Mike Anthony: UConn Football Lacking Speed And Experience To Compete — For Now

[huskymedic]

Miss Mike Anthony as the beat guy covering UConn Football:

Mike Anthony: UConn Football Lacking Speed And Experience To Compete — For Now

>>The Huskies are supposed to be 0-2. They are not in a place to compete with the two best teams on their schedule. UCF and Boise State are in entirely different places with their football growth charts and depth charts.

So, let’s take a deep breath. Team struggles don’t mean program struggles. These losses, ugly as they were, were not necessarily setbacks. They were just sobering reminders for who, what and where the Huskies are – a team taking the field for a program still very much in a rebuilding phase.

Without much speed. Without much experience.<<

>>There’s no real deep threat at wide receiver. The defensive backfield is going to be picked apart most Saturdays. Even the senior quarterback, David Pindell, has just six career starts. What the heck can be expected of a four-man defensive front that is sometimes all freshmen? Experience will come in time. Talent will come through recruiting. In the meantime, Edsall could continue to be aggressive with moving players all over — many have already changed positions — in an effort to get more speed in needed places.

“I've got to make sure the kids understand we're getting better each and every day,” Edsall said. “Sometimes it's not all measured. I know in this society everything is supposed to be measured by wins and losses, but when you're building a program back up, sometimes the wins might be the last thing to come.”<<

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

what's he doing now? I missed him as the beat guy for the basketball team

 

[huskymedic]

what's he doing now? I missed him as the beat guy for the basketball team

Took the "Jacobs" role when he left for Hearst.

 

[businesslawyer]

Miss Mike Anthony as the beat guy covering UConn Football:

Mike Anthony: UConn Football Lacking Speed And Experience To Compete — For Now

>>
“I've got to make sure the kids understand we're getting better each and every day,” Edsall said. “Sometimes it's not all measured. I know in this society everything is supposed to be measured by wins and losses, but when you're building a program back up, sometimes the wins might be the last thing to come.”<<

I know that the last sentence sounds like BS, but we do need to remember how this worked the first time. We were terrible when Edsall started, and showed relatively few signs of progress for a few years, and then, in 2002, a 2-6 team that showed almost no progress turned on a dime and won 4 straight including a trouncing of a Navy team that, while bad, had just played Notre Dame tough the week before and the signature shocking win at a Seneca Wallace led Iowa State team, and that led into 9-3 the next year. The point being, this will take a while, and it may not be obvious progress is being made until the moment things turn dramatically around.

I'm not saying that's a good thing, but it unfortunately may be the reality.

 

[ktuck911]

Ouch.. reality (gut) check here... Honestly thought we'd be surprising folks... Not happening.. or maybe it does, but we shouldn't expect that this year...This hurts recruiting even more because even players, that may not have to sit behind other players for 3 or 4 years before finally playing, would rather jump on the bandwagon of a major program that wins all the time.. Nobody wants to hang with a loser... Unfortunaetly, that's reality too...

But I still Bleed Husky Blue.. I just need to a few drinks to get thru this season...

 

[BigEastCT]

For me the section where it stated kids use to jump at a Uconn offer, now they wait for a power 5 offer really hurt (not that I did not know this, just a punch in the gut). That sentence tells me we will never be as good as we once were.

 

[uconnphil2016]

Anthony is awesome.

Was by far the best football writer and doing a good job so far as columnist.

 

[Exit 4]

I know that the last sentence sounds like BS, but we do need to remember how this worked the first time. We were terrible when Edsall started, and showed relatively few signs of progress for a few years, and then, in 2002, a 2-6 team that showed almost no progress turned on a dime and won 4 straight including a trouncing of a Navy team that, while bad, had just played Notre Dame tough the week before and the signature shocking win at a Seneca Wallace led Iowa State team, and that led into 9-3 the next year. The point being, this will take a while, and it may not be obvious progress is being made until the moment things turn dramatically around.

I'm not saying that's a good thing, but it unfortunately may be the reality.

To your point: Edsall 1.0:

Year 1 - finished 3-9
1 Sep 2, 2000 Sat Connecticut @ Eastern Michigan MAC L 25-32
2 Sep 9, 2000 Sat Connecticut Colgate Non-Major W 37-7
3 Sep 16, 2000 Sat Connecticut @ Buffalo MAC W 24-21
4 Sep 23, 2000 Sat Connecticut Northeastern Non-Major L 27-35
5 Sep 30, 2000 Sat Connecticut @ Louisville CUSA L 22-41
6 Oct 7, 2000 Sat Connecticut @ Boston College Big East L 3-55
7 Oct 21, 2000 Sat Connecticut @ Akron MAC W 38-35
8 Oct 28, 2000 Sat Connecticut South Florida Ind L 13-21
9 Nov 4, 2000 Sat Connecticut Middle Tennessee State Ind L 10-66
10 Nov 11, 2000 Sat Connecticut Rhode Island Non-Major L 21-26
11 Nov 18, 2000 Sat Connecticut @ Ball State MAC L 0-29

Year 2: finished 2-10
1 Sep 1, 2001 Sat Connecticut @ (9) Virginia Tech Big East L 10-52 <--We gave up over 600 yards of offense and had only 10 first downs in this game
2 Sep 8, 2001 Sat Connecticut Eastern Washington Non-Major L 17-35
<In the timeline of this post - we are only here>
3 Sep 22, 2001 Sat Connecticut Buffalo MAC L 20-37
4 Sep 29, 2001 Sat Connecticut @ Rutgers Big East W 20-19
5 Oct 6, 2001 Sat Connecticut Eastern Michigan MAC W 19-0
6 Oct 13, 2001 Sat Connecticut @ South Florida Ind L 21-40
7 Oct 27, 2001 Sat Connecticut Ball State MAC L 5-10
8 Nov 3, 2001 Sat Connecticut @ Cincinnati CUSA L 28-45
9 Nov 10, 2001 Sat Connecticut Utah State Ind L 31-38
10 Nov 17, 2001 Sat Connecticut @ Middle Tennessee State Sun Belt L 14-38
11 Nov 24, 2001 Sat Connecticut @ Temple Big East L 7-56

Year 3: finished 6-6, but started 2-6.
1 Aug 31, 2002 Sat Connecticut @ Boston College Big East L 16-24 <---I still remember the roof top party I was at in NYC for this game.
2 Sep 7, 2002 Sat Connecticut Georgia Tech ACC L 14-31
3 Sep 14, 2002 Sat Connecticut @ Buffalo MAC W 24-3 1
4 Sep 21, 2002 Sat Connecticut Ohio MAC W 37 -19
5 Sep 28, 2002 Sat Connecticut Ball State MAC L 21-24
6 Oct 5, 2002 Sat Connecticut @ (1) Miami (FL) Big East L 14-48
7 Oct 19, 2002 Sat Connecticut Temple Big East L 24-38
8 Oct 26, 2002 Sat Connecticut @ Vanderbilt SEC L 24-28
9 Nov 2, 2002 Sat Connecticut Florida Atlantic Non-Major W 61-14 <--Inflection Point
10 Nov 9, 2002 Sat Connecticut Kent State MAC W 63-21
11 Nov 16, 2002 Sat Connecticut @ Navy Ind W 38-0
12 Nov 23, 2002 Sat Connecticut @ Iowa State Big 12 W 37-20

 

[Palatine]

Blame the players. Nothing has changed from P and Diaco. The cupboard is bare.

 

[huskymedic]

Blame the players. Nothing has changed from P and Diaco. The cupboard is bare.

The cupboard was bare by one metric/indicator:

>>Look at NFL rosters. At the high point of Edsall’s first stint, there were approximately 25 former UConn players on active rosters. There are eight today – and Edsall recruited six of them. Edsall has all the strength and conditioning charts from his days coaching UConn in the 2000s. Current players don’t bench or squat nearly as much. They don’t run as fast.<<

 

[noeynox]

For me the section where it stated kids use to jump at a Uconn offer, now they wait for a power 5 offer really hurt (not that I did not know this, just a in the gut). That sentence tells me we will never be as good as we once were.

Truly a death knell.

 

[Husky68]

Ok, talent is weak. Experience is low. Speed is missing. Ok. Got it.

Per Massey UConn is rated 119 and RI is rated 146. UConn is at home and Massey suggest score UConn 34 RI 24. I'm good with any win, a close loss ok as game luck could come into play. Anything worse brings coaching deficiencies much more into play as hard to lose big to RI due "only" to lack of talent, experience and speed vs opponent like this.
If HCRE2.0 is on track he should have this group competitive with the RI's of the football world in game 15 of his tenure. That's all I'm looking for.

 

[noeynox]

I hope he got this out of his system today. Every one still paying attention knows what happened here, but he is sounding like Diaco right now.

Randy Edsall Decries State of UConn Program: 'It's A Shame What Happened Between 2011 and 2017'

 

[outlaw]

A Shame What Happened Between 2011 and 2017'

Well, RE, maybe you shouldn't have left ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Palatine]

Edsall does deserve some credit for NOT falling back on his "we didn't execute" cliche.

 

[huskymedic]

I hope he got this out of his system today. '

Press conference questions lead him down this path today. I agree that it can't become a weekly mantra.

 

[whaler11]

Why doesn’t he fire Crocker?

Keeping him around seems to be counter-productive to someone who wants to build a culture.

 

[huskymedic]

No sense in starting another thread on it so...

Fuller: UConn’s Randy Edsall bemoans the state program was left in when he returned in 2017

>>“We’re doing everything we can but if somebody thinks we’re going to take some fairy dust, just sprinkle it and all of a sudden it’s going to change, you might as well go and keep drinking alcohol or something because this isn’t easy, but it’s fun,” Edsall said. “It’s fun because these kids want it, they want to do it and they’re out there trying. Most of them shouldn’t even be playing (as freshmen).<<

>>Edsall pointed out that UConn has only two players (center Ryan Crozier and defensive end James Atkins) who have been with the program for five seasons that have significant roles with the current squad. As a point of reference, UCF and Boise combined to start eight fifth-year seniors on offense or defense and played 11 others who had been with their programs for five years.<<

>>As hard as it might be to believe, UConn could be even younger on defense against Rhode Island with true freshman Oneil Robinson, a former Capital Prep star, expected to start if Fortt is unable to play.<<

 

[Woof 101]

I'm not saying that's a good thing, but it unfortunately may be the reality.

Kudos and a like for using the word reality on this forum....

 

[junglehusky]

Ouch.. reality (gut) check here... Honestly thought we'd be surprising folks... Not happening.. or maybe it does, but we shouldn't expect that this year...This hurts recruiting even more because even players, that may not have to sit behind other players for 3 or 4 years before finally playing, would rather jump on the bandwagon of a major program that wins all the time.. Nobody wants to hang with a loser... Unfortunaetly, that's reality too...

But I still Bleed Husky Blue.. I just need to a few drinks to get thru this season...

It's better for everyone's mental health to turn off the TV, check out for a year or two until these kids have time to develop. Every year you say "we might surprise folks this year" you're setting yourself up for disappointment. It's not like there's a P5 invite around the corner contingent on attendance, that ship has sailed.

 

[Waquoit]

I hope he got this out of his system today. Every one still paying attention knows what happened here, but he is sounding like Diaco right now.
Randy Edsall Decries State of UConn Program: 'It's A Shame What Happened Between 2011 and 2017'

Edsall's a washed-up hack. HCPP 2.0. We'll suck until he decides he's done enough for Corey and leaves.

 

[noeynox]

Edsall's a washed-up hack. HCPP 2.0. We'll suck until he decides he's done enough for Corey and leaves.

Ouch.

Not that I don't sometimes feel he's in it for his kid more than uconn sometimes but that was harsh. His comments yesterday about hiring from within sounded like he is grooming him for succession.

 

[Dooley]

This rebuild is going to take years. Good news - we have the years. P5 probably won't make any moves for at least 5 years or so. Bad news - we have been rebuilding forever and, doubly unfortunately for us, we've heard the same ol' mantra of cupboards being bare for almost a decade now. If anyone is going to restock our cupboards in this day and age, it's going to be Randy Edsall.

 

[uconndogs]

I was concerned last season with our play at LB and figured if folks couldn’t move those guys out in a transition year there must not be much behind them. I’m not a terribly knowledgeable football guy, but unfortunately I was right.