Mora Mid Season Grade

[Buffett10]

And he lost his Defensive Coordinator 10+/- days before the season started.

Anything less than an A- is unjustifiable.

That was a positive. Spanos’ defense would have been much worse

 

[BlueMAB]

Losing the D Coordinator 10 days before the first game could be seen as a big negative depending on the reason.

If the defense is worse than last year, then sure. Is it?

Saying he "lost" his DC is a bit disingenuous. He fired his DC. And that is something adult head coaches have to do, even if it's a long time coaching pal.

I wasn’t in the room, were you? Unless a new confirmed story has come out, Spanos took a leave of absence. I’ll call that “losing” the DC until someone at UConn confirms otherwise.

That’s not even the point, they had that disruption to the program and have overcome it. LOA, quiet quitting, fired, call it what you want. It appears to have been the right thing for the team even if it caused a lot of concern and distraction right before the season

 

[BlueMAB]

That was a positive. Spanos’ defense would have been much worse

Then he deserves an even higher grade for recognizing a problem and dealing with it before the season.

 

[uconnfan68]

I think the problem there was that Rosa got hurt and he was down to one guy to run it for a bit. It really changed his play calling. In hindsight, he should have just run Burns into the ground. We just needed one TD to put the game away. Still, I can't forget the refs making sure BSU had every opportunity to go ahead.

He’s got a very good freshman in Cam Edwards, CT All-State rb, playing defense. There was talk about him moving over, but the offense might have been too much to absorb in a week.

 

[Dizzy21]

If the defense is worse than last year, then sure. Is it?


I wasn’t in the room, were you? Unless a new confirmed story has come out, Spanos took a leave of absence. I’ll call that “losing” the DC until someone at UConn confirms otherwise.

That’s not even the point, they had that disruption to the program and have overcome it. LOA, quiet quitting, fired, call it what you want. It appears to have been the right thing for the team even if it caused a lot of concern and distraction right before the season

Hiring a bad coach and then letting him go is not a positive thing, regardless is how the defense is this year compared to last.

 

[bmayuc]

A

Not a laughingstock
Fixed the OLine
They are competing their asses off on defense
Not a laughingstock, again.

 

[businesslawyer]

He’s got a very good freshman in Cam Edwards, CT All-State rb, playing defense. There was talk about him moving over, but the offense might have been too much to absorb in a week.

No, the last we heard Edwards was still working out with the offense, and was close to where they would be ready to put him in, but the last time Mora spoke about it Edwards wasn’t ready yet.

 

[RioDog]

Really all of this grading talk is kinda pointless without a rubric...

 

[noeynox]

Saying he "lost" his DC is a bit disingenuous. He fired his DC. And that is something adult head coaches have to do, even if it's a long time coaching pal.

Someone calls him Loose Panels, and as juvenile as it may seem it cracks me the hell up. You could say Mora tightened the unit up by getting rid of him.

 

[Waquoit]

Hiring a bad coach and then letting him go is not a positive thing, regardless is how the defense is this year compared to last.

Strongly disagree. Hiring a bad coach and not letting him go is not a positive thing. You can't be afraid to make mistakes and you can't be afraid to fix them. The guy before Mora never made a mistake in his life.

 

[noeynox]

Strongly disagree. Hiring a bad coach and not letting him go is not a positive thing. You can't be afraid to make mistakes and you can't be afraid to fix them. The guy before Mora never made a mistake in his life.

I think Mora will have a less of hard time filling that DC role this year. There were a few rumored guys who were probably afraid taking a job at UConn was a career killer after Crocker. The fact that every position group has shown improvement is a big positive about Mora. Seems to have an eye for young coaching talent.

 

[Waquoit]

I think Mora will have a less of hard time filling that DC role this year...Seems to have an eye for young coaching talent.

This might be a reach but I like to watch Chopped and all the young aspiring cooks talk about how you need to work with the masters to grow as a chef. I wouldn't doubt that Mora will have an impressive list of candidates to fill the position.

 

[DoctorWho85]

Don Brown/Joe Moorhead:

I think Moorhead deserves a better grade. Akron isn't exactly easy and his offense is starting to off with the program. He's setting up nicely for next year. I'm not sure Brown will be able to save UMass.

 

[BlueMAB]

Hiring a bad coach and then letting him go is not a positive thing, regardless is how the defense is this year compared to last.

The grade is for this year. If he was let go by Spanos this year, and the defense is better this year, then it is a positive thing within the context of the grade and the point of the thread. As @Waquoit mentioned, fixing a mistake is a positive thing.

 

[noeynox]

I think Moorhead deserves a better grade. Akron isn't exactly easy and his offense is starting to off with the program. He's setting up nicely for next year. I'm not sure Brown will be able to save UMass.

Brown should hire Whipple to run the offense.

 

[Dizzy21]

The grade is for this year. If he was let go by Spanos this year, and the defense is better this year, then it is a positive thing within the context of the grade and the point of the thread. As @Waquoit mentioned, fixing a mistake is a positive thing.

Figuring out the DC is not the guy for the job a week before playing the first game is in no way a net positive. That is part of this year also. Maybe it's more positive than keeping him, sure, but it's in no way a positive this season. He has had to take head coaching time away from other areas, the defense has had to learn a basically new defense and most likely if they had installed the different Mora defense in the preseason with either no Spanos or another DC, then there could have possibly been another W in the first week. Not to mention the monetary cost and coaching space cost of carrying an extra coach that is not coaching.

 

[BlueMAB]

Figuring out the DC is not the guy for the job a week before playing the first game is in no way a net positive. That is part of this year also. Maybe it's more positive than keeping him, sure, but it's in no way a positive this season. He has had to take head coaching time away from other areas, the defense has had to learn a basically new defense and most likely if they had installed the different Mora defense in the preseason with either no Spanos or another DC, then there could have possibly been another W in the first week. Not to mention the monetary cost and coaching space cost of carrying an extra coach that is not coaching.

LOL okay, you're using "if"s, "could have probably"s, and "most likely"s, while making up some new metric called "coaching space cost", so I'm done here. Have a good weekend.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

I think Moorhead deserves a better grade. Akron isn't exactly easy and his offense is starting to off with the program. He's setting up nicely for next year. I'm not sure Brown will be able to save UMass.

I agree on Moorhead...it seems pretty harsh after a half season.

 

[Buffett10]

LOL okay, you're using "if"s, "could have probably"s, and "most likely"s, while making up some new metric called "coaching space cost", so I'm done here. Have a good weekend.

I'm shocked no one's brought up the continuity as bad mark on Mora lol.

 

[uconnfan68]

No, the last we heard Edwards was still working out with the offense, and was close to where they would be ready to put him in, but the last time Mora spoke about it Edwards wasn’t ready yet.

I think that’s what I said. ;^)

 

[Dizzy21]

LOL okay, you're using "if"s, "could have probably"s, and "most likely"s, while making up some new metric called "coaching space cost", so I'm done here. Have a good weekend.

I'm sure all the coaches are going to start hiring bad DCs to coach their players throughout the preseason, install a bad defense and just before the season fire them and have to change the defense the first few weeks in order to get that positive advantage Mora did.

 

[noeynox]

I'm sure all the coaches are going to start hiring bad DCs to coach their players throughout the preseason, install a bad defense and just before the season fire them and have to change the defense the first few weeks in order to get that positive advantage Mora did.

It was more like Lou back as a last resort when he struck out on other candidates, BUT when it was apparent it was not going to work he sent him packing. That should be applauded .

 

[CONN78SEJ]

He deserves an A.

He has conducted himself professionally and represented the university well.

He has had adversity heaped upon him in terms of injuries and things beyond his control and he has handled them with grace.

His team has performed above expectations.

His hires (the coaches) are both competent and professional.

He reflects well on the AD who hired him.

He's pretty much a home run.

Well said. I’d give him an A+. Consider all the injuries, the refs handing Ball State a win, and it’s his first year in Storrs or (for the Rent cheerleading corp) East Hartford.

 

[Buffett10]

It was more like Lou back as a last resort when he struck out on other candidates, BUT when it was apparent it was not going to work he sent him packing. That should be applauded .

It’s amazing how many people still think Lou was the 1st choice for DC.

 

[BPT2Storrs]

We have three wins, and almost got our fourth last week. I think we have another win or two on the schedule.

The team has been decimated by injuries. We’ve won three games once in ten years.

I think Mora has exceeded expectations already and the season isn’t even over. This is a drastic improvement - anyone giving less than an A is lying to themselves.