My Letter To Warde

[Dooley]

Clearly that isn't my point. The point is the defense is pretty good, and with a reasonably productive offense (or perhaps even a turnover free offense) we are 3-3, and fighting for a bowl.

Clearly this "feels" like a failure, but, and I said this with P (and no I'm not defending him) - we were a couple of plays away from 6-6 (or better) the first two years. This year, we are a handful of turnovers away from 3-3 (or better). Talent aside - these are generally correctable problems.

We can argue whether a defensive guy like Diaco can help get us to the point where we have a reasonably productive, low turnover FBS offense (clearly not off to a good start), but he isn't asleep at the wheel.

Completely agree. Give us a fairly competent offense (or at the very least, an offense that doesn't continuously spot our opponents 14 PPG) and we probably win 2+ more games this season. You can only play who is on the schedule and, for the most part, our defense has played well enough to keep us in games. A bowl game this season would have been HUGE for the program and for UCONN.

The good news, if there is any, is that we return virtually everyone (aside from Byron Jones) on the defensive side of the ball for 2015. If we can keep our 2015 recruiting class together, we can add some big bodies to fill in some quality depth on the 2-deep.

 

[J187Money]

I wasn't really responding to you because you said 'ranked'. Just in general I keep seeing the per game stats quoted and they really don't matter.

I don't think it's so easy to just say a few plays and they are 3-3. South Florida for example shut down their offense. Had UConn had the capability to score on offense they would have played the game differently. Tulane and South Florida are happy to get a win anyway they can - so if they can do it without even attempting to make plays on offense it's going to look like a few plays would swing a game, when really that's just a function of having an offense that doesn't scare people.

When I said a few plays, mostly I meant the turnovers, and you have to argue that those have outsize results on our game results. And going the other way, we aren't even IN the USF game without the fluke play at the end of the first half in our favor.

I stand by the premise - with a competent offense we are 3-3 with this defense. That's really all I'm trying to say.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

When I said a few plays, mostly I meant the turnovers, and you have to argue that those have outsize results on our game results. And going the other way, we aren't even IN the USF game without the fluke play at the end of the first half in our favor.

I stand by the premise - with a competent offense we are 3-3 with this defense. That's really all I'm trying to say.

I'll take it one step further and say with a competent offense we could be 4-2. Defense gave winning efforts against USF, Temple, and Tulane. But we are what we are and deserve to be 1-5. Too many "ifs" to consider.

 

[Bonehead]

Just sent this to the AD's email
(I'm under no illusion that he will read this directly, have a summary sent to him or have any response from him)

Mr. Warde Manuel-
I write this email to you as one of thousands of die hard UConn football fans. Don’t bother looking me up. I’m not a donor, nor am I an alumni. In my entire family my mother is the only person to hold a degree from UConn. I was born and raised in Connecticut and I have been a fan and supporter of the program since the 1970’s.
I gave away my ticket to the Tulane game tonight. I live about a 3 hour drive from New Orleans. I travel frequently for my job and was going to use hotel points to spend the weekend there. My total expenses for the weekend would have been $250 or less and based off of what I had seen all year, this program isn’t worth it. The staff and players performance tonight justified my reluctance.
Hiring Bob Diaco and signing off on his staff was a mistake. A big mistake. Six games in to the season and it is obvious to any football fan that there isn’t any attempt by this coaching staff to try to win, develop players or build the football program.
UConn is a first class public university and the flagship university for the state of Connecticut. As such, everyone representing the university has an obligation to present the school in its highest possible regards.
It is okay to go through a process only to find out the decision was poor. Great organizations can recover from a bad decision. Look at how Netflix recovered. They made an aggressive decision but quickly realized the results were poor and corrected them. You can do the same.
This team as coached by the current staff is incapable of scoring 10 points on a regular basis. You are a smart person and you are a football person. This team is literally incapable of beating an opponent who can score 10 points. Any team who can score twice in a game can go in to clock running mode without any fear of UConn making up the difference.
There’s plenty of careers I don’t understand. I’m not an investment banker, I’m not a lawyer and I’m not in to politics. What I do know is organizational behavior, developing organizations and evaluating organizations. I was fortunate enough that during my time serving in the military I was attached to or was able to observe several of the highest functioning organizations within the military. I participated, watched, developed and trained teams that didn’t have any room for false assessments, hubris or introspection. Indeed, the qualities all of these teams possessed was the ability to assess all decisions honestly and without regard for personal welfare.
From a purely selfish point of view, you have dead ended yourself with this hiring decision unless results change dramatically. You are well aware that football can generate substantially more income than any other sport in an athletic department and can generate more press and visibility than all other athletic teams combined.
The ball is in your court. Please do not respond that you are monitoring the situation. What we fans want is results from athletes that are students first, representatives of the state an forever ambassadors of UConn athletics.
Sincerely,
Regular, Frustrated Native Nutmegger

So it is now Tuesday, the 8 million dollar check is in Wardes hand and the ceremony complete - has he had time to respond? Share?

 

[J187Money]

I'll take it one step further and say with a competent offense we could be 4-2. Defense gave winning efforts against USF, Temple, and Tulane. But we are what we are and deserve to be 1-5. Too many "ifs" to consider.

Exactly. We don't have a competent offense. Our offense is atrocious.

 

[cohenzone]

I'd be interested in knowing if he responds. Personally, I think the letter way premature. By far the O line is the big problem, it dictates what works and doesn't work and winds up making the O really easy to predict and stop. Also tends to put way too much pressure on a decent but not world beating D. The O line coach was everyone's let's hope he stays choice. Coach has zero of his own recruits. Yeah they are hard to watch, but last year's team was awful, managing to win at the end against 3 bad teams with a QB who no longer plays. Way, way too early to judge anything about Diaco other than his public pronouncements which I hope he matures away from.

 

[freescooter]

I believe that there is only one running back who has not fumbled in a key situation. And he looked pretty good on Saturday, on top of everything else. If it were up to me, Newsome would return kicks, maybe be a 3rd and long back, but that's it. Johnson would be the tailback. He actually knows how to block at least some of the time. He runs hard and has something of a clue about protecting the football. Unfortunately, guys who fumble a lot tend to fumble a lot. Newsome seems to be one of those guys. No soup for him until he learns to protect the football.

 

[Bonehead]

Per game stats are completely useless across FBS.

They don't capture pace or strength of schedule. In UConn's case they are also skewed by the fact the teams they are playing conservatively because UConn can't score.

The defense has been pretty good but that is nowhere near the 20th best defense in the country.

Offense Ranks of teams we played

BYU #54
Boise #26
Temple #94
USF #118
Tulane #99

They rank 125 teams - 3 of our games were against teams whose offense is ranked in the bottom 30.

Lets see the D moving forward-
East Carolina #5
UCF #117
Army #71
Cinci #52
Memphis #53
SMU #124

 

[Husky25]

In fairness to KO, he didn't inherit a very talented team by anyone's account. He took a train wreck with a midget backcourt and no identity and turned it into a national champion. Saying he inherited talent is only easy in revision. He inherited a steaming pile based on popular opinion at the time. I can honestly say, no one else could have done it. He was the right guy at the right time.

With so many players and such a long curve to develop them in football, any correlation between KO and Diaco is a stretch. I'd just like Diaco to show us improvement. I'm really starting to hang my hat on the defense though. If we are great defensively, a marginal improvement on offense will produce big results in the win column. I suspect getting a dual threat QB on the field will help toward that marginal improvement. I'm pretty sure that is what we are going to see.

To play into your point second point, Jim Calhoun said he could turn around a basketball team with a couple of guards (Read: 40% of the talent on the court). In football you need 22 players minimum (unless you expect them to got Ironman) plus special teams. 40% = 9 players in football.

However I disagree with your first paragraph. Boatright and Napier clearly had talent. Boatright just needed focus. Plus, they did not have very viable backups in 2013. They both played over 90% of their available minutes on a very young team.

Yes, Kevin Ollie won a National Championship in his second year as a coach, but he got waxed three times by Louisville, lost twice to SMU (who didn't make the tournament), and were a Free Throw attempt by a 57% shooter away from bowing out in the first round.

I agree that there probably wasn't a better candidate for the job, especially how it all unfolded, but something other than Kevin Ollie's mystical will was at play last year.

 

[whaler11]

When I said a few plays, mostly I meant the turnovers, and you have to argue that those have outsize results on our game results. And going the other way, we aren't even IN the USF game without the fluke play at the end of the first half in our favor.

I stand by the premise - with a competent offense we are 3-3 with this defense. That's really all I'm trying to say.

Well if the team was better they would have a better record? Yes, I don't even think the Boneyard can disagree on that..... (think).

 

[whaler11]

Offense Ranks of teams we played

BYU #54
Boise #26
Temple #94
USF #118
Tulane #99

They rank 125 teams - 3 of our games were against teams whose offense is ranked in the bottom 30.

Lets see the D moving forward-
East Carolina #5
UCF #117
Army #71
Cinci #52
Memphis #53
SMU #124

So your response to per game stats are useless is to quote more per game stats?

 

[Bonehead]

So your response to per game stats are useless is to quote more per game stats?

Yes and No - your analysis was spot on -
'They don't capture pace or strength of schedule. In UConn's case they are also skewed by the fact the teams they are playing conservatively because UConn can't score.'

Just supplying numbers whether they back up your point or not is neither here or there - some believe in numbers and others do not.

But our defense is ranked 20th against those 5 teams who average out to a ranking of #78 in offensive statics captured by the NCAA. I dont think we are the 20th best defense in the country but we are the 20th best defense in the country when we play the 78th ranked offense in the country.

Phil Steeles SOS
http://www.fbschedules.com/2014/08/phil-steele-2014-college-football-strength-of-schedule-rankings/
(UConn obviously brings each opponents SOS down...)
BYU #73
Boise #65
Temple #69
USF #71
Tulane #62


UConn #84

 

[HomeKing93]

Wow, I didn't know ECU was #5 on offense. Maybe I shouldn't have looked at that in more detail, as I now see ECU's QB, leading RB & 2nd leading WR were 2 star recruits. And ECU's leading WR was a walk-on.

Isn't that wonderful?

 

[J187Money]

Well if the team was better they would have a better record? Yes, I don't even think the Boneyard can disagree on that..... (think).

Now you are just being a dick.

I'm just saying you don't need a TDH level offense to compete with this defense.

 

[whaler11]

Yes and No - your analysis was spot on -
'They don't capture pace or strength of schedule. In UConn's case they are also skewed by the fact the teams they are playing conservatively because UConn can't score.'

Just supplying numbers whether they back up your point or not is neither here or there - some believe in numbers and others do not.

But our defense is ranked 20th against those 5 teams who average out to a ranking of #78 in offensive statics captured by the NCAA. I dont think we are the 20th best defense in the country but we are the 20th best defense in the country when we play the 78th ranked offense in the country.

Phil Steeles SOS
http://www.fbschedules.com/2014/08/phil-steele-2014-college-football-strength-of-schedule-rankings/
(UConn obviously brings each opponents SOS down...)
BYU #73
Boise #65
Temple #69
USF #71
Tulane #62


UConn #84

I believe in numbers. Per game averages are useless numbers. I don't know what they look like on a per play basis which are actually useful.

They are 20th in this stat. Since the stat is useless you can't draw any conclusions from that.

 

[CTFootball]

Right now what worries me most is identity. None of us know the identity he wants the program to have.

This can be indicative of a first time head coach.

When Edsall took over at Maryland he had a track record from UConn so that even when on-field results were poor you knew he had a plan. Same can be said with Strong at Texas. Plenty of other examples in college and pros. Look at the Oriole's with Showalter.
The team and program take on the personality of the coach.
More than any individual decision this is what concerns me.
Answer this.
How would you sum up what is a UConn football player?

Talk about mixing apples and oranges (comparing a no identify Uconn 1st year coach to Edsall and Strong in experienced roles).

I do not know if this team has an identify yet (probbaly not), but if the team's under Edsall and Strong had an identity at the midpoint of their 1st year of coaching, it was likely they inherited from the previous administration. Diaco's approach from the start was to build the program from the ground up - create a new culture and team unity, improve the work ethic, and get back to basics. It is assinine to think any coach will come in and inherit unknown players, put in new coaches and a different system and get immediate results. Anyone who thinks otherwise is not realistic.

Diaco is still learning since this is his 1st HC job, and he has a long way to go (like all other new coaches who inherited lowly teams). I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt and not jump on him every time he says or does somehing I don't agree with (like I did for Edsall). Only time will tell if he will be successful. I still feel Diaco has a great atitude and good football mind, and with time develop into a very good HC. We will see.....

 

[Marty Jackson]

No. But it's been an issue all season, and the coaching staff is certainly accountable for the incredible lack of discipline.

there's an incredible lack of discipline?