Jeff Jacobs This Morning

[RSTuthill]

Well worth reading. Pasquoloni was fired with a record of 10-18. Diaco may be in a worse situation shortly. Hartford Courant - 09/29/2016 digital edition

 

[SubbaBub]

This has been a season of disappointments and near disappointments, but JJ is stirring the pot without a spoon here.

PP took a BCS conference champion full of NFL draftees and turned in 5, 5, and 0 wins including multiple FCS/Mac losses.

BD took a three win team, made it a two win team, before returning to bowl eligibility. It was a bumpy ride and we don't need to dwell on the missed opportunities but he's still on schedule. He will likely come up short of contending for a division title thus year and we'll see if we contend for a conference title next year, but he isn't PP, he just isn't.

 

[Hoophound]

I think the problem is that when you play the style we are, you are one or two players away from being a bowl team or a two win team. Where were we last year without a bunch of picks from Summmers, 1 or 2 wins? My fear is that as we go into next season with Arkeel, Ron and Bryant all playing their final season, where will we be the year after that? The fact we are all moving onto Williams as the next great hope is frightening. Shirreffs is plenty good to win 8+ games with this schedule.

I'm not sure that I can see a future beyond next season and given that these guys are now upperclassman, that is concerning. Every person with any optimism whatsoever pointed to 2017 as our breakout year. We are still securely locked up.

 

[UConnNick]

This has been a season of disappointments and near disappointments, but JJ is stirring the pot without a spoon here.

PP took a BCS conference champion full of NFL draftees and turned in 5, 5, and 0 wins including multiple FCS/Mac losses.

BD took a three win team, made it a two win team, before returning to bowl eligibility. It was a bumpy ride and we don't need to dwell on the missed opportunities but he's still on schedule. He will likely come up short of contending for a division title thus year and we'll see if we contend for a conference title next year, but he isn't PP, he just isn't.

He may not be Pasqualoni yet, but he's getting pretty dangerously close. If we finish this season with a losing record and no bowl, his buns will be burning.

 

[Nostical]

Its pretty amazing what losing does to the psyche. Had we simply beaten Syracuse, this Jacobs column would never have been written. Yes, the season is precarious and by implication so is Diaco's tenure, but is it really that dire? Despite the two losses which I've loudly railed against, I've also now rethought both games and in retrospect I am declaring them (are you ready?) Nostical wins.
Navy--Just field the punt. Throw early when backed up, not on third and long (we actually ran three times and punted leading to their winning score). Time management/final play call. Anybody doubt we could have/should have won?
Syracuse--Blitz pressure/press coverage wasn't used. Throw early when backed up, not on third and long (sound familiar?) Down close, don't wait till 4th down to sprint out the QB. Anybody doubt we could have/should have won?
Our D-Back play in both games was surprising. We were vulnerable to the long pass. We have talent back there. It's more a defensive philosophy problem re QB pressure and lack of tight coverage at the snap. Correction is highly possible. In fact it's all fixable. Even our offensive missteps.
Factoid: we held Syracuse to a season low 60 plays. Normally they run 90.
So we come into Houston as a 29 point underdog. That I profess is the worst line on the betting board. There is no way we lose by more than 10 and have a good shot at winning. Watch the game and thank me tomorrow. This team will do us all proud tonight. Then read the next Jacobs column. It will be quite different.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

My fear is that as we go into next season with Arkeel, Ron and Bryant all playing their season, where will we be the year after that? fact we are all moving onto Williams as the next great hope is frightening. Shirreffs is plenty good to win 8+ games with this schedule.

We should be able to tell very early next season (roughly as far into it as we are now, maybe a game or two sooner) if, outside of the backfield (which you referenced) the is improvement at an acceptable level. That will be the moment of truth for this regime.

As far as your being frightened that Williams is next in line, I don't think frightened is the correct response but if he isn't (in time) an improvement over Shirreffs (who I think you are giving a bit too much credit) we will be in trouble for a few more years.

 

[Adios]

A loss against Syracuse is never a win in any way.

This is right on the front page at courant.com. Nice. Light the fire under Diaco.

 

[RSTuthill]

Factoid: we held Syracuse to a season low 60 plays. Normally they run 90.

They only ran 60 because they only needed that many to win. They found scoring pretty effortless in the first and fourth quarter.

 

[Excalibur]

So we come into Houston as a 29 point underdog. That I profess is the worst line on the betting board. There is no way we lose by more than 10 and have a good shot at winning. Watch the game and thank me tomorrow. This team will do us all proud tonight. Then read the next Jacobs column. It will be quite different.

Notstic - AL

 

[Adios]

This has been a season of disappointments and near disappointments, but JJ is stirring the pot without a spoon here.

PP took a BCS conference champion full of NFL draftees and turned in 5, 5, and 0 wins including multiple FCS/Mac losses.

BD took a three win team, made it a two win team, before returning to bowl eligibility. It was a bumpy ride and we don't need to dwell on the missed opportunities but he's still on schedule. He will likely come up short of contending for a division title thus year and we'll see if we contend for a conference title next year, but he isn't PP, he just isn't.

He may not be the same personality, but how is the perception of the program better under Diaco? It's probably worse, because our coaches look like clowns with the on-field results and lame salesmanship.

We have the freaking ConFLiCT now. Scary thing is, UCF might start winning now.

 

[BlueMAB]

How many "Nostical wins" do we need to get a bowl bid? Is the "Nostical bowl" played in real life or NCAA14?

 

[Hoophound]

We should be able to tell very early next season (roughly as far into it as we are now, maybe a game or two sooner) if, outside of the backfield (which you referenced) the is improvement at an acceptable level. That will be the moment of truth for this regime.

As far as your being frightened that Williams is next in line, I don't think frightened is the correct response but if he isn't (in time) an improvement over Shirreffs (who I think you are giving a bit too much credit) we will be in trouble for a few more years.

My use of the word frightening had nothing to do with Williams. It had to do with the fact that people here are convinced that Bryant isn't good enough to win games with, so they've already moved onto hoping Williams is. A good coach and an appropriate offense wins a lot of games with Bryant as the starting quarterback.

 

[freescooter]

Its pretty amazing what losing does to the psyche. Had we simply beaten Syracuse, this Jacobs column would never have been written. Yes, the season is precarious and by implication so is Diaco's tenure, but is it really that dire? Despite the two losses which I've loudly railed against, I've also now rethought both games and in retrospect I am declaring them (are you ready?) Nostical wins.
Navy--Just field the punt. Throw early when backed up, not on third and long (we actually ran three times and punted leading to their winning score). Time management/final play call. Anybody doubt we could have/should have won?
Syracuse--Blitz pressure/press coverage wasn't used. Throw early when backed up, not on third and long (sound familiar?) Down close, don't wait till 4th down to sprint out the QB. Anybody doubt we could have/should have won?
Our D-Back play in both games was surprising. We were vulnerable to the long pass. We have talent back there. It's more a defensive philosophy problem re QB pressure and lack of tight coverage at the snap. Correction is highly possible. In fact it's all fixable. Even our offensive missteps.
Factoid: we held Syracuse to a season low 60 plays. Normally they run 90.
So we come into Houston as a 29 point underdog. That I profess is the worst line on the betting board. There is no way we lose by more than 10 and have a good shot at winning. Watch the game and thank me tomorrow. This team will do us all proud tonight. Then read the next Jacobs column. It will be quite different.

And if my aunt was a man she'd be my uncle. We had a season that set up really well but has turned out horribly for reasons that largely fall at the feet of the coach. Team comes out flat every week. Poor clock management conservative play calling in the red zone. Repeated misplays by defense and a refusal to change thing that aren't working. All of those are partly or mostly coaching problems. We keep hearing that we are a few plays from 4-0 but we are also a few plays from 0-4. And here is the real problem. Many of these problems have been repeated since Diaco's first season. I'm sure they are fixable. But I am less sure that Diaco is capable of fixing them.

 

[freescooter]

NC

How many "Nostical wins" do we need to get a bowl bid? Is the "Nostical bowl" played in real life or NCAA14?

For our offense I'm kinda hoping NCAA1957.

 

[TRest]

How many "Nostical wins" do we need to get a bowl bid? Is the "Nostical bowl" played in real life or NCAA14?

I was going to say, if Diaco piles up enough Nostical wins he will get his ass fired.

 

[kcc1442]

And if my aunt was a man she'd be my uncle. We had a season that set up really well but has turned out horribly for reasons that largely fall at the feet of the coach. Team comes out flat every week. Poor clock management conservative play calling in the red zone. Repeated misplays by defense and a refusal to change thing that aren't working. All of those are partly or mostly coaching problems. We keep hearing that we are a few plays from 4-0 but we are also a few plays from 0-4. And here is the real problem. Many of these problems have been repeated since Diaco's first season. I'm sure they are fixable. But I am less sure that Diaco is capable of fixing them.

This is starting to become my perspective unfortunately. I was very much pro-Diaco for what he has done with impacting the young kids lives, and undoubtedly teaching them real world lessons and how to be men. I also think he develops his guys well in practice settings. There are a number of guys that I feel could get legit shots at the next level. But you are right. In game situational play calling, improvisation, creativity, offensive adjustments and deception he is sorely lacking and has shown minimal if any progress in. At some point he needs to take risks, he needs to step out of his comfort zone and adapt to the guys he has. If he doesn't do this soon, his days are numbered. Definitely not after this year. But maybe after next.

 

[whaler11]

If this program can't replace Johnson, Newsome and Bryant - shut down the Rent.

 

[ktuck911]

I haven't read all the comments on this thread, stopped at comment # 2...
IMO, once we get to the top of the conference he's gone. It's just that simple... I hope I'm wrong.

IF recruiting picks up in the trenches (no disrespect to the kids we have now... it's a fact we're still trying to strike lightning in a bottle with them... barely a 3 star and absolutely no 4 or 5 star level kids... not even JUCO stars, which surprises me a little... referring to OL mostly), maybe he sticks around.

 

[CTMike]

No offense ktuck, but "once we get to the top of the conference" is a pipe dream right now. If he's auditioning for his next gig he's doing pretty poorly at it, save for a dumpster fire like Baylor that needs a fixer more than they need wins. And even then they wouldn't touch him since they are used to scoring in a game what Diaco scores in a season.

 

[Hoophound]

If this program can't replace Johnson, Newsome and Bryant - shut down the Rent.

Newsome won't be easy to replace. He's underutilized and we'd be 3-1 or 4-0 if he got to run it on short yardage in the red zone. I only say 3- 1 because Diaco would've only given him one shot at it against Navy. Against Cuse, he definitely gets in.

 

[ktuck911]

Its pretty amazing what losing does to the psyche. Had we simply beaten Syracuse, this Jacobs column would never have been written. Yes, the season is precarious and by implication so is Diaco's tenure, but is it really that dire? Despite the two losses which I've loudly railed against, I've also now rethought both games and in retrospect I am declaring them (are you ready?) Nostical wins.
Navy--Just field the punt. Throw early when backed up, not on third and long (we actually ran three times and punted leading to their winning score). Time management/final play call. Anybody doubt we could have/should have won?
Syracuse--Blitz pressure/press coverage wasn't used. Throw early when backed up, not on third and long (sound familiar?) Down close, don't wait till 4th down to sprint out the QB. Anybody doubt we could have/should have won?
Our D-Back play in both games was surprising. We were vulnerable to the long pass. We have talent back there. It's more a defensive philosophy problem re QB pressure and lack of tight coverage at the snap. Correction is highly possible. In fact it's all fixable. Even our offensive missteps.
Factoid: we held Syracuse to a season low 60 plays. Normally they run 90.
So we come into Houston as a 29 point underdog. That I profess is the worst line on the betting board. There is no way we lose by more than 10 and have a good shot at winning. Watch the game and thank me tomorrow. This team will do us all proud tonight. Then read the next Jacobs column. It will be quite different.

The style of play we play (which IMO is "playing not to lose") there's still gonna be questions. When you win football games at this level it should be decisive when it's supposed to be. When you are either tied or are up a score late in a game and you have the football in the 4th quarter you should control your destiny, not the opponent. They style of offense we run late in games (Run for 3 yards on 1st down, Run for 2 yards on 2nd down, QB draw for 1 or 2 yards on 3rd down) are sickeningly predictable and screams we don't really want to win the game. I know our kids play hard, and I'm a fan of all of them for life, but you just can't put that kind of pressure on the strength of your team late in games when they're not stout. Yes, defense is our strength, but bending the way it does throughout the entire game, in hopes of a turnover, not a sack, because it's designed with no true pass rush (say what you want we have no pass rush, not after in previous years, seeing guys like Trevardo Williams come off the edge putting crazy amounts of pressure on the QB), we're looking for the D to make a play, which, in reality, gives the opposing team control. Relying on defense like that is like playing the lottery with one eye shut and one open, hoping that number hits (NOT)... frustrating to fans....

 

[Devland]

Newsome won't be easy to replace. He's underutilized and we'd be 3-1 or 4-0 if he got to run it on short yardage in the red zone. I only say 3- 1 because Diaco would've only given him one shot at it against Navy. Against Cuse, he definitely gets in.

That's funny because my thought is that they are trying to run the ball too much. The run game is not working. I know i am going to get some flack for this comment but I think a lot of fans overrate Newsome based on his high school stats. He is not any where near the level back that Terry Cauley, Donald Brown or Jordon Todman were.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

That we've had such slow starts to all of our games (especially considering the number of players who have logged considerable playing time in the past) is disturbing. We are not built to play from behind and the overall philosophy the staff uses for offense, defense and special teams is not conducive of playing from behind.

To date this season has been very disappointing and to compound the disappointment (in my interpretation of the recent comments as to why there are no true candidates for B-12 expansion) is that our ticket to the B-12 could have been punched if we performed at last year's level on defense and a reasonably improved level from last year on offense.

 

[Husky68]

Its pretty amazing what losing does to the psyche. Had we simply beaten Syracuse, this Jacobs column would never have been written. Yes, the season is precarious and by implication so is Diaco's tenure, but is it really that dire? Despite the two losses which I've loudly railed against, I've also now rethought both games and in retrospect I am declaring them (are you ready?) Nostical wins.
Navy--Just field the punt. Throw early when backed up, not on third and long (we actually ran three times and punted leading to their winning score). Time management/final play call. Anybody doubt we could have/should have won?
Syracuse--Blitz pressure/press coverage wasn't used. Throw early when backed up, not on third and long (sound familiar?) Down close, don't wait till 4th down to sprint out the QB. Anybody doubt we could have/should have won?
Our D-Back play in both games was surprising. We were vulnerable to the long pass. We have talent back there. It's more a defensive philosophy problem re QB pressure and lack of tight coverage at the snap. Correction is highly possible. In fact it's all fixable. Even our offensive missteps.
Factoid: we held Syracuse to a season low 60 plays. Normally they run 90.
So we come into Houston as a 29 point underdog. That I profess is the worst line on the betting board. There is no way we lose by more than 10 and have a good shot at winning. Watch the game and thank me tomorrow. This team will do us all proud tonight. Then read the next Jacobs column. It will be quite different.

Boy I hope you are right but I guess I see it just about the opposite. Question I ask myself is "does HCBD see the same things that need to be fixed that I do" and unfortunately (or fortunately given I don't have much college coaching experience) don't think he does. Why would I expect him to deviate from his coaching philosophy in game 30 of this head coaching career, I don't. Why would I expect BS to see the field better, RJ all of a sudden run with power, 3 man rush get to QB, Obi and the boys become lock down ball hawking defenders, linebackers able to hold the edge against the run - don't. With Houston by far the best opponent to date, still rope a dope defense, no passing over middle or long ball, readily readable running plays and option plays mixed in with a few cute plays, no punt return pressure or return efforts - this could get real ugly. UConn plays its standard game (not plus 3 on turnovers, no defensive td's, Houston QB doesn't get hurt, etc.) lose by multi touchdowns; if Houston gets on roll early or UConn helps with turnovers/playcalling/no defensive pressure expect a big, big beat down.

 

[CL82]

Its pretty amazing what losing does to the psyche. Had we simply beaten Syracuse, this Jacobs column would never have been written. Yes, the season is precarious and by implication so is Diaco's tenure, but is it really that dire? Despite the two losses which I've loudly railed against, I've also now rethought both games and in retrospect I am declaring them (are you ready?) Nostical wins.
Navy--Just field the punt. Throw early when backed up, not on third and long (we actually ran three times and punted leading to their winning score). Time management/final play call. Anybody doubt we could have/should have won?
Syracuse--Blitz pressure/press coverage wasn't used. Throw early when backed up, not on third and long (sound familiar?) Down close, don't wait till 4th down to sprint out the QB. Anybody doubt we could have/should have won?
Our D-Back play in both games was surprising. We were vulnerable to the long pass. We have talent back there. It's more a defensive philosophy problem re QB pressure and lack of tight coverage at the snap. Correction is highly possible. In fact it's all fixable. Even our offensive missteps.
Factoid: we held Syracuse to a season low 60 plays. Normally they run 90.
So we come into Houston as a 29 point underdog. That I profess is the worst line on the betting board. There is no way we lose by more than 10 and have a good shot at winning. Watch the game and thank me tomorrow. This team will do us all proud tonight. Then read the next Jacobs column. It will be quite different.

Had we beaten Navy and 'Cuse, people would be talking about how Diaco's keep it close strategy was genius, painful to watch, but genius.