Lashlee

[huskyrob1]

I really liked what I saw from him on the sidelines Thursday night, keeping the offense confident and talking to them as a group, when HC was on the field. Don't know what he said, but you could tell the kids were really dialed into what he was saying. He is so valuable to the success of this football team. I hope Randy, Dave, and Susan realize how important he is to the success of this program going forward.

 

[weyuo]

Agreed. Do what you have to to keep him on for another 2 years anyways(he will go when the right head coaching situation arises). But, I want to see what he, Grimes and Edsall can do recruiting O-linemen before anointing any one of them. As everyone(including Edsall recently) says, you can't win consistently if you don't win the line of scrimmage. The Huskies need to upgrade the recruiting of linemen from kids getting FCS and G-5 offers to kids getting P-5 offers. There are only so many diamonds in the rough you can coach up to perform at a top 25 level and that should be the goal.

 

[CTBballfan243]

The problem is that Offensive linemen that are P5 caliber players want to play in the P5 and not the G5. Hence we get the big OL kids that have flaws that would make it difficult for them to play at the P5 level. They're big enough but tend to be slow and not athletic (see our offensive line).

 

[Pudge]

Agreed. Do what you have to to keep him on for another 2 years anyways(he will go when the right head coaching situation arises). But, I want to see what he, Grimes and Edsall can do recruiting O-linemen before anointing any one of them. As everyone(including Edsall recently) says, you can't win consistently if you don't win the line of scrimmage. The Huskies need to upgrade the recruiting of linemen from kids getting FCS and G-5 offers to kids getting P-5 offers. There are only so many diamonds in the rough you can coach up to perform at a top 25 level and that should be the goal.

I don't agree.

UConn has to be OUTSTANDING in developing OLine kids. (And frankly we were in the earlier 2.0). But we have a regional paradigm that demands we get solid raw HS kids and shape them. And we have to miss far less on some of these kids. A Van Denmark is a good example: A solid Jersey HS kid - but not FBS quality. Goes Prep. And a really solid Line coach is pushing his potential. DeGeorge looked good. Peart has a similar Prep story.

If you think you'll go down to Georgia ... and out recruit a P5 kid, that's not happening. Not in Ohio or Virginia either. Quite frankly, our campus proximity to major academic Prep programs is a nice plus.

 

[huskyrob1]

I don't agree.

UConn has to be OUTSTANDING in developing OLine kids. (And frankly we were in the earlier 2.0). But we have a regional paradigm that demands we get solid raw HS kids and shape them. And we have to miss far less on some of these kids. A Van Denmark is a good example: A solid Jersey HS kid - but not FBS quality. Goes Prep. And a really solid Line coach is pushing his potential. DeGeorge looked good. Peart has a similar Prep story.

If you think you'll go down to Georgia ... and out recruit a P5 kid, that's not happening. Not in Ohio or Virginia either. Quite frankly, our campus proximity to major academic Prep programs is a nice plus.

HCRE is one of the best there is at FBS player development. First thing he said after spring practice started was the offensive lineman needed to lose some of the lard. I loved how Lashlee told Pindell point blank during the game Thursday, he was carrying the ball wrong on sweeps.

 

[Chief00]

Lashlee is a very good coach - Chief Approves!

 

[noeynox]

If Lashlee is as good as we think he is, he won't be here long. That won't be a bad thing either because it likely means team success came faster than we expected.

 

[RSTuthill]

The problem is that Offensive linemen that are P5 caliber players want to play in the P5 and not the G5. Hence we get the big OL kids that have flaws that would make it difficult for them to play at the P5 level. They're big enough but tend to be slow and not athletic (see our offensive line).

Precisely. Better to recruit the slightly undersized more athletic kid.

 

[huskyrob1]

If Lashlee is as good as we think he is, he won't be here long. That won't be a bad thing either because it likely means team success came faster than we expected.

Another scenario, not as likely but still very possible. Benedict leaves for the ACC (helps us strategically in CR), Edsall is named AD and Lashlee takes over as HC.

 

[ZOOCONN]

If Lashlee is as good as we think he is, he won't be here long. That won't be a bad thing either because it likely means team success came faster than we expected.

personally I think lashlee is being groomed for the HC position in a few years.

 

[Waquoit]

If Lashlee is as good as we think he is, he won't be here long.

Not a problem, we just hire the Holy Cross OC. His offense looked superior for much of Thursday.

 

[uconnflyer88]

First memory of Lashlee will be after the Pindell fumble, he came over to Dave on the bench and destroyed his soul....never seen a coach yell like that, so many neck veins.....he then strolled off for a lonely walk up and down the sidelines before bringing the offense back together...

I guess the whole "lets love them until they get better" attitude is gone.....

 

[Stainmaster]

Not a problem, we just hire the Holy Cross OC. His offense looked superior for much of Thursday.

2/10, do better.

 

[uconnphil2016]

First memory of Lashlee will be after the Pindell fumble, he came over to Dave on the bench and destroyed his soul....never seen a coach yell like that, so many neck veins.....he then strolled off for a lonely walk up and down the sidelines before bringing the offense back together...

I guess the whole "lets love them until they get better" attitude is gone.....

Did he really? He doesn't seem like that kinda guy, but good because that's exactly how I was feeling sitting in the stands

 

[HuskyHawk]

The problem is that Offensive linemen that are P5 caliber players want to play in the P5 and not the G5. Hence we get the big OL kids that have flaws that would make it difficult for them to play at the P5 level. They're big enough but tend to be slow and not athletic (see our offensive line).

Not entirely. Look at programs like North Dakota. There are good OL at some of these schools. But we need to bring in a big number of them, redshirt them all and hope that some pan our by rsSoph or rsJunior year. It takes time to turn them in to FBS OL.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

The problem is that Offensive linemen that are P5 caliber players want to play in the P5 and not the G5. Hence we get the big OL kids that have flaws that would make it difficult for them to play at the P5 level. They're big enough but tend to be slow and not athletic (see our offensive line).

I'm guessing you didn't know (or don't remember) the offensive lines we had during the last few years of RE's first run here. A quality line can be built at a school like UConn, it just needs a far different approach than what those who were in charge the past half dozen years were willing to take.

Give it a couple of years and we should have a line good enough to do what we want done.

 

[UConnNick]

I'm guessing you didn't know (or don't remember) the offensive lines we had during the last few years of RE's first run here. A quality line can be built at a school like UConn, it just needs a far different approach than what those who were in charge the past half dozen years were willing to take.

Give it a couple of years and we should have a line good enough to do what we want done.

The difference is we were in a major BCS conference then. Now we are in a mid major. That negatively impacts recruiting.

 

[BlueMAB]

The difference is we were in a major BCS conference then. Now we are in a mid major. That negatively impacts recruiting.

Teams negatively recruited against UConn and the Big East back then. There was always the argument that the Big East didn't belong and was full of mid-majors. Or the lack of history at UConn, or the smaller stadium, or the off-campus stadium, or the weak schedule, or that Edsall was going to leave after every good season...

There are always obstacles to overcome.

 

[BlueDogs]

Other than wining, all we can do is try and bring in high level OCC games that will attract some high level athletes that want to play against the best. The P5s are stock piling a lot of talent that never hits the field. Our job is to convince them that UConn is a place to get on the field, be showcased and is a great feeder to the NFL. Granted, we have an up hill battle, but it beats not even having a hill to climb.

 

[UConnNick]

Teams negatively recruited against UConn and the Big East back then. There was always the argument that the Big East didn't belong and was full of mid-majors. Or the lack of history at UConn, or the smaller stadium, or the off-campus stadium, or the weak schedule, or that Edsall was going to leave after every good season...

There are always obstacles to overcome.

Those were all objections that could be overcome. Now if you have a P5 quality recruit you're after, you have to convince them it's more fun to play in the St. Petersburg Bowl, or whatever ridiculous name it's being called now, instead of a NY6 bowl/CFP. That is a tough objection to overcome. During Edsall's first tenure we could go to a BCS bowl and we did once.

 

[Doggie Style]

First memory of Lashlee will be after the Pindell fumble, he came over to Dave on the bench and destroyed his soul....never seen a coach yell like that, so many neck veins.....he then strolled off for a lonely walk up and down the sidelines before bringing the offense back together...

I guess the whole "lets love them until they get better" attitude is gone.....

Point 1: He deserved it!!!!!!

Point 2: Good!!!

 

[FfldCntyFan]

The difference is we were in a major BCS conference then. Now we are in a mid major. That negatively impacts recruiting.

I'm not sure Keith Gray, Will Beatty, Zach Hurd, Mike Ryan, Moe Petrus and all of the other starting linemen we had those years received any offers from schools they would now choose over UConn. If you can remember any please share.

 

[HawkHusky]

Point 1: He deserved it!!!!!!

Point 2: Good!!!

Exactly. Every SEC coach/assistant does the same. Tells me we're on the right track.

 

[formerlurker]

Lashlee is a very good coach - Chief Approves!

I can't wait for hoops season to start.

 

[UConnNick]

I'm not sure Keith Gray, Will Beatty, Zach Hurd, Mike Ryan, Moe Petrus and all of the other starting linemen we had those years received any offers from schools they would now choose over UConn. If you can remember any please share.

I don't follow recruiting, and I certainly wouldn't remember what offers players from 10+ years ago had from other schools, but none of that matters. Those guys accepted an offer from a BCS school. Even if any of them had offers from other BCS schools at that time, we were at least competing against those schools on a somewhat level playing field because we were at their same level. We're not anymore.

Who knows, maybe Edsall can work some of his old recruiting magic, identifying under the radar guys like Lansanah, Lutrus and others, that maybe don't draw any attention from the P5's. It's just going to be tougher to reel in somebody who might have offers from Rutgers, Syracuse and other P5 schools because we can no longer offer those recruits the chance to play in a NY6/CFP bowl. We'd have to go undefeated or maybe one loss to make one of those bowls, which anybody can see isn't going to happen this season or likely anytime soon.