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- Mar 30, 2012
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Taking a break from the negativity and hand-wringing surrounding the program and its future home (pulling a HFD rain dance, praying for the B1G) to look towards what this program can do to assert itself as worthy of moving forward from the Big East and join our brother programs Pitt, Syracuse, Rutgers, West Virginia, Louisville and join a new conference. The answer is solving your problems by winning (I forget whose handle I am lifting this from, so I want to give them credit, because the message is absolutely on point).
Watching the news of the program from the last few weeks, it appears that as much as we love to rip Warde and Susan that at the very least they understand that the program must move forward. Hiring T.J. Weist over from Cincy is a huge coup (I love his credentials). This is step one in positioning this program for the future. All of the Huskies major problems last year really stemmed from two things. The most critical of which, was an inability to call effective plays and adjust the game plan when things were going wrong. With a new OC in charge, this frustration will change, and Uconn will make halftime adjustments when needed. Overlooked, though mentioned frequently on this board and in the media, was the poor performance of the offensive line.
The debate raged on the Boneyard as to whether Chandler is a good QB, and why McCombs suddenly lost his productivity in the offense. Fundamentally, the problems stemmed from the offensive line. Play after play, they were beaten and overpowered at the point of attack. This prevented them from opening holes for McCombs to run through, and prevented Chandler from having the time to make good decisions and deliver the ball. A quarterback who runs for their lives for four quarters is going to look bad regularly when he cannot go through the progressions and find the open man. He settled for short check-downs and passes to the TE rather than take more shots down the field. With the additions to the OL and inserting DeLeone as the line coach (I think he will do a good job in this role), the play of the offensive line will pick up and improve this upcoming season.
The program seems to be placing a higher premium in facilitating in-game communication between the position groups. That this is necessary is unacceptable, but making a change to fix the problem is nonetheless better than nothing, and a sign that the Huskies are moving in a better direction.
As painful as last season was for all of us to behold, let’s try and drag out and highlight some of the positives that we did see. First and foremost, Chandler is the best QB to wear a Connecticut uniform since Orlovsky. On this point, there is no debate. It did not always look good at times, far too many turnovers at bad times, but trailing late in games, with a porous offensive line; it just is inevitable that these mistakes will occur. I loved what I saw from him overall. I think he has a good arm, pretty accurate throwing the football, and most importantly, I like his demeanor. He did not get frustrated with himself, and still had the confidence to try and make plays even though he made errors earlier in the game. He appears to be a good leader of the team, and quite frankly, he handled the poor offensive play-calling well. Taking him out, throwing in Wildcat plays which never seemed to work, were not conducive to his gaining any forward momentum, and if I were the QB, I would not be happy with it. However, we did not hear a peep or hint of a complaint about the situation from Chandler. I like this kid, and his room to grow.
Lyle McCombs showed the flashes of star player as a freshman. He did not lose this ability, and I expect a bounce back season from him, with an improved line. The line play can only improve from here, considering how poor it was last year. A stronger offensive line, an OC who likes to throw the ball, superior receivers than we have ever had at Uconn prior to this season, and the talented players we have at the critical skill positions suggest a better offense is coming to Uconn. It is only a matter of time.
With a number of returning starters on defense, one of the best in the conference, I do not think this is a problem area for the Huskies. I will miss Don Brown, but I think with the talent there, the performance will not slip too far from the prior year. Linebackers seem to step up year after year, and while we will miss Yawin, Sio, and Blidi-Wreh Wilson, this unit is poised to continue Uconn’s tradition of stout, fundamental defense.
In the interest of time (no one wants to read an essay), I am going to conclude by highlighting one facet of running a college program which is without a doubt superior to when Edsall was coaching: Recruiting. I am a person who loved HCRE’s ability to take vastly underrated recruits and mold them into successful college players. However, his teams never seemed to have the skill, speed, and talent to seriously contend for greatness. To this day, few people have done more with less than HCRE. To get to the next level however, you flat out need talent. There is no getting around it. Bear in mind that between 2009-2011 (according to rivals.com), Uconn brought in one 4* recruit (Dwanye Difton), and twenty-one 3* players. In the two years that PP has been in charge, UConn has nineteen 3* players, with several more still possible to make decisions and sign LOI’s for Uconn. In less than two full recruiting classes, PP has brought in more talent than HCRE did in his final 3 seasons. I am going to defer to HFD, and hope that he can further break down some of the kids that we have, and who are still out there, because he is far my intellectual superior in this field, and will have better info.
Look at the changes that are going on right before our eyes. This team brought in a successful OC with a dynamic offensive philosophy, is upgrading its talent pound for pound, and position by position, and gets to show that we belong against the backdrop of low expectations, and negativity. Nothing turns around a fan base and perception than success when the odds are long. I am excited for this upcoming year, and it is up to us to support them, and show the world we belong. Jim Calhoun took the “us against the world” mentality to build its men’s basketball program, and our place in college basketball is undeniable because of it. We have done it before, and we can do it again. This is Uconn’s time, and the light at the end of the tunnel is not as dim as we fear.
Watching the news of the program from the last few weeks, it appears that as much as we love to rip Warde and Susan that at the very least they understand that the program must move forward. Hiring T.J. Weist over from Cincy is a huge coup (I love his credentials). This is step one in positioning this program for the future. All of the Huskies major problems last year really stemmed from two things. The most critical of which, was an inability to call effective plays and adjust the game plan when things were going wrong. With a new OC in charge, this frustration will change, and Uconn will make halftime adjustments when needed. Overlooked, though mentioned frequently on this board and in the media, was the poor performance of the offensive line.
The debate raged on the Boneyard as to whether Chandler is a good QB, and why McCombs suddenly lost his productivity in the offense. Fundamentally, the problems stemmed from the offensive line. Play after play, they were beaten and overpowered at the point of attack. This prevented them from opening holes for McCombs to run through, and prevented Chandler from having the time to make good decisions and deliver the ball. A quarterback who runs for their lives for four quarters is going to look bad regularly when he cannot go through the progressions and find the open man. He settled for short check-downs and passes to the TE rather than take more shots down the field. With the additions to the OL and inserting DeLeone as the line coach (I think he will do a good job in this role), the play of the offensive line will pick up and improve this upcoming season.
The program seems to be placing a higher premium in facilitating in-game communication between the position groups. That this is necessary is unacceptable, but making a change to fix the problem is nonetheless better than nothing, and a sign that the Huskies are moving in a better direction.
As painful as last season was for all of us to behold, let’s try and drag out and highlight some of the positives that we did see. First and foremost, Chandler is the best QB to wear a Connecticut uniform since Orlovsky. On this point, there is no debate. It did not always look good at times, far too many turnovers at bad times, but trailing late in games, with a porous offensive line; it just is inevitable that these mistakes will occur. I loved what I saw from him overall. I think he has a good arm, pretty accurate throwing the football, and most importantly, I like his demeanor. He did not get frustrated with himself, and still had the confidence to try and make plays even though he made errors earlier in the game. He appears to be a good leader of the team, and quite frankly, he handled the poor offensive play-calling well. Taking him out, throwing in Wildcat plays which never seemed to work, were not conducive to his gaining any forward momentum, and if I were the QB, I would not be happy with it. However, we did not hear a peep or hint of a complaint about the situation from Chandler. I like this kid, and his room to grow.
Lyle McCombs showed the flashes of star player as a freshman. He did not lose this ability, and I expect a bounce back season from him, with an improved line. The line play can only improve from here, considering how poor it was last year. A stronger offensive line, an OC who likes to throw the ball, superior receivers than we have ever had at Uconn prior to this season, and the talented players we have at the critical skill positions suggest a better offense is coming to Uconn. It is only a matter of time.
With a number of returning starters on defense, one of the best in the conference, I do not think this is a problem area for the Huskies. I will miss Don Brown, but I think with the talent there, the performance will not slip too far from the prior year. Linebackers seem to step up year after year, and while we will miss Yawin, Sio, and Blidi-Wreh Wilson, this unit is poised to continue Uconn’s tradition of stout, fundamental defense.
In the interest of time (no one wants to read an essay), I am going to conclude by highlighting one facet of running a college program which is without a doubt superior to when Edsall was coaching: Recruiting. I am a person who loved HCRE’s ability to take vastly underrated recruits and mold them into successful college players. However, his teams never seemed to have the skill, speed, and talent to seriously contend for greatness. To this day, few people have done more with less than HCRE. To get to the next level however, you flat out need talent. There is no getting around it. Bear in mind that between 2009-2011 (according to rivals.com), Uconn brought in one 4* recruit (Dwanye Difton), and twenty-one 3* players. In the two years that PP has been in charge, UConn has nineteen 3* players, with several more still possible to make decisions and sign LOI’s for Uconn. In less than two full recruiting classes, PP has brought in more talent than HCRE did in his final 3 seasons. I am going to defer to HFD, and hope that he can further break down some of the kids that we have, and who are still out there, because he is far my intellectual superior in this field, and will have better info.
Look at the changes that are going on right before our eyes. This team brought in a successful OC with a dynamic offensive philosophy, is upgrading its talent pound for pound, and position by position, and gets to show that we belong against the backdrop of low expectations, and negativity. Nothing turns around a fan base and perception than success when the odds are long. I am excited for this upcoming year, and it is up to us to support them, and show the world we belong. Jim Calhoun took the “us against the world” mentality to build its men’s basketball program, and our place in college basketball is undeniable because of it. We have done it before, and we can do it again. This is Uconn’s time, and the light at the end of the tunnel is not as dim as we fear.
