Houston fired their DC

[ShakyTheMohel]

If Crocker survives leading the worst defense in the history of division 1 college football...there can be only one reason. Edsall made all the decisions and Crocker was just a facilitator. Edsall must be taking all the blame himself. As in...'i know xxx should play, but I want to go with my guys. If it doesn't work out, I will take the heat".

That can be the only explanation. Crocker is cheap...and he led the worst defense EVER. If he stays on that means he wasn't making decisions and RE feels guilty firing him.

 

[BlueDogs]

If Crocker survives leading the worst defense in the history of division 1 college football...there can be only one reason. Edsall made all the decisions and Crocker was just a facilitator. Edsall must be taking all the blame himself. As in...'i know xxx should play, but I want to go with my guys. If it doesn't work out, I will take the heat".

That can be the only explanation. Crocker is cheap...and he led the worst defense EVER. If he stays on that means he wasn't making decisions and RE feels guilty firing him.

You can’t be a DC and own the worst D in modern college football history. The two are mutually exclusive. Even if Edsall is to blame, somebody was not coaching technique effectively. So, we have either the most uncoachable players in history or really bad coaches (I’ll choose option 2).

 

[BlueDogs]

Postscript - Houston High is at least serious about its program and will pull the trigger. The brain trust in Storrs can’t figure out whether a total failure should hang around or not.

 

[Chief00]

Listening to the last Crocker interview, he has a cockiness about himself that I suppose helps him get through this historic failure, yet to me he sounds more like a guy totally separated from reality.

We will see if Randy sticks with his failing plan or does he try to load up with quick fix, second rate Southern and Westerrn JUCO’s to save his job. My guess is the later.

$1 million a year may be cheap for a D1 football coach but these be patient you dumb fan narratives are protecting a five year multimillion dollar income stream not a 5 year football plan. Let’s not kidd ourselves.

 

[UConnNick]

Postscript - Houston High is at least serious about its program and will pull the trigger. The brain trust in Storrs can’t figure out whether a total failure should hang around or not.

It's just further evidence, if any is necessary, that our athletic administration is a rudderless ship. It's obvious that this job is way beyond Benedict's capabilities.

 

[polycom]

Uh I would say the culture in Texas is slightly different than it is here

 

[BlueDogs]

It's just further evidence, if any is necessary, that our athletic administration is a rudderless ship. It's obvious that this job is way beyond Benedict's capabilities.

Not sure about the abilities part, Nick. Rudderless and not a priority as to football, I couldn’t agree with you more. It’s clear the powers that be saw two patients and decided to triage the basketball program as a priority and tried to leave football on life support until the first is taken care of. Ergo, the return of Edsall on the cheap, and a second rate staff of coordinators. As much as I want to argue otherwise, saving the primary legacy and reputation of the school which KO was burning down to the ground was logical. Hurley was a great hire.

In the bigger context, though, everybody knows football drives college sports and big money distribution and we could win the next 5 NCAA championships and it won’t move the needle on realignment. They made a false choice. They needed to double down on both programs to save the school’s future role as a flagship college sports program. But, in Connecticut we seem to be always one step behind the rest of the world.

 

[Chief00]

Uh I would say the culture in Texas is slightly different than it is here

They are serious about football and back it up with bucks, we do neither. They also have a roaring economy, and we don’t.

 

[UConnNick]

Not sure about the abilities part, Nick. Rudderless and not a priority as to football, I couldn’t agree with you more. It’s clear the powers that be saw two patients and decided to triage the basketball program as a priority and tried to leave football on life support until the first is taken care of. Ergo, the return of Edsall on the cheap, and a second rate staff of coordinators. As much as I want to argue otherwise, saving the primary legacy and reputation of the school which KO was burning down to the ground was logical. Hurley was a great hire.

In the bigger context, though, everybody knows football drives college sports and big money distribution and we could win the next 5 NCAA championships and it won’t move the needle on realignment. They made a false choice. They needed to double down on both programs to save the school’s future role as a flagship college sports program. But, in Connecticut we seem to be always one step behind the rest of the world.

Benedict got hoodwinked twice by Diaco's and Ollie's agents on the contract extensions, costing us millions, and the handling of the Ollie mess continues on, seemingly interminably. He gets no high marks for picking Hurley, a no brainer choice anybody could see. He does deserve credit for putting together the finances for the hire. Otherwise he's been in way over his head. He's a westerner with no sense of the provincial, parochial, small thinking, stoic New England culture. He seems like a nice, decent guy. He just got thrown into the deep end of the pool and wasn't ready for it.

He does have to know as well as anybody that football drives the NCAA bus. That's why Crocker should have already coached his last game at UCONN, and if Edsall wants to follow him out the door, so be it.

 

[Chief00]

Benedict got hoodwinked twice by Diaco's and Ollie's agents on the contract extensions, costing us millions, and the handling of the Ollie mess continues on, seemingly interminably. He gets no high marks for picking Hurley, a no brainer choice anybody could see. He does deserve credit for putting together the finances for the hire. Otherwise he's been in way over his head. He's a westerner with no sense of the provincial, parochial, small thinking, stoic New England culture. He seems like a nice, decent guy. He just got thrown into the deep end of pool and wasn't ready for it.

He does have to know as well as anybody that football drives the NCAA bus. That's why Crocker should have already coached his last game at UCONN, and if Edsall wants to follow him out the door, so be it.

Great post.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Listening to the last Crocker interview, he has a cockiness about himself that I suppose helps him get through this historic failure, yet to me he sounds more like a guy totally separated from reality.

We will see if Randy sticks with his failing plan or does he try to load up with quick fix, second rate Southern and Westerrn JUCO’s to save his job. My guess is the later.

$1 million a year may be cheap for a D1 football coach but these be patient you dumb fan narratives are protecting a five year multimillion dollar income stream not a 5 year football plan. Let’s not kidd ourselves.

He needed to load up with JUCOs and grad transfers two freaking years ago! Bringing in kids you like and coaching them up is a great strategy, as long as most of them never see the field until they are juniors or RS sophomores. Three years of coaching an weight room work is what it will often take to upgrade marginal recruits. Look at what Pindell what compared to everybody else. Imagine a WR, LB, CB, Guard and DE at that level on this team.

The bonus benefit, is that if you win a few games with those JUCOs and grad transfers you might actually have more success convincing recruits that you aren't coaching the worst program in the country.

 

[UConnJim]

Houston's defense went from #13 in Total Defense the year before D'Onofrio became DC to #88 in 2017 and #124 in 2018. And this was against the #95 ranked schedule (from Sagarin). Sure, they had some injuries, but their 2 deep on defense had 6 senior starters and 3 junior starters as well as 3 senior backups and 3 junior backups. In other words, 15/22 on the defensive 2 deep were upper classmen AND they had Ed Oliver! Still, the defense rated #124. UConn had 4/22 upper classmen on the defensive 2 deep.

D'Onofrio didn't have good defenses at Miami, although his Temple defenses seemed OK. He has no ties to Texas, so it's pretty easy to fire him.

Anybody who blames Crocker for the defensive problems really doesn't know what they are talking about. He had very good defenses at Villanova. The last 2 year problems have been primarily driven by personnel issues. You can not start a defense of freshmen and sophomores and be competitive in FBS football. It was obvious that UConn's players were not strong enough or fast enough. UConn has never recruited freshmen that can step on campus and start. UConn has to develop players.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

Houston's defense went from #13 in Total Defense the year before D'Onofrio became DC to #88 in 2017 and #124 in 2018. And this was against the #95 ranked schedule (from Sagarin). Sure, they had some injuries, but their 2 deep on defense had 6 senior starters and 3 junior starters as well as 3 senior backups and 3 junior backups. In other words, 15/22 on the defensive 2 deep were upper classmen AND they had Ed Oliver! Still, the defense rated #124. UConn had 4/22 upper classmen on the defensive 2 deep.

D'Onofrio didn't have good defenses at Miami, although his Temple defenses seemed OK. He has no ties to Texas, so it's pretty easy to fire him.

Anybody who blames Crocker for the defensive problems really doesn't know what they are talking about. He had very good defenses at Villanova. The last 2 year problems have been primarily driven by personnel issues. You can not start a defense of freshmen and sophomores and be competitive in FBS football. It was obvious that UConn's players were not strong enough or fast enough. UConn has never recruited freshmen that can step on campus and start. UConn has to develop players.

I would agree with this if the D showed ANY signs of improvement throughout the year. They may have actually gotten worse. I think they played better against UCF than they did against Temple or ECU.

 

[freescooter]

I’m not sold on Crocker nor am I sure he will be back. But I also think we dis not recruit a 1A player on that side of the ball between 2013 and 2016. That creates a hole that just takes time to dig out from. Buddy Ryan wouldn’t have made these guys any good. Edsall to a degree rolled the dice that his frosh would improve a lot and it came up snake eyes. But when he made the decision to redshirt guys and then have a couple of others “focus on academics” you knew he knew it. I would look for a few juncos maybe at linebacker and corner. And some dlinemen added to the mix with the extra scholarships from guys not returning. And a kicker... my kingdom for a kicker!

 

[gtcam]

Not sure about the abilities part, Nick. Rudderless and not a priority as to football, I couldn’t agree with you more. It’s clear the powers that be saw two patients and decided to triage the basketball program as a priority and tried to leave football on life support until the first is taken care of. Ergo, the return of Edsall on the cheap, and a second rate staff of coordinators. As much as I want to argue otherwise, saving the primary legacy and reputation of the school which KO was burning down to the ground was logical. Hurley was a great hire.

In the bigger context, though, everybody knows football drives college sports and big money distribution and we could win the next 5 NCAA championships and it won’t move the needle on realignment. They made a false choice. They needed to double down on both programs to save the school’s future role as a flagship college sports program. But, in Connecticut we seem to be always one step behind the rest of the world.

KO had to go, based on the win/loss record, and D Hurley was a no-brainer - DB doesn't need to be a rocket scientist to work that out - and after a few interactions with him, I can tell you he is far from a rocket scientist.
Too many people give him accolades for a virtual foregone conclusion - DH wasn't staying at URI for long and definitely not going to Pitt
As far as the RE2 hire - at the time it was the most economical and sometimes those decisions, based solely on that advantage, tend to bite you. I am not convinced that RE can't turn the program around BUT the fan base erosion is very disturbing and the only thing that will bring it back is Ws. And how many of those are in the foreseeable future?

 

[noeynox]

Uh I would say the culture in Texas is slightly different than it is here

Eh. The fans here have voted with their feet and wallets. No one is paying money and sacrificing their time to watch we saw this year. People have a breaking point. If the administration doesn't see that shame on them.

 

[polycom]

Eh. The fans here have voted with their feet and wallets. No one is paying money and sacrificing their time to watch we saw this year. People have a breaking point. If the administration doesn't see that shame on them.

In Texas the difference would have been someone would have paid to make all these problems go away... Football is life out there they'll figure it out.

 

[noeynox]

KO had to go, based on the win/loss record, and D Hurley was a no-brainer - DB doesn't need to be a rocket scientist to work that out - and after a few interactions with him, I can tell you he is far from a rocket scientist.
Too many people give him accolades for a virtual foregone conclusion - Dan Hurley wasn't staying at URI for long and definitely not going to Pitt
As far as the RE2 hire - at the time it was the most economical and sometimes those decisions, based solely on that advantage, tend to bite you. I am not convinced that RE can't turn the program around BUT the fan base erosion is very disturbing and the only thing that will bring it back is Ws. And how many of those are in the foreseeable future?

While I agree with you. Let's ride it out with him the next two years. I'm hoping we can get back to being able to play functional football again.

 

[huskymedic]

In Texas the difference would have been someone would have paid to make all these problems go away... Football is life out there they'll figure it out.

Yup... Houston has Tilman Fertitta as a fixer. D’Onorfrio’s $400k buyout is pocket change for him.

 

[manbyrd]

UConn is still #1 in student/school subsidies last I checked. There's other sports in there for sure but when we have the highest subsidized program and the worst defense, something ain't right.

I think RE2 gets one more year, Corker is likely out and if there isn't 5+ wins this time next year its time to move on with RE. But changes cost money and that has the ultimate pull. So maybe Corker gets one more shot, RE gets a lower bar, who knows.

 

[polycom]

UConn is still #1 in student/school subsidies last I checked. There's other sports in there for sure but when we have the highest subsidized program and the worst defense, something ain't right.

I think RE2 gets one more year, Corker is likely out and if there isn't 5+ wins this time next year its time to move on with RE. But changes cost money and that has the ultimate pull. So maybe Corker gets one more shot, RE gets a lower bar, who knows.

These dollars do not compare to a rich person writing blank checks. We suck, we will more than likely suck for the near to medium future unless CT as a state begins to value UConn Football. What reason does the athletic department have to do anything different if people are apathetic...

 

[UConnNick]

He needed to load up with JUCOs and grad transfers two freaking years ago! Bringing in kids you like and coaching them up is a great strategy, as long as most of them never see the field until they are juniors or RS sophomores. Three years of coaching an weight room work is what it will often take to upgrade marginal recruits. Look at what Pindell what compared to everybody else. Imagine a WR, LB, CB, Guard and DE at that level on this team.

The bonus benefit, is that if you win a few games with those JUCOs and grad transfers you might actually have more success convincing recruits that you aren't coaching the worst program in the country.

But according to Randy, they won't admit any marginal qualifier JUCOS, Excuse No. 987.

 

[noeynox]

In Texas the difference would have been someone would have paid to make all these problems go away... Football is life out there they'll figure it out.

We need some sugar daddies no doubt.