I just realized something about the football board…

[Rich]

Auriemma hasn't lost his fastball. In fact, he is singularly responsible for the relative state of parity in the Women's game today. Dude set the bar so freaking high that even getting 75% of the way there produces a great team capable of beating any other team on a given day. The fact of the matter is there are more competitive programs nationally than when G.A. started off at UCONN and the sport owes him a tremendous debt of gratitude. Dawn Staley should donate half her paycheck to UCONN.....maybe his only remaining peer is Vandivere at Stanford.

He cannot do anything about Fudd's foot sprain/fracture, Bueckers' absolutely fluke tibial plateau injury and losing Muhl and Griffin to knicks and knocks. If they can get all four back and fully weaponized by mid February that's plenty of time to ramp up for the NCAAs and even if they're not a top seed I fully expect the team to run through the first 4 games like the proverbial Hot Knife Through Butter. I'd love to see them face off against Stanford for all the marbles.

I do think they'll lose 6-7 games on the way there though; however......I wonder considering the present personnel and G.A.'s Tom Thibodeaux-ian unwillingness to lengthen his rotations if that would be the worst thing.....might force him out of his comfort zone and could produce a deeper more experienced roster come banner hangin' time.

 

[NowInStorrs]

Imagine being a recruit and Diaco comes to your home wearing red pants and talking about the made up rivalry with UCF. You'd be like "Kent State still wants me to play over there, right? That doesn't seem so bad."

Mora, on the other hand, has a legit coaching resume, says the right things, and seems excited about the future. We're already seeing the media say good things about him and players wanting to play for him. Things are looking up for sure.

It'll be nice to move on past the RE2.0 run for no gain, bubble screen for a loss, bubble screen for no gain, punt offense.

 

[Rich]

Imagine being a recruit and Diaco comes to your home wearing red pants and talking about the made up rivalry with UCF. You'd be like "Kent State still wants me to play over there, right? That doesn't seem so bad."

Mora, on the other hand, has a legit coaching resume, says the right things, and seems excited about the future. We're already seeing the media say good things about him and players wanting to play for him. Things are looking up for sure.

It'll be nice to move on past the RE2.0 run for no gain, bubble screen for a loss, bubble screen for no gain, punt offense.

I am counting on Mora benchmarking his expectations on his prior experience with what works/does not work in terms of talent evaluation. That's really what it's all about. IMO if we're gonna make football work here we can't go into this with the defeatist attitude of 'Well, they're Clemson, or 'That's Texas, or 'Florida is Florida'; and most definitely we need to dispense with the idea of 'That kid would NEVER come to UCONN'. OK, maybe not. BUT you have to at least be aware of what's out there and tailor your recruiting accordingly. You never know what might pop up (COUGH Tyler VanDyke; Drew Pyne; Will Levis; Josh Jobe COUGH) in your backyard. Per 24/7 sports, the top 6 CT '22 recruits by star rankings are attending in order Michigan, Colorado, BC, Iowa, BC and West freaking VIRGINIA. It's perhaps not the best example due to the HC change; but Mora ought to be looking at this and thinking, 'Hell, I need to start making visits to those prep schools and sending out generous Holiday gifts to the coaching staff.' These could be some of his easiest recruiting wins IMO.

(As an aside-It's mostly out of the prep schools, but what's up with Michigan recruiting CT? They're pulling 2-4 of the top rated guys every.....damn....year. If Mora can even split the difference....and I do think UCONN can at least offer a competitive institutional experience...that would be a nice place to start).

I do not expect to compete game results-wise on that level right off the bat. But Mora spent a decent amount of time coaching in that environment and he presumably understands how to attract talented football players through messaging, facilities, and overall game prep competence. Once we instill those factors the culture can actually build productively and the program will become much more robust, even as an independent.

Imagine a world where UCONN football is able to sell it's game broadcast rights as an individual package a la Notre Dame and make enough in the bargain to be a significant profit driver for the athletic department. We can dream.

 

[hardcorehusky]

Auriemma hasn't lost his fastball. In fact, he is singularly responsible for the relative state of parity in the Women's game today. Dude set the bar so freaking high that even getting 75% of the way there produces a great team capable of beating any other team on a given day. The fact of the matter is there are more competitive programs nationally than when G.A. started off at UCONN and the sport owes him a tremendous debt of gratitude. Dawn Staley should donate half her paycheck to UCONN.....maybe his only remaining peer is Vandivere at Stanford.

He cannot do anything about Fudd's foot sprain/fracture, Bueckers' absolutely fluke tibial plateau injury and losing Muhl and Griffin to knicks and knocks. If they can get all four back and fully weaponized by mid February that's plenty of time to ramp up for the NCAAs and even if they're not a top seed I fully expect the team to run through the first 4 games like the proverbial Hot Knife Through Butter. I'd love to see them face off against Stanford for all the marbles.

I do think they'll lose 6-7 games on the way there though; however......I wonder considering the present personnel and G.A.'s Tom Thibodeaux-ian unwillingness to lengthen his rotations if that would be the worst thing.....might force him out of his comfort zone and could produce a deeper more experienced roster come banner hangin' time.

Great post..................for the Women's Board.

 

[Woof 101]

I wouldn’t say “always”. I didn’t have a positive outlook when Randy 2.0 or PP. I will admit I was pumped for Diaco. That faded quickly with his lack of recruiting.

Same sentiments, bought into Diaco selling himself hook line and sinker. Saw PP and Randy rerun not working from the start. But as a diehard have maintained my tickets and able to get two new (replacement) members in our tailgate of four even in these times.
Fingers crossed, we can't go 0 for 4 or I may not be around to see number 5.

With the description of DB's hire process and Mora not even being in his vision to start. The amount of time Dave spent making sure it would be a good hire has my money on the table once again. I do have a curiosity of just who was on his list and turned the job down and who are the coaches that applied for the job, but I'll live with that.
Go Mora!!! Go Huskies!!!

 

[HuskyDogArt]

It is currently the most optimistic board on The Boneyard. It has been a long time since that’s been true.

Even the women’s basketball has multiple threads suggesting that Geno has lost his ability to coach basketball. Two losses and there needs to be someone writing anti-depressant scripts down there.

I believe that after hitting the button, there's no place to go but up. I believe JM will help UConn football WITHOUT tearing down other sports.

I'd love to see a championship year (National champs in men's and women's bb, men's and women's hockey, men's and women's soccer, field hockey, baseball and football..). I doubt it ever happen yet but I'd love UConn to be the first...

 

[CL82]

I believe that after hitting the button, there's no place to go but up. I believe JM will help UConn football WITHOUT tearing down other sports.

I'd love to see a championship year (National champs in men's and women's bb, men's and women's hockey, men's and women's soccer, field hockey, baseball and football..). I doubt it ever happen yet but I'd love UConn to be the first...

Yeah that would be crazy, but then again having the Red Sox, Patriots UConn men and UConn women in a single year was pretty crazy.

 

[John]

Why even bring it up if it was not your opinion? Like a little kid you couldn’t wait to spread the negative words about what others were saying about maybe the greatest coach in the history of the game? You’re not a UConn fan by any stretch by starting this thread.

Get a grip.

 

[DoctorWho85]

Geno hasn't lost his touch. The rest of the game has been catching up to him which is great for the sport overall. We've been spoiled with over 30 years of great basketball for both men's and women's teams at a football school. It's finally our time shine with Mora at the helm.

 

[SCNCHuskie]

Why even bring it up if it was not your opinion? Like a little kid you couldn’t wait to spread the negative words about what others were saying about maybe the greatest coach in the history of the game? You’re not a UConn fan by any stretch by starting this thread.

I did not take his post negatively at all. I interpreted it to say that on the women’s bb thread, which I read daily, many of the fans are irrational because UConn has lost two games this year and are calling for Geno’s head, while on the football forum, which has not had a winning season recently, there is a much more positive tone to the conversations. I interpreted it as a pat on the back to the football posters and just used the women’s forum as a point of reference, and not necessarily as a shot at the women’s team or Geno. In fact, I interpreted it to say that anyone who was negative of Geno was unrealistic, and even irrational. Not sure why the original post even garnered an argumentative response, however, that is just my interpretation of the original post and follow up comments. (Note: I know that I’m going to regret getting involved in this thread.)

 

[Hskies4Ever]

Why even bring it up if it was not your opinion? Like a little kid you couldn’t wait to spread the negative words about what others were saying about maybe the greatest coach in the history of the game? You’re not a UConn fan by any stretch by starting this thread.

Guys, there’s only one real husky fan here and it’s this guy. Don’t even come around here with your “rational understanding of ideas” or “reasonable takes.” That is what they do at Syracuse. True Huskies make wild accusations and wild accusations only.

 

[huskiemaniac]

It is currently the most optimistic board on The Boneyard. It has been a long time since that’s been true.

Even the women’s basketball has multiple threads suggesting that Geno has lost his ability to coach basketball. Two losses and there needs to be someone writing anti-depressant scripts down there.

2 losses with 5 players out with injuries!