How can anyone defend Edsall?

[firstnline]

If you really want the kid to open up, wear a UCONN sweat shirt with Edsall's picture on it.

With a bullseye, haha

 

[superjohn]

Last year. The man hasn't misled anyone. Look, I don't blame UConn fans from being fed up with the pace of the turnaround. But Coach is performing as he told us to expect and his bosses in the AD seem satisfied.

You're delusional.

 

[uconnric]

this team is horrendous. Doesn’t mean they aren’t better than last years team but last years team was historic level bad.

and next years team is not going to be much better.

Disagree. Next year we should have 5-6 wins. It's slow but it's progress. Roster is improving, albeit very slowly.

 

[huskysupporter]

Last year. The man hasn't misled anyone. Look, I don't blame UConn fans from being fed up with the pace of the turnaround. But Coach is performing as he told us to expect and his bosses in the AD seem satisfied.

Pace? What pace? There has not been one shred of evidence that this program gets better. None. We haven’t won a conference game in 2 years. The talent has barely improved.

Edsall needs to go. Today.

 

[huskysupporter]

Disagree. Next year we should have 5-6 wins. It's slow but it's progress. Roster is improving, albeit very slowly.

what makes you think we should have 5 or 6 wins? Or to punt differently do you think the team will actually be better? Or Do you think we might have more wins because we face some truly horrendous teams next season?

 

[Pudge]

Honestly why even have him coach the next game. Fire him today. Get an early start in finding a competent head coach.

ain't happening.

You are thinking this is a fully formed Football program with deep alumni pockets and set conference scheduling for a decade. Re-orient yourself. What's next after Edsall has to be Benedict's thinking. And at the earliest that is Dec 2020.

 

[bmayuc]

ain't happening.

You are thinking this is a fully formed Football program with deep alumni pockets and set conference scheduling for a decade. Re-orient yourself. What's next after Edsall has to be Benedict's thinking. And at the earliest that is Dec 2020.

This. Everyone here needs to understand the new normal. The very heights our program may reach one day are 7-8 wins. What we should expect once Edsall gets 3-4 recruiting classes is 5-6 wins per year, bowl game every other year, competitive football and no embarrassment. I'm cool with that and Edsall is on plan for that.

I know everyone looks at a game like this and goes "OH, the 3rd and 9 call, fire edsall". And it was dumb and the guy is insanely risk-averse and deserves to be called out for it.

However I look at this game and go "Wow our true frosh QB will be a 4 year keeper and threw for 450 yards today, and edsall still has the eye for talent that we will keenly need as we seek a stable transition to independent status.

And people like @noeynox that are claiming that edsall deserves blame for the last couple years are 100% certifiable. Dude was handed perhaps the worst roster in D1 in the last 20 years. To expect somehow this was anything less than a 3-5 year cultural and talent tear-down and build-up job in the BEST CASE scenario is kidding themselves... and uh, do I have to remind you that this is NOT the BEST CASE scenario?

Everyone relax, we are going to be bad for a bit. Another class or two, by the time the Travis Jones's and Jackson Mitchell's are upperclassmen we will be winning 5-7 games a year and will have navigated the transition to Independent football status and Big East Status and you can all resume yelling about stuff.

 

[Ldandy]

No defense for Edsall. But you can't have 5 different head coaches in 9 years.

There are plenty of winnable games next year. See if he can do it. If not, our future scheduling will be much more complete than it is this coming December for a prospective coach to see. If scheduling goes the way it seems, being a quasi-P5 team might be very attractive to competent coaches.

The problem I have is what becomes the threshold for retaining him beyond 2020? If he wins say 4 games next year will people say look he's building something we need to give him more time, or will they realize that with the current level of recruiting and the type of game day coaching on display that 4 wins is probably the ceiling for this program? JMO but this program needs to roll the dice on a lower level OFFENSIVE HC who can scheme around talent disadvantages and possibly win 6 games to go to a bowl.

 

[noeynox]

This. Everyone here needs to understand the new normal. The very heights our program may reach one day are 7-8 wins. What we should expect once Edsall gets 3-4 recruiting classes is 5-6 wins per year, bowl game every other year, competitive football and no embarrassment. I'm cool with that and Edsall is on plan for that.

I know everyone looks at a game like this and goes "OH, the 3rd and 9 call, fire edsall". And it was dumb and the guy is insanely risk-averse and deserves to be called out for it.

However I look at this game and go "Wow our true frosh QB will be a 4 year keeper and threw for 450 yards today, and edsall still has the eye for talent that we will keenly need as we seek a stable transition to independent status.

And people like @noeynox that are claiming that edsall deserves blame for the last couple years are 100% certifiable. Dude was handed perhaps the worst roster in D1 in the last 20 years. To expect somehow this was anything less than a 3-5 year cultural and talent tear-down and build-up job in the BEST CASE scenario is kidding themselves... and uh, do I have to remind you that this is NOT the BEST CASE scenario?

Everyone relax, we are going to be bad for a bit. Another class or two, by the time the Travis Jones's and Jackson Mitchell's are upperclassmen we will be winning 5-7 games a year and will have navigated the transition to Independent football status and Big East Status and you can all resume yelling about stuff.

His coaching decisions legit lose games. He simply turtles games away with his "risk aversiveness" as you call it. I mean on a day where you are 2 and 8, and the very 1st play of the game goes for a long TD pass, the freshman QB connects with a freshman WR for the 2nd longest TD in schools history, the much maligned defense comes up with a clutch interception and he coaches that series like a total buffoon. 1st play, inside handoff for 1yd, incomplete pass, and a draw to attempt a 50 yd FG that was short and 10 yds left.

@Brochacho has it right. Only reason to bring him back another year is to end the turnstile of coaches. BUT HE SUCKS!

 

[BlueandOG]

I am an edsall apologist for sure, but even I was very frustrated by the 50 yard field goal attempt. It seemed the worst option when thinking: go for it on 4th, punt and pin them deep, or try a 50 yard field goal that most likely will miss. That call was a big factor in our loss.

 

[noeynox]

I am an edsall apologist for sure, but even I was very frustrated by the 50 yard field goal attempt. It seemed the worst option when thinking: go for it on 4th, punt and pin them deep, or try a 50 yard field goal that most likely will miss. That call was a big factor in our loss.

He punted like 3 times from plus territory against Houston. Net yardage was like 17. If a game is close loss, chances are we got there thanks to his "decision making".

 

[huskyrob1]

no I think we are in agreement there is improvement. I’m saying this team went from being the worst in fbs to one of the 3 worst in fbs.I think that’s the point. This team is horrible. It honestly pains me to say it. The only glimmer of hope in the debacle of joining the big east and dumping on the football program is firing the entire coaching staff. Today.

I want to see Edsall fired more than anyone, that being said, I have to say that this team is much improved from last year. The ECU team we played today would have put 55 points on last year's defense.

 

[HuskyDogArt]

We need to go in a different direction. We need to fire the whole coaching staff and hire people who will win. Let's go into the Indy era with a new outlook, new coaches and new hope. We need to start anew! Let's forget the AAC era...

 

[HuskyDogArt]

Disagree. Next year we should have 5-6 wins. It's slow but it's progress. Roster is improving, albeit very slowly.

5 or 6 wins? Maybe if we snuck Alabama's second string offense and Ohio State's defense and Give RE books on how to coach in 2020! I'd would let Randy coach a peewee team!

 

[UConnJim]

First, Edsall is what he is. He is a conservative coach who discovers and develops players. At UConn, we need to discover and develop players. The roster is getting better after the Diaco fiasco, but UConn should never have to start true freshman or many redshirt freshmen as we are a development program. And UConn should never have to start a true freshman QB.

JZ has 3 bad turnovers and missed some wide open receivers today, but he is getting better. I expect him to be a lot better next year.

Based on the attendance today, my guess is some if not most of you were not at the game. It was a good game with great football weather. That said, the refs screwed UConn multiple times today including a non called pass interference in the end zone during the final drive. There were a couple of flags thrown against ECU that were picked up. Even the ECU fans I was with thought the refs were biased today.

 

[Zissou]

This. Everyone here needs to understand the new normal. The very heights our program may reach one day are 7-8 wins.

seems defeatist. It won't be next year, but there is no good reason why this can't be a successful program.

 

[bmayuc]

seems defeatist. It won't be next year, but there is no good reason why this can't be a successful program.

So I'm a consultant. First question I ask starting a new project is : define success.

For me, a successful program is .500 most years, an occasional 8 win year, a bowl every couple years. I think that is reasonable. I think Edsall is on Pace to get us there in 4-5 years and I've seen progress toward that goal. So I'm happy and don't get bent out of shape by the week to week madness.

I wonder, @Zissou how you define success for UConn football?

 

[regassert6]

No defense for Edsall. But you can't have 5 different head coaches in 9 years.

There are plenty of winnable games next year. See if he can do it. If not, our future scheduling will be much more complete than it is this coming December for a prospective coach to see. If scheduling goes the way it seems, being a quasi-P5 team might be very attractive to competent coaches.

Temple has had Al Golden, Steve Addazio, Matt Rhule, Geoff Collins and Rod Carey in the last 10 years......

 

[Travelman6]

Just looking at the most basic numbers, if I have this correct. slight;y better O last year but much better D than last year, not that it is saying much about the D. Keeping in mind there is still one game this year, things are not likely to change too much in the last game for stats.

Gave up 50.4 points per game last year, 39.7 this year.
Scored 22.6 points per game last year, 19.1 this year.

Four lowest-scoring games last year were 7, 7, 7 and 14 for a total of 35. This year it was 3, 3, 7 and 10. (23 total)
Five highest-scoring games last year were 56, 50, 30, 21 x2. This year, the four highest: 56, 24, 24, 23.

Take it for what it is worth. (Oh, and if USF did not score that 4th quarter last-second TD, knock another .6 off for 39.1 allowed per game).

 

[BlueDogs]

His coaching decisions legit lose games. He simply turtles games away with his "risk aversiveness" as you call it. I mean on a day where you are 2 and 8, and the very 1st play of the game goes for a long TD pass, the freshman QB connects with a freshman WR for the 2nd longest TD in schools history, the much maligned defense comes up with a clutch interception and he coaches that series like a total buffoon. 1st play, inside handoff for 1yd, incomplete pass, and a draw to attempt a 50 yd FG that was short and 10 yds left.

@Brochacho has it right. Only reason to bring him back another year is to end the turnstile of coaches. BUT HE SUCKS!

This is so right on. Rather than take the momentum he squanders it. The guy is more motivated to avoid mistakes than go for the win, and ends up in the same place. The guy blows.

 

[uconnbill]

The loss sucked big time. Two Int's on the goal yard killed two scoring drives. A game that UConn should have won but mistakes once again killed them.
When UConn intercepted the ball in the middle of the 4th quarter I was really hoping to go play action on the first play and instead they went off tackle. The momentum was with UConn and I believe a score there would have shut the door on ECU.

Blame there is enough to go around for the loss today.

 

[Zissou]

So I'm a consultant. First question I ask starting a new project is : define success.

For me, a successful program is .500 most years, an occasional 8 win year, a bowl every couple years. I think that is reasonable. I think Edsall is on Pace to get us there in 4-5 years and I've seen progress toward that goal. So I'm happy and don't get bent out of shape by the week to week madness.

I wonder, @Zissou how you define success for UConn football?

I wouldn't put a ceiling for the program at 8-5.

Regularly making the rankings is one objective.

Look at some realistic peer programs... App State, Cinci, Temple, BYU, UCF, Houston. Memphis was a really bad program and they have 10 wins this year. Temple used to suck. Look at some of the seasons BYU has had. UCF had some dream seasons. Dream bigger.

I think the measure for success will be winning meaningful games and being relevant. Upset ranked teams. Be a ranked team.

Setting your ceiling at 8-5 is defeatist. Strive to be more. You have a good schedule developing and a decent following when you get back to winning ways. It won't be next year. A program in UConn's position can become very good. It will take the eventual right coaching hire.

 

[BlueDogs]

First, Edsall is what he is. He is a conservative coach who discovers and develops players. At UConn, we need to discover and develop players. The roster is getting better after the Diaco fiasco, but UConn should never have to start true freshman or many redshirt freshmen as we are a development program. And UConn should never have to start a true freshman QB.

JZ has 3 bad turnovers and missed some wide open receivers today, but he is getting better. I expect him to be a lot better next year.

Based on the attendance today, my guess is some if not most of you were not at the game. It was a good game with great football weather. That said, the refs screwed UConn multiple times today including a non called pass interference in the end zone during the final drive. There were a couple of flags thrown against ECU that were picked up. Even the ECU fans I was with thought the refs were biased today.

Friggin freezing on the west side. Refs did us no favors. The band played to the sunny side fans in a change. There was maybe 40 students. You can’t support a program with that dismal attendance and Edsall needs to be on a clock to move this forward, not his 5 year plan to maybe mediocre.

 

[pick6s]

Edsall has had only two full recruiting classes. He is not a guy who has won with freshmen- he has won by developing guys. Having a few freshmen sprinkled in here and there is very different from having a defense almost entirely comprised of freshmen, like we had last year. After this year, we're basically losing nobody from a defense that, while still not great, is way better than the defense from last year. We will have some loses on offense and they really need to figure the QB situation out. I hope Krajewski plays the whole game next week so we get a look at what he can and cannot do. The bottom line is that Edsall inherited a terrible situation from a personnel standpoint and it is taking time to get the talent level back to where it should be. I'm betting on at least four wins next year, which is a substantial improvement from this year considering the schedule next year will include five Power Five teams versus two Power Five opponents this year. Next year is the year we should see notable progress, especially in the second half of the season when the schedule will be lighter. The year after that we should see even more progress- including possibly a bowl berth- because they won't lose a ton from a personnel standpoint after next year either.

Projected Losses Next Year: the five Power Five opponents- at Illinois, at Virginia, at Ole Miss, vs Indiana, unannounced ACC opponent

Projected Wins: vs Maine, vs UMass

Up For Grabs: at San Jose St, vs Army, vs Liberty, a likely game against Middle Tennessee, unannounced opponent from a non-Power Five school

 

[bmayuc]

I wouldn't put a ceiling for the program at 8-5.

Regularly making the rankings is one objective.

Look at some realistic peer programs... App State, Cinci, Temple, BYU, UCF, Houston. Memphis was a really bad program and they have 10 wins this year. Temple used to suck. Look at some of the seasons BYU has had. UCF had some dream seasons. Dream bigger.

I think the measure for success will be winning meaningful games and being relevant. Upset ranked teams. Be a ranked team.

Setting your ceiling at 8-5 is defeatist. Strive to be more. You have a good schedule developing and a decent following when you get back to winning ways. It won't be next year. A program in UConn's position can become very good. It will take the eventual right coaching hire.

I am realistic, not defeatist. Setting realistic goals is critical to building a performance culture. If you want to have unrealistically high expectations it will only bring you misery and ultimately the death of this program. You are out of your mind. That is the problem with so many on this board.

We have been playing D1 for almost 20 years. We have "made the rankings" like twice, over 10 years ago. We have averaged like 2.5 wins per year for the last decade. You bring up "realistic Peer programs" that all have significant advantage over us - they live in recruiting-rich regions. We have no conference. We have many less recruits in-region due to many reasons we have all covered before, and the recruits we DO have in-region have other, more relevant football programs they can choose to attend.

No one is putting a ceiling on a program. I am saying that 5-7 wins most years, and a couple 8 or 9 win seasons per decade would be a hell of an accomplishment. Again, averaging 2.5 wins for the last decade now. The worst roster in probably 25 years during Edsall's first year.

Grow up people, get real. If you set goals that are realistic and acheivable, maybe we can have a senior class have the same head coach for their entire tenure for the first time since 2010.

 

[Austin316]

I can’t defend but I respect the guy.

Maybe a young energetic guy would come here but if things went well I imagine UConn would be a stepping stone.

I can’t see Edsall leaving on his own this time around.

 

[pick6s]

I can’t defend but I respect the guy.

Maybe a young energetic guy would come here but if things went well I imagine UConn would be a stepping stone.

I can’t see Edsall leaving on his own this time around.

Edsall won't leave for another job but he could leave via retirement. I believe he said he was only looking to coach a couple more years after this year. Depending on what happens the next few seasons (which I believe could be a bowl berth in two years- see my previous post above), I hope he hangs around longer so we are a respectable football program by the time the next possible conference realignment rolls around in about 2025.

 

[Austin316]

Edsall won't leave for another job but he could leave via retirement. I believe he said he was only looking to coach a couple more years after this year. Depending on what happens the next few seasons (which I believe could be a bowl berth in two years- see my previous post above), I hope he hangs around longer so we are a respectable football program by the time the next possible conference realignment rolls around in about 2025.

I think we’ll catch a break in the next few years. Takes time around here and thank god I’m patient with this program.

 

[Zissou]

I am saying that 5-7 wins most years, and a couple 8 or 9 win seasons per decade would be a hell of an accomplishment.

No actually you said "The very heights our program may reach one day are 7-8 wins."

With a little optimism, now you've stretched 7-8 wins to 8 or 9 wins. You're getting there. You are almost the little engine that could!

Are BYU and App State in recruiting hotbeds? Who knew?

UConn can get there.

 

[bmayuc]

No actually you said "The very heights our program may reach one day are 7-8 wins."

With a little optimism, now you've stretched 7-8 wins to 8 or 9 wins. You're getting there. You are almost the little engine that could!

Are BYU and App State in recruiting hotbeds? Who knew?

UConn can get there.

Dude, I didn't fact check to make them match perfectly, the point is the same and you know that.

1. BYU has a 50 year tradition, a recruiting engine fed by Mormon missionaries and the fact that all their players are 2+ years older than every other team. C'mon.

2. And App state, if you take 2 seconds to google it, is smack in the middle of the recruiting uber hotbed of North Carolina, which means they can easily recruit the entire DMV for under-recruited gems. Meanwhile, we can recruit - checks notes - Quebec, New Haven, and Worcester. So, with respect, pleasantly go pound sound

"with a little optimism" *eyeroll*