Jacobs: OK, So Maybe Bob Diaco Isn't That Wacky After All

[jostar1]

STORRS — On a day when news broke that UConn will be among a handful of schools that will count toward the Big Ten's requirement of playing one nonconference Power Five football team per season, something Teddy Roosevelt once said sprang to mind.

Or maybe it was Casey Kasem.

"Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground," said Roosevelt, who helped save college football a century ago with reforms to reduce the brutality of the sport.

"Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars," Kasem said similarly in his signature signoff of pop music's American Top 40.

There is an art in stretching for greatness, shooting for college football's American Top 25, while building a solid base in reality. It is an art that UConn coach Bob Diaco has sometimes navigated with great nuance. And other times, at least publicly, has finger-painted like a kindergartner.

It really is this simple. If Diaco keeps building on what we've seen through three games this season, particularly in a 9-6 loss at No. 22 Missouri on Saturday, what he says will be looked upon as delightful eccentricity. If the Huskies fall apart and this season turns into some kind of repeat of last season's 2-10 finish, it won't be delightful eccentricity; it will be stone-cold cuckoo.

http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn...uconn-navy-football-0923-20150922-column.html

 

[huskymedic]

Compete/Win and they will come...

 

[Nostical]

I"f Diaco keeps building on what we've seen through three games this season, particularly in a 9-6 loss at No. 22 Missouri on Saturday, what he says will be looked upon as delightful eccentricity. If the Huskies fall apart and this season turns into some kind of repeat of last season's 2-10 finish, it won't be delightful eccentricity; it will be stone-cold cuckoo.

Somehow this comment by Jacobs sounds familiar to me:
Nostical, Jun 10, 2015
So here's the reality. If he's nuts and loses, he won't be here long. But if he wins, he won't be nuts. You'll see articles by the same schnooks who chortled at his outside-the-box maneuvers but now they'll be headlined " How Diaco Saved UConn Football" "The Little Coach Who Could" They'll talk about his unorthodox methods, how he sacrificed a season to find his way. It will be the new blueprint. And this Civil Conflict thing will be viewed as a brilliant stroke to ignite interest in an uninteresting team. His personality will have him on lots of TV. The exposure for UConn and Diaco will grow. Success somehow turns "nuts" into "savvy futurists" willing to risk the slings of criticism and derision until they become the sought after subjects of interviewers wanting to touch the king.

 

[HuskiesFan1014]

Somehow this comment by Jacobs sounds familiar to me:
Nostical, Jun 10, 2015
So here's the reality. If he's nuts and loses, he won't be here long. But if he wins, he won't be nuts. You'll see articles by the same schnooks who chortled at his outside-the-box maneuvers but now they'll be headlined " How Diaco Saved UConn Football" "The Little Coach Who Could" They'll talk about his unorthodox methods, how he sacrificed a season to find his way. It will be the new blueprint. And this Civil Conflict thing will be viewed as a brilliant stroke to ignite interest in an uninteresting team. His personality will have him on lots of TV. The exposure for UConn and Diaco will grow. Success somehow turns "nuts" into "savvy futurists" willing to risk the slings of criticism and derision until they become the sought after subjects of interviewers wanting to touch the king.

Jacobs should give a shout out to Nose Tickle along with Roosevelt and Casey Kasem. I liked Jacobs a little more this morning after reading the paper. But only a little.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

I sometimes think Jacobs get a little too much flak on this board, but articles like this drive me up a wall. His whole fence-sitting, "I kinda respect him, but I'm also gonna call him Di-wacko lol" condescension is hypocritical and frustrating. I know the whole point is that we aren't sure yet, but there's no need to repeat every Twitter insult you hear. I know it's the Courant, but you're at least pretending to be a journalist.

 

[NYUConn]

I sometimes think Jacobs get a little too much flak on this board, but articles like this drive me up a wall. His whole fence-sitting, "I kinda respect him, but I'm also gonna call him Di-wacko lol" condescension is hypocritical and frustrating. I know the whole point is that we aren't sure yet, but there's no need to repeat every Twitter insult you hear. I know it's the Courant, but you're at least pretending to be a journalist.

He's a columnist. You're literally describing a columnist and what they do for a living.

If you want stats, analysis and straight info you need the beat reporters like Paul Doyle and Des Conner.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

He's a columnist. You're literally describing a columnist and what they do for a living.

If you want stats, analysis and straight info you need the beat reporters like Paul Doyle and Des Conner.

I know what a columnist is. But you can express an opinion without being an idiot or a hypocrite about it. You don't need to use insulting nicknames about a coach to get your point across.

 

[NYUConn]

I know what a columnist is. But you can express an opinion without being an idiot or a hypocrite about it. You don't need to use insulting nicknames about a coach to get your point across.

Again, you're literally describing every columnist who has ever written.

 

[nUConn Fan]

Thought it was a very good column. Most important, the kids believe. Intensity, energy and focus...All good.

 

[History Geek]

Somehow this comment by Jacobs sounds familiar to me:
Nostical, Jun 10, 2015
So here's the reality. If he's nuts and loses, he won't be here long. But if he wins, he won't be nuts. You'll see articles by the same schnooks who chortled at his outside-the-box maneuvers but now they'll be headlined " How Diaco Saved UConn Football" "The Little Coach Who Could" They'll talk about his unorthodox methods, how he sacrificed a season to find his way. It will be the new blueprint. And this Civil Conflict thing will be viewed as a brilliant stroke to ignite interest in an uninteresting team. His personality will have him on lots of TV. The exposure for UConn and Diaco will grow. Success somehow turns "nuts" into "savvy futurists" willing to risk the slings of criticism and derision until they become the sought after subjects of interviewers wanting to touch the king.

"It will be the new blueprint."

What Coach Diaco did last year, with the approval of Warde Manuel, was very risky to be sure, and maybe may not have been allowed by a larger fanbase not willing to endure what we endured last year. Good thing we are a basketball school . But if it works, and my gut tells me it will, can you imagine a world where "pulling a Diaco" or "pulling a UConn" are positive statements?

 

[SubbaBub]

Bob may have it when it comes to coaching, but he will always have that Eric Stratton rush chairman level optimism that leads to asking the Dean's wife to check out his cucumber.

We will all just accept it as normal by then.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Mike Leach was an aloof genius in Lubbock. Now he's a clown in Pullman.

Winning matters.

 

[huskymedic]

Mike Leach was an aloof genius in Lubbock. Now he's a clown in Pullman.

Winning matters.

Yup... look @ the Mad Hatter. He makes BD/PP clock management skills look pristine!