) and have the potential to put size on their frames. A lot of these kids will be able to put the size on necessary to play at the next level, it just may take a couple years with a college training regime. We can win games with the type of recruiting classes we get, but you will never see a college team win a championship with only 2 and 3 stars . So While it's not an exact science, to say the ranking system is irrelevant is an absurd statement.

 

[HuskyDogArt]

The thing about recruiting sites is that they look mostly at the football states - California, Texas and Florida, not the state that is ranked low in HS football...Lets compare 3 Allstate players...1 from Texas, 1 from Pennsylvania and 1 from Vermont (which is ranked 51 out of 51 in the rankings.) The Texas player will get 5 stars, the player from Pennsylvania will get either 4 or 5 stars, but the player from Vermont would be lucky if he got a star....but if the Vermont player got to the NFL and won the Super Bowl, do you think the coach who recruiting him would be sad that he was a no star?

Myself, recruiting is a crapshoot...if the 5 star came from Football Prep High and couldn't spell CAT, (like some schools in FL) I wouldn't want him. Besides athletics... learning is what should be done in school...

 

[Excalibur]

I'll say it again -- nearly every kid in this class had multiple coaching staffs that thought he could play and made an offer. That was not the case last year.

This class was not at the bottom of the ACC. If you're looking only at the rankings, particularly those that weigh the number of recruits in addition to their ratings, just stop. In terms of the average rating per recruit, our class in the top 1/3 of AAC. So whether you want to look at ratings or offers, Diaco fared very well against our peers on the recruiting trail this year.

 

[HuskyDogArt]

If any of you haven't been to a Diaco recruiting "seminar" I highly recommend you take in the next one in 2017 at the Rent.

First of all, very good food.
Secondly there is a cash bar - although the selection sucked and after this year's large turnout, I'd hope they improve that.
Lastly, its great to see each coach breakdown 2 or 3 of the great kids coming into the program - not just the stats - but the stories of visiting their houses, the stories of their incredible commitment to football, academics, their visits up to UConn, the parents behind the kids, etc.

We aren't reaching for kids who can just catch the ball or just run with the ball or just throw the ball. Diaco is getting kids who are quality players who you can be PROUD of when they represent the school and the state when they take the field.

These are FANTASTIC young men who they are bringing in.

Diaco talked about a process where by after a recruit takes his usual 48-hour visit over the weekend, he'll ask his current players what they thought of the kid. If even ONE current player thought the player didnt' cut the mustard, Diaco would delete him from the database.

Diaco is creating an impressive football culture here that we can be proud of. Just ride the wave and enjoy. And don't even get me started about the Jay Rose quotes as well as the other CT kids who can't stop gushing over playing here for their state school and playing for Diaco.

If we are in a P5 soon, Diaco is going to light the northeast on fire and BC and Cuse and Rutgers might as well close up shop and give up.

I hope soon the Big 12 comes calling and the B1G notices that and invite us to join...

 

[HuskyDogArt]

Jimmy Hoffa's last words...

Funny...