I don't watch the football a lot. Is Diaco this bad?

[huskymedic]

Well, the best hands label usually includes judging where the ball is going to be and the surest way to catch it.

Okay you doubled down - you win.

 

[pnow15]

Well, the best hands label usually includes judging where the ball is going to be and the surest way to catch it.

PS.
Just the way saying a center fielder in baseball has a great glove. It presumes that he puts himself in position to use his glove.

 

[ctchamps]

So you blame the players for clock management and play calling? I watched the game with my nephews. One had his first Freshman Football game earlier yesterday, the other his first Pop Warner game today.

BOTH of them yelled when the time out was called and immediately said that meant we'd try two passes into the end zone because we did. I'm pretty sure the UCONN players were thinking the same. I'm shocked you can rationalize Diaco's mistakes were based on the "set" of players he's coaching.

Not at all what I wrote. Diaco's mistakes are on Diaco.

The debate, at least for me, is whether Diaco will ultimately have confidence in his players to let the QB make the call during these critical points in games.

And yes I yelled at that time out call. Surprised you didn't hear it even though I live in NC.

 

[formerlurker]

Not at all what I wrote. Diaco's mistakes are on Diaco.

The debate, at least for me, is whether Diaco will ultimately have confidence in his players to let the QB make the call during these critical points in games.

And yes I yelled at that time out call. Surprised you didn't hear it even though I live in NC.

I get your point clearer now but still don't agree with the coach having the confidence in the QB to make the call. Bryant was something like 26/28 for the game. I'm pretty sure he wanted 2 more pass attempts.

That's why we pay Diaco to lead this program. Every call during critical points should be his. Bryant has more than proven his ability to improvise but Diaco hand cuffed him in my opinion.

 

[ctchamps]

I get your point clearer now but still don't agree with the coach having the confidence in the QB to make the call. Bryant was something like 26/28 for the game. I'm pretty sure he wanted 2 more pass attempts.

That's why we pay Diaco to lead this program. Every call during critical points should be his. Bryant has more than proven his ability to improvise but Diaco hand cuffed him in my opinion.

We agree about this.

I was just listening to the post game which was different than people just taking out bits and pieces and posting.

Interesting that he and whatever other coaches deciding what to do could not tell what happened after the first down throw. I can give that confusion a pass.

But his next point about sending in two plays, the first being a run is the crux of the problem. Not expecting that if it failed there would be no opportunity of a second play is beyond comprehension for me. That any coach who played the game and watched games, as I'm sure he has, to totally not understand this defies logic.

My gut tells me he didn't make the call and he's sticking up for whoever did. Heat of the moment mistake compounded by making excuses. Just fall on the grenade BD. But that's easy for me to say given my remoteness from the game. And I don't mean distance. The emotions expressed in this forum following that game have to be magnified a hundred fold for him. He probably hates losing more than us fans and has to be sick to his stomach that that play was called in. Of course if he made the call then.........

I've seen this coaching staff make adjustments, both in games and over the time they've been at UConn. If they are worth their salary they'll address this problem of crisis play calling. I'm still willing to give them a pass because they've had so many fires to put out and most are appearing to be handled.

 

[uconnbill]

I have a question, is Diaco responsible for the clock and TO's or is an assistant coach supposed to be tuned in to that and wired into Diaco?Offensive coordinator or someone else? It seems to happen to a lot of teams both college and pro.

'

That is my question who in the press box wasn't paying attention to things like timeouts and whether a play is complet or not.
The head coach has respondibilties but so do the offensive and defensive coorinator as they answer to the head coach.

 

[formerlurker]

We agree about this.

I was just listening to the post game which was different than people just taking out bits and pieces and posting.

Interesting that he and whatever other coaches deciding what to do could not tell what happened after the first down throw. I can give that confusion a pass.

But his next point about sending in two plays, the first being a run is the crux of the problem. Not expecting that if it failed there would be no opportunity of a second play is beyond comprehension for me. That any coach who played the game and watched games, as I'm sure he has, to totally not understand this defies logic.

My gut tells me he didn't make the call and he's sticking up for whoever did. Heat of the moment mistake compounded by making excuses. Just fall on the grenade BD. But that's easy for me to say given my remoteness from the game. And I don't mean distance. The emotions expressed in this forum following that game have to be magnified a hundred fold for him. He probably hates losing more than us fans and has to be sick to his stomach that that play was called in. Of course if he made the call then....

I've seen this coaching staff make adjustments, both in games and over the time they've been at UConn. If they are worth their salary they'll address this problem of crisis play calling. I'm still willing to give them a pass because they've had so many fires to put out and most are appearing to be handled.

Very good post, Fleud. So much so that I have nothing more to argue. This has been fun, educational and therapeutic.

Thank you.

 

[ctchamps]

'

That is my question who in the press box wasn't paying attention to things like timeouts and whether a play is complet or not.
The head coach has respondibilties but so do the offensive and defensive coorinator as they answer to the head coach.

This would answer a lot of questions but I'm going to take an educated guess that the OC made the mistakes. BD strikes me as the type of coach who will cover for his players and staff even if the cover is poorly done.

 

[ZOOCONN]

Is it written in his contract? That is silly. Anyone you put back there is the punt returner or in this case the punt fielder. You win by eliminating mistakes.

this response displays a fundamental lack of any football knowledge... so why arent dez bryant, larry fitzgerald, julio jones or odell beckham jr returning punts?

 

[UConnFranklin]

I'm getting on board late but still had to call the last play. I'm so P..O... QB lines up behind the center, fakes hand off to Johnson up the middle to freeze the line. QBl rolls out to the right Left tight end slants across the middle, WR right runs to right corner with right tight end giving a block then runs a buttonhook pattern. QB has 3 through options or just run it in along the right side.

Im now a great offensive mind but if I can see this why the H... can he? And if he manages the game properly he still has a time out or two left. My God, we need an offensive mind on this coaching staff!!!

 

[pnow15]

this response displays a fundamental lack of any football knowledge... so why arent dez bryant, larry fitzgerald, julio jones or odell beckham jr returning punts?

Because those teams have the option of finding quality kick returners from hundreds of college programs. Diaco has whatever leftovers he can find that weren't offered a scholarship from a p-5 school. So, if you have a receiver with a great pair of hands ,you use him to avoid just the sort of disaster which could have cost UConn the game. But Bob had even a bigger disaster planned.

 

[pnow15]

Because those teams have the option of finding quality kick returners from hundreds of college programs. Diaco has whatever leftovers he can find that weren't offered a scholarship from a p-5 school. So, if you have a receiver with a great pair of hands ,you use him to avoid just the sort of disaster which could have cost UConn the game. But Bob had even a bigger disaster planned.

PS. If UConn had Odell, he would be returning kicks.

 

[temery]

A bad coach doesn't prepare his team to win. He clearly did.

 

[Huskygamble19]

I find it comical that he keeps mentioning that we were on the 1/2 yard line, the 1/2 yard line. Shireffs made the handoff straight back to Johnson who was at around the 3and it was a slow play giving Navy a chance to regroup to stop the run. I believe he was tackled somewhere between the 1 and 2 yard line. He certainly did not get back to the 1/2 yard line. Play action would have been so much smarter.

 

[ZOOCONN]

Because those teams have the option of finding quality kick returners from hundreds of college programs. Diaco has whatever leftovers he can find that weren't offered a scholarship from a p-5 school. So, if you have a receiver with a great pair of hands ,you use him to avoid just the sort of disaster which could have cost UConn the game. But Bob had even a bigger disaster planned.

so instead of talking out of my I decided to look up some actual stats to see if your thinking is correct and surprise surprise you aren't. I took the top 10 receivers in college (usually a pretty good indication of good hands right?) and shocker only two of the ten are also the teams punt returner and the stunning stats of those WR studs? 8 RET for 76yds.... then I thought well hey ya know maybe the BEST punt returners aren't leading the country in receiving but surely are leading at least the team they play on right? wrong again.... of the top ten returners with at least 3 return attempts 2 are also leading the team in receiving, one of which is from powerhouse Georgia southern. also that little caveat you threw in about non P5 schools needing to utilize their best WR as PR? yea uh only two non P5 schools out of thirteen had their best WR pulling double duty.

Be more wrong.... you can't.

 

[Adios]

A bad coach doesn't prepare his team to win. He clearly did.

Maybe he should also prepare himself to win.

 

[pnow15]

so instead of talking out of my I decided to look up some actual stats to see if your thinking is correct and surprise surprise you aren't. I took the top 10 receivers in college (usually a pretty good indication of good hands right?) and shocker only two of the ten are also the teams punt returner and the stunning stats of those WR studs? 8 RET for 76yds.... then I thought well hey ya know maybe the BEST punt returners aren't leading the country in receiving but surely are leading at least the team they play on right? wrong again.... of the top ten returners with at least 3 return attempts 2 are also leading the team in receiving, one of which is from powerhouse Georgia southern. also that little caveat you threw in about non P5 schools needing to utilize their best WR as PR? yea uh only two non P5 schools out of thirteen had their best WR pulling double duty.

Be more wrong.... you can't.

First of all, you have a really small data base to draw your conclusions.
Secondly, your examination is a bit simplistic.
First of all, the top ten receivers usually come from passing programs where the coaches are constantly recruiting fast guys with great hands and QB's who can really throw the ball. Not everyone can start so some catch the punts. A bevy of great handed receivers is not usually UConn's major asset and Shireffs is the best QB UConn has had in years.
The BEST punt returners are not always the BEST punt catchers. How many punt returns did Mercury Morris have for Miami's undefeated team? Shula had his sure handed safeties fielding about every punt.
Best punt returners tend to be a little short and are hard to pick up going over the middle. Coaches prefer taller receivers. So, punt returners usually are not big time receivers unless they are coming out of the backfield a la Reggie Bush.
Most good coaches play someone is up to the job and won't let the ball bounce 40 yards down the field.
However there are a few notable exceptions to you theory. I suppose names like Tim Brown, Rocket Ismael and John Rodgers are foreign to you.
A few more 66 yard punts and you will see Thomas back there.

 

[HuskiesFan1014]

And now back to basketball..

Go back to your forum, Cave Dweller.

 

[Jerry1714]

Please don't ever make the Calhoun comparison to Diaco again. This is Diaco's third season. In Calhoun's second season we won the NIT. In his fourth season we won the Big East, made it to the Elite Eight and he won National Coach of the Year.

Diaco won't be fired for this, but it doesn't mean it's not a terribly dispiriting loss on a number of levels. I'm a casual CFB fan who was supportive of his hire because he seemed to have good energy and a good pedigree, if a bit wacky. I am now convinced that he is an over-matched dunce who does not have the capacity to bring the football program to the next level. He's had a lot of chances to show that he's crazy like a fox. Unfortunately for us, I think he's just dumb.

I hope you realize rebuilding a basketball team and rebuilding a football from the dead are two completely different things.

Diaco took a team completely devoid of talent to a bowl and beat a Houston team who whopped FSU in a BCS bowl game.

Obviously you cannot compare Calhoun and Diaco, but trying to compare rebuilding a basketball and a football team is ridiculous.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

"The football" is that like how my dad watches "the Netflix?"

 

[8893]

I hope you realize rebuilding a basketball team and rebuilding a football from the dead are two completely different things.

Uh, yeah:

I agree fully that it takes longer to build a football program than a basketball program, but we've been trying to build a football program for a lot longer than Diaco's term; and even just limiting it to him, there seem to be an unusually high number of WTF critical decision-making blunders during his tenure, and I'm less and less sanguine about his ability to develop in a way that reduces them the more I see him try to explain them.

In short, he is losing credibility with me based on the admittedly intermittent observations I've made of him, and I don't think it's an unfounded reaction.

 

[Jerry1714]

Uh, yeah:

Well this is a discussion about Diaco, not the history of building UConn football (which actually was in a great place thanks to Edsall but the administration put the guillotine to the program by hiring PP).

Diaco has undeniably made some major blunders, but he has also done some very good things with what he was given, which was basically nothing. Bowl game in year 2, lets see how year 3 goes, if he wins 7 games and goes to a bowl no one can say the program is not headed in the right direction despite some clock management gaffes along the way.

 

[8893]

Well this is a discussion about Diaco, not the history of building UConn football (which actually was in a great place thanks to Edsall but the administration put the guillotine to the program by hiring PP).

Diaco has undeniably made some major blunders, but he has also done some very good things with what he was given, which was basically nothing. Bowl game in year 2, lets see how year 3 goes, if he wins 7 games and goes to a bowl no one can say the program is not headed in the right direction despite some clock management gaffes along the way.

Believe me, I want to like him and I want to believe we are headed in the right direction. I have posted as much here from the time he was hired. I'm only saying that it is getting tougher and tougher for me to do so the more I see of him. The platitudes and cliches in which he speaks aren't helping.

 

[freescooter]

He reminds me more and more of Jerry Faust at Notre Dame with each passing day. Great interview. Knew all the right terms. Very exciting and excited about his team and his job. And completely utterly and entirely over his head.