Congrats and best of luck to him, but there's no reason to think we can't or won't have anyone that becomes a better player than him just because he's at Texas. But look at their recruiting class and tell me which one is better top to bottom.
I always go back to how much bloviating Diaco did over the "mess he inherited", yet the players he recruited couldn't push the mess off the field on a losing team. That's an indictment of his recruiting prowess.To be fair HM nobody would kill the stafffor beating Liberty and Houston Baptist for any individual player - it's when it's three dozen over three classes that you have to ask what the hell is going on.
I enjoy killing Diaco but even I wouldn't claim his staff batted .000
That's quite an escalation.
You can toss Baylor offers out the window these days but Houston and Texas is impressive.
To be fair HM nobody would kill the stafffor beating Liberty and Houston Baptist for any individual player - it's when it's three dozen over three classes that you have to ask what the hell is going on.
It wasn't directed at you, or anyone in particular.You have me confused w/ what you are saying there?
I get that as they are all viewed through different lenses at different times. It wasn't meant to be a vindication or defense of Diaco but moreso the fact that there are late bloomers out there.
In the month+ since Rhule's been hired - his class is ranked 60th. Not bad from the one commit he inherited.
I always go back to how much bloviating Diaco did over the "mess he inherited", yet the players he recruited couldn't push the mess off the field on a losing team. That's an indictment of his recruiting prowess.
I get that as they are all viewed through different lenses at different times. It wasn't meant to be a vindication or defense of Diaco but moreso the fact that there are late bloomers out there.
In the month+ since Rhule's been hired - his class is ranked 60th. Not bad from the one commit he inherited.
They didn't "miss" on this one in the end (now let's see what he does on field).
I enjoy killing Diaco but even I wouldn't claim his staff batted .000
That's quite an escalation.
You can toss Baylor offers out the window these days but Houston and Texas is impressive.
EXACTLY THIS!!!!! It is frankly shocking how few sophomores and freshman were contributing to this team last year.
As much as I didn't like what Diaco was doing, especially with all the DE/LB/TE recruiting, his recruited players were getting on the field even though the players were young. His first full recruiting class was 2015 and those kids would now be Sophomores and RS Freshmen. His second full recruiting class were Freshmen last year and we have no idea how good they are as only Williams played (a HUGE mistake). Diaco knew, just like Edsall knew, that for UConn to succeed you need to redshirt and develop players. Unfortunately, in his first year, he didn't have the ability to redshirt which is why we saw Newsome, Johnson, Bloom, Carrezola, Hashemi, Rutherford, McAllister, Diggs, and Summers play as true Freshmen. That is way too many true Freshmen that had to play.
On the offensive 2 deep, 4 starters were recruited by Diaco plus Bloom and Newsome who were in his first recruiting class, but verballed to PP. 6 offensive backups on the 2 deep were recruited by Diaco. On defense, 2 starters were recruited by Diaco plus Carrezola who was recruited by PP, but in Diaco's first class. 5 backups on the 2 deep were recruited by Diaco.
As much as I didn't like what Diaco was doing, especially with all the DE/LB/TE recruiting, his recruited players were getting on the field even though the players were young. His first full recruiting class was 2015 and those kids would now be Sophomores and RS Freshmen. His second full recruiting class were Freshmen last year and we have no idea how good they are as only Williams played (a HUGE mistake). Diaco knew, just like Edsall knew, that for UConn to succeed you need to redshirt and develop players. Unfortunately, in his first year, he didn't have the ability to redshirt which is why we saw Newsome, Johnson, Bloom, Carrezola, Hashemi, Rutherford, McAllister, Diggs, and Summers play as true Freshmen. That is way too many true Freshmen that had to play.
On the offensive 2 deep, 4 starters were recruited by Diaco plus Bloom and Newsome who were in his first recruiting class, but verballed to PP. 6 offensive backups on the 2 deep were recruited by Diaco. On defense, 2 starters were recruited by Diaco plus Carrezola who was recruited by PP, but in Diaco's first class. 5 backups on the 2 deep were recruited by Diaco.
Jim, that doesn't sound very impressive to me at all. And Diaco has had zero impact recruits on the field thus far. Now, I am excited about Skanes, Vickers, Hopkins, Herring, Colye, etc, but at this hr, Diaco's recruiting has been ineffective.
Getting on the field young is different than contributing anything. 44 people have to make the two deep whether 44 players are capable of it or not.
The transition class when we switched to Diaco hs players who have made a real contribution. Those players are now seniors or redshirt juniors. But the class below it -- those who have two full years in the program -- who has really helped the team win games? Hergey, Beals and McLean play -- someone has to play -- but have any of them reminded us of what Kashmir or Jeffries gave us their first two years at UConn? Peart -- certainly coming along well. Tyler Davis? That's it on offense. On D, what did that class give us? After 2 years, I can only think of one defender who took a meaningful snap -- Robinson III at CB. And that was after horrific failures by others in the secondary. And yes, it's too early to make judgements on the 2016 class, but as horrific as we were last year the only redshirts we used were a long snapper, a walk on FB (who was the only FB on the roster) and Donovan Williams. As many holes as we had, Diaco didn't think he had immediate help from this class.
So I stick to my belief: as bad as we've been the last two years, it is not a good sign how little help we have received to date from Diaco's two full recruiting classes.
Biz, I don't think Diaco recruited well and I think he did not recruit enough impact skill players, but I disagree with a number of your points. The players in the transition year that did not redshirt played as true Juniors this year. They would have looked better as RS Sophomores this year as the expectations would be lower.
If Diaco had redshirted his first class and Mayala played as a true Freshman, UConn's starters would have been 7 seniors, 5 juniors, 8 sophomores, and 2 freshmen. That would have been one of the youngest teams in FBS.
On offense, how can you evaluate any of the WRs based on the schemes, play calling, and QB problems? I think Beals and Mayala look decent and we will find out this year. Chris Lee and Tyler Davis were the backups at TE.
On defense, Marshe Terry and Kevin Murphy also saw snaps and Garland played every game. Three defensive players from that class weren't available as 2 left the program and one was suspended.
I hear you. I just look at the input from the last two classes against our mediocrity and believe that in the old days you would have seen more impacts from the young uns.
I have not once blamed Diaco for the transition class of 14. Given the situation, I think we -- P, the staff holding it together in P's absence, and then the finish from the new staff -- did well. And yes, that class would look better if all the rising true seniors were only rising RS Jrs.
This is where we will find out if Diaco manged to recruit any + players at all. These are the guys are anxious to see in 2017. By '+', I mean players that are better than the opposition. So far, his recruits that have seen the field on average have been below our competition.One more point. Disco's 2016 class had more of a focus on impact skill players. We will see if they can play over the next 2 years, but we could see contributions from a number of players next year including Vickers and Hopkins at RB, Skanes as a slot and a returner, Dixon at WR, Coyle, Hahn, and Herring at DB.