Don't understand the contempt

[UConnDan97]

We don't need 11 TEs?

No, we only need 10 TE's. We'll use excess QBs (Tyler Davis) for the remainder of the TE needs...

 

[huskyrob1]

No, we only need 10 TE's. We'll use excess QBs (Tyler Davis) for the remainder of the TE needs...

How about Fitton, is he fitting in?

 

[Sky ball]

LOL. None of them have the speed to put pressure on the QB even if they are attacking. Remember UCF last year? They attacked and forced the QB out of the pocket, but then couldn't keep him with him when he jogged towards the sideline looking for receivers downfield.

Saw a lot of that with Flowers Sat. Pass rushers get in but QB jogs left or right and loses them as they lumber by him.

 

[uconnphil2016]

I'd add Mayala to that BD list.

Yup--good catch. Maybe BD's best recruit.

 

[uconnphil2016]

I'm still all on board for blaming Diaco, because his recruiting was much worse than PPs and his assistants were absolutely worse (with the exception of GDL). This is a good exercise to perform, so I will perform it now; below is our depth chart this year and who's responsible for recruiting them. I'm using the ECU game as the marker so that I can included Arkeel, because he is our biggest offensive weapon. Pasqualoni = orange, Diaco = red, and Edsall = blue:

WR - Beals, Dixon
WR - Skanes, McLean
WR - Mayala, Donaldson
LT - Peart, Hashemi
LG - Rutherford, Shafenacker
OC - Vechery, Oak
RG - DeGeorge, Leone
RT - Van Demark, Hopkins
TE - Bloom, Myers
RB - Newsome, Mensah
QB - Shirreffs, Pindell <-- Edsall should get an assist on Shirreffs for talking him into coming back
DEFENSE
DE - Ormsby, Stapleton
NT - Fatukasi, Murphy
DE - Carrezola, Lawley
OLB - Diggs, Beavers
ILB - Joseph, Sterling
OLB - Britton, Hahn
CB - Coyle, Fortt
FS - Summers, Bell
SS - Brown, Watkins
CB - Terry, Garland
DB - Swann, Herring-Wilson
SPECIAL TEAMS
P - Graham, Magliozzi
PK - Tarbutt, Rishell
LS - Keating, Sidebotham
H - Bisack

So what do we see?

I think that there are some impact players from Diaco's recruiting there for the future (DeGeorge, Leone, Beals, Dixon, Skanes, McLean, Peart, Van Demark, Murphy, Terry, Nate Hopkins). That's about it, though. We already see 9 Edsall recruits in the 2 deep (probably more than that if I used a more recent depth chart), which is pretty telling. Furthermore, PP left us with big impact players like Newsome, Fatukasi, Joseph, Ormsby, Carrezola, and our tight ends.

I have no doubt that in 2019, we are going to be a good looking football team. I even think there is enough there to have a good looking offensive team next year, since that is where most of Diaco's impact guys play. The defense? Well...let's all pray that the youngsters in the secondary really grow from this year's experience, and let's hope that the jump from freshman to sophomore continues to be the biggest year of improvement for football players...

Very helpful. What's most interesting is that Diaco's greatest deficit in recruiting is the defensive front, and he was a LBs coach and then a D coordinator. His strongest position was his wideouts as evidenced by Beals, Skanes, Hergy, Donaldson, McLean and Dixon...lots of serviceable guys. Did decent at o-line with Peart, Van Denmark, Leone and DeGeorge. Our defense is just in really bad shape in terms of guys who are ready to become experienced leaders, especially up front. The defensive line might be scary next year. I'm not convinced Kevin Murphy can replace FF up front, and the ends are basically just not existent in the program.

 

[huskyrob1]

I'm still all on board for blaming Diaco, because his recruiting was much worse than PPs and his assistants were absolutely worse (with the exception of GDL). This is a good exercise to perform, so I will perform it now; below is our depth chart this year and who's responsible for recruiting them. I'm using the ECU game as the marker so that I can included Arkeel, because he is our biggest offensive weapon. Pasqualoni = orange, Diaco = red, and Edsall = blue:

WR - Beals, Dixon
WR - Skanes, McLean
WR - Mayala, Donaldson
LT - Peart, Hashemi
LG - Rutherford, Shafenacker
OC - Vechery, Oak
RG - DeGeorge, Leone
RT - Van Demark, Hopkins
TE - Bloom, Myers
RB - Newsome, Mensah
QB - Shirreffs, Pindell <-- Edsall should get an assist on Shirreffs for talking him into coming back
DEFENSE
DE - Ormsby, Stapleton
NT - Fatukasi, Murphy
DE - Carrezola, Lawley
OLB - Diggs, Beavers
ILB - Joseph, Sterling
OLB - Britton, Hahn
CB - Coyle, Fortt
FS - Summers, Bell
SS - Brown, Watkins
CB - Terry, Garland
DB - Swann, Herring-Wilson
SPECIAL TEAMS
P - Graham, Magliozzi
PK - Tarbutt, Rishell
LS - Keating, Sidebotham
H - Bisack

So what do we see?

I think that there are some impact players from Diaco's recruiting there for the future (DeGeorge, Leone, Beals, Dixon, Skanes, McLean, Peart, Van Demark, Murphy, Terry, Nate Hopkins). That's about it, though. We already see 9 Edsall recruits in the 2 deep (probably more than that if I used a more recent depth chart), which is pretty telling. Furthermore, PP left us with big impact players like Newsome, Fatukasi, Joseph, Ormsby, Carrezola, and our tight ends.

I have no doubt that in 2019, we are going to be a good looking football team. I even think there is enough there to have a good looking offensive team next year, since that is where most of Diaco's impact guys play. The defense? Well...let's all pray that the youngsters in the secondary really grow from this year's experience, and let's hope that the jump from freshman to sophomore continues to be the biggest year of improvement for football players...

I like DeGeorge and he's just frosh. The kid from Wilbur Cross ought to add something next year as well.

 

[The Funster]

We're about where I thought we'd be record wise. I think the disappointment come with how we got here. At times the D has looked non-competitive.

 

[Wordbomar]

The positive is next years schedule does not have any non-conf juggernauts. You can look at that two ways -

1. Home slate will be weak which is bad for ticket sales

2. We could prob slightly overachieve

 

[CL82]

How long do we get to blame Diaco? At least he recruited Sherriffs. Where would we be without him? Winless, probably.

Two seasons. In the third it is just understood.

 

[uconnphil2016]

The positive is next years schedule does not have any non-conf juggernauts. You can look at that two ways -

1. Home slate will be weak which is bad for ticket sales

2. We could prob slightly overachieve

My biggest worry is UMass. Right noe they're a better team than us, and losing to them would be a really crushing blow to our ego. I really really dont want that to happen

 

[gtcam]

I like DeGeorge and he's just frosh. The kid from Wilbur Cross ought to add something next year as well.

I like DeGeorge also but when he and Leone are listed together it gives me the creeps - to close to George DeLeone

 

[noeynox]

Yup--good catch. Maybe BD's best recruit.

I would say Peart was Diacos best recruit, but it's probably between those 2.

 

[gtcam]

How long do we get to blame Diaco? At least he recruited Sherriffs. Where would we be without him? Winless, probably.

Yeah but RE brought him out of "retirement"
Diaco is a huge part of where UConn is right now - it's hard to pin much on RE
Yes the D is a mess but even if RedPants was still here, I doubt things would be better
Nebraska is no model for college football D
In year three, if UConn is not bowl eligible, then the HC situation should be looked at again

 

[weyuo]

I'm wondering if Lashlee will be back next year. He's proved he can take nothing and make something out of it and I'm sure there are plenty that noticed. My fingers are crossed that he's around for two more years but realistically that's a 50/50 bet. If he's not here next year it will be a bigger blow to the program than the final record or the decline in attendance.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

The two worst players on this list are RE's 2 DBs who get burned week after week after week.

Time to get a new handle. No one takes your bait under the Sub Zero name.

 

[scoobydoo]

That, and the fact that each year we move further away from 2010, it gets harder to retain any patience or perspective.

We are back to 2001 whether we like it or not.

Remember teh first game agains BC the next year? The bakery is officially closed? We are a year away from that or more.

 

[Marty Jackson]

LOL. None of them have the speed to put pressure on the QB even if they are attacking. Remember UCF last year? They attacked and forced the QB out of the pocket, but then couldn't keep him with him when he jogged towards the sideline looking for receivers downfield.

This has been the most glaring issue on defense. Especially with a mobile qb. Flowers could have had a 200 yard day himself if he wanted.
Not sure why but the 3rd down defense is just horrendous. Teams are probably converting 75% and it doesn’t matter the yardage. Didn’t we see a 3rd and almost 30 concerted?

Definitely look forward to a defense that can put some pressure on the qb and actually collapse the pocket.

 

[Uconnalliance]

Apologies on mis-coloring Coyle and Fortt. They are indeed Diaco guys, although both are also very young and I'm guessing they will improve a lot from their experience on the field this year.

And as many have already pointed out, SubZero is wrong...

Well that’s minus 2 for you Dan ! Shame on you get your colors right jeeeeeeez!

 

[Nostical]

Coyle seems to be the best tackler and pass defender from what I've seen so far

Coyle and Fortt.... are also very young and I'm guessing they will improve a lot from their experience on the field this year.

After watching replays of the games, Omar Fortt also stands out with his tackling. Next year's D Backfield of Coyle, Fortt, Brown, Swann, etal. may be surprisingly better. We also know that RE redux isn't averse to playing next year's true freshmen.

 

[cohenzone]

At least 2-3 years.

If your one retort is *Shirreffs then maybe we should remind you that Diaco benched him in favor of the most talented 2nd string WR/QB in FBS.

Shirreffs doesn't even come back this year if Diaco was still around. We'd likely be winless with Diaco.

The lack of speed on defense is overwhelming. The secondary is slow and can't tackle. I've never seen an Edsall coached team tackle this poorly, or play this slow on defense. So I'm going to give him some rope, and hope he's able to improve the roster.

Diaco's defense at Nebraska is giving up 400 ypg and 30 ppg.

But the adults are back in charge. We'll get better.

The wait is tough for some of us senior citizens. It’s benefucial in some ways though. I can’t remember the names of the last two coaches what’shisname and whosamacallit.

 

[Confident Carl]

Words I hate to say....I agree with Palatine.

I think the won loss record is pretty much what we thought...but I really have been surprised that an Edsall coached team looks this bad on defense. The defense is a bad FCS defense...let alone a bad FBS defense. Did Diaco actually recruit not only FCS players...but bad FCS players? I would say RE would say yes to that...especially when he says the answer to the defensive issues is recruiting.

But it's still hard to not get frustrated watching every other team march up and down the field.

But....to the OP's point...overall it really is what we thought it would be. And...the offense is much better than I thought it would be.

I would say...

Offense.....much better than expected
Defense....much worse than expected
Special teams...about what we expected.

Overall...about what we SHOULD have expected.

In retrospect, what surprises me most about Diaco and staff is the lack of Defensive talent they recruited. Granted they brought in EJ Levenberry who we'll need big time next year. Marshe Terry has shown potential. What lacks are the front 6 or 7 on Defense. That's why it seems we MUST grab a couple of GOOD JC players up front.

Surprisingly, Diaco fared much better on Offense with Sherriff's, Pert, DeGeorge, Scanes, Hopkins, Dixon, Donaldson, Davis, Beals, Mayala and punter Brett Graham.
That talent combined with Lashlee and Grimes is why we actually had more dynamic offensive production than I can remember. Who would have ever thought that Sheriffs would be 27th in the nation in passing at this point? Mensa and Hopkins should be even better next year. O line should be better. We have a good crop of QB's. So it's obvious that the Defense will be the main focus during the off season.

 

[Confident Carl]

Very helpful. What's most interesting is that Diaco's greatest deficit in recruiting is the defensive front, and he was a LBs coach and then a D coordinator. His strongest position was his wideouts as evidenced by Beals, Skanes, Hergy, Donaldson, McLean and Dixon...lots of serviceable guys. Did decent at o-line with Peart, Van Denmark, Leone and DeGeorge. Our defense is just in really bad shape in terms of guys who are ready to become experienced leaders, especially up front. The defensive line might be scary next year. I'm not convinced Kevin Murphy can replace FF up front, and the ends are basically just not existent in the program.

I read you post after I posted mine and noticed how similar we are thinking. As they say great minds think alike! LOL! Did Diaco recruit Van Denmark and then Randy closed the deal?

 

[whaler11]

Can we stop with Levenberry.

He’s not coming back and he wasn’t even good before the injury.

 

[Marty Jackson]

Is EJ around next year?

 

[Confident Carl]

Can we stop with Levenberry.

He’s not coming back and he wasn’t even good before the injury.

You could have said. Carl, I see your point but I don't think Levenberry was as good as advertised and I also heard he is not coming back so we really need to double down on the front 6 or 7 but per usual you choose the short antagonistic jab.

The question is, does being that way actually make you feel good?