Jim Mora’s new staff coming together…

[Pudge]

David Benedict Approved ...

Cultural. He loves NE Connecticut. The kids love him. Jim Mora - obviously - is up to speed on the modern Defense. It isn't Billy Crocker hair on fire. Hilliard and Diabate do not need hand holding at their position coaching

 

[UConnJim]

Maybe we will find out the backstory at a later time.

That said, if Mora was thinking about hiring Spanos recently, it probably would have been complicated negotiation as Spanos had a contract until March 26, 2022 (his original contract went through Jan.14, 2023, but with the advanced notice, it was able to be changed to 3/26/22).

 

[rollskies]

The players seemed psyched about it, so i’m all for it. Good guy happy to have him back.

 

[Buffett10]

spanos took over with quite literally the worst college defense of all time and took them to somewhere thats not an embarrassment. Obviously there is room for improvement on the defense but you got to remember where he started. He and Mora can get this thing back on track defensively.

There’s room for improvement? There massive amount of room for improvement because his defense is trash. This is a failure on Mora’s part

 

[jostar1]

The job posting for Quality Control/Football Analyst (Specialist 1A) was extended until December 16.

JOB SUMMARY

The University of Connecticut is accepting applications for three full-time Quality Control/Football Research & Special Projects positions (Offense, Defense, and Special Teams).

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Assist the football staff with all duties for practice and game plan preparation; assist with breakdowns of opponents; assist with video cutups; assist with the distribution of game plans; provide statistical breakdowns for coaching staff; assist in the coordination of the walk-on program/on-campus recruiting in conjunction with the Recruiting Coordinator; maintain compliance with NCAA, institutional and departmental policies and procedures; and other duties and tasks as assigned by the Head Football Coach.

 

[Hogoff]

Maybe we will find out the backstory at a later time.

That said, if Mora was thinking about hiring Spanos recently, it probably would have been complicated negotiation as Spanos had a contract until March 26, 2022 (his original contract went through Jan.14, 2023, but with the advanced notice, it was able to be changed to 3/26/22).

Makes sense and could be the reasons negotiations took longer than expected.

 

[Hoophound]

Contract stuff may have been the issue. Didn’t understand how Mora swept in behind one of his own guys and snagged the job. Seemed kind of odd. This would make more sense.

 

[blue93]

Clearly he wasn’t the first choice for the job, but he has a good track record and the offense (or lack thereof) has been killing the defense during his time here.

He’ll have a much better staff working under him this time around and the players seem to like him, so I’m good with it.

 

[Bongo Fury]

Need to improve offense. They lacked a running game except when Tyler Phommachanh was playing.

 

[Blades]

Clearly he wasn’t the first choice for the job, but he has a good track record and the offense (or lack thereof) has been killing the defense during his time here.

He’ll have a much better staff working under him this time around and the players seem to like him, so I’m good with it.

Or as his pops put it " after the (Clemson) game back in Palm Desert and had some unvarnished thoughts."
“I watched the first half,” said Jim E. Mora. “Here’s my impression. One, I think the defense was respectable. Respectable. I thought the offense was bad. Real bad. "

 

[blue93]

Or as his pops put it " after the (Clemson) game back in Palm Desert and had some unvarnished thoughts."
“I watched the first half,” Jim E. Mora. “Here’s my impression. One, I think the defense was respectable. Respectable. I thought the offense was bad. Real bad. "

129th out of 130 FBS teams in average time of possession this year. Obviously the defense still has a lot of room for improvement, but that’s really difficult to overcome.

 

[Forte]

129th out of 130 FBS teams in average time of possession this year. Obviously the defense still has a lot of room for improvement, but that’s really difficult to overcome.

The offense this year absolutely killed the defense. At times it felt like with field possession or turnovers they were giving up as many points as the defense. That said the defense still gave up way too many third down conversions and big plays with too many players STILL out of position on many. Blitzing was almost not non existent. Improvement was obvious .... hard to get pumped about this move..... but like every year ... i guess let's see what happens.

 

[Hogoff]

129th out of 130 FBS teams in average time of possession this year. Obviously the defense still has a lot of room for improvement, but that’s really difficult to overcome.

The defense looked a lot more competent this year especially in the first half of games.

 

[UConnJim]

Unfortunately, the DC role was handed to Jarren Horton after Edsall was fired so we really didn't see Spanos defense this year. Horton had no experience as a DC and he had been a DB coach. It was not his fault that he was young an inexperienced. Spanos was handed a hot potato and he could not become interim coach and run the defense at the same time so we really don't know what he could have done.

Here are the total defense stats for the last 3 seasons:

2018 (Crocker): #130 617.4 yards per game
2019 (Spanos): #116 466.8 yards per game
2021 (Spanos/Horton): #115 451.8 yards per game

 

[hardcorehusky]

Maybe we will find out the backstory at a later time.

That said, if Mora was thinking about hiring Spanos recently, it probably would have been complicated negotiation as Spanos had a contract until March 26, 2022 (his original contract went through Jan.14, 2023, but with the advanced notice, it was able to be changed to 3/26/22).

I think it was a combination of this and the fact that Spanos had to decide if he wanted to come back after all he went through. 3 weeks in the scheme of things is not that long to figure this all out. I am glad he is back. Just think what improvements can be made with better position coaches and a man who was weaned on Defense.

 

[Storrs South]

Unfortunately, the DC role was handed to Jarren Horton after Edsall was fired so we really didn't see Spanos defense this year. Horton had no experience as a DC and he had been a DB coach. It was not his fault that he was young an inexperienced. Spanos was handed a hot potato and he could not become interim coach and run the defense at the same time so we really don't know what he could have done.

Here are the total defense stats for the last 3 seasons:

2018 (Crocker): #130 617.4 yards per game
2019 (Spanos): #116 466.8 yards per game
2021 (Spanos/Horton): #115 451.8 yards per game

It's also really hard to benchmark Spanos coming off 2018 that had the worst defense in the history of college football. Like OK sure the ranking is better, but the situation you were coming into was so horrendous that any basic competency results in an improvement, but said improvement still results in a bad defense. All of this in addition to a completely inept offense, so even after a couple years here is still a bit of a unknown.

I really don't know what to make of the move. I'm glad the players like him, the continuity on that side of the ball should help, but still unclear if he can turn water into wine at the G5 level.

 

[noeynox]

I'm Happy with this move... brings stability to what we already have... We need that... Give me a guy who wants to be here and the players love him anyways... He's had history coaching under JM.. It's all good.... Glass half full mindset... Let's GO Huskies!!!! Recruits need to see staff stability... He brings this...

Best i can come up with is, let's see what he comes up without Randy peering over his shoulder. I don't think he could have revamped the whole defense after Randy left, and i thought they tackled the best after the double bye against Clemson.

 

[Huskey282]

I dont hate it. Our defense was simply on the field to much and was not discipline at all due to youth. A better offense makes a better defense, duh. That being said a new voice would have been better. On the bright side the players respond to him well.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Across all the coaching staff, this "hire" is the one with a good bit of upside but honestly it has the most downside by far... Terrible defense was played under his watch. You can talk all you want about this and that as being the reasons why and or that he is a nice and likeable guy but the fact is that if half way through next season we're still allowing 35-40 points a game it's going to get ugly within the fanbase (i.e. eye rolls, frustration, I told you so's, etc leading to sheer madness).

If a defense is without confidence, bravado, and aggression then it's destined to be a failure. So, if the players start to doubt internally, then the whole defense unravels like we've seen.

Risky hire for sure. My vote: pick someone else. But, I'll give Mora this one because at this point we've put our faith in him to make these decisions (and obviously AD David Benedict was hugely involved in this decision as well). I hope I'm wrong.

 

[FillTheRent]

I am not thrilled by the rehiring of Coach Spanos. I hope Coach Spanos can turn our defense around quickly. Our defenses have been bad, and in some cases record-setting bad, the past couple years. A defense in the #100-130 range of FBS schools is not going to cut it. If you are objectively looking at a candidate for a defensive coordinator position at an FBS school, how can you choose UCONN's defensive coordinator from the past couple years? It's nice the players "like" him, but I remember Diaco's Notre Dame players saying they really liked him, too. I hope I'm wrong about this rehiring, and Coach Spanos quickly turns our defense into a competitive unit.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Thought it was announced no one from the previous staff was to be retained. Option x⁹

 

[Pudge]

The positional strengths in these first few weeks are Nick Charlton as the Head on that New Offense. Someone with cred ... someone acknowledged to be on the climb in the profession. We can see him take off. Then: Gordie Sammis. We are best when we have a solid OLine that is developing. Good size and simple. Get the push and give us a chance to make plays.

The wildcard - I think - is Diabate. One solid fresh energetic voice lighting up playmakers Jackson Mitchell, Ian Swenson and more. Mora. Spanos ain't Spanos ... if he has a guy on the sidelines who understands D as well.

 

[History Geek]

Thought it was announced no one from the previous staff was to be retained. Option x⁹

It was

 

[CL82]

I think the fact the players really seem to love him is big

You think if that was a motivating factor, though, it would’ve been announced sooner. You also would think that they wouldn’t have announced that he wasn’t coming back.

 

[Buffett10]

Unfortunately, the DC role was handed to Jarren Horton after Edsall was fired so we really didn't see Spanos defense this year. Horton had no experience as a DC and he had been a DB coach. It was not his fault that he was young an inexperienced. Spanos was handed a hot potato and he could not become interim coach and run the defense at the same time so we really don't know what he could have done.

Here are the total defense stats for the last 3 seasons:

2018 (Crocker): #130 617.4 yards per game
2019 (Spanos): #116 466.8 yards per game
2021 (Spanos/Horton): #115 451.8 yards per game

So it took 2 yrs to go from 116 to 115? That’s hell of improvement for that defense. And if Spanos who had aspirations of getting that interim tag off of his title and he let a coach with zero experience calling plays just goes to show how incompetent he is.