Incoming...

[Hornet22]

The truth is probably a little of both. RE is going to have to bootstrap the program back up the ladder of desirability. Win and more will come. The trick is winning when you've got to work with subpar tools t start. RE1 seemed pretty good at coaching kids up, unlike our 2 predecessors.

Exactly. A rebuild starts one brick at a time. This is his first full recruiting class (one which he had ample to time to work). Everyone should give it a chance and not expect an AAC championship off the bat.
I just want to see more speed and see players competing til the end. I want to see athletes. Players that look like they’ve embraced the weight room. Flying to the ball. Pushing people in the trenches.

Heck The Vols were blasted in the papers over their players “softness” and oft injured status for the past couple seasons. They even fired their old strength coach before last season. Mind you Butch Jones had top recruiting classes chalk full of 4 and 5 Star guys. But guess what? they were still labeled as soft. They were consistently pushed around by lesser opponents. Umass should have beaten them.
UConn has the facilities (amongst the best), coaches that have played and coached in the NFL.
Let it marinate.

 

[successjr11]

So RE 1.0 took a nothing program into the Big East with no star players and won 2 Big East Championships but because he is in a lessor conference his no star players won't be good enough to win?

It has always been about Randy having, not only the ability to judge talent, but to coach them up.

My goodness, NFL scouts call on him all the time, for his opinion on college talent.

 

[whaler11]

No apology needed... we should have a thread pinned so we can just attach each time a new/newer poster brings it up. It’s gets tedious having to retype all the same discussion points

It's also scary we need to.

 

[ZOOCONN]

That doesn’t look like a commit... you may have jumped the gun.

nope he was right, profile says UConn commit

 

[huskymedic]

nope he was right, profile says UConn commit

It wasn’t there originally when he (JF) posted his offer (and he needs to learn how to spell University first before he can commit )...

I told UConnPhill he had first dibs when he actually announces...

 

[ZOOCONN]

It wasn’t there originally when he (JF) posted his offer (and he needs to learn how to spell University first before he can commit )...

I told UConnPhill he had first dibs when he actually announces...

yea i saw he changed it after you posted that and yea........ lol

 

[The Viking]

I think Edsall is doing things the right way and it’s going to be two more years to see the real fruits of his labor
Getting guys who want to commit to the weight room especially after his postseason binder talk.
Just get this program back to respectability and we will go from there regardless of the FBS offers

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

I think Edsall is doing things the right way and it’s going to be two more years to see the real fruits of his labor
Getting guys who want to commit to the weight room especially after his postseason binder talk.
Just get this program back to respectability and we will go from there regardless of the FBS offers

For example?:

Randy Edsall‏Verified account @RandyEdsall 16h16 hours ago
“If a coach can’t trust your effort in the weight room, the classroom and at practice, how can you be trusted to play in a game?”

 

[uconnbill]

His team was terrible with only 1 win this past season but he was part of the Miami Dolphin outreach to the area schools and he looked good from all reports. He is 6'2" safety who can play some corner as well. Again underrated but looks like an athlete who has some talent return skills.
In coach Edsall and coach Richardson, I trust in South Florida.

 

[Hornet22]

His team was terrible with only 1 win this past season but he was part of the Miami Dolphin outreach to the area schools and he looked good from all reports. He is 6'2" safety who can play some corner as well. Again underrated but looks like an athlete who has some talent return skills.
In coach Edsall and coach Richardson, I trust in South Florida.

Looks like every DB committed/signed this year are between 6-6’3”
Add weight room, coaching, speed and agility training, competition against solid receivers. This could be a scary good secondary. All of these guys look like they enjoy contact. Some are definitely further along than others but not by much. Add in the LB’s and this could turn into a very fast hard hitting defense.
Still not sure what kind of pressure we’ll get up front. At least the back end should be a bit more intimidating- eventually.
My opinion of course.

 

[Jimdish255]

Jalon's highlights are fun to watch. I think he'll thrive here. We're getting better at the back in a hurry.

 

[tduconn]

We’re probably not gonna many commits with other FBS offers. They’re not going for those guys because it will be a waste of time and resources. They are clearly working the under recruited market. There are lots of guys there.
Signing a guy with another FBS offer does what? It’s a false sense of security. You still have to come in, do well in school and get coached up. They don’t want finished products here. Clearly they want guys that they can mold.
Just be patient and trust the process. All of these players look athletic and have upside.

Signing a player with another FBS offer indicates that for even under the radar level type athletes, there is at least one other coach who thinks this type of recruit may be able to play, with proper coaching, at the FBS level.

Not all FBS recruits succeed at this level, but is more difficult for under the radar type to succeed. We've seen this for what,,,,,,,6-7 years?

 

[whaler11]

This is pretty simple. If they don’t start beating other legitimate programs for players 3-9 is going to be a permanent condition.

If you think you are going to put together some ragtag group of underdogs and win 7-8 games a year in this league it’s time to pull your head out of the sand.

 

[Exit 4]

Looks like every DB committed/signed this year are between 6-6’3”.

Does seem like their is a effort to find guys that are 6 to 6’2 for the DB positions.

 

[CTMike]

The difference between recruiting under RE1 vs RE2 is that today we are fighting for scraps from an even more picked off carcass. The under-recruited guys from RE1 have already been snapped up at this point in the RE2 recruiting cycle. Yah, he’s got an eye for talent, but I’d much rather he be making his selections from a larger talent pool with a higher overall success rate. That ain’t where we are at. The more you have to rely on finding diamonds in the rough the tougher it is to build the depth we sorely need. We don’t have any other choice but to recruit longshots and we’re supposed to talk ourselves in to it being a valid or desired strategy?

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

The difference between recruiting under RE1 vs RE2 is that today we are fighting for scraps from an even more picked off carcass. The under-recruited guys from RE1 have already been snapped up at this point in the RE2 recruiting cycle. Yah, he’s got an eye for talent, but I’d much rather he be making his selections from a larger talent pool with a higher overall success rate. That ain’t where we are at. The more you have to rely on finding diamonds in the rough the tougher it is to build the depth we sorely need. We don’t have any other choice but to recruit longshots and we’re supposed to talk ourselves in to it being a valid or desired strategy?

The biggest fallacy is that Edsall had a roster full of kids with no other FBS offers. People who bring up Lutrus and Beatty type of recruits selectively forget A) most of the roster had FBS offers and B) the kids who didn’t have any other offers more times than not didn’t contribute much (if anything) at all.

We are taking way more of these kids now than we did in Edsall’s first stint. It’s concerning.

 

[gioff23]

The biggest fallacy is that Edsall had a roster full of kids with no other FBS offers. People who bring up Lutrus and Beatty type of recruits selectively forget A) most of the roster had FBS offers and B) the kids who didn’t have any other offers more times than not didn’t contribute much (if anything) at all.

We are taking way more of these kids now than we did in Edsall’s first stint. It’s concerning.

10 years ago we were the shiny new toy playing in a P conference. This is what happens when your trajectory is down, not up.

I believe we will show improvement and that will drive interest, but this is a process. My big concern with the process is finding kids who want to play a 3-3-5, particularly up front.

 

[Exit 4]

The difference between recruiting under RE1 vs RE2 is that today we are fighting for scraps from an even more picked off carcass.

The full blast of the HUDL age is working against RE 2.0. There are far fewer undiscovered diamonds imho. Edsall will have to work 3x harder and I think he has been- but too early to conclude definitively on the results.

There are some guys that didn’t take our FCS offer that look like ballers that have frustrated me. I thought Plack Tallerico looked like an explosive LB or TE. Truly athletic. We got on him too late and he stuck with his commitment to Delaware.

Grate JR is another one, came to him late and he opted to stick with Mid Tennessee.

Landon Beebe is a very solid looking C and we could get him to even considering a visit despite having limited interest elsewhere.

Every kid is different - but frustrating to see us swing and miss on guys sticking with Lower level G5 or FBS.

The next test for this staff is going local again in 2019. Need to harvest more of the better local talent as part of the improvement plan. More locals has the benefit of boosting state wide fan interest as well. I’m not saying locals for local sake, but let’s get a couple of this CJ Holmes type players here to turn the tide.

 

[Hornet22]

The full blast of the HUDL age is working against RE 2.0. There are far fewer undiscovered diamonds imho. Edsall will have to work 3x harder and I think he has been- but too early to conclude definitively on the results.

There are some guys that didn’t take our FCS offer that look like ballers that have frustrated me. I thought Plack Tallerico looked like an explosive LB or TE. Truly athletic. We got on him too late and he stuck with his commitment to Delaware.

Grate JR is another one, came to him late and he opted to stick with Mid Tennessee.

Landon Beebe is a very solid looking C and we could get him to even considering a visit despite having limited interest elsewhere.

Every kid is different - but frustrating to see us swing and miss on guys sticking with Lower level G5 or FBS.

The next test for this staff is going local again in 2019. Need to harvest more of the better local talent as part of the improvement plan. More locals has the benefit of boosting state wide fan interest as well. I’m not saying locals for local sake, but let’s get a couple of this CJ Holmes type players here to turn the tide.

Here’s the thing. All you can do is show UConn. It’s a really good academic school and the campus is nice. The facilities are top notch. If you’re a player interested in going to the next level then the coaching staff in place definitely have the pedigree to help you get there. You’re gonna be noticed by the NFL as you play a decent conference schedule and a few nice non conference games. Not to mention NFL scouts regularly come through that place.
There’s definitely a chance for playing time. You know that RE is all about accountability and from a parent’s perspective will do what he can to help you graduate.
If you’re a recruit and you opt to go somewhere else then there’s just nothing you can do as a coaching staff or fan base.
At the end of the day you first want guys that want to be here. Then you have to try and win with these guys and hopefully generate enough buzz to get future recruits.
Why would a kid opt for MTSU over UConn? Who knows what those coaches over there sold to him.
At the end of the day sell UConn and the opportunity you can have for academic and athletic success. If that’s not good enough you gotta move on. There’s frankly no time to waste wondering why you’re not getting the well known players. Coach what you have.

 

[Excalibur]

Just like his first stint? Seems to me that’s what RE did the first time.

So in other words what you’re saying is he’s not a good judge of talent? That’s what this all boils down to. It doesn’t matter who else offers a kid. There are lots of kids who have multiple offers that don’t pan out either. The NFL is full of guys that got drafted in the way late rounds that turned out ok.
This whole offer crap is annoying. I get it. Four and Five Star guys are shiny and nice. But those aren’t the only good players out there. Period.
Most coaches aren’t blue collar enough to trust their eye and bring in a kid and develop them.
Most programs don’t even allow the signing of a no star kid because they are driven by their 247 and ESPN recruiting rankings and that type of kid will lower that number. Boosters don’t wanna hear that.

Most of us concentrating on offers don't care much about stars and rankings.

You can talk about Edsall's first stint all you want, but many if not most of our best players had other offers, even if they weren't ranked by the recruiting services, and the availability of film to evaluate has only increased since then. It's pretty simple -- if multiple coaching staffs think a kid can play, it's more likely that the kid can actually play.

 

[Palatine]

Kind of getting worried. Literally like more than half of our class didn't have a single other FBS offer...

Like Byron Jones?

 

[Excalibur]

Like Byron Jones?

Palatine is bad at math . . .

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

10 years ago we were the shiny new toy playing in a P conference. This is what happens when your trajectory is down, not up.

I believe we will show improvement and that will drive interest, but this is a process. My big concern with the process is finding kids who want to play a 3-3-5, particularly up front.

I’m not asking us to compete with multiple P5 programs for kids. I would like to be competing with other AAC schools, MAC schools, etc sprinkled in with occasional win vs a P5 school. Having a small number of these kids is fine. But when half your class is made up of kids with FCS offers don’t be surprised when we need miraculous comebacks to beat Maine and Holy Cross.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Like Byron Jones?

You forgot Lutrus and Beatty too.

 

[JMick]

You forgot Lutrus and Beatty too.

If Lutrus was playing today he'd be a 3* recruit and have all sorts of P5 offers. This state barely got recruited 10-15 years ago

 

[Hornet22]

Most of us concentrating on offers don't care much about stars and rankings.

You can talk about Edsall's first stint all you want, but many if not most of our best players had other offers, even if they weren't ranked by the recruiting services, and the availability of film to evaluate has only increased since then. It's pretty simple -- if multiple coaching staffs think a kid can play, it's more likely that the kid can actually play.

So then I guess RE doesn’t really believe these kids he’s signing can play and/or he’s just a horrible judge of talent now.
Here’s the irony in all of these statements. And be truthful with yourself. Everyone uses HUDL and we watch the same highlight tapes that every other coach sees right?
So riddle me this...When you watch the film on these guys do you believe what you see? Or do you need another coache’s opinion to validate what you’re seeing?
Maybe the sizes listed on these players isn’t real on their film. Or perhaps Maurisseau didn’t really run a 6.45 in his 55 meters. Or perhaps Gillespie didn’t really hurdle that kid while running the ball on that very athletic looking play. Or perhaps Kevin Jones doesn’t really hit hard or isn’t explosive as I tend to see on the film I watch. Or maybe Travis Jones isn’t really that big and athletic like what I saw on film and maybe Edsall is suffering from onset dementia when he said that it will be tough to handle him in the trenches. Or maybe Dan O was crazy or misleading for saying Krajewski can be special and maybe the balls I saw him throw weren’t real.
I don’t know guys. But when I turn on the film and watch these guys I see size, speed, athleticism and a commitment to the physicality of the game. Not sure what you see. But again, maybe you need to see someone else go after them in order to validate. Or perhaps when you watch them you see a bunch of slow, soft, small and awkward players?
Please share what you see.

 

[JMick]

So then I guess RE doesn’t really believe these kids he’s signing can play and/or he’s just a horrible judge of talent now.
Here’s the irony in all of these statements. And be truthful with yourself. Everyone uses HUDL and we watch the same highlight tapes that every other coach sees right?
So riddle me this...When you watch the film on these guys do you believe what you see? Or do you need another coache’s opinion to validate what you’re seeing?
Maybe the sizes listed on these players isn’t real on their film. Or perhaps Maurisseau didn’t really run a 6.45 in his 55 meters. Or perhaps Gillespie didn’t really hurdle that kid while running the ball on that very athletic looking play. Or perhaps Kevin Jones doesn’t really hit hard or isn’t explosive as I tend to see on the film I watch. Or maybe Travis Jones isn’t really that big and athletic like what I saw on film and maybe Edsall is suffering from onset dementia when he said that it will be tough to handle him in the trenches. Or maybe Dan O was crazy or misleading for saying Krajewski can be special and maybe the balls I saw him throw weren’t real.
I don’t know guys. But when I turn on the film and watch these guys I see size, speed, athleticism and a commitment to the physicality of the game. Not sure what you see. But again, maybe you need to see someone else go after them in order to validate. Or perhaps when you watch them you see a bunch of slow, soft, small and awkward players?
Please share what you see.

Coaches aren't watching the same HUDL tapes we are lol. They're pouring through entire games, not highlights

 

[Exit 4]

If Lutrus was playing today he'd be a 3* recruit and have all sorts of P5 offers. This state barely got recruited 10-15 years ago

Yes because there is a ton of HUDL tape for almost every program out there - so the world of trading highly controlled game tape passed to select coaches by high school coaches has broken down. Today Lutrus would have had a HUDL tape that attracted a ton of attention.

I just looked back at the last 5 years of 247 rankings for our players. The rankings /stars were more accurate than inaccurate. You have to go back to the class of 2013 to find gross inaccuracies - the more recent years are more accurate.

 

[Exit 4]

Coaches aren't watching the same HUDL tapes we are lol. They're pouring through entire games, not highlights

But they are watching highlights to decide if entire game tapes are worth their time. It starts with highlights.

And the point remains, tapes are readily available now in all regions unlike 10 years ago.

 

[Hornet22]

Coaches aren't watching the same HUDL tapes we are lol. They're pouring through entire games, not highlights

Yes they are. But the highlights draw them to the games.
If you haven’t gone to any of the invited Rivals camps then you don’t have a chance to get stars. No stars means no major programs are sniffing around you.
Doesn’t mean the guy can’t play.
Most of it starts with the rivals camps.