"I defy anybody to say well we know exactly what you're going to do on first down"

[Jimdish255]

The fact that you guys think that a highly paid coach of a Division 1 football team who has more years of football experience than most of our alive will cater to the opinions of 27 people on a message board who think they represent the entirety of the fan base is laughable.

Apparently your right. And you could insert the number 270, or 2,700 or 27,000.

 

[Rumrunner]

I also think that it is the ultimate red herring to insinuate that if you don't support the head coach, you don't support the program.

UConn football starts with the university and ends with the players that represent it. The former evolves while the latter changes, allowing us to fully and with very few conditions support them. Everyone in the middle- from the President of the university to the AD, to the head coach to the video coordinator- those guys are paid to do a job. If they fail to do their job, then they have failed the university and should be replaced.

 

[pj]

I was a fan of the PP hire. Thought he had local and regional connections that would help recruiting, was going to be here for a while not be looking to move on after a good year, had a track record of success in conference and the pro experience was going to be a plus. He has been at a disadvantage up till now in that we aren't putting a QB or RB on the field that is equal to or superior to our opponets and so we struggle. Up till now we compete hard all game and haven't gotten really smoked the way many lesser teams in the power conferences get smoked on a weekly basis. You can make the case that the top level of the BE isn't as good as the power conferences but we were ready to take the lead on WVU in the 3rd Q on the road last year when we blew an opportunity. We couldn't catch the ball against L-ville so we lost, Pitt seemed to be our worst effort. This year though the constant glaring inability to manage the clock which is all on the HC not the players, the offense which is just plain dysfunctional which goes back to what is our bread and butter?, and now we have Deleone running not just the offense but the O-line when his track record has never been a smashing success which means that PP is defering to Deleone. We are going to have to win 4 games the rest of the way for me to think it's worth continueing with PP.
As far as type of play caller, I want a younger guy who is on the sideline working right there with his offense not insulated in the booth like a bureaucrat. Someone who installs an offense where the players don't look uncomfortable running it, aren't making mental mistakes all the time , where we make the game look simple, and we can score enough to beat good college teams which-wait for it- score alot. We are 6 games in and a 5th year TE isn't on the same page with the QB who has been here since January. Simplify and focus. Scoring chances have been lost ala the 1st Q pass against Rutgers. It's like having McCummings throw 4 passes a year and all of them should be touchdowns but he's not used to throwing in the game so things don't work because it gets rushed. Simplify and focus.

Great post jdb50!

 

[partial]

Well clearly PP and GD know that if we run the football 20 times in a row on first down that the other team will expect a run up the middle. But, they also know that the other team knows this and that they are up against master tacticians, so in fact they won't expect a run, thus we have to run on first down. The only complication to this brilliant scheme is unknown unknowns, for which Deleone has, of course, literally millions of contingencies that all lead to the conclusion of running up the middle: (nsfw language)

 

[Jimdish255]

I do. Somebody should have beat his ass the moment he suggested to let Deleone be the primary decision maker on offense, but I think it was a good hire for many reasons, and the understanding he has of recruiting for our region is absolutely #1.

There's still a lot of season left, and we clearly are in a Big East season where, the conference is quite strong, and we're not near the top of the strongest, at the half way mark, on the season, but we're not necessarily on bottom either, the games still have to be played.

Syracuse was 5-1, 2011, with I think some pretty nice wins along the way, and finished 5-7. We were 3-4 in 2010, and finished 8-4.

A lot can happen, it goes one week at a time. I will reserve my judgment for whether or not we are progressing or regressing, for when the season is over. As of right now, the offense has nothing at all to show for progress at all from year 1 to year 2. The defense and kicking games have.


All that said - Holy what the hell was he thinking saying that. what are we going to do on first down? I hope our players know - many times they don't seem to.

It's important to be able to step back and reserve judgement over a full season. There's plenty of people around here capable of dissecting what's going on that feel the same way as you do. Unfortunately for the AD and the coach most people don't have the knowledge or the patience to be that pragmatic. And outside circumstances including what people want to spend their money on and what recruits are seeing on the field affect the calculus in real time.

There's also the entertainment factor. Whether you win or lose are you being entertained? It's fair to say that isn't currently the case and I'm looking for a reason to believe that might change. I would love to hear someone make the case as to what signs they see that will change the conclusions much from the one's being observed now. Maybe that case can only be effectively made on the field because the coaches certainly haven't made it from their statements.

 

[businesslawyer]

Can I get an amen. No more, run, run, run and punt. West Coast, huh? I like it.

I think you totally missed my point my friend.

 

[CL82]

P - "Go a head, just try to figure out the mystery that is UConn on first down. My boy George wallpapers his house with plays so devious that we're not even sure they're legal. You have have no chance here, but go a head and try to guess what we're going to do here!"

Me - "You're going to run up the middle with McCombs."

P - "Holy duck*. How did you figure that out?"

P (squeezing is head at the temples) "Get out of my head, GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

 

[TouchdownHusky]

I think you totally missed my point my friend.

I never miss your point. It's OK though, you won't get disbarred for touting the forward pass. It's perfectly legal - exciting, utilized by many teams nation wide, and downright effective in leveling the playing field. Don't beat yourself up over this infatuation with this "new fangled" aspect of a college football offense. Miss your point . . . come on,man, seriously?

 

[ZooCougar]

I think it would be great if someone with some video editing skills, could put a montage together of the first down failures with some audio from Coach P's last presser.

A picture is worth a thousand words, but a video is a thesis.

 

[FAIRTIDES]

Actually, they can. The first play will be McCombs between the left tackle and left guard (5) or left tackle and left side TE (7). There is no where else Deleone is going to go.

Isn't one of the symptoms of mental illness? -- Continuously using the same failed method, in numerous attempts to accomplish the same goal, while remaining absolutely sure that the method in use will produce a favorable result. (Also called, "pissing into the wind," or "beating one's head against a wall.")

 

[BlueMAB]

The first play will be play action.

The rest of the first downs will be runs. He's tricky like that.

 

[Waquoit]

The rest of the first downs will be runs. He's tricky like that.

I'm actually worried that a couple of 1st down runs that get stuffed could bring out the boobirds early.