Edsall -> Sunday Conference Call heading into bye week.

[MrHockey9]

I do think the players need a little break for sanity purposes. Maybe they can come back after a break and call it a new season and pull an upset in one of their two remaining games.

Yup, I totally agree. Tough practices after similar bad losses have had no positive effect whatsoever. They know they suck. Be students and hope that the distraction breaks the bad football mindset. Closes losses with similar chronic mistakes would be a different matter.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[Husky68]

Look where all the practicing has gotten the team. Maybe take both weeks off.

 

[kris1]

A week off from practice is ridiculous. These kids trained all off season for the grind of the season. A few days, I could see (Sunday & Monday). Tuesday-Friday: Weight room, skill work, position meetings/film, non contact drills (focus on the fundamentals). This team will not have the luxury of bowl game practices. Given the youth on the field/roster each practice is valuable and truthfully way more important then games at this point. This is more about Edsall and his staff needing a break. Maybe they’re planning an exit strategy??? One can hope.....

FWIW, since 2000, UConn is 7-17 (.292) coming off a bye. While Edsall coached teams are 9-19 (.321) off the bye week. Edsall has the most loses, by far, coming off a bye week of any coach listed.
Record Coming Off Bye Week Since 2000

The bye week may actually be a disadvantage to the team with the bye.
Bye Week, Disadvantage?

How did Tua look in the 1st half against LSU, after missing 20-days of practice? It took him a little while to shake off the rust, but affected Alabama enough for LSU to grab an early lead and momentum. That shaky start arguably was the difference in the game.

Practice matters. Especially for a team deficient in the fundamentals of football.

 

[Tdaley]

Interesting statement about Leon.

 

[Hoophound]

Interesting about Micah Leon, but is it true or just more buying time? When you read that article, it all makes perfectly good sense. However, we see so many other issues, from the blatantly simplistic and redundant offensive and defensive schemes to the seeming poor choice of a starting QB.

While I continue to believe he will eventually get us to 6 wins, I just don’t see much beyond that. There is no innovation, no great equalizing skill or concept that will allow us to compete with more talented teams. Yes, we can win some games with great execution and hard work, but to play better than .500 ball and excite the crowd, we need innovation and creativity too. Rhett Lashlee is the one that got away.

 

[BNich]

So is that the only quote from the entire conference call?

 

[ktuck911]

Interesting statement about Leon.

What else I find interesting is the fact that the depth we have behind the transfers that have been plugged in as starters. Once they got hurt, we're pretty much back to square one. This was a lost season from the start.

I'd rather hear up front honesty than have wasted optimism. It's just another mulligan of a year. I feel bad for the kids going through this right now. Hopefully, when we get through this learning curve, these kids will be ready to produce.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[CL82]

Edsall also said his team will not practice this week during its off week.

 

[RSTuthill]

Look, all you people who have the rose colored glasses on year after year ... WHAT WERE YOU THINKING????? Personally I chose 2 wins this year and, in a moment of unbridled and ill advised enthusiasm, ratcheted that prediction up to three wins after Illinois or some other game. I had to quickly walk that back.

The rationale was that the OL would be really good this year (even with a replacement center and TE) and even if the QB's and receivers were terrible UConn could still grind out the yards on the ground and score points. Well, that hasn't really happened. Mensah is getting his hundred every game but he isn't getting two hundred. And Thompkins is a make 'em miss guy but they can't spring him into the secondary where he has a little space. And the only reason UConn got a second win is that UMass was so god-awful compared to last year. If they were the same as last year it would have been a 50 point loss and UConn would have one win right now.

Which brings us to where we are now. If the players stay for the full five years (a big IF) as the piece points out, we are still three years away from seeing Edsall recruited players as redshirt seniors. It takes intestinal fortitude NOT to replace a coach. But I think that is what UConn must do, stand pat. Make a change now, and all the quality players recruited to this point will have other options and leave before they get here.

 

[huskysupporter]

Look, all you people who have the rose colored glasses on year after year ... WHAT WERE YOU THINKING????? Personally I chose 2 wins this year and, in a moment of unbridled and ill advised enthusiasm, ratcheted that prediction up to three wins after Illinois or some other game. I had to quickly walk that back.

The rationale was that the OL would be really good this year (even with a replacement center and TE) and even if the QB's and receivers were terrible UConn could still grind out the yards on the ground and score points. Well, that hasn't really happened. Mensah is getting his hundred every game but he isn't getting two hundred. And Thompkins is a make 'em miss guy but they can't spring him into the secondary where he has a little space. And the only reason UConn got a second win is that UMass was so god-awful compared to last year. If they were the same as last year it would have been a 50 point loss and UConn would have one win right now.

Which brings us to where we are now. If the players stay for the full five years (a big IF) as the piece points out, we are still three years away from seeing Edsall recruited players as redshirt seniors. It takes intestinal fortitude NOT to replace a coach. But I think that is what UConn must do, stand pat. Make a change now, and all the quality players recruited to this point will have other options and leave before they get here.

Standing pat will continue the disaster. Who are you scared of leaving? Honestly. This team won two games this year, one was barely a win against an FCS doormat and the other was barely a win against the worst team
in FBS.

The program needs a reset. Who knows, the new coach might bring the offensive playbook out of the 19th century and that might be appealing to grad transfers, JUCOs, and high schoolers.

 

[huskysupporter]

And that’s not to say there aren’t pockets of talent on this team. I think Coyle, Van Denmark, Leone, Peart, Travis Jones, and Kevon Jones all get a sniff of the NFL. And the staff found a way to severely underutilize Art Thompkins some how.

 

[hardcorehusky]

I agree with the week off. Those kids are beaten down physically and mentally. When this is your first year in college, you hit a wall. Happens every year in basketball and it happens in football too. They have finals coming up and they need to be academically prepared. This year's team is what it is - limited due to poor QB play, inconsistency in the offense and defensively undermanned. My big disappointment is that the kids didn't do the fundamentals better. Too many penalties for a normal RE team. Better than last year on missed tackles by a mile but not good enough. We only have 2 big DT's - Jones and Thomas and Thomas is 6 ft tall. We need more depth in the interior of the line and more time for the young ones to fill out.

There are some good players and guys with potential - but there are at least 5 guys who are playing who shouldn't be and probably some that need to move on as well.

 

[RSTuthill]

Who are you scared of leaving?

No clue, I don't follow recruiting. But even Diaco recruited some players who went off to the P5. So I am assuming that RE has verbal commits with similar options.

 

[Nostical]

And that’s not to say there aren’t pockets of talent on this team. I think Coyle, Van Denmark, Leone, Peart, Travis Jones, and Kevon Jones all get a sniff of the NFL. And the staff found a way to severely underutilize Art Thompkins some how.

I see an NFL spot for Omar Fortt as well, just like his brother.

 

[huskysupporter]

I see an NFL spot for Omar Fortt as well, just like his brother.

if he can star on special teams he can take a last roster spot. But that is difficult to do.

 

[huskysupporter]

I agree with the week off. Those kids are beaten down physically and mentally. When this is your first year in college, you hit a wall. Happens every year in basketball and it happens in football too. They have finals coming up and they need to be academically prepared. This year's team is what it is - limited due to poor QB play, inconsistency in the offense and defensively undermanned. My big disappointment is that the kids didn't do the fundamentals better. Too many penalties for a normal RE team. Better than last year on missed tackles by a mile but not good enough. We only have 2 big DT's - Jones and Thomas and Thomas is 6 ft tall. We need more depth in the interior of the line and more time for the young ones to fill out.

There are some good players and guys with potential - but there are at least 5 guys who are playing who shouldn't be and probably some that need to move on as well.

It’s tough to say, but we have been destroyed by other teams. There are a lot more than 5 that shouldn’t be seeing more than a handful of snaps a game.

 

[BlueDogs]

Truthfully, we wasted 1.5 years of recruiting cycles filling against Crocker's plan comprised of more DBs and transitional types. Ergo we get our butts handed to us. We got speed with no size or strength or basic football skills. Chock full of ankle biters. He is backfilling but its late in the day and he is way off schedule.

 

[Chief00]

Interesting, that losing Diaco’s recruits is now part of the Randy excuse narrative. Wasn’t it Randy’s job to keep the good ones?
Given the circumstances Randy needed to load up on transfers and JUCO’s - he did not go that route until he took a few this year but not nearly enough.

 

[ktuck911]

I agree with the week off. Those kids are beaten down physically and mentally. When this is your first year in college, you hit a wall. Happens every year in basketball and it happens in football too. They have finals coming up and they need to be academically prepared. This year's team is what it is - limited due to poor QB play, inconsistency in the offense and defensively undermanned. My big disappointment is that the kids didn't do the fundamentals better. Too many penalties for a normal RE team. Better than last year on missed tackles by a mile but not good enough. We only have 2 big DT's - Jones and Thomas and Thomas is 6 ft tall. We need more depth in the interior of the line and more time for the young ones to fill out.

There are some good players and guys with potential - but there are at least 5 guys who are playing who shouldn't be and probably some that need to move on as well.

At least 5? More like 8...

 

[RSTuthill]

Interesting, that losing Diaco’s recruits is now part of the Randy excuse narrative. Wasn’t it Randy’s job to keep the good ones?
Given the circumstances Randy needed to load up on transfers and JUCO’s - he did not go that route until he took a few this year but not nearly enough.

And the guy who was gonna start at QB all along got injured and was out for the year. Just a bit too convenient for me.

 

[hardcorehusky]

At least 5? More like 8...

I was trying to be nice.

 

[hardcorehusky]

Interesting, that losing Diaco’s recruits is now part of the Randy excuse narrative. Wasn’t it Randy’s job to keep the good ones?
Given the circumstances Randy needed to load up on transfers and JUCO’s - he did not go that route until he took a few this year but not nearly enough.

Who from Diaco's recruits have gone on to being a game changer for another school? Tyler Davis's production is similar to what he did here. Who else?

 

[AAC Guru]

I see an NFL spot for Omar Fortt as well, just like his brother.

OBI can’t make the roster, but Omar Fortt is going to. Want to make a wager Fortt does not get an NFL spot?