In dismissing him, UConn did Billy Crocker a favor (DiMauro @ The Day)

[huskymedic]

In dismissing him, UConn did Billy Crocker a favor

 

[formerlurker]

 

[Stainmaster]

Oh dear lord

 

[FDNY99]

DiMauro has been a HUGE Crocker backer from day 1...and rightly so with Crocker being from Waterford. Mike's problem here is that he talks out of both side of his mouth with this situation. On one point he wants people to support the program and go to games in one column, in another he criticizes RE and the team while not holding Crocker accountable in any of them. Now he writes this...extracting his pound of flesh. He will get the residents of NL and Waterford and Billy's friends in other eastern CT towns to back him and write stuff. But then again they dont buy season tickets or go to games so it doesn't really matter. This is the PERFECT situation where Mike DiMauro needs to take a personal relationship out of play and write objectively or just not write anything at all and let his boss Chuck Banning write it. At the end of the day DiMauro is a BC grad/fan who likes to see UConn's plight in the AAC as much as the next fan. He just has a pIatform to show it every now and again. I have had many go arounds on Twitter about this.

 

[Chief00]

This column had a reasonable start, Randy taking responsibility verbally but not really. Most of us know, that’s Randy.
But to use Tulsa and Tulane as representing the AAC when you have teams like UCF, Cincy, USF, Memphis and Houston. You got to be kidding me. UConn has many football problems but playing in a bad football conference is not one of them. As for too many young players, Randy’s desire to do things “the right way” the last three recruiting cycles rather than loading up on JUCOs and grad transfers was the problem. Most of these teams have 14-20 of these guys on the roster, we have a handful.

 

[HuskyDogArt]

In dismissing him, UConn did Billy Crocker a favor

What a clown!! He's a moron...

 

[junglehusky]

This column had a reasonable start, Randy taking responsibility verbally but not really. Most of us know, that’s Randy.
But to use Tulsa and Tulane as representing the AAC when you have teams like UCF, Cincy, USF, Memphis and Houston. You got to be kidding me. UConn has many football problems but playing in a bad football conference is not one of them.

We recruited better in the Big East than the AAC and so far Randy hasn't changed that. People can argue over the merits of the AAC vs the BE lineup of schools, but so far from a UConn centric perspective it's pretty clear which conference was better for football (and Men's basketball) recruiting.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

Wow. Dimauro really shat the bed on that one. The guy (Crocker) was the leader of the worst defense in the history of college football...and it's his second year. And the defense didn't improve during the year...it got worse. The guy fell to the ground in joy when UConn was able to stop an FCS team at the end of the game.

The defense was an embarrassment of epic proportions. He deserved to lose his job. This Dimauro spin is just trolling. It sucks that an in state writer about UConn football wishes ill will to the program.

 

[Chief00]

We recruited better in the Big East than the AAC and so far Randy hasn't changed that. People can argue over the merits of the AAC vs the BE lineup of schools, but so far from a UConn centric perspective it's pretty clear which conference was better for football (and Men's basketball) recruiting.

Our primary problem in football has been really poor coaching hires.

 

[FDNY99]

Wow. Dimauro really shat the bed on that one. The guy (Crocker) was the leader of the worst defense in the history of college football...and it's his second year. And the defense didn't improve during the year...it got worse. The guy fell to the ground in joy when UConn was able to stop an FCS team at the end of the game.

The defense was an embarrassment of epic proportions. He deserved to lose his job. This Dimauro spin is just trolling. It sucks that an in state writer about UConn football wishes ill will to the program.

It's not trolling at all...he knows Billy and his family/friends from living in New London and writing for the Day for as long as he has. I wouldn't be surprised if Mike covered Billy when he played football for Waterford HS. This article is the PERFECT example of a journalist not being able to write an objective story because of a personal connection to the main focus of said story.

 

[Exit 4]

Mike DiMauro - writes what he thinks are big boy columns for a quiet corner of a small state. Does he have any clue that his column is on the same level as writing in Traverse City Michigan, Odessa Texas or Fort Smith AK?

FDNY nailed it - BC homer and defender of a local boy.

 

[Chief00]

I guess the flip side would be how would one defend keeping Crocker - besides a litany of excuses that others elsewhere overcame.

 

[formerlurker]

I guess the flip side would be how would one defend keeping Crocker - besides a litany of excuses thatbothers elsewhere overcame.

You started out so strong!

 

[noeynox]

The results were terrible but worse, the players did not seem to be getting a little better. The defense needed a new voice, because whatever he was teaching was not getting through. I don't think they got all 11 guys to gang tackle or run to the ball all game once this season.

It may not have been his fault per se, but there is no way to defend him for being fired. Time will tell if DiMauro is right about this being good for Crocker. Maybe he can get a job as a position coach on an fbs squad. Chances he is a coordinator at this level anytime soon cannot be good, and that is the true tell if he got a raw deal here or not.

 

[Adios]

It's going to take time for New Englanders to realize we're up against much larger, more internally united states in the union. Spoiled as heck here.

Randy did mess up with Crocker somehow. Roster would be a starting point. If Crocker lands on his feet and produces, we'll probably end up regretting another lost coordinator.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Mike Muffintop DiMauro.

BC grad hit the big time writing for a paper in the quiet sleepy SE corner of CT.

Still wears jackets 4 sizes too big.

 

[metsfan2323]

More fuel for the fire. When Randy gets this program turned around in a couple years it will be fun to recall this article and shove it down this losers throat. I bet most threads in the Boneyard get more views than his articles. The guy who does the "Report Card" probably gets more circulation.

What he fails to mention is that the players probably played a role in the coaching change.

 

[huskymedic]

Mike Muffintop DiMauro.

BC grad hit the big time writing for a paper in the quiet sleepy SE corner of CT.

Still wears jackets 4 sizes too big.

Mike has a secret message for you...

 

[Alum86]

“Dead Program Walking”. He actually wrote that. .

 

[uconndogs]

He had a lot of upper class men on the field in 2017 and that defense was only marginally better. He had to go. It's ultimately on Edsall what happened, but the defenses under Crocker redefined what bad defenses look like.

As for that piece of ................... "journalism", if I had to write that drivel to make a paycheck I would be miserable.

 

[gioff2323]

We recruited better in the Big East than the AAC and so far Randy hasn't changed that. People can argue over the merits of the AAC vs the BE lineup of schools, but so far from a UConn centric perspective it's pretty clear which conference was better for football (and Men's basketball) recruiting.

Recruiting in a true P6conference when everything was shiny and new and we had true rivals provided a better platform for recruiting than the American? Who knew

 

[Pudge]

Ok Mike ...

If Billy is just such a Great recruiter (and certainly we can place him side by side - breath by breath to Don Brown) ... Then, he should have fit a Defense together that worked.

The problem? Our eyes test. That D was a stinker. That tackling and giving up space was putrid. And now I seriously have to question WTF Andy Talley is talking about.

 

[Exit 4]

Ok Mike ...

If Billy is just such a Great recruiter..

To that point, just who did he bring in anyway? He was invisible on the recruiting trail. I think I can attribute only Morrison to him. He seemed to fully yield NJ and Philly to Temple and others during his time.

 

[Palatine]

The defense couldn't set the edge, couldn't generate a pass rush, couldn't cover, couldn't tackle, and was the worst in the history of the NCAA.

This article pretends that Crocker had nothing to do with those things.

 

[Giscombe12]

Writing about one of his boys is right in DiMauro’s wheelhouse. I’m just surprised he didn’t find a way to slip a Buscetto/Filomena’s reference into the column.