Geno on why Edsall fails.

[Waquoit]

Syracuse is unranked last time I checked.

Because UConn beat 'em.

 

[Huskybass]

Dan Hurley has a team of two five star recruits at 86th on KenPom and people here are ready to build him a statue. Can't remember a time so much was made of a coach beating New Hampshire and Lowell.

The bit about Geno in the OP sounds great and will look good as a yearbook clipping, but it's total BS that even he doesn't believe.

Hurley has his team beating the likes of New Hampshire and UMass-Lowell by very comfortable margins. Last year similar games would have been very close or would have gone to overtime. Of course the fanbase is very pleased with that amount of progress in a very short time.

 

[BlueDogs]

Geno said to his first UConn team when the players thought they would go undefeated because they had him. When they were surprised they started losing games he said something to the effect “Yeah but will still only have you guys”.

His team got better as he recruited better players. It will be the same with Randy and Dan.

Basketball you need 5-8 good players. Football you need lots of fast strong players. You can’t make up for the lack of that with willpower. Our D knows when players run by them or drag them for 10+ yds after a tackle. Or tie them up in a block they can’t shed. We Need to keep recruiting good athletes and making them better players in the weight room and then they can be coached as skilled football players.

Your points are well taken. Where I don’t agree is the notion that football is not about will power. On the contrary, will power within boundaries of reason (high school kids can’t beat a division 1 college team). There are plenty of cases where teams with greatly inferior talent beat their opponents. Army and Navy can’t recruit great talent. They are perpetually undersized, slower and weaker than their opponents on the whole. But, they have incredible pride, discipline and will fight like hell through 100% of the game. They won’t win every game, and some seasons are tough and others are better. But, they don’t own the record for the worst defense in college football history. It tells you something very important.

 

[BlueandOG]

UCONN v ND 2009 highlight

If you don't want to watch Dixon score the winning TD, you can go to the 1:15 mark and hear how much RE cares about players. He is not perfect, and he says things about players from time to time that are frustrating, but he cares about his players.

 

[champs99and04]

Hurley has his team beating the likes of New Hampshire and UMass-Lowell by very comfortable margins. Last year similar games would have been very close or would have gone to overtime. Of course the fanbase is very pleased with that amount of progress in a very short time.

But you're comparing two completely different teams. Most of the progress that people see is just the normal development curve of a college basketball team. This year's players are a year older and playing with guys - Gilbert and Smith - who were not there last season. What's further distorting your view is the quality of teams you're playing. All low-majors are not created equal, and you have played some of the very poorest - #237 Cornell, #261 Morehead State, #274 UMKC, #280 UMass Lowell, #316 Lafayette, and #340 New Hampshire.

Last year, before Gilbert went down, they beat #202 Colgate by 12 without Jalen Adams, they beat #223 Stony Brook by 8, and they beat #258 BU by 19. Then they beat Oregon by 8 and lost a mostly competitive game with Michigan State before losing Gilbert for the year in the next game.

None of this is to hide the fact that Ollie did a very poor job last year, or that Hurley has done a good job this year. But a lot of what you're seeing could have been predicted by anyone. Right now he has this team about where your average high major coach should have them. The real sign of encouragement should be what he's done already in recruiting. That's where he'll earn his money.

 

[kemba]

None of this is to hide the fact that Ollie did a very poor job last year, or that Hurley has done a good job this year. But a lot of what you're seeing could have been predicted by anyone. Right now he has this team about where your average high major coach should have them. The real sign of encouragement should be what he's done already in recruiting. That's where he'll earn his money.

So he's done a fantastic job so far and everybody has every right to be excited. So what exactly are you arguing?

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Your points are well taken. Where I don’t agree is the notion that football is not about will power. On the contrary, will power within boundaries of reason (high school kids can’t beat a division 1 college team). There are plenty of cases where teams with greatly inferior talent beat their opponents. Army and Navy can’t recruit great talent. They are perpetually undersized, slower and weaker than their opponents on the whole. But, they have incredible pride, discipline and will fight like hell through 100% of the game. They won’t win every game, and some seasons are tough and others are better. But, they don’t own the record for the worst defense in college football history. It tells you something very important.

High school kids can't beat a division 1 team
Pretty much what we had out there.
Edit: Army's defense save Travis Jones is bigger and older. The front seven and the back seven.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Remember, a few years ago when everyone was going hog wild for RKGs? Captain of their wrestling team, played power forward in basketball?

And remember some posters were saying you're not going to win in the AAC with kids who hold MAC, FCS, Academy or no offers?

This is the outcome of that. Do I think we could have beaten UMass. Yes. But we pretty much were beaten to a pulp in every other game.

So to recap. Game we won was against an FCS school. Our closest other game was vs. a MAC cast-off FBS Independent. Our roster was primarily filled with kids at that level.

Our other games that we got blown out in were teams with better talent.

This is a Diaco problem that to date Randy hasn't made any better.