Edsall

[Chief00]

My thoughts on Randy are simple -He's been a head coach for about 200 college games and wins half the time. It's better than winning 1/3 of the time but it doesn't excite me. Randy's tenure at Maryland had many parallels to Diaco's at UConn except he took over an 8-4 team not a team that won 3 games. Both had trouble on the field and had trouble explaining it. While Randy did built a program at UConn - he was unable to capitalize on the UA sponsorship advantage at Maryland.

The only name I heard a couple weeks ago was Moorhead - I hope that's still the case.

 

[Stinger92860]

How many starters from that 8-4 team left when Randy took over? I think he lost quite a few. One of his tasks was to cleanup the mess.

 

[Chief00]

How many starters from that 8-4 team left when Randy took over? I think he lost quite a few. One of his tasks was to cleanup the mess.

I don't know - talking high level here - a 200 game sample

 

[FDNY99]

How many starters from that 8-4 team left when Randy took over? I think he lost quite a few. One of his tasks was to cleanup the mess.

He had trouble recruiting in the MD area and was forced by AD Kevin Anderson to hire Mike Locksley as his OC. He had a HUGE assistant salary pool and didn't make good hires (Gary Crowton as OC was one of them). Talk to people in MD and they couldn't wait for him to leave.

 

[MattMang23]

How many starters from that 8-4 team left when Randy took over? I think he lost quite a few. One of his tasks was to cleanup the mess.

I remember the press killing him for saying that was one of his tasks. I think only he believed that was something he had to do. As I recall, he ran a number of his new players off. He made it into a rebuilding job when it wasn't one.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I refuse to believe that Dave Benedict, who has no experience with Edsall, changed his mind on the value of continuity, raised private funds to pay a buyout, and decided to fire Diaco after Christmas because he just couldn't wait to get Randy Edsall. It's not plausible based on how this happened.

It's much more likely that he had conversations with one or more guys he (and we) didn't think would come here, and did a "good sales job" (his words) to convince them. Those names: Miles, Helfrich, Moorhead, Fleck. The "no search committee" suggests to me that this is essentially done. The guy is savvy, and I don't think he makes a move like this to bring in a mediocre retread. This is the big hire of his young AD career.

 

[ktuck911]

Sounds to me like some coaches might have misconceptions when it coms to being named the new HC. . IMO, ALL FBS level coaches should have the expectation that the young men that they bring on campus are their job to mold them into responsible men. That alone is the primary culture of college football, for the most part, no?; why all the edtra cultural stuff?

 

[huskymike]

Just my opinion, but I was disappointed last night when the ESPN ticker said that Edsall was a "very strong candidate" to replace Diaco. Just my gut, but I don't see that Edsall was in such high demand that DB had to go through the hoops he is to secure the dismissal of BD. I admit the way Edsall left still leaves a bad taste in my mouth and like what others have said before, his level of succcess was just about all he could do. I think we should aim higher. This wouldn't be a big name splash hire.

 

[uconNYC]

Edsall is a very divisive choice. The only way I see DB selecting him is if the donors who agreed to fund BD buyout made it a condition that Edsall be his replacement.

 

[huskyblooz]

This would be the worst sequel since Meatloaf's second album

 

[weyuo]

Why in the world would the donors want Edsall back when he bailed on UConn? I pray that Benedict is bringing in a proven winner on the P-5 level, not somebody who will instantly infuriate most of what is left of the fan base.

 

[sdhusky]

I don't know - talking high level here - a 200 game sample

Calhoun was 47-46 after his first 93 at UConn

 

[HuskyHawk]

Edsall is a very divisive choice. The only way I see DB selecting him is if the donors who agreed to fund BD buyout made it a condition that Edsall be his replacement.

And if they did, Benedict would have told them to go to hell. You think he's going to bet his future on the coach selecting prowess of some donors?

 

[Dougsts]

Calhoun was 47-46 after his first 93 at UConn

And Edsall is something like 94 - 94, not really a winning performance. It 's like UCONN is saying, hey mediocre is just where we need to be with our football program.

 

[UCFBfan]

I have a feeling we land Fleck and there is not an ounce of me that could explain why it would even happen. I'm sure he was offered better looking positions at P5 schools but for some reason he either passed up on them or they decided to pass on him. I can't see the benefit of him staying at WMU for another season nor can I see why coming to UConn would be better. However I just got a feeling.

All that being said, there's just something nagging at me that thinks Fleck is the guy.

 

[businesslawyer]

Edsall is a very divisive choice. The only way I see DB selecting him is if the donors who agreed to fund BD buyout made it a condition that Edsall be his replacement.

The single biggest factor that makes me worry about bringing Edsall in is just this. It's why I would prefer Schiano, even though there are a lot of similarities between what the two accomplished.

 

[sdhusky]

Jim Tressel

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

for everyone thinking we are gonna get a splash hire, how sexy do you think Uconn football is?

 

[MattMang23]

It's not that sexy a job, but don't underestimate it either. With any amount of success, UConn is a job to rival any bottom half P-5 job. Forbes still has UConn football ranked as more valuable than West Virginia currently, and that's with us not fielding a quality team in six years.

With any success, UConn is a big fish in a small pond in the AAC- at least from the standpoint of athletic department earning capacity. In other words, do well and we can pay. That's appealing.

 

[Doggie Style]

I refuse to believe that Dave Benedict, who has no experience with Edsall, changed his mind on the value of continuity, raised private funds to pay a buyout, and decided to fire Diaco after Christmas because he just couldn't wait to get Randy Edsall. It's not plausible based on how this happened.

It's much more likely that he had conversations with one or more guys he (and we) didn't think would come here, and did a "good sales job" (his words) to convince them. Those names: Miles, Helfrich, Moorhead, Fleck. The "no search committee" suggests to me that this is essentially done. The guy is savvy, and I don't think he makes a move like this to bring in a mediocre retread. This is the big hire of his young AD career.

As The Yard has been in typical "melt down mode" over the last few days regarding Edsall, this has been my position as well. There is NO WAY DB doesn't already have a plan prior to making this move..... I just want ton know what it is so we can start getting excited about Uconn FB again.

 

[Milo65]

Edsall is the smokescreen, information leaked in order to keep the press busy. Rarely is the real candidate put out this early. It seems to me that the DB and staff have a tight handle on who they want and are able to control the information they want out there.

1. Never knew about Diaco until the shoe dropped.
2. No national search and told that new coach will be announce within a week or two.

 

[BHusky]

Calhoun was 47-46 after his first 93 at UConn

Right, but in hoops 93 games is less than 4 seasons worth of games. 200 in football is 16+ years which is a drastic difference.

Edsall caught a bit of lightning in a bottle at UConn because of the unique situation he came into. He had zero pressure for most of his time because he was transitioning us from 1AA to 1A. He found some players that ended up being diamonds in the rough as low ranked recruits that got him wins, he was able to hang his hat on a bunch of firsts for the program because we were knew to FBS (first bowl game, conf chamoionship, etc) and still had a built in excuse for losing (limited resources, tough academic restrictions, team was in trailers, players didn't make plays). He was the right guy for the job at the time and we can all appreciate what he did for the program. But he is certainly not what we need right now and he is not worth a $3M buyout to Diaco.

Edsall was a mediocre recruiter and a .500 coach. He was a defensive guy with a below average to bad offense on a majority of his teams. He was a control freak and did not deligate well to his coaching staff. And he pointed the finger a lot. Again, his unique situation at UConn gave him a long leash, but it went over poorly at Maryland when those excuses no longer worked. That same scenerio for round two at UConn would not fly.

He walked into a pretty good situation at Maryland and bombed. Friegen got fired because his top assistant left and took 4 other coaches with him. He and the AD did not see eye to eye and when they all left he felt Friegen could not rebuild a staff after being ACC coach of the year. Edsall got to leverage a pretty solid recruiting ground and landed a few major recruits. He got the UA infusion and marketing which was huge and he got to sell the move to the B10. None led to wins for him in a mediocre conference at the time.

DB wants/needs to sell season tickets and save the fan base. This new coach at least needs to be exciting to get fans back. Randy Edsall does not satisfy these requirements.

It would be a crazy hire and just more of the same for this fan base.

 

[businesslawyer]

How many drinks and what time at night?

Probably about this sexy.....

Not fair. August hates when people hack into his black book and then find photos of the targets.

 

[Adios]

Edsall is the smokescreen, information leaked in order to keep the press busy. Rarely is the real candidate put out this early. It seems to me that the DB and staff have a tight handle on who they want and are able to control the information they want out there.

1. Never knew about Diaco until the shoe dropped.
2. No national search and told that new coach will be announce within a week or two.

Also make the job look desirable. It is not desirable to those who want championships, but certainly is desirable to those who want to work for a good quality school and in a beautiful state and not bear the stress of some high pressure positions. And be actually paid well. Other AAC schools have proven this conference attracts coaching talent.

 

[sdhusky]

Edsall was a mediocre recruiter and a .500 coach. He was a defensive guy with a below average to bad offense on a majority of his teams. He was a control freak and did not deligate well to his coaching staff. And he pointed the finger a lot. Again, his unique situation at UConn gave him a long leash, but it went over poorly at Maryland when those excuses no longer worked. That same scenerio for round two at UConn would not fly.

I was going to respond, but then I realized I'm dealing with a person who is making stuff up.