I'm Tired of This

[EdgewoodNHV]

Well that's the impression one may get if they thought they were smarter than everyone else.

By the way, if you'd like to make the case why you think GDL is a competent OC, I'm all ears......

I'm honestly not sure how one can tell with the limited evidence we have. Did GDL make some questionable calls? Yeah, I think so. But I saw a lot of things in the last two years. I saw more dropped passes with wide open WR's than I could fathom. I saw more terrible throws than one would believe. Missed kicks, dropped punts, dropped INT's.

Maybe it's just bad luck. Maybe the cupboard really was bare and Jordan Todman seriously made up for, well, everything else. Maybe GDL isn't that good. My feeling is that it's a combination of all of these things, but most people seem particularly interested in finding a single point of blame (coaching staff) and ignoring all of the other aspects holding us back.

 

[businesslawyer]

We beat the LV at there place, holding them to 13 less points than #3 Florida did and scored the same amount of points as Florida did. We beat sPitt who actually beat the shouldn't be #1 team twice (once if no bogus 4th down penalty and 2nd if made FG in OT). This was with poor use of personnel, poor play calling and no big time offensive playmaker (that we know of, could there be an Easley lurking and unused?).
This was a 9 to 10 win team that only won 5 games. Tulane scored more points against Rutgers than Uconn did. NCST beat FSU and gave up an average of 41 points in its 6 loses, Uconn scored the same amount against them as last place Sun Belt team South Alabama. We scored 6 points on a USF team that gave up 37 to Temple.
Coaching matters a lot, and in a league like BE where 4 and 5 star players do not go to play, it's even more important. Saban would not win the SEC with Ole Miss but he would have won the BE in his second year with this team. A competent coach would have won no less than 8 games.
Just for you "how do you know guys", I've wallpapered my walls with more "correct knowings" than I'll ever need.

This team went 3-4 in the Big East in a year when 5-2 shared the crown. We would have been 4-3 even with this staff but for a totally miraculous loss to Temple based on a meltdown from our kicker and our defense celebrating with the clock running during an opponent's two minute drill. Would an outstanding coach -- such as a Saban -- not have gotten us Temple plus one more? I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't have.

 

[ctchamps]

I'm not a fan of former players speaking out like this......but this is pretty damning.

I'd wait a year before saying this.

 

[Marty Jackson]

What I think the Silver's of the world are missing is that this team just didn't have a bad offense...they had an atrocious offense. We aren't saying that UConn should be Oregon...but when you score 10 pts on NC St....14 on Temple (both at home)...10 against Cuse....6 vs USF..24 vs Buffalo...you have an offensive problem.

I'll go one step further... Those points you listed, almost all were in the first half.
An effective coach could essentially double our offensive production.

 

[Bill Sussman]

I'd wait a year before saying this.

To give Michael Smith some credit he came back and said that he had nothing but respect for Coach D and wished him the best.

 

[sportsart]

I'm honestly not sure how one can tell with the limited evidence we have. Did GDL make some questionable calls? Yeah, I think so. But I saw a lot of things in the last two years. I saw more dropped passes with wide open WR's than I could fathom. I saw more terrible throws than one would believe. Missed kicks, dropped punts, dropped INT's.

Maybe it's just bad luck. Maybe the cupboard really was bare and Jordan Todman seriously made up for, well, everything else. Maybe GDL isn't that good. My feeling is that it's a combination of all of these things, but most people seem particularly interested in finding a single point of blame (coaching staff) and ignoring all of the other aspects holding us back.

Limited evidence? You're kidding right? Dropped passes with wide open WR's? Davis and Griffin caught everything thrown their way. Unfortunately GDL didn't realize this and when he did Whitmer threw more than one bad passes to Griffin.

While there were drops I did see Phillips improve as the season went on. Nick had his share of drops as did Smith but it was not of epidemic proportions.

The wildcat was idiotic yet he kept trying. He tried to implement a pro blocking scheme that some NFL teams struggle with.

He was not creative by any means. He was unable to adapt at halftime, hence the lack of second half scoring. Throw in a trick play with a QB who just got his bell rung as well a concussion a week earlier, and what you have is a horrible college OC and OL coach.

Really not debatable but please continue.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

This team went 3-4 in the Big East in a year when 5-2 shared the crown. We would have been 4-3 even with this staff but for a totally miraculous loss to Temple based on a meltdown from our kicker and our defense celebrating with the clock running during an opponent's two minute drill. Would an outstanding coach -- such as a Saban -- not have gotten us Temple plus one more? I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't have.

But we don't have Saban. And there a whole lot of coaches between Pasqualoni and Saban. So the question is, is there a coach significantly better than Pasqualoni who would come here? Talking about Nick Saban does not convince me there is, only that there are, perhaps, unreasonable expectations about the kind of coaches who would come to UConn.

 

[Husky25]

Remember these guys get paid to write so it must have been the lack of talent. John's a good guy but he must be drinking the kool aid as well.

The wildcat alone is enough proof GDL was a poor OC.

He didn't run a Wildcat.

 

[Marty Jackson]

He didn't run a Wildcat.

did muschamp run a wildcat last night?

 

[sportsart]

He didn't run a Wildcat.

Not sure what your getting at.

 

[UCstinga]

This team went 3-4 in the Big East in a year when 5-2 shared the crown. We would have been 4-3 even with this staff but for a totally miraculous loss to Temple based on a meltdown from our kicker and our defense celebrating with the clock running during an opponent's two minute drill. Would an outstanding coach -- such as a Saban -- not have gotten us Temple plus one more? I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't have.

We went 2-5. Try as you may to block it out, but we did, in fact, lose to South Florida as well.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

Limited evidence? You're kidding right? Dropped passes with wide open WR's? Davis and Griffin caught everything thrown their way. Unfortunately GDL didn't realize this and when he did Whitmer threw more than one bad passes to Griffin.

While there were drops I did see Phillips improve as the season went on. Nick had his share of drops as did Smith but it was not of epidemic proportions.

The wildcat was idiotic yet he kept trying. He tried to implement a pro blocking scheme that some NFL teams struggle with.

He was not creative by any means. He was unable to adapt at halftime, hence the lack of second half scoring. Throw in a trick play with a QB who just got his bell rung as well a concussion a week earlier, and what you have is a horrible college OC and OL coach.

Really not debatable but please continue.

Geremy Davis and Ryan Griffin didn't drop any passes? Were you and I watching the same team?

 

[Husky25]

Don Brown personified this -- he was tough, but the players loved him.

"I'm nice, and I'm tough. I'll give you an idea what I mean. My two boys, I put one through college and the other I put through a wall." - Lou, Back to School

 

[businesslawyer]

We went 2-5. Try as you may to block it out, but we did, in fact, lose to South Florida as well.

You are correct. That is my fault.

Never mind.

 

[Husky25]

Looking at the passing game, the 2012 team passed for more yards than any UCONN team since Dan O except 1.

Passing Yards:
2005 - 1644
2006 - 1692
2007 - 2415
2008 - 1816
2009 - 2815
2010 - 1964
2011 - 2336
2012 -2765

But the amount of INT's and fumbles from the QB position basically outweighed the good.

This post doesn't say anything without context.

When were those pass plays called? What was score? How far down were the Huskies? What down? This basically served to increase your post total...

 

[sportsart]

Geremy Davis and Ryan Griffin didn't drop any passes? Were you and I watching the same team?

Please don't try and squeeze in drop "any" passes. If you did not notice that Ryan and Geremy made great catches all year long you are not being honest.

There is not a player alive that has not dropped a pass. I'm pretty sure pro players drop passes.

Davis and Griffin made some great catches this year and caught almost everything that came their way. Is that better?

With all that I posted and you were only able to comment on the dropped passes says a lot. Just not sure how anyone can defend GDL. He has done nothing to improve this team. Nada, zilch, nothing.

 

[ZooCougar]

You are correct. That is my fault.

Never mind.

For some reason I though 3-4 as well. I keep forgetting that somehow we did actually lose to Temple. Silly me.

We basically lost to two MAC teams this season.

 

[ZooCougar]

This post doesn't say anything without context.

When were those pass plays called? What was score? How far down were the Huskies? What down? This basically served to increase your post total...

Or. Lets include the total offense rank, and the total scoring rank. And them lets stack the rushing yards next to it as well.

Our passing yards increased by a few hundred, but our rushing yards decreased even more. It was a net loss offensively.

 

[Husky25]

did muschamp run a wildcat last night?

I didn't watch the game. Did a QB take the snaps? If so then no.

 

[Husky25]

Not sure what your getting at.

By definition, UConn does not run the Wildcat formation. They call designed QB rushing plays run by the Backup QB. A Wildcat includes a direct snap to a non-QB player. It also should incorporate some threat to pass but I don't think that is a requirement.

The Wildcat is suppose to take the defense by surprise. How surprised are opposing defensive coordinators or their players when the PA guy announces the next play to everyone west of Kahoots, by virtue of substitution?

The only Wildcat play I recall from the 2012 season was the one that ended Whitmer's season.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Looking at the passing game, the 2012 team passed for more yards than any UCONN team since Dan O except 1.

Passing Yards:
2005 - 1644
2006 - 1692
2007 - 2415
2008 - 1816
2009 - 2815
2010 - 1964
2011 - 2336
2012 -2765

But the amount of INT's and fumbles from the QB position basically outweighed the good.

Which year did GDL have us ranked in double digits in total offense? I'm fairly amazed that anyone is even attempting to defend his job performance here. Not like he has a track record to fall back on.

A position coach in the NFL actually suits him. But as a college OC he was in way over his head. Just not a good fit.

 

[sportsart]

By definition, UConn does not run the Wildcat formation. They call designed QB rushing plays run by the Backup QB. A Wildcat includes a direct snap to a non-QB player. It also should incorporate some threat to pass but I don't think that is a requirement.

The Wildcat is suppose to take the defense by surprise. How surprised are opposing defensive coordinators or their players when the PA guy announces the next play to everyone west of Kahoots, by virtue of substitution?

The only Wildcat play I recall from the 2012 season was the one that ended Whitmer's season.

Um...ok... LOL

 

[ZooCougar]

Who cares what the heck that gimmick set was? Whatever it was, it only amounted to anything once every ten times it was called.

How stupidly was it implemented? GDL used to run it after TV timeouts, the whole point behind the use of it was to catch the defense off guard, be he basically telegraphed the whole thing to the other sideline.

We ran it routinely after big gains. It was so easy to pattern you could pretty much predict when he was going to call it. If amateur fans could do that, then imagine what a pro could do watching tape and by literally backwards engineering our playbook.

 

[ruskin]

Looking at the passing game, the 2012 team passed for more yards than any UCONN team since Dan O except 1.

Passing Yards:
2005 - 1644
2006 - 1692
2007 - 2415
2008 - 1816
2009 - 2815
2010 - 1964
2011 - 2336
2012 -2765

But the amount of INT's and fumbles from the QB position basically outweighed the good.

Yeah, and the fact we had no running game, something we were actually good at from 2007-10. Brilliant move to demote the guy who produced 6 All-BE linemen. You can keep throwing Chandler (and Scott) under the bus all you want. It was the coaching.

 

[BlueDogs]

Nonononono. Don't you see it's all Pasqualoni's fault? Sure, our kicker managed to miss every kick he attempted against Temple, but that's clearly Pasqualoni's fault. All those dropped passes? Those terrible decisions to throw the ball into coverage? The inability to block? All GDL/Pasqualoni's fault.

The truth is nuanced and this is the Internet. We've got no time for nuance, sir. Blame first, ask questions later.

When you have undisputedly one of least productive offenses in college football, either the players are horrid or the coaching and schemes are horrid. Based on the fact we had a previously productive back, an NFL caliber tight end, an average QB, some WR hands, and an Oline that performed significantly better the prior year, all roads lead in one primary direction. This isn't a few bad breaks. This is malpractice given we remained in numerous games that were winnable with only an average O performance.