Feelings on Edsall?

[RegisteredUconn]

I would take Nick Saban too. Maybe we should kick those tires to see if he's interested as long as we're dealing with a fantasy.

The question posed was a hypothetical. I answered hypothetically. Nobody asked, nor did I answer how likely I thought Maryland being ranked and playing in the ACC title game was. I find it highly, highly un-likely, so, in the context of my original post on the matter, I would not be eager to have Edsall back. Good news though. You and I aren't really so far apart. I'd be interested in Saban.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

The question posed was a hypothetical. I answered hypothetically. Nobody asked, nor did I answer how likely I thought Maryland being ranked and playing in the ACC title game was. I find it highly, highly un-likely, so, in the context of my original post on the matter, I would not be eager to have Edsall back. Good news though. You and I aren't really so far apart. I'd be interested in Saban.

That's why I asked if it was a serious question. It's a fantasy. We might as well start a thread on my upcoming 3some with Jessica Alba and Kate Upton.

 

[Exit 4]

I thought Edsall was a tremendous coach, who coached up his players and generally got the most out of each player. He also was a decent gameday tactition and far superior to PP with his gameplans, clock mgmt and in game adjustments. I understand why Edsall left, he had done what he could with UConn, sticking around longer would put him in the realm of 'permanent' UConn coach. My bitterness with Edsall has everything to do with how he left. Mr Class suddenly lost all class when it was his turn at the candy counter. He should have returned with the team that night from the Fiesta Bowl and made his announcement a couple days later.

 

[CTMike]

That's why I asked if it was a serious question. It's a fantasy. We might as well start a thread on my upcoming 3some with Jessica Alba and Kate Upton.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

View attachment 3639

It would be a quick story.

 

[Carl Spackler]

I think we should win.

That's what I think of Randy Edsall.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

Edsall being compared to Bear Bryant (even hypothetically) is right up there with some of the most ludicrous comparisons ever on this site. And this coming from someone who would have been considered an Edsall Apologista!

You honestly are telling me that you'd trust Edsall not to stab us in the back again?

Playing the lottery in hope of a big payout is one of the most ludicrous things ever. Yet people do it every day. Even people who've already won. How lucky would you have to be to win twice. Yet even that has happened. That's what hypotheticals are all about. My reference to Bear Bryant was preposterous. That's exactly why I chose it. Some guys seem to be saying they wouldn't want Edsall back under any circumstances. I just wanted to make sure that the never, never, never, never, ever was truly operational or just some level of displeasure other than never that wasn't well phrased. Of course if it really was never, I wouldn't mind knowing what the guy did that he absolutely wouldn't deserve a second chance.

I'm honestly telling you that I could, under the right circumstances, learn to trust someone who had betrayed me. And I don't know if he stabbed us in the back at all. Please read my statement carefully. I didn't say I don't think he stabbed us in the back. I said I don't know. During his time in Storrs he sure as hell conducted himself in a manner that, in my eyes, would make back stabbing unlikely. He seemed much more honorable than that. Could he have been a back stabbing son-of-a-bitch? Hypothetically ?

 

[CTMike]

You are a better man than I if you could trust him again. And, on a petty level, I like to think that UConn has more self respect than running back to the guy that dumped us.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

You are a better man than I if you could trust him again. And, on a petty level, I like to think that UConn has more self respect than running back to the guy that dumped us.

You make good points, Mike. Some of us just like to argue.

 

[RedStickHusky]

Kind of a non-story IMO. As much as some of us feel jilted, he left the way most coaches leave - nature of the business. Wasn't always 'thrill-a-minute' football but the Edsall years were the best we've had and that's what I choose to remember. FWIW, does anybody imagine HCRE, coaching UConn in the American, would be thinking "I'm glad I didn't pull the trigger on that Md offer"?

 

[CTMike]

You make good points, Mike. Some of us just like to argue.

It's why we are on the Boneyard, right?

 

[UConn Dan]

I liked Edsall while he was our coach. He built this program from the ground up -- another UConn story. He always got the most out of players and I have much respect for how he handled Mr. Howard's untimely death (RIP Jazz).

I thought he'd be a Calhoun or Auriemma type and stick with the program he built even after a first brush with success. Those guys didn't love Hathaway either, btw.

The way he left has been discussed ad nauseum -- it was just a terrible way to go out. At the time (before the conference realignment apocalypse), I thought Maryland was at best a lateral move and should be no ones dream job.

I would NOT want him back as coach if he were to be available again.

I hope we beat him in 10 days and finally, I hope that's the last we'll have to talk about him for a long, long time.

 

[willie99]

I appreciate what he did for UConn football, bringing the program to a respectable level and doing so rather quickly. I loved the fact that we had solid line play on both sides of the ball, a solid defense and we could run as well. That style of play made us competitive, gave us a chance to win and the team was fun to watch. Everything he established, PP destroyed. The current team is very hard to watch.
Having said that, the way Edsall left the program is hard to overlook. He preached family and trust and honor, he left his kids like a an undignified weasel. Randy could have followed in the footsteps of Jim and Geno and become a legend in Connecticut, now it appears he'll be moving his young family again when his tenor at Maryland has run it's course. He may never get a second chance at such job security.

 

[PRHusky]

Edsall is a good, not great, coach, who did a lot of good things while here. He did an outstanding job with the I-AA to I-A transition. However, the fact that he could not recruit a legitimate QB other than DanO is something that I will never be able to understand. Furthermore, it seemed that even he recognized that he could not do any better than 8-5/9-4 here. Plus, it was pretty evident he hated being here towards the end. Having Hathaway as an AD should not be an excuse; Geno and JC could not stand the guy, but they never let that get in the way of how they felt about UConn. Edsall acted like a mercenary towards the end and I guess that is what most college football coaches are. Glad he is no longer here. Sure 8-5 seasons are much better than 5-7 seasons, but I am certain that people would want Edsall gone almost as much as they want P gone now had he never left.

 

[NickyNewark]

The job Edsall did was incredible. When he got to UConn, the football program was being run out of trailers, and I imagine they must have been there a long time because 10 years later he was still talking about the trailers. I think he is underrated as an offensive innovator too. Chris Ault invented the Pistol and Rocky Long invented the 3-3-5, but Randy Edsall invented the inside handoff on 2nd and 10 and no one can match that kind of innovation.

Kidding aside, Edsall was the master of making mediocrity look like success. During the 6 years that UConn was a member of the reconstituted Big East, from 2005 to 2010, only Syracuse was worse than UConn. People on this board act like the Edsall years were some kind of golden era of UConn football. Edsall won the league title once through a three way tiebreaker, and that 2010 Big East was probably the worst conference in the history of the BCS era. In some of the better years the league had, like 2006 and 2009, UConn struggled. He was an average coach, and in hindsight it is inarguable that UConn would have been better off if he had left earlier.

As a neutral observer following RE while in the BE I found him chilly,hotheaded and not much of a recruiter but who was best at getting UR recruits and getting the most out of them but at UConn I felt he "peaked"!?!He leaves UConn for a sideways move(at the time) and immediately antagonized the Md players of whom many transfered out including All-ACC LT RJ Dill who started for RU last year and an All ACC QB who transfered to Wisky and couldn't get recruits to come until the MD AD was forced to hire "blackballed" Mike Locksley to bail him out as RE had a "mutiny" on his hands in his 1st year and they couldn't afford to eat his contract!!He reminds me of a Doug Marrone type who will get the most out of UR and 2* recruits and make a team adequate,efficient and competitive but not great!Why get rid of Fridgeon for RE?I'll never figure that out?They were starting something good at MD before RE but Locksley's recruiting touch may be RE's saving grace and UConn's problem this year with there young QB's healthy and Stefan Digg's emergence as a playmaker!This game should be great and a great W for UConn to give RE everything he deserve's as a final parting gift!

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Oh good we were all waiting with baited breath to find out how NickyNewark felt about Edsall. Now I can sleep tonight.

 

[UCPusky]

Liked him while he was here...thought he may have topped out and was at a point where he needed to move on. Thought he should have done a better job of telling the team he was leaving; but personally hoped he would succeed.

This

 

[sdhusky]

Let's see.
1. He graduated players
2. He brought us success faster than any of us expected
3. He filled the Rent
4. He was key in closing the deal with Burton and Schenkman (that was not Hathway)
5. He beat ND in South Bend and that post game interview was as heartfelt as it gets. Still get chills hearing the U-C-O-N-N cheer while he's being interviewed. 1:15 mark
6. He was a gentleman in his handling of Jazz's murder

but
7. His departure was terrible
8. He had the media skills of Belichick and was not a great salesman of the program

I give him an A for his overall tenure. He just got to the point where he could no longer tolerate Hathaway and his micromanaging ways. I honestly believe that if Herbst was hired two years earlier and brought in Warde, that Randy would probably still be here.

He also knows that coaching careers at one school have an arc and after the Fiesta Bowl, probably felt like his would start trending downward so he made the move.

But he is a million times better than Coach P

Well said.

 

[sdhusky]

I would take Nick Saban too. Maybe we should kick those tires to see if he's interested as long as we're dealing with a fantasy.

Can we get Vince Lombardi since reality doesn't seem to count.

 

[Whale22]

Let's see.
1. He graduated players
2. He brought us success faster than any of us expected
3. He filled the Rent
4. He was key in closing the deal with Burton and Schenkman (that was not Hathway)
5. He beat ND in South Bend and that post game interview was as heartfelt as it gets. Still get chills hearing the U-C-O-N-N cheer while he's being interviewed. 1:15 mark
6. He was a gentleman in his handling of Jazz's murder

but
7. His departure was terrible
8. He had the media skills of Belichick and was not a great salesman of the program

I give him an A for his overall tenure. He just got to the point where he could no longer tolerate Hathaway and his micromanaging ways. I honestly believe that if Herbst was hired two years earlier and brought in Warde, that Randy would probably still be here.

He also knows that coaching careers at one school have an arc and after the Fiesta Bowl, probably felt like his would start trending downward so he made the move.

But he is a million times better than Coach P

Sums up my thoughts.

With him at the helm, we won when we were supposed to, competitive in most games we weren't supposed to win, and I don't care how good an FCS team came in here, he would never have lost to them. And if there were ever a loss like last weeks his players never would have acted matter of factly, like I saw some of the players in their post-game interviews.

Oh and we'd still be going to bowl games and maybe even an occasional BCS. I'll never understand how some say he had a ceiling. Blows my mind. He worked wonders with limited resources and as this debacle with PP and GDL continues to grind on and destroy casual fan interest, I think the diehard is starting to realize what we had. I for one will be cheering his entrance to thank him for what he has done. Then I will root hard against him and yearn for that highly competitive BCS type game that we used to regularly witness when he was our HC.

 

[whaler11]

Killing Edsall about Danny O'Brien just shows you have no grasp of anything.

 

[kemba]

Thought he was a good coach, not a great coach

Very good at developing players, and at coaching the fundamentals. I thought we were always a team that looked well coached. Liked that we were able to develop an identity as a team that was tough and physical and could always run the ball down your throat.

Also thought the questions over whether we had reached our ceiling under him were legit. Passing game was almost always a major problem. Overall talent level didn't seem to be getting better. Most of the time when we played the better Big East teams it looked like we were less talented and while he gets credit for having some success under those circumstances, he gets blame for not changing them. I thought 07-10 we were pretty much the same team year after year, just the breaks fell different ways each year.

I also think that as much as gets written about the challenges of building the football program at UConn, it was also a very good situation. New stadium, new facilities, at a great basketball school. I don't think his job was as difficult as turning around an irrelevant 1-A program. There might have been disagreements about whether we should go 1-A or not, but once the decision was made, there was excitement. And we got to enjoy the benefits of a BCS conference while playing in a conference that was much more wide open than it had been in the past. So his accomplishments get overrated to a degree when people say stuff like "wow, would you have ever imagined back in 1998 that UConn would be playing in the Fiesta bowl, or winning in Notre Dame." Those accomplishments have probably more to do with the changing landscape of college football than UConn themselves. So again, I thought he did a good job, certainly could have been worse, but I think there's a lot of guys who could have pulled off what he did, and some who could have done more.

As far as how he left, my only problem was him calling Maryland his dream job because, I mean, come on. But its extremely rare for a coach to leave in a way that makes everyone happy. They only have so much control over the timing of it. And coaches who leave before the bowl game get criticized for abandoning their team, and coaches who leave afterwards get criticized for waiting to long and putting their school in a tough spot to hire somebody, so you can't really win.

 

[RS9999X]

The program was more successful than anyone expected. I didn't think Randy was the guy to bring UConn up another level but he earned the chance to do so after the BCS Bowl.

Coaches Hot Seat has it as #5 v #6 . HCPP vaulted up 9 spots with the Towson loss. I consider the loser to he a lock to get canned at the end of the season.

 

[BoatShow]

I watch the video of his ND post-game and think about everything he did and I'm like "how could we boo him?"

Then I think about how he left and I'm like "how could he have left like that?"

Not sure how I'll react on the 14th. Just know I'll be cheering like hell for the team with dogs on their helmets.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Handled the Jazz situation as a gentlemen? A case could be made that he used it, like everything else during his tenure, for finishing 8-5 with a team that could have been in the Top 10. He blew game after game that year, and almost gave away Notre Dame despite the fact that their defenders were bouncing off us like it was a video game by the fourth quarter. The loss to Rutgers was unforgiveable, and while we got screwed by a horrendous call against UNC, that game should have never been that close.

Edsall was an all right coach, nothing more. He was a good talent evaluator and player developer, terrible salesmen, and mediocre game coach. He wasted a star QB in Orlovsky by not following him up with a legitimate D1 QB for the rest of his tenure at UConn. He got some talented kids early on with the promise of playing time and the Big East, but after that his recruiting was inconsistent. Edsall had two winning records in Big East play. Two.

And I do think the cupboard, while not bare, was not well stocked either. UConn might have had more interest in the program if it didn't look like such a rebuilding project. Who really chased the job? Phil Fulmer, Pasqualoni and Mark Whipple. Even Tom Bradley didn't really want the job, and he must have known that Penn State was about to blow. No other top mid-major or top coordinator was even interested. Two over the hill, has beens looking to retire on the job, and two lifer assistants. THAT was the stack of resumes that Hathaway had to look through. Some of that goes to Hathaway, but Edsall should get some of the blame too.

This post captures Randy and his tenure at UConn to a tee. As for how he left, who cares? This is big boy football and Maryland certainly didn't want the UConn players breaking their story. They should have been more upset about being the only team on New Years Day (win or lose) not to have an offensive TD. People just never seemed to get this. He left, boo hoo for the players. Hell, they should have manned-up and sent him emails and texts of congratulations and best wishes.