Don Brown and GDL's Coaching Styles

[BlueMAB]

I think you missed his point... "OLine needs leadership ON the line. Whos providing the "follow me" -- I read that as talking about the players, not the coaches. It didn't say ON the sidelines.

Just because the fat white guy doesn't know who the leader is on the O line doesn't mean there is no leader on the O line.

 

[BlueMAB]

Ok. So Foley gets credit but no blame?

Or are you suggesting that zone blocking doesn't work?

If you're really trying to blame Foley for the decline in O-line production, you've gone from trying to be reasonable about if and when to replace GDL, to someone is apparently not even watching the games and just coming on the board to argue with people by making the most ridiculous argument you can think of.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Having said all that, I wouldn't be upset to see Deleone go. But I just don't buy this stuff about the players not liking the guy being a problem. I don't remember ever liking a coach, until I was done playing.

 

[ZooCougar]

Having said all that, I wouldn't be upset to see Deleone go. But I just don't buy this stuff about the players not liking the guy being a problem. I don't remember ever liking a coach, until I was done playing.

You didn't like them, but did you respect them?

There is a thin line between being a demanding SOB and being a toxic leader. The stuff I hear about is toxic leadership.

 

[Carl Spackler]

You didn't like them, but did you respect them?

There is a thin line between being a demanding SOB and being a toxic leader. The stuff I hear about is toxic leadership.

That's why you need results. You need to results. We're not getting them, and if the coach can't deliver the results, then the coach needs to go.

But I can tell you this from the heart - if the system works, and the system is failing, becuase the players feelings are hurt by this SOB? I don't have kind words for any of the players, and frankly, they're not doing themselves any favors, because as others have noted - in real life, outside of school, until you can climb the ladder and be the top dog in any business or organization - you will invariably have to deal with superiors, who's attitude, personality, and treatment of you, make you absolutely sick - and you still have to get your job done.

The key - to me - is understanding the system, and knowing if it's a fundamentally sound offensive system. I really, the way this team looks on the field, seems like the offnese is fundamentally flawed. I find that really hard to believe, but anything is possible, and I can't know for sure, without actually knowing the playbook, and when I think about the years of experience that these guys have, but then the basic things that seem to fail during game time, I don't know.

If the system is fundamentally flawed on offense, than everythign I'm sayign is out the window.

If the system is fundamentatlly sound, but is just too much for the players to handle - well - then the coach is again at fault, for not putting somethign together that the players can handle.

But if the players aren't accepting the system, only because they don't like the coach and don't respect him? And that's the explanation for where we're at? That would really, really piss me off - because in that case - they have not given the system a chance, and have let their personal feelings about a coaching and systems change, dictate that we are losing.

It seems almost, that the information that fairfield county keeps bringing up - is pointing directly to that.

 

[Chin Diesel]

That's why you need results. You need to results. We're not getting them, and if the coach can't deliver the results, then the coach needs to go.

But I can tell you this from the heart - if the system works, and the system is failing, becuase the players feelings are hurt by this SOB? I don't have kind words for any of the players, and frankly, they're not doing themselves any favors, because as others have noted - in real life, outside of school, until you can climb the ladder and be the top dog in any business or organization - you will invariably have to deal with superiors, who's attitude, personality, and treatment of you, make you absolutely sick - and you still have to get your job done.

The key - to me - is understanding the system, and knowing if it's a fundamentally sound offensive system. I really, the way this team looks on the field, seems like the offnese is fundamentally flawed. I find that really hard to believe, but anything is possible, and I can't know for sure, without actually knowing the playbook, and when I think about the years of experience that these guys have, but then the basic things that seem to fail during game time, I don't know.

If the system is fundamentally flawed on offense, than everythign I'm sayign is out the window.

If the system is fundamentatlly sound, but is just too much for the players to handle - well - then the coach is again at fault, for not putting somethign together that the players can handle.

But if the players aren't accepting the system, only because they don't like the coach and don't respect him? And that's the explanation for where we're at? That would really, really piss me off - because in that case - they have not given the system a chance, and have let their personal feelings about a coaching and systems change, dictate that we are losing.

It seems almost, that the information that fairfield county keeps bringing up - is pointing directly to that.

Speaking only for myself (duh?!) I don't think it's a matter of players quitting on the coach.

But,,,,,,, football more than any other college sport requires a supreme sacrafice of body and mind. In the weight room, in the film room and on the practice field players must be pushed to go beyond where they feel they are capable of going. And there's a trust factor there. When players feel the coach is building them towards something and they see results they are more willing to give and go the extra mile. When they feel denigrated and don't see results, they are less likely to push themselves beyond what is necessary.

And as others have pointed out, it's a thin line. And winning and losing can move the line, especially for teenagers and young adults. Let's face it, how many of us work with men or women age 25 and younger who really push themself to the extreme every day? It's learned behavior.

 

[ZooCougar]

Carl,


The system is flawed, the coaches are making terrible, terrible decisions and at least one coach is a toxic leader. That's the message I have been getting. The Head Coach hasn't really bonded with the program. They are out of touch and can't stop telling everyone "How they used to do things at Syracuse". I guess that's how you build credibility when you can't win games.

By the way, you can be a toxic leader and still get results. It's just that everyone around you will be miserable.

 

[B1GEast]

plus 1000.

absurd to agree here

 

[Carl Spackler]

Carl,


The system is flawed, the coaches are making terrible, terrible decisions and at least one coach is a toxic leader. That's the message I have been getting. The Head Coach hasn't really bonded with the program. They are out of touch and can't stop telling everyone "How they used to do things at Syracuse". I guess that's how you build credibility when you can't win games.

By the way, you can be a toxic leader and still get results. It's just that everyone around you will be miserable.

Results matter. Personality doesn't. Psychology matters, personality types don't, and that's what people are confusing. Personality traits are just one part of a team's psychological makeup. Any team, organized for any activity.

I don't know if the system is flawed or not on offense. None of us do, unless you've seen the playbook, and can comprehend it. If the system is flawed, then that is cause for immediate dismissal in my book. It's simply unacceptable to put an offensive play calling system on the field, that schematically, can't account for blocking a 7 man defensive front. And if the system is too complex for the players to handle, then the coach has to recognize it and change it - or be dismissed.

I really don't know what's going on in the program, I know that we've lost three games in a row, for the first time since the three games following Jasper Howard's murder, and we did not lose those games in the kind of fashion we are now.

And it was the players that turned it around then, and it was the players that turned it around in 2010, and it's the players that have to turn it around now. The systems are different, but unless somebody proves to me that they are fundamentally flawed, I'm not buying that.

We've traded a passive defensive scheme for an aggressive one. We've adjusted the kicking game to the new rules, and have the same returner, and a kickers that appear to be quite capable of the mental toughness required for those positions, and we've traded an offense that could run but couldn't pass, for an offense that can pass but can't run. We've traded one head coach with poor game time management, for a another coach with different poor game time management.

It's on the players to get this thing fixed and finish the season right. It's on the administration to figure out what to do about the coaching staff.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Speaking only for myself (duh?!) I don't think it's a matter of players quitting on the coach.

But,,,,,,, football more than any other college sport requires a supreme sacrafice of body and mind. In the weight room, in the film room and on the practice field players must be pushed to go beyond where they feel they are capable of going. And there's a trust factor there. When players feel the coach is building them towards something and they see results they are more willing to give and go the extra mile. When they feel denigrated and don't see results, they are less likely to push themselves beyond what is necessary.

And as others have pointed out, it's a thin line. And winning and losing can move the line, especially for teenagers and young adults. Let's face it, how many of us work with men or women age 25 and younger who really push themself to the extreme every day? It's learned behavior.

Winning is a habit. Unfortunately so is losing.

We need to break the habits were in - both the coaches and players need to break the habits they are in.

We have not lost 4 games in a row in 6 years.

 

[huskymedic]

Interesting comment yesterday on the subject:

TheFatWhiteGuy Oct 22, 7:52pm via Twitter for iPhone
DLine is good year in & out because Hughes is fundamentals and mentality. OLine needs leadership ON the line. Whos providing the "follow me"

I think you missed his point... "OLine needs leadership ON the line. Whos providing the "follow me" -- I read that as talking about the players, not the coaches. It didn't say ON the sidelines.

Just because the fat white guy doesn't know who the leader is on the O line doesn't mean there is no leader on the O line.

If you say so... but he has more cred, insight, and intel than 95% of the posters here...

 

[sdhusky]

That leaves one lonely option: GDL and his o-line blocking schemes are the problem.

What about our offensive line isn't very talented?

 

[cryjeremiah]

What about our offensive line isn't very talented?

I think maybe you did not read my OP very closely.

Look, people (maybe you) have suggested we just do not have the type (physically) of O-lineman to pull off a zone-blocking scheme. PP and GDL may be now recruiting a different body type and the results will eventually appear after the O-line is stocked with zone-type O-lineman. And maybe that is true.

But all that really does is indict GDL in a new way. Seriously, you have to be an idiot to try to turn maulers into tap-dancers overnight, which is clearly what he has attempted. If this zone is the scheme he wanted, he ought to have recognized that the TYPE of talent (your word) he needed was not currently there and he should have implemented his scheme bit by bit over a few years as his type of O-lineman entered the program. That way he would have been maximizing the strengths of both types of O-line talent, the outgoing and the incoming.

As it stands, the O-line production took a hit in the first year of GDL's plan after having lost only one starter (Zach Hurd). Then you lose Petrus and MRyan and the line is now one of the worst in the country. How? You still have 2 starters from the Todman days (Friend and Masters) and several guys (Greene, Cruz, Bullock) filled in after Hurd left. Of course, starter Erik K. loved MaryJane more than football/college/UConn, but that is only a valid excuse the year he left, because you have now had two years of other guys getting experience in his stead.

Bottom line is this: Let's say, hypothetically, the O-line scheme had never changed. Would these same guys be ranked any where remotely near as horribly as they currently are?

No Freaking way!!!

If you think otherwise, I believe you must be lying to yourself for the sake of this argument. Again, GDL must be the problem. The talent hasn't gone anywhere. Either his schemes are garbage or he has no ability to impliment them in a manner that still utilizes and maximizes the talent currently here. Neither of these possibilities is acceptable in a FBS OC!!

 

[huskymedic]

UConn football works on fixing running woes

Chris Elsberry

Published 1:04 p.m., Thursday, October 25, 2012​

STORRS -- When Donald Brown was working toward a school-record 2,083 yards rushing in 2008, his five blocks of granite didn't miss a game. Left tackle Will Beatty, left guard Moe Petrus, center Keith Gray, right guard Zach Hurd and right tackle Mike Hicks played in all 13 games as the Huskies averaged 216.4 rushing yards.​

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When Jordan Todman and Andre Dixon were one-two punching their way to 1,000-yard seasons in 2009, the offensive line was healthy, strong and experienced. Petrus moved to center, but both Hurd and Hicks started all 12 games on the right side while Matthew Olivier and Erik Kuraczea split time at left guard and Mike Ryan and Dan Ryan shared starts at left tackle as the Huskies averaged 170.7 yards.​

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And when Todman was rushing for 1,695 yards in 2010, Petrus, Hurd and Olivier were three anchors, each starting at least 10 games with Mike Ryan and Adam Masters starting at both left and right tackle as the Huskies averaged 174.7 yards rushing.​

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What's happened?​

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From that 174.7-yard average in 2010, the average rushing totals have dropped like the proverbial stone. Last season, UConn averaged just 118.5 yards on the ground, and this year it's even worse, just 86.9 yards a game. And if this downward trend continues, this could be the first time in four seasons that the Huskies won't have a 1,000-yard rusher.​

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As the Huskies work though a bye week in preparation for their game at South Florida on Nov. 3 (7 p.m., ESPNU), head coach Paul Pasqualoni has been trying to find out what's wrong with the run -- and fix it.​

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"One of the things that we really have to take a very good look at is running the ball," Pasqualoni said. "We have not been able to run the ball, which is frustrating for us. People, especially in the last two weeks (Temple and Syracuse), have really brought multiple pressures against the run. Just bringing a lot of extra people in there, it makes it hard when there's people slanting, moving, to get the blocks finished. Not staying with a block long enough or being surprised at the point of attack ¦ those are things that you have to adjust to."​

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But, the Huskies haven't adjusted. In an overtime loss to Temple, UConn gained just 88 yards in 41 carries, a dismal 2.1-yard average. And in that 40-10 blowout loss at Syracuse, the Huskies finished with a minus-6 rush total, their worst total as a I-A program.​

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With returning linemen Steve Green (eight starts) at left guard, Adam Masters (23 starts) at right guard and Kevin Friend (17 starts) at right tackle, along the return from injury of 6-foot-9, 310-pound Jimmy Bennett at left tackle and the addition of Penn State transfer Alex Mateas at center, there were high hopes for continued big numbers in the run game.​

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Those big numbers haven't panned out.​

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"It's very difficult with the offensive line when first of all, we started the season trying to replace a veteran center," Pasqualoni said. "We were working our way through that. We were trying to get Jimmy Bennett back. At the same time we lost a good tackle in Mike Ryan and we lost a good guy in Moe Petrus, who made all the (defensive) calls (at center) and was in the middle of it. Sometimes, guys like that are hard to replace."​

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There were problems right from the start. Just 147 yards rushing against UMass, 35 yards against North Carolina State, 153 versus Maryland, 90 against Western Michigan, 133 against Buffalo and 53 against Rutgers.​

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Then came Temple and Syracuse.​

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Pasqualoni has tried to switch things up, using Masters at three different line positions. He played Gus Cruz, and replaced Mateas at center with Tyler Bullock. He's even giving reps to true freshman guard Tyler Samra and redshirt freshman tackle Dalton Gifford. Why? Because Masters suffered a season-ending knee injury at Syracuse. His career is over.​

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"This is all part of the game," Pasqualoni said. "We're working our way through it, but it's challenging. Very, very challenging."​

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Pasqualoni is spending the bye week trying to figure out what run concepts work best based on the line's experience, or lack thereof. They need to be able to block some things well enough to establish some kind of run game in order to take the pressure off quarterback Chandler Whitmer, who has been sacked 22 times in eight games and pounded to the ground about a hundred others as opposing defenses continue to shut down the run and tee off on the pass.​

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"When you can't run the football, that puts a lot of pressure on the quarterback to make every single play," Pasqualoni said. "We have to try and establish some sort of run. Find some run concepts that we feel we'd be good at and try to narrow those down. So, those are things that we're going to work on and try to improve on as we move forward."​

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Read more: http://www.ctpost.com/uconn/article/UConn-football-works-on-fixing-running-woes-3981422.php#ixzz2ALDkYmWQ​

 

[metsfan2323]

"One of the things that we really have to take a very good look at is running the ball,"

"it makes it hard when there's people slanting, moving",


Priceless comments from P. Huskyfandan needs to e-mail this to Warde. No mention of the inability to master the zone blocking techniques. P can't see the forest through the trees.

P is making 1.6 million dollars.

 

[huskymedic]

Priceless comments from P. Huskyfandan needs to e-mail this to Warde.

P is making 1.6 Million dollars.

Those aren't my quotes... and if you're going to modify for your agenda - include the whole statements: "it makes it hard when there's people slanting, moving, to get the blocks finished. Not staying with a block long enough or being surprised at the point of attack ¦ those are things that you have to adjust to."

 

[metsfan2323]

Those aren't my quotes... and if you're going to modify for your agenda - include the whole statements: "it makes it hard when there's people slanting, moving, to get the blocks finished. Not staying with a block long enough or being surprised at the point of attack ¦ those are things that you have to adjust to."

I said they were from P and I did not change the context of the quotes for an agenda, the context is quite clear.

 

[huskymedic]

I said they were from P and I did not change the context of the quotes for an agenda, the context is quite clear.

It's the problem w/ the "reply box"... They get taken out of context down the road. Thx.

 

[Carl Spackler]

I think Pasqualoni should probably just keep things simple in the press from here on out. He's beginning to sound like this guy:

They really just figured out now - 20 games in - that the offense can't block a defense that is doing anything but staying perfectly still in a straight up front seven alignment?

Pasqualoni may have to find a safe house soon, lay low for awhile, becuase like Brick Tamland, he's going to be wanted for murder....... to our running game.

 

[BlueMAB]

Why take you best lineman and put him at three different positions? Why not leave him where's best at, so you know you've got some stability at one position on the line, and then you work to build around him. How do you develop continuity on the OL when you're constantly shuffling guys into different positions?

 

[BlueMAB]

If you say so... but he has more cred, insight, and intel than 95% of the posters here...

His tweet is a non-sequiter. He says the DL is good year in and year out because Hughes preaches fundamentals and mentatlity. Then implies the OL is sucking this year because there's no leader on the OL. The first sentence has nothing to do with the second. If that's insight and intel, he's lacking. Even for the boneyard.

 

[Husky25]

Why take you best lineman and put him at three different positions? Why not leave him where's best at, so you know you've got some stability at one position on the line, and then you work to build around him. How do you develop continuity on the OL when you're constantly shuffling guys into different positions?

I asked that question after the UMass game. I was told because they were trying out different combinations and it proves the line has great flexibility. What a bunch of bunk that proved to be. Doesn't matter much now anyway. The team's best/most experienced O-lineman (who is quite possibly merely mediocre) is gone for the season.

 

[Husky25]

...I don't know if the system is flawed or not on offense. None of us do, unless you've seen the playbook, and can comprehend it...

The system is flawed because it fails the eye test of at least 30,000 people in the stands and 100,000s more who watch on tv. Heck, Coach Deleone has told us his goals, and they include not putting the defense in a bad position. Remember the below passage from after the Buffalo Game? Hey Coach, you are an offensive coach. Let Coach Brown worry about the D.

Desmond Connor: I wasn’t at the game but watched it and it looked to me like you got a little conservative with the 17-point lead and nursed it a little bit. Is that right or…

Coach Deleone: There’s no doubt about it. Why take unnecessary risks. We came off a game with six sacks. Why take that kind of chance. Now, with that said we weren’t just sitting on the ball all the time. At the end of the game we were but we didn’t convert enough third downs so the answer is, at the end of the game, yeah, I was not going to do anything to put our defense in jeopardy.

That may not be fan-friendly but it’s going to be a way to win a game in that situation. For us it’s about winning a game. We know our people better than anybody and we felt like to give our team the best chance to win I wasn’t going to do anything to jeopardize our defense – nothing.

 

[huskymedic]

His tweet is a non-sequiter. He says the DL is good year in and year out because Hughes preaches fundamentals and mentatlity. Then implies the OL is sucking this year because there's no leader on the OL. The first sentence has nothing to do with the second. If that's insight and intel, he's lacking. Even for the boneyard.

It's Twitter - not the New York Times. Check his timeline... There where other tidbits.

 

[BlueMAB]

It's Twitter - not the New York Times. Check his timeline... There where other tidbits.

I have no interest in researching his timeline. I responded to what you quoted, if you think he's right, fine. I'm not going to try and change your mind.

I will continue, however, to question the logic behind constant shuffling on the OL. How do you know what works best if you're constantly shuffling? How does one unit get the chance to prove it's the best with the constant shuffling. It's irrelevant now, with Masters down, our best lineman is done, and I expect a terrible situation to get even worse.

For all the talk about players not performing on the OL, I seem to remember Foley taking lineman most of us had never heard of, guys with very few offers, and turning them into one of the best run blocking lines in the country for a few years. No, they couldn't pass protect then. But they can't do either now, and since GDL has taken over, there is no denying the OL has gotten worse.

 

[Carl Spackler]

I don't know fellas, all I know is this system, if we're stuck with the same coaches, they better find players that can run it.

 

[huskymedic]

I don't know fellas, all I know is this system, if we're stuck with the same coaches, they better find players that can run it.

GDL hasn't lost his mind... Timing of implementation and under estimating our talent to absorb/execute is suspect though. Posted this in response to a question in another thread.

http://thehousethatschianobuilt.blogspot.com/2012/09/break-it-down-outside-zone-vs-usf.html

 

[Carl Spackler]

Medic - I really don't have a clue as to where we are at with systems and personnel, but the problem we are at - has got to be a combination of the two. That's a really nice article though. Nice find, thanks for posting. The one thing I haven't seen, from us, which is a part of zone blocking, is the cut blocks. If we're going to do it, teach it properly, and go out and put the defense on the rug. Cut blocks don't have to be dangerous, as long as you teach it right.

Somebody somewhere asked - who else is running a pro-set offense wiht zone blocking in college ball - well - our league partner - is.

 

[ZooCougar]

There is nothing wrong with the talent. We have the best QB we have had in years. I-AA linemen would be able to block better for us in a different scheme. We have a running back who was pretty damn good last year.

GDL is running he same garbage that got P fired in Syracuse in addition to the Wildcat.