Mike Anthony: Another miserable UConn football season is not cause for Randy Edsall’s firing

[Chief00]

Mike Anthony: Another miserable UConn football season is not cause for Randy Edsall’s firing

>Did you really expect Edsall, standing outside the Huskies’ locker room following a 49-17 loss to Temple Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field, to say much more than that? He’s not built that way.

What would you want to hear, anyway? A long-winded justification for remaining as coach into a fourth year? I tried to get Edsall to open up about process, plan and program but knew I had the same odds of succeeding there as UConn had of succeeding on the field against the Owls.

UConn lost and we knew this would be. Edsall is the coach and we know this will continue to be, particularly after athletic director David Benedict voiced his full support during a halftime conversation.<<

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Anthony probably can relate to Randy, because he has really struggled with his columns this year, almost as much as Randy struggled on the field. Anthony needs a vacation and a reset.

 

[Bongo Fury]

competitive with horrid teams on the schedule, yes. Continued confusion? It will lead to clarity. You think prospective players think HCRE is on solid ground? They didn’t win a conference game in two years. Two. Years. A new hire brings interest and hope. what do you call the player exodus last year?

I believe UMASS thought the same when canning underpaid and under supported Whipple. It can get worse

 

[Bubba1957]

That's my issue. That 1st year had better talent than even he has brought in. He could have tried to win and done his rebuild. The issue is he went with Crocker and it didn't work.

Spot on. The roster included Knappe, Joseph, Noel Thomas, Foley, Hergy, Bryant, Luke, Jamar, Arkiel, Myers and Bloom among other. All guys (except Arkiel and Bryant who agruably were their most productive guys ) who at least got a sniff from pro ball. Once you take a job it becomes your team. I didn't like it then or now, coach the guys you have. You owe it to them. Edsall is not alone in this tear down approach, but I hate it. Imagine if he augmented that team with a few better transfers or grad guys? Should have been very competitive just by getting rid of mister fake, fake field goal.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

It's less about Randy than the message it sends to future coaching prospects. "Come to UConn and play in empty stadium 30 miles off campus without any bowl affiliations. Oh and we won't give you a chance to turn the program around since we cycle in new coaches every three and have been doing it the last decade." Once we committed to Randy we were locked into 4 years unless he started hitting kids with a bat.

I'm going to give someone in the position to be considered for an FBS head coaching gig a little more credit than that.

There's having a quick trigger finger and then simply not accepting 3,1,2 win seasons with a historically bad defense and little to no improvement. A coach is going to see that. Conversely, they know if they sniff .500 they will have a job for as ever long as they want it.

Also, while the point about the stadium, bowls, and Indy is true, if you're a FCS HS making $500k, $1M at UConn to take on those challenges seems like a bet most would be willing to make.

 

[CL82]

I'm going to give someone in the position to be considered for an FBS head coaching gig a little more credit than that.

There's having a quick trigger finger and then simply not accepting 3,1,2 win seasons with a historically bad defense and little to no improvement. A coach is going to see that. Conversely, they know if they sniff .500 they will have a job for as ever long as they want it.

Also, while the point about the stadium, bowls, and Indy is true, if you're a FCS HS making $500k, $1M at UConn to take on those challenges seems like a bet most would be willing to make.

Sniffing .500 is hard to do as we've seen for the last 9 years. It is okay to have a quick a hook if you have one horrific guy, but by coach #3 it is a pattern. It's a moot point though. Randy is here for year #4. He will need to produce to get to year #5.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Sniffing .500 is hard to do as we've seen for the last 9 years. It is okay to have a quick a hook if you have one horrific guy, but by coach #3 it is a pattern. It's a moot point though. Randy is here for year #4. He will need to produce to get to year #5.

It's an indictment on the Athletic Department for making what ended up being the wrong hire three times in a row. If anything, the Athletic Department actually showed a pulse in canning P, Diaco, and Ollie when they did. Full disclosure, I was 50/50 on P, all for Diaco, all for Ollie and all for RE v2.0. So, I was right there with them in making an error.

They know this isn't going to work out, they know they need to move on, and the entirety of the argument is we can't fire a guy who has won 6 games in 3 seasons, because it may scare off other coaches? I don't buy it. The longer you let this fester, the longer it's going to take the next guy to dig out from under it.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

Time for the UConn Administration and Trustees to have a serious discussion about ending the financial drain of UConn playing FBS football.

No no no -- do not drop UConn down a level. Improve the product.

 

[businesslawyer]

It's an indictment on the Athletic Department for making what ended up being the wrong hire three times in a row. If anything, the Athletic Department actually showed a pulse in canning P, Diaco, and Ollie when they did. Full disclosure, I was 50/50 on P, all for Diaco, all for Ollie and all for RE v2.0. So, I was right there with them in making an error.

They know this isn't going to work out, they know they need to move on, and the entirety of the argument is we can't fire a guy who has won 6 games in 3 seasons, because it may scare off other coaches? I don't buy it. The longer you let this fester, the longer it's going to take the next guy to dig out from under it.

The entirety of the argument is not you can't fire a guy who won 6 games in 3 seasons because it will scare off other coaches. That's not any of the argument in the real world.

The argument is that Edsall took the job telling the AD that it was going to be a long, slow, tough slog to rebuild, and given what HCVV did to the program the AD, rightly or wrongly, accepted Edsall's analysis. I happen to think, as I said above, that it was mostly the right analysis with the exception that Year 1 could have been better. If that's your argument, firing him because you knew you were going to suck but hoped you'd suck a little less doesn't make sense. I think after next season one can tell whether or not progress is being made.

 

[CL82]

It's an indictment on the Athletic Department for making what ended up being the wrong hire three times in a row. If anything, the Athletic Department actually showed a pulse in canning P, Diaco, and Ollie when they did. Full disclosure, I was 50/50 on P, all for Diaco, all for Ollie and all for RE v2.0. So, I was right there with them in making an error.

They know this isn't going to work out, they know they need to move on, and the entirety of the argument is we can't fire a guy who has won 6 games in 3 seasons, because it may scare off other coaches? I don't buy it. The longer you let this fester, the longer it's going to take the next guy to dig out from under it.

Agree to disagree on firing this year.

Pasqualoni had lost the team, he had to go. Same with Diaco. I think Randy has improved things, just not enough. Where we disagree is whether you looking at each as stand alone cases or whether you look at all three collectively.

We don't get to decide and AD Dave would likely have pulled the trigger if he going to. Randy is getting one more year. Hopefully if will be a productive one.

 

[AndOne]

The entirety of the argument is not you can't fire a guy who won 6 games in 3 seasons because it will scare off other coaches. That's not any of the argument in the real world.

The argument is that Edsall took the job telling the AD that it was going to be a long, slow, tough slog to rebuild, and given what HCVV did to the program the AD, rightly or wrongly, accepted Edsall's analysis. I happen to think, as I said above, that it was mostly the right analysis with the exception that Year 1 could have been better. If that's your argument, firing him because you knew you were going to suck but hoped you'd suck a little less doesn't make sense. I think after next season one can tell whether or not progress is being made.

AD Dave probably agreed with Edsell that this is going to be a long rebuild, but no way would he have expected the disasters of the last three seasons. I don't think the team will be much better next season, just that the competition is worst. So whomever is the HC will definitely have a better record next year.

 

[WrenchFan69]

Edsall is going to stay on while the AD slowly drains the football budget more and more until they cut the whole program in <5 years

 

[ConnHuskBask]

The entirety of the argument is not you can't fire a guy who won 6 games in 3 seasons because it will scare off other coaches. That's not any of the argument in the real world.

The argument is that Edsall took the job telling the AD that it was going to be a long, slow, tough slog to rebuild, and given what HCVV did to the program the AD, rightly or wrongly, accepted Edsall's analysis. I happen to think, as I said above, that it was mostly the right analysis with the exception that Year 1 could have been better. If that's your argument, firing him because you knew you were going to suck but hoped you'd suck a little less doesn't make sense. I think after next season one can tell whether or not progress is being made.

Edsall has told anyone that will listen that its a long, slow, tough slog to rebuild UConn.

I would rather roll the dice with another guy leading the program. We always say it can't get worse, but I honestly don't think it can. There is zero hope for anything. Realistically, does anyone believe in Edsall anymore?

 

[noeynox]

Edsall has told anyone that will listen that its a long, slow, tough slog to rebuild UConn.

I would rather roll the dice with another guy leading the program. We always say it can't get worse, but I honestly don't think it can. There is zero hope for anything. Realistically, does anyone believe in Edsall anymore?

Benedict seems to. He pretty much Trumps us all.

 

[huskysupporter]

So you are saying we are dominating the northeast?


It's less about Randy than the message it sends to future coaching prospects. "Come to UConn and play in empty stadium 30 miles off campus without any bowl affiliations. Oh and we won't give you a chance to turn the program around since we cycle in new coaches every three and have been doing it the last decade." Once we committed to Randy we were locked into 4 years unless he started hitting kids with a bat.

i think I just have a different view of version 2 of HCRE (and this is from a charter member of the apologist club. And someone who thinks he sincerely cares about his players and whose former players think very highly of him as a mentor). The improvement this team has shown is microscopic. This is not a team where I look at and say I see SIGNIFICANT improvement even if the record doesn’t reflect it.

There are coaches that embrace a challenge, hungry coaches in the lower levels that know they can right the ship. There are Chip Kellys, Paul Johnsons, Jim Tressels (before the issues) waiting for an opportunity at the FBS level. Dynamic coaches who want to make a program that has been in the dumpster a winner - and then leave for a P5 job. And that’s cool, because it means they made our program better.

make no mistake next year will be another year of little improvement. And Edsall will be gone after the year. Another year wasted.

You get a coach who runs a spread offense and can show recruits - there are going to be Very good grad transfers and JUCOs signing on to help the rebuild. Edsall has not shown he can get the amount of those types of players needed.

 

[huskysupporter]

I believe UMASS thought the same when canning underpaid and under supported Whipple. It can get worse

It cannot get worse. How anyone, after watching Edsall 2.0, can say this can get worse is crazy. What is worse? Zero conference wins. Barely beat a 1-11 FCS team. Other win was against the worst team in FBS.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

There are 50 open HC jobs already. UConn should hold off a year and wait for a little less competition for talent.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Benedict seems to. He pretty much Trumps us all.

I question the amount of skin AD Dave has in the game for the long term best interests of UConn. Same issue I had with Suzie Lax.

 

[noeynox]

There are 50 open HC jobs already. UConn should hold off a year and wait for a little less competition for talent.

Another good point.

 

[huskysupporter]

There are 50 open HC jobs already. UConn should hold off a year and wait for a little less competition for talent.

please tell me this isn’t serious.

 

[Waquoit]

There are 50 open HC jobs already. UConn should hold off a year and wait for a little less competition for talent.

Next year is going to tough being the first year as an independent. I don't think throwing a new guy into that is a recipe for success. Give HCRE one more year and tell him if he doesn't get bowl eligible he's getting the sack.

 

[History Geek]

Next year is going to tough being the first year as an independent. I don't think throwing a new guy into that is a recipe for success. Give HCRE one more year and tell him if he doesn't get bowl eligible he's getting the sack.

Or very close to a bowl game with tangible signs of moving in the right direction. But essentially, this.

 

[Waquoit]

Or very close to a bowl game with tangible signs of moving in the right direction. But essentially, this.

I don't want to get too wobbly with the bar. For example, 4 wins and he's gone. I don't want to hear about "progress". Four wins after 4 years isn't worth rewarding. Thank him for righting the ship and changing the culture and send him packing. Five we have a discussion, six he stays if he wants.

 

[Chief00]

Randy Edsall is not being fired, period. From the article at the top of the thread:

I came to Philadelphia Saturday not wondering whether UConn could defeat Temple, but seeking thoughts from the program’s two leaders. Many would argue, I said to Benedict at halftime, that the process should be farther along than it is.

“I totally disagree,” he said. “You can’t just look at it in the window of Randy’s three years. You have to look at the previous six years. When you have four different head coaches leading a program in the span of six years, you’re totally rebuilding from the ground up, just in the nature of how recruiting classes work. When you have a transition year between coaches, you in essence lose a class. A coaching staff, it takes a year or two to develop the relationships to recruit the kids that they want. Obviously, you can’t do that in 30 days. So we’ve had multiple transitions in a short period of time.”

Is Edsall still the right man for the job? Why?

“Absolutely,” Benedict said. “For the same reasons we brought him here. Randy understands how to evaluate kids we can recruit to UConn, which is different than other places. And he understands what it takes to develop kids. He's very disciplined. He's very straightforward with the guys. You're beginning to see some of the younger talent develop. That's an evolution and you can't speed that up in the sport of football. It takes so many kids to be successful in a game and over the course of an entire season.”

The problem is the landscape has changed, you can’t incrementally built while being dispirited due to losing on the field. Today, guys exit via the transfer portal under those conditions and then your rebuilt is even further behind. The OL is an example of this phenomenon. We may start winning more due to having 6 -7winnable games on the schedule compared to 2-4. But, if we are only beating the New England schools not named BC, it’s not really progress.

 

[NEPat10]

Am I in the minority wanting Orlovsky to be the coach of this team?

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

Am I in the minority wanting Orlovsky to be the coach of this team?

I would say yes you are. First....I believe Dan 0 himself said he wasn't interested because he has better work life balance as a commentator.

Second...he has NO coaching experience. Maybe bring him in to coach offense or QBs and have him learn. But no way right into head coach.

But...I really don't think he is interested.