If UConn Fails to Hire Joe Moorhead, Would Todd Orlando be Your Next Choice?

[RSTuthill]

It would be interesting to know if either Joe or Todd would even be interested in sorting out this mess. They are well aware of the challenges to be faced here. As to having HC experience I'm unsure.
Randy 1.0 no HC experience had success.
Bob no HC experience failed miserably.
Paul previous HC experience failed miserably.
Randy 2.0 previous HC experience failed miserably.

Yeah, that is where I am too. Unsure especially in light of UConn's recent experience. What I do NOT think counts for much is a long history of NFL experience. A completely different environment. And I think that all the new ideas and philosophies are coming from college ball were they are tried and proven in the sticks before coming to Broadway. (Pardon the analogy.) That is why the right mix of youth and experience are paramount. Old enough to have seen a few things, young enough to have an open and analytical mind.

 

[ZooCougar]

1. You are entitled to your opinion.
2. With the single exception of telling Lashlee he couldn't run a hurry up offense with as horrific a defense as we had behind it (which, by the way, I think was absolutely rational), I'm not at all convinced this urban legend that Edsall handcuffed his OCs is at all true. When we had Orlovsky, we threw 50% of the time. When our QBs were mediocre, which has been at almost all times since, we don't throw as much. Since college football went pass happy, with the exception of Cochrane for 4 games, we've never looked like we had the parts to run a spread offense. And, since the Edsall I regime left, we haven't had a good OC who deserved to be left alone other than Lashlee.

It wasn’t rational. He was in a rebuild. We had to be good at something. He chose to suck at both.

The defense didn’t have to be putrid. He didn’t have to change the scheme twice in a season, he didn’t have to start a bunch of guys who flat out shouldn’t have started.

Edsall didn’t handcuff OCs? He was one of the most risk averse coaches ever who coached scared, I beg to differ.

 

[Woof 101]

His issue was being so loyal to George that it costed him. Trying to force something to work that wasn’t working.

Yup! He failed miserably.
On January 13, 2011, Pasqualoni was hired to lead the University of Connecticut football program, by soon to be dismissed AD Jeff Hathaway, two weeks after former coach Randy Edsall left for the University of Maryland. His two full seasons saw identical records of 5–7 — only his second and third losing seasons as a Division I-A/FBS head coach. He was dismissed as coach of the Huskies on September 30, 2013 in the midst of his 3rd season after starting 0–4.[5]

Hathaway was the main reason randy left and with Hathaway knowing his job was on the line he quickly went along with the board, Larry McHugh and CT high school coaching friends of the past. It was a match made in the opposite of heaven.

2. With the single exception of telling Lashlee he couldn't run a hurry up offense with as horrific a defense as we had behind it (which, by the way, I think was absolutely rational),

Absolutely agree with you and always enjoy your posts.

And, since the Edsall I regime left, we haven't had a good OC who deserved to be left alone other than Lashlee.

Having said that the above contradicts the first statement.

That is why the right mix of youth and experience are paramount. Old enough to have seen a few things, young enough to have an open and analytical mind.

Agree, it is going to be an intense interview for Dave as it has to be someone that can cover all bases. Young enough to recruit and relate to today's players but also experienced enough to draw a surrounding cast of staff that has a depth of experience. That and be a salesman as all coaches today are also expected to be fund raisers.

 

[businesslawyer]

Yup! He failed miserably.
On January 13, 2011, Pasqualoni was hired to lead the University of Connecticut football program, by soon to be dismissed AD Jeff Hathaway, two weeks after former coach Randy Edsall left for the University of Maryland. His two full seasons saw identical records of 5–7 — only his second and third losing seasons as a Division I-A/FBS head coach. He was dismissed as coach of the Huskies on September 30, 2013 in the midst of his 3rd season after starting 0–4.[5]

Hathaway was the main reason randy left and with Hathaway knowing his job was on the line he quickly went along with the board, Larry McHugh and CT high school coaching friends of the past. It was a match made in the opposite of heaven.

Absolutely agree with you and always enjoy your posts.

Having said that the above contradicts the first statement.

Agree, it is going to be an intense interview for Dave as it has to be someone that can cover all bases. Young enough to recruit and relate to today's players but also experienced enough to draw a surrounding cast of staff that has a depth of experience. That and be a salesman as all coaches today are also expected to be fund raisers.

LOL. Well played!

 

[Palatine]

No more defensive coordinators. I want a creative offensive mind.

 

[metsfan2323]

I'm very curious as to why so many people believe that our next hire needs to be someone who once worked here.

Has anyone actually said it needs to be someone who once worked here? I don't think your statement is true.

The hope is that someone with Joe Moorhead's great credentials might view the job as "coming back home" and would thus have an interest in taking the job he would otherwise not be interested in. A"homecoming" may be our best shot at getting a Big Name coach.

Orlando gets brought up because he seems to be the guy Orlovsky is pushing and he does have a good resume having risen to the top of college ranks as a DC. I think it's safe to say Orlovsky has probably been in contact with him and he knows Orlando wants the job.

 

[huskyblooz]

We have not had an offensive-minded HC since we were in the Yankee Conference (Skip Holtz).
The game has changed and we havent. ... We need OFFENSE to excite people.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

1. You are entitled to your opinion.
2. With the single exception of telling Lashlee he couldn't run a hurry up offense with as horrific a defense as we had behind it (which, by the way, I think was absolutely rational), I'm not at all convinced this urban legend that Edsall handcuffed his OCs is at all true. When we had Orlovsky, we threw 50% of the time. When our QBs were mediocre, which has been at almost all times since, we don't throw as much. Since college football went pass happy, with the exception of Cochrane for 4 games, we've never looked like we had the parts to run a spread offense. And, since the Edsall I regime left, we haven't had a good OC who deserved to be left alone other than Lashlee.

You have been saying this for 10 years. I still don't buy it. Edsall is very conservative. He has always played not to lose. When UConn was a big underdog, he played to not lose badly by going conservative on offense. His "go to" is uber conservative offensive play calling ...bend don't break defense and strong special teams.

It produced moderate success. I am ready to see a more modern offense.

The game has changed.

 

[Bongo Fury]

Has anyone actually said it needs to be someone who once worked here? I don't think your statement is true.

The hope is that someone with Joe Moorhead's great credentials might view the job as "coming back home" and would thus have an interest in taking the job he would otherwise not be interested in. A"homecoming" may be our best shot at getting a Big Name coach.

Orlando gets brought up because he seems to be the guy Orlovsky is pushing and he does have a good resume having risen to the top of college ranks as a DC. I think it's safe to say Orlovsky has probably been in contact with him and he knows Orlando wants the job.

DO pushed for RE as well.Maybe he is enthusiastic and wants to return? Likely has many connections around the country and lived here for a while. At least he would have more respect for UConn than BD

 

[Hoophound]

DO pushed for RE as well.Maybe he is enthusiastic and wants to return? Likely has many connections around the country and lived here for a while. At least he would have more respect for UConn than BD

I’m not really a DO fan. He’s been a little outspoken on some different things over the last several years, and I generally don’t agree with him. He’s also too much of an Edsall loyalist. We need to stop dreaming about the heyday of winning games we should win and a few we shouldn’t and strive for something different. The goal should be to win every game, entertain the fans, engage the media and fill seats. Edsall’s philosophy needs to be put to bed for good. I fear Dan would emulate many parts of it.

 

[HomeKing93]

I agree with the majority here on this question. Can we at least try to get a head coach with a recent track record of running great offenses, even in the FCS, to see if that works?

 

[J187Money]

No idea - I mostly only watch the teams that I have connection to (UCONN/Wisconsin) plus big games, so I don't know the landscape of G5/FCS coaches or P5 coordinators. I have no idea (nor do I care honestly) WHO it is - just that we need to get better for all of our sakes

 

[HuskyDogArt]

Since we have a super majority in favor of Moorhead, yet most recognize the challenge in hiring him, is Todd Orlando your next choice? I sort of waver between YES and UNDECIDED, but I voted Yes in the end.

I decided to vote undecided. The reasons that why haven't he been a HC yet. I thought he was great here, but why hasn't he. Is he waiting to have UConn to open?

Another reason why I voted undecided was would he - like JM - come back.

My first choice for HC is someone who will lead UConn to be a winning program, who will put UConn in the top 30, instead of the bottom 10. A coach who will lead us against a P5 team and beat them. A coach who won't let UConn be a laughing stock, but a team who will scare traditional football powers...

 

[Bongo Fury]

Well he’s another one that has had better success after UCONN. Him and Harcymiak seem similar where one has been aHC and the other is better known and successful coordinator

 

[WestHartHusk]

It would be interesting to know if either Joe or Todd would even be interested in sorting out this mess. They are well aware of the challenges to be faced here. As to having HC experience I'm unsure.
Randy 1.0 no HC experience had success.
Bob no HC experience failed miserably.
Paul previous HC experience failed miserably.
Randy 2.0 previous HC experience failed miserably.

Your first two examples are the only relevant ones. PP was known as a failed coach…we happened to have a failing AD who hired him anyway. RE2.0 was known to be a stubborn, washed out coach and we can debate why he was hired. But neither surprised anyone when they failed.

 

[Alum86]

Well, if we go CUSA, Todd can prob be had for what, 75K? Crossover thread. LOL

 

[giddyup]

Maybe Scott Frost comes available. “Frost on the ground at UConn.” Highly unlikely, but that would be something else.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Has anyone actually said it needs to be someone who once worked here? I don't think your statement is true.

The hope is that someone with Joe Moorhead's great credentials might view the job as "coming back home" and would thus have an interest in taking the job he would otherwise not be interested in. A"homecoming" may be our best shot at getting a Big Name coach.

Orlando gets brought up because he seems to be the guy Orlovsky is pushing and he does have a good resume having risen to the top of college ranks as a DC. I think it's safe to say Orlovsky has probably been in contact with him and he knows Orlando wants the job.

Sorry it took so long to reply.

My comment was partially due to frustration from seeing quite a few people throw out names like Skip, TJ, Lashlee.

For the record I am not fully opposed to the idea of Orlando, and I would have loved it if after the Fiesta Bowl he was promoted to HC and the bulk of the remaining staff was kept in place. I still believe that team, if Moorehead ran the offense, Orlando the defense and Foley was truly in charge of the offensive line would have been a ten win team.

My concern with Orlando is that in the past he never appeared to be interested in a HC position. Perhaps he felt it was better for him taking a high level (and in all bit a couple cases, almost assuredly higher paying) DC position to a low level FBS head coaching position. I don't know why he hadn't (at least publicly) pursued a head coaching job but I don't believe we can take the risk unless there is considerable support/experience within the rest of the coaching staff.

I've gone on record in other threads stating that I would sign up for Moorehead with Orlando as DC in a heartbeat. If by some miracle we can land that tandem (and with it, Or;ando will be closer to a co-head coach in charge of defense) I firmly believe that at least three more additions to the staff will be returnees to UConn.

 

[superjohn]

No.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Voted NO for 2 reasons.
No HC experience. I feel this is critical. I need to see that they have the ability to lead a program. That really is qualification #1 for me. I want some level of comfort that the HC knows what he's doing and what is required of being a HC and being responsible for the entire program.
If UConn was to ignore my rule #1, I would prefer an OC vs a DC. I have DC as HC PTSD. I need a break and want a coach who's first thought is to score and be aggressive, not defend and play cautiously.

With the past history of Uconn hires of defense guys as it’s new head coach I would definitely vote no. We need an offensive mind as our head coach for a change and go from there. A Moorhead, a Lashlee, creative guys who can field an offense that can defeat opposing defenses, and can win the time of possession battle every game. I will say that if Moorhead is hired, It would not surprise me if he wants Todd as DC, and that will be very very expensive. We need recruiters both on the defensive side and the offensive side more than anything. UConn’s recruiting track record over the years in state on both sides of the ball has been abysmal, especially on the offensive side.

 

[Ldandy]

The only reason his name even comes up is because he coached here in the past. If he never stepped foot in Storrs people would list a hundred potential candidates before Todd Orlando‘s name would be brought up.

Is he honestly the guy that some of you believe can turn this mess around? stop making being a former coach a checkmark. You just had that for the last few years and it was a disaster. Once again UConn needs to go young, hungry G5 or FCS HC with a focus on offense. If they have a system they can implement all the better.

 

[CL82]

I'm very curious as to why so many people believe that our next hire needs to be someone who once worked here.

1) Because it is intellectually significantly easier to remember names of past coaches than to actually take the time and look at the talent that’s out there.

2) Nostalgia.

 

[rich1122]

Yes
Todd would be a great hire for us. He is a very sharp guy. Knows how to build strong defenses from what he’s got. I’m positive that our defense would drastically improve his first year here. He kows how to develop players. Is a solid recruiter. Knows our program. Think that he would put together a great staff of both coaches who can develop the talent that UConn has and coaches who can go out and get us better caliber players. Chances are he would be able to bring a couple of transfers with him from USC. He already has the support of former players. He’s been around the block since he left UCONN, my guess is that he would have some good picks for an OC. It seems like he wants to be here. Could be a coach that would stick it out long term here which could be nice. I love the idea of hiring Todd

From PA. Hotbed recruiting landscape.

 

[RSTuthill]

I'm very curious as to why so many people believe that our next hire needs to be someone who once worked here.

This part of the nation and this university have a unique culture. To hit the ground running it is necessary to understand that. It helps also to have already built a network here. It also helps to understand what recruits like or do not like about the idea of playing in this region. Likewise what player parents think. All advantages although not disqualifying if not in the in candidate's background.