KDuffy on WM/PP -- 'donut' hole in KD's analysis?

[ruskin]

Kevin Duffy of the CT Post analyzed Warde Manuel's stewardship so far. He broke it down by issue/sport. Overall it's fine. What follows is the football part.

It rehashes several dead horses that have been beaten to death here (Pasqualoni inherited crappy players (the line about the it was Edsall's players who went 10-14 as if PP was some kind of innocent bystander is a little much), PP is recruiting better than Edsall "ever did" (according the basement-pajama crowd that affixes stars to recruits).

All that aside, there is one huge hole in this section regarding Manuel's impact on the football program. IMO it's an obvious one. It actually speaks more to the failure of the Horde to confront/report/comment on touchy issues that might make all concerned uncomfortable than WM. Guesses are welcome.

TICKING TO THE BEAT: My logic has always been this: If you're dating someone, but you know it's not going anywhere, why keep dating? Why waste your time?
In other words, if Paul Pasqualoni isn't "the guy" -- and let's be honest, UConn football desperately needs "the guy" -- why not just cut ties right away?
It's not always so simple. First, these were Randy Edsall's recruits -- not Pasqualoni's -- that went 10-14 in two years. Actually, Pasqualoni is recruiting at a higher level than Edsall ever did.
Secondly, too much turnover is never a good thing. Want proof? Look at some BCS schools that have recently gone through three coaches in four years: Iowa State, Kansas, Boston College, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Vanderbilt and Kentucky. What do they all have in common? A serious case of mediocrity.
Hence, continuity in the coaching staff is crucial. So is $1 million, the buyout for Pasqualoni if he were fired before Jan. 1, 2013.
For all the above reasons, it made enough sense to give him another year.

 

[SubbaBub]

This year will prove who's right, if not by record (tougher schedule) then by the play on the field. (Think MBB this past year).

 

[Hoophound]

GDL/Weist?

 

[metsfan2323]

IMO Warde's best victory to date (not mentioned in article) was keeping Michigan committed to playing at the Rent, I doubt that was easy. Warde will also get a lot of credit if Weist can turn around the offense.

 

[UConnDan97]

I was just thinking to myself that we haven't had a "Pasqualoni Sucks" type of thread in hours! Thank God. I thought people around here were getting soft...

 

[uconndogs]

......Pasqualoni is recruiting at a higher level than Edsall ever did.

Really? And presumably we know this because the recruiting sites indicate this might be the case. Because we certainly don't know it from on field performance because none of P's recruits have hit the field yet. Not to mention that the recent crop of kids who just got selected in the NFL draft, so I'm going to assume that Edsall's recruiting wasn't all bad - inspite of what the recruiting sites say.

Folks put entirely too much credence in those sites......way, way too much.

 

[metsfan2323]

......Pasqualoni is recruiting at a higher level than Edsall ever did.

Really? And presumably we know this because the recruiting sites indicate this might be the case. Because we certainly don't know it from on field performance because none of P's recruits have hit the field yet. Not to mention that the recent crop of kids who just got selected in the NFL draft, so I'm going to assume that Edsall's recruiting wasn't all bad - inspite of what the recruiting sites say.

Folks put entirely too much credence in those sites......way, way too much.

I think it has more to do with the fact that we are winning more battles for recruits with multiple offers and there have been a larger quantity of recruits committing. It is also very obvious that the quality of QB recruiting (most important position on the field) has improved greatly.

 

[uconndogs]

Agree about the QB position and Whitmer, even though a transfer, was a huge get.

The rest is predicated on accuracy of what the recruiting sites report and I think it's questionable at best.

 

[Adios]

I wanted to see Kim Mulkey go nuts near the end of the loss to Louisville on youtube because she looked so cute going nuts and I came across an interesting advertisement.

 

[sportsart]

To write an article about the team going 10-14 and not mention GDL is laughable.

I hope this Duffy guy has a real job to go with his hobby of poorly written stories about UConn football.

BTW Duff.....those schools you mentioned with too many coaching changes? When were most of them anything other than mediocre.

 

[ruskin]

GDL/Weist?

Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner!

Seriously how hard can it be to write this

"As discreetly as he could, Manuel orchestrated a change at offensive coordinator, where T.J. Weist replaced longtime Pasqualoni aide George DeLeone, the subject of criticism the past two seasons who retained his role as offensive line coach.

Manuel tried to keep his fingerprints off the move, but it strains credulity that he had nothing to do with bringing in an 'outsider', especially when the job description referred to a no-huddle, uptempo offense. One of next season's questions is how Weist, 48 and a Michigan native who played at Alabama, will fit in working between and alongside two Connecticut natives in their 60s whose coaching relationship dates back to the 1970s."

Don't know what's worse - Silver flat-out saying "PP bought in T.J. Weist" or KD not acknowledging it. And that's the point of the thread Dan - how the team is covered, the Horde conveniently ignoring an inconvenient fact. Duffy ignored the fact Manuel brought in Weist.

 

[Waquoit]

To write an article about the team going 10-14 and not mention GDL is laughable.

I disagree, art. It's P's team, not GDL's.

 

[UConnDan97]

And that's the point of the thread Dan - how the team is covered, the Horde conveniently ignoring an inconvenient fact.

If you say so. I was thinking that the point of the thread was covered more appropriately with your statement of, "It rehashes several dead horses that have been beaten to death here..." That, I certainly agree with...

 

[Jimdish255]

I think it has more to do with the fact that we are winning more battles for recruits with multiple offers and there have been a larger quantity of recruits committing. It is also very obvious that the quality of QB recruiting (most important position on the field) has improved greatly.

This is going to be a tough year to win those recruiting battles unless we really pick it up on the field start winning games and looking competent .The conference issue could be a real drag.

I thought it was a good article though he's specifically chose to ignore the latest round o;:f conference expansion and the role that was either played or monitored by our athletic director. To be fair Warde's done a lot of things right or at least things that haven't yet been proven to be wrong

 

[freescooter]

This year will prove who's right, if not by record (tougher schedule) then by the play on the field. (Think MBB this past year).

I hope Duffy had kneepads...Sheesh...I'm far less enamored with Manuel than many people and not just because of Pasqualoni. In fact, I think that is probably one of the few things he hasn't screwed up and I'm inclined to agree with Duffy on the reasoning behind the decision. If you're the new AD you have 2 choices. You either replace the coach immediately, and he could have done that based on the 2010 season, or you ride it out for a couple of years. Once he decided to keep him around for last season he almost has to keep him for at least another year, maybe even 2 more.

The other thing I give him credit on is Hockey East. The opportunity came and he took it. Beyond that we'll have to see. I know I'm in the minority, but I'm not in love with the coaching decision. It has all the earmarks of a move by someone who doesn't have a clue. Pick the assistant of the top head coach and then try to claim that the assistant is the key guy in the other team's success. We've seen this movie many times. Look at the UConn basketball staff. Lots of great assistant coaches to a hall of fame head coach. Lots of washouts as head coaches...He turned down a guy who had won 2 national championships and had 12 20-win seasons. It was like turning down Jim Calhoun to hire Craig Esherick...Add the fact that he had an internal guy who had clearly demonstrated his ability and it was a head scratcher for sure.

Basketball...well I guess he gets credit for the training center...though all the planning and design was done under Hathaway and the decision to get it built was made by Susan Herbst...so he didn't screw it up which is good. On the coaching, he gets zero credit since Ollie was forced on him and Geno is Geno. he didn't lose Geno which is to his credit but if nan is to be believed, and I believe her, he came about as close as one would want without screwing it up. On Ollie, we'll see. He had a good first year. We'll see how he does going forward, although even more than most coaches, in the new Leftover league, he can go undefeated in the regular season and it will be pretty meaningless. His only evaluation will be how UConn does in the NCAA tournament.

The "rebranding" was a good idea poorly done. My 15 year old nephew could do a better job with clipart. Let's leave it at that.

Which brings us to Manuel's biggest failing. The Leftover League. Though I still think he shares, or even gets a lesser share of the blame than Susan Herbst. Neither one took the Louisville threat seriously and neither one did what they needed to do to get us into the ACC. The end result could very well be an umitigated disaster for UConn athletics as we've known them for the past 20 years. But even if the blame falls squarely on Herbst, Manuel failed to get his agenda to the top of her pile at a critical moment. A couple of people have mentioned that Manuel comes across as an angry man in person. I suspect that might be accurate because he thought he was taking a job as AD of an power program. he ended up as AD of a program that is heading to mid-majordom with a fan base that isn't going to support that very well. Very difficult place to be. Don't be shocked by crowds of 28,000 for football and 6-8000 for basketball over the next decade. Michigan, BYU, Tennessee and Boise will sell out. Tulane, not so much. On the basketball side we'll see good crowds for a few non-conference games and maybe Memphis and Temple. Houston, Tulane, SMU...look for Groupon 2-1 deals.

 

[LIUCHusky]

I hope Duffy had kneepads...Sheesh...I'm far less enamored with Manuel than many people and not just because of Pasqualoni. In fact, I think that is probably one of the few things he hasn't screwed up and I'm inclined to agree with Duffy on the reasoning behind the decision. If you're the new AD you have 2 choices. You either replace the coach immediately, and he could have done that based on the 2010 season, or you ride it out for a couple of years. Once he decided to keep him around for last season he almost has to keep him for at least another year, maybe even 2 more.

The other thing I give him credit on is Hockey East. The opportunity came and he took it. Beyond that we'll have to see. I know I'm in the minority, but I'm not in love with the coaching decision. It has all the earmarks of a move by someone who doesn't have a clue. Pick the assistant of the top head coach and then try to claim that the assistant is the key guy in the other team's success. We've seen this movie many times. Look at the UConn basketball staff. Lots of great assistant coaches to a hall of fame head coach. Lots of washouts as head coaches...He turned down a guy who had won 2 national championships and had 12 20-win seasons. It was like turning down Jim Calhoun to hire Craig Esherick...Add the fact that he had an internal guy who had clearly demonstrated his ability and it was a head scratcher for sure.

Basketball...well I guess he gets credit for the training center...though all the planning and design was done under Hathaway and the decision to get it built was made by Susan Herbst...so he didn't screw it up which is good. On the coaching, he gets zero credit since Ollie was forced on him and Geno is Geno. he didn't lose Geno which is to his credit but if nan is to be believed, and I believe her, he came about as close as one would want without screwing it up. On Ollie, we'll see. He had a good first year. We'll see how he does going forward, although even more than most coaches, in the new Leftover league, he can go undefeated in the regular season and it will be pretty meaningless. His only evaluation will be how UConn does in the NCAA tournament.

The "rebranding" was a good idea poorly done. My 15 year old nephew could do a better job with clipart. Let's leave it at that.

Which brings us to Manuel's biggest failing. The Leftover League. Though I still think he shares, or even gets a lesser share of the blame than Susan Herbst. Neither one took the Louisville threat seriously and neither one did what they needed to do to get us into the ACC. The end result could very well be an umitigated disaster for UConn athletics as we've known them for the past 20 years. But even if the blame falls squarely on Herbst, Manuel failed to get his agenda to the top of her pile at a critical moment. A couple of people have mentioned that Manuel comes across as an angry man in person. I suspect that might be accurate because he thought he was taking a job as AD of an power program. he ended up as AD of a program that is heading to mid-majordom with a fan base that isn't going to support that very well. Very difficult place to be. Don't be shocked by crowds of 28,000 for football and 6-8000 for basketball over the next decade. Michigan, BYU, Tennessee and Boise will sell out. Tulane, not so much. On the basketball side we'll see good crowds for a few non-conference games and maybe Memphis and Temple. Houston, Tulane, SMU...look for Groupon 2-1 deals.

Thank you Mr. Positive.

 

[freescooter]

Thank you Mr. Positive.

De nada. I just think from an athletics perspective, the current administration has been pretty bad. Manuel is not the biggest contributor here but he isn't helping much either. He's no Jurich that's for sure.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Warde has been outstanding thus far. Started his tenure amid a pure crap storm but somehow improved the entire program on most, if not all, fronts. We should be concerned about another program stealing him away.

 

[freescooter]

Warde has been outstanding thus far. Started his tenure amid a pure crap storm but somehow improved the entire program on most, if not all, fronts. We should be concerned about another program stealing him away.

I'll pack his bags...

 

[freescooter]

Or to put it another way, what UConn athletic team is better off today due to something Warde Manuel brought to the table than it was when he arrived? Hockey. That is it.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

Or to put it another way, what UConn athletic team is better off today due to something Warde Manuel brought to the table than it was when he arrived? Hockey. That is it.

Or to put it another way, is the Boneyard better off today due to something freescooter complained about, whether it was the administration, the coaching, or the logo?

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Or to put it another way, what UConn athletic team is better off today due to something Warde Manuel brought to the table than it was when he arrived? Hockey. That is it.

As of now, he gets an Incomplete, not a fail.

 

[freescooter]

As of now, he gets an Incomplete, not a fail.

Fair enough, though I'd say an Incomplete looking at a C/D with an F possible if a few things don't happen...

 

[freescooter]

If I were handing outmid-term grades they would be:
Football-C-
Mens Basketball-C (Can't get credit for picking Ollie. Calhoun did that. he mucked up the search process/selection beyond belief.)
Womens Basketball-B+(as long as Geno is the head coach this is a gut. You get a B by just showing up. B+ if you don't screw anything up. But you can't really get an A. I mean, what are you going to contribute?)
Facilities-B (getting the basketball center built, but didn't really contribute in any way...)
Hockey B+ (A for getting us into Hockey East. I give him a C for coaching. This is a huge wild card. Unfortunately it will take 4-5 years to know whether this is an A or an F or something in between. If it is something less than a B we could be looking at 2 decades before it gets straightened out, though.)
Conference Alignment-F+ (He gets the plus for Hockey East)

 

[huskymedic]

Hockey B+ (A for getting us into Hockey East. I give him a C for coaching. This is a huge wild card. Unfortunately it will take 4-5 years to know whether this is an A or an F or something in between. If it is something less than a B we could be looking at 2 decades before it gets straightened out, though.)

Curious - What changed in your thought process from below?

This wasn't the choice I expected, though I can't argue with it. I was pretty sure that Gwoz would land the job Be very interesting to hear what the reasoning is behind all this. Purely a guess but I would think that long term commitment and cost might have been Gwoz's problem. According to one report he was the first guy out. I thought Berard would be the choice based on his performance last season, but I suspect two thing came into play. First Warde wanted to signal that this is a completely new day. Keeping Berard, even after doing a fine job, just didn't do that. Second, I think Manuel may have decided that he needed to put his signature on something. Pasqualoni was Hathaway's guy. Ollie is Calhoun's guy. He wanted his "guy." Cavanaugh fits that.

http://the-boneyard.com/threads/mike-cavanaugh-uconn-hockey-coach.38979/#post-596692