Kind of, but really not OT: Bob Diaco

[RayIsTheGOAT]

There's truly a lot to hate about college football if you are a college basketball fan (and the current state of UConn football doesn't help the cause). However, we can all agree that Bob Diaco is as important to UConn football as he is to most other sports at UConn. It's unfair to judge Diaco after only 1 year, and 1 year of cleaning up the poop that Pasqualoni left on the field.

However, between the hiring of his ND buddy Ernest Jones who stated " should be in the center of our huddle", and the spontaneous (and cringeworthy) creation of a rivalry with UCF, and the declaration that UConn will win every game this year including winning the national championship, Diaco seems out of touch.

It's fine to have enthusiasm and inspire optimism, but it's as important to be realistic at the same time, and as a wise Kevin Ollie would say, "Take the stairs and not the escalator, 'cause the escalators are for cowards".

Bottom line, UConn football is going NOWHERE anytime soon, which means UConn basketball is stuck in the American Anemic Conference, where I worry we will gradually fade into obscurity as college basketball is seemingly on the downslope while college football is on the upswing. Kevin Ollie and past national championships are the only things keeping UConn basketball afloat nationally.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Scorching take!

 

[amory]

"It's unfair to judge Diaco after one year..."

*proceeds to judge Diaco after one year*

 

[tykurez]

There's truly a lot to hate about college football if you are a college basketball fan (and the current state of UConn football doesn't help the cause). However, we can all agree that Bob Diaco is as important to UConn football as he is to most other sports at UConn. It's unfair to judge Diaco after only 1 year, and 1 year of cleaning up the poop that Pasqualoni left on the field.

However, between the hiring of his ND buddy Ernest Jones who stated " should be in the center of our huddle", and the spontaneous (and cringeworthy) creation of a rivalry with UCF, and the declaration that UConn will win every game this year including winning the national championship, Diaco seems out of touch.

It's fine to have enthusiasm and inspire optimism, but it's as important to be realistic at the same time, and as a wise Kevin Ollie would say, "Take the stairs and not the escalator, 'cause the escalators are for cowards".

Bottom line, UConn football is going NOWHERE anytime soon, which means UConn basketball is stuck in the American Anemic Conference, where I worry we will gradually fade into obscurity as college basketball is seemingly on the downslope while college football is on the upswing. Kevin Ollie and past national championships are the only things keeping UConn basketball afloat nationally.

The flip side was having an energy vampire at the helm bringing us back to 1-AA status.

When Kevin Ollie proclaimed they'd be back at Gampel in April the first year back from the postseason ban, was that outlandish? Sure it's not a fair comparison ... the football program is neck deep in a shart swamp ... but I'd rather have a guy with some energy rather than a guy trying hard to be "realistic."

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

"It's unfair to judge Diaco after one year..."

*proceeds to judge Diaco after one year*

I guess I should have clarified. It's unfair to judge UConn's horrendous record on the field after Diaco's first year, because most of the players were not his recruits. It is fair to judge the comments he has made.

 

[1999.2004.2011]

I guess I should have clarified. It's unfair to judge UConn's horrendous record on the field after Diaco's first year, because most of the players were not his recruits. It is fair to judge the comments he has made.

Reality is, do you want Diaco to say that his team will only win four games this year vs saying that they'll go undefeated? In reality it would be a miracle for this team to win six, but this is part of Diaco's MO. Diaco inherited a mess when PP was fired, both on the field and culturally. Diaco's enthusiasm and brashness is a refreshing change from PP, but more over this is his way of changing the narrative about UConn football. If you listen to Diaco's press conferences, it's pretty clear that he believes in everything he is saying.

This turnaround was going to take more than one year, so let's see what happens this season. If we have another 2-10 season where this team gets blown out repeatedly and doesn't fight, then I guess it would be time to start questioning HCBD.

 

[TasteofUConn]

Kevin Ollie and past national championships are the only things keeping UConn basketball afloat nationally.

The first will be here 20 years and the second will be here forever. Those 4 banners aren't for Helms trophies, son.

 

[Pudge]

Judge comments?

Sure ... they were inane. But, in a whole range of moves, I'd say he targeted what needed to change and did an admirable job tackling them. Balis is number one in my view. He has good coaches.

There's only one answer satisfactory: winning. If we play well, and kids develop, we can get to a different level even from the AAC state we are in.

 

[amory]

I guess I should have clarified. It's unfair to judge UConn's horrendous record on the field after Diaco's first year, because most of the players were not his recruits. It is fair to judge the comments he has made.

either Diaco is a genius or he's a lunatic. I don't think we know which it is yet.

the rivalry with UCF is, at the very least, hilarious.

 

[BoatShow]

Is the OP trying to bond people behind Diaco by creating a hatred of himself? Mission accomplished.

 

[Rico444]

He can be out of touch all he wants as long as he wins games. Nobody has to like him except his kids.

 

[SubbaBub]

Perhaps as an encore, you'd care to take on the topic of the recruitment of Ryan Gomes?

 

[amory]

Perhaps as an encore, you'd care to take on the topic of the recruitment of Ryan Gomes?

 

[Huskyfan990411]

People need to realize that all his comments are directed at motivating the players in the locker room and not to give a random poster on the boneyard the warm and fuzzies.

So does the OP expect Diaco to motivate our players in the locker room to turn this program around while at teh same time going out to the media and saying "Yea we probably wont win much this year because all these players are terrible and have no shot"

This is what coaches do....he needs to have these guys willing to run through a wall for him and if he tells them to have the upmost confidence in themselves and then tells the media something totally different he will lose the team. His only option is to be confident and support the work these kids are doing.

Next time you say dont judge Diaco by his first year please stop typing and do just that.....lets see how this team responds this season.

 

[storrsroars]

...the hiring of his ND buddy Ernest Jones who stated " should be in the center of our huddle..."

You would think Christ wouldn't need a wristband with the plays on it though...

 

[sdhusky]

There's truly a lot to hate about college football if you are a college basketball fan (and the current state of UConn football doesn't help the cause). However, we can all agree that Bob Diaco is as important to UConn football as he is to most other sports at UConn. It's unfair to judge Diaco after only 1 year, and 1 year of cleaning up the poop that Pasqualoni left on the field.

However, between the hiring of his ND buddy Ernest Jones who stated " should be in the center of our huddle", and the spontaneous (and cringeworthy) creation of a rivalry with UCF, and the declaration that UConn will win every game this year including winning the national championship, Diaco seems out of touch.

It's fine to have enthusiasm and inspire optimism, but it's as important to be realistic at the same time, and as a wise Kevin Ollie would say, "Take the stairs and not the escalator, 'cause the escalators are for cowards".

Bottom line, UConn football is going NOWHERE anytime soon, which means UConn basketball is stuck in the American Anemic Conference, where I worry we will gradually fade into obscurity as college basketball is seemingly on the downslope while college football is on the upswing. Kevin Ollie and past national championships are the only things keeping UConn basketball afloat nationally.

duchebag post

 

[epark88]

He can be out of touch all he wants as long as he wins games. Nobody has to like him except his kids.

And it's those kids, not necessarily Diaco, who have me hopeful for a turnaround. Impressive group of young men, size- and character-wise.

Them, and the S&C guy, Balis - 'he the real MVP'. If you had a chance to peep last year's roster weights vs. this year's, you'd see what I mean...

 

[MuchoDogYears]

To all the people who are scratching their heads and saying WTF? about Diaco and how he's done things since he got here...

Warde could've brought in some head coach other than Diaco who would've put together a very solid football program using the same principles, proven methods, etc that the football powers do.

And employing that proven/solid coaching background, I bet UConn could've posted a 4 or 5 win season last year, and probably a 5 or 6 win season this year. And then next year, and every year after, we likely would been a consistently competitive team who goes bowling most years.

And I'm sure that we would've all been very happy with that, the way that we were happy with where Edsall took the program.

But, this is UConn. The basketball teams have set the standard at a higher level than just being consistently competitive.

Diaco is the right coach, at the right time, for UConn. His methods aren't standard, and to win at UConn in football, they can't be. We needed someone who was going to take a different road and employ unique methods and metrics, so that someday we'll be able to beat the Alabama's of the world. You can't beat Ohio State at it's own game.

Why is Oregon so successful recently? They decided to do things differently and not follow the typical football program model. That's where Diaco is taking us...down a different path. The program is either going to succeed or fail magnificently. I'd rather have it no other way.

 

[Fishy]

However, between the hiring of his ND buddy Ernest Jones who stated " should be in the center of our huddle", and the spontaneous (and cringeworthy) creation of a rivalry with UCF, and the declaration that UConn will win every game this year including winning the national championship, Diaco seems out of touch..

Actually, you are.

You really need to know what you're talking about if you're going to make definitive statements - as it stands, you don't.

 

[intlzncster]

either Diaco is a genius or he's a lunatic. I don't think we know which it is yet.

the rivalry with UCF is, at the very least, hilarious.

Nothing wrong with either. Or hell, both! I love lunatic football coaches.

I know it's a "talking about UCONN for the wrong reasons thing", but the UCF thing was funny, and got national coverage. A big part of Diaco's job is marketing, given the position of the program.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Great thread. Spares the three clicks required to get to the FB forum where there is already endless Diaco diatribe.

 

[Kitaman]

So Scrappy can make those predictions and Diaco can't, seems unfair. Ain't nothing wrong with predicting nothing short of a NC.

Its the goal of all teams. In sports who sets realistic goals anyways? We're not talking about a corporate office here.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Why don't you move this post to the football board?
Kind of back handed dumping on a football coach on a basketball board.

To all the people who are scratching their heads and saying WTF? about Diaco and how he's done things since he got here...

Warde could've brought in some head coach other than Diaco who would've put together a very solid football program using the same principles, proven methods, etc that the football powers do.

And employing that proven/solid coaching background, I bet UConn could've posted a 4 or 5 win season last year, and probably a 5 or 6 win season this year. And then next year, and every year after, we likely would been a consistently competitive team who goes bowling most years.

And I'm sure that we would've all been very happy with that, the way that we were happy with where Edsall took the program.

But, this is UConn. The basketball teams have set the standard at a higher level than just being consistently competitive.

Diaco is the right coach, at the right time, for UConn. His methods aren't standard, and to win at UConn in football, they can't be. We needed someone who was going to take a different road and employ unique methods and metrics, so that someday we'll be able to beat the Alabama's of the world. You can't beat Ohio State at it's own game.

Why is Oregon so successful recently? They decided to do things differently and not follow the typical football program model. That's where Diaco is taking us...down a different path. The program is either going to succeed or fail magnificently. I'd rather have it no other way.

If we employed Oregon methods we would get the death sentence.

 

[tykurez]

So Scrappy can make those predictions and Diaco can't, seems unfair. Ain't nothing wrong with predicting nothing short of a NC.

Its the goal of all teams. In sports who sets realistic goals anyways? We're not talking about a corporate office here.

I set realistic goals for my beer-league softball team. We're all a bunch of weak hitting ninnies, so let's just get to .500 and make the playoffs. And we're in it for the beer anyway, right?

Still doesn't stop me from peddling the fictitious rivalry we have going with the local supermarket. F those deli guys ...

 

[nomar]

"It's unfair to judge Diaco after one year..."

*proceeds to judge Diaco after one year*

I think this is unfair. He identified a couple recent decisions/statements by Diaco that concerned him, as opposed to taking the team's 2014 W-L record and declaring Diaco a failure based on that.

I really don't understand the hatred for the OP. The unilateral creation of the UCF "rivalry" was pretty embarrassing, even for those of us who like Diaco's enthusiasm.