New Head Coach Criteria/Wishes | Page 8 | The Boneyard

New Head Coach Criteria/Wishes

Status
Not open for further replies.
Ooooh my blood is boiling. Knew about the twitter pic and banner changing didn't know about this massive slap in the face. Absolute jackass, this feels almost worse than Edsall.
I'm placing a dislike because we knew that he loves to ski. I knew he was not going to stay if he got a western area job. I'm wishing him good luck at CSU.

Feels worse than Edsall? Not to me..Jim left us in the best position since 2011. Now, let's hit a bullseye on the coaching hire.
 
Mora was like one of those guys in the old westerns. Retired gunslinger hired by the town mayor to handle the bad guys. Once they were beaten he rides off into the sunset.
And the townspeople are thankful but wonder what will happen next time. Duke Wayne type.

My guess in hindsight is this was the deal he had with AD Dave from the get go. Building the infrastructure. Get us back to a legitimate program. Then ride off into the sunset.
Then why did he sign an extension after last season through 2029?
 
FWIW:


Good Morning from "Old Guy" wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving. Yesterday's news of HC leaving has left a bitter taste in my mouth. I thought we had someone who displayed Loyalty to the Athletes, fan base, University and State. But was I ever wrong. Do I understand in this time of sports it's about the $$$$$$$$l$$$. Brian Kelly, left ND and now owed 50 million. Something wrong with this picture. I have lost respect for Mora. At least coach the bowl game and stay for the kids who played their hearts out for him. Never mind the portal...His so-called loyalty was a bamboozle. Time to turn the page.
Here is a thought: UConn has the Head Coach already on campus. His name is Joe Fagnano. Yup, Joe. Oh I know, that's a laugh for anyone reading my post. We want the guy who has coached a big time program. NOT COMING. Or a young guy, like at James Madison, who will build his resume at UConn and leave.
Listen, Listen, Joe is a leader, and would put UConn on the front page of sports news. 3 star athletes, many who are tired of sitting the Bench at the power schools would find this an interesting concept and some would find their way to UConn. Joe would hire the coaches who can coach them up.
Going to the NFL as a 7th round or just signed as a signing after the draft only to be cut late.
It's a new world. Young people want something new. I know nobody will agree with Old Guy, but sometime in the future when another coach has bailed on UConn for more money, someone will say, Maybe Old Guy was right, WE SHOULD HAVE GONE WITH JOE! RECREATED PT 109 STORY. Riding with JOE.....JOE IS A LEADER AND WOULD BE A GREAT COACH!!!!! Love you all OLD GUY
I know I said I want a new coach, yet Joe F is not what I want. He is good as a QB, but a high profile coach? I hope you are joking...

No to Malzahn...I doubt he want to coach in New England...
 
If I am DB I would get to work on “fixing” next season’s schedule. It probably shouldn’t be that hard.
Why...would you want to change our schedule. Why not scheduled Akron, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, UMass, Kent State...and lets throw in Georgia Southern? Sorry, we scheduled a few years ago, so we didn't know if a top QB and WR would graduate this year. We didn't even know we'd be 9-3 when it was was scheduled.

We might fall back to below .500 next year, even if JM was still here.
 
I don’t like hiring an FCS coach. The demand of a FBS coach and the transfer portal and all the other non coaching duties, are way more than why they dealt with at their FCS job. We need someone who hits the ground to pick up the portal work Mora laid the foundation for. Whoever was saying we should rely more on HS recruits is wrong. Transfers are what brought this program from the dead. Our most promising recruit during Mora’s time was our QB who transferred after his first season. I’d rather have a QB who could step in.

Once again, whatever head coach we get needs to have NFL experience that he can use to attract recruits. It’s what Mora used successfully. It’s the biggest thing that we can use here.
 
.-.
Pat Fitzgerald would be a home run IMO and is my personal #1 target. He has a massive chip on his shoulder following what happened there, but won a ton of games at a tougher place to win in B1G.

IDK how motivated a Chip or Brian Kelly would really be. They've been paid and both fired now.

Patricia hasn't been in college long, but knows the NE well and maybe would do well? Seems like a high risk, high reward situation with him.

I do like Cahill or Reno a lot too and would happy with both.
 
I don’t like hiring an FCS coach. The demand of a FBS coach and the transfer portal and all the other non coaching duties, are way more than why they dealt with at their FCS job. We need someone who hits the ground to pick up the portal work Mora laid the foundation for. Whoever was saying we should rely more on HS recruits is wrong. Transfers are what brought this program from the dead. Our most promising recruit during Mora’s time was our QB who transferred after his first season. I’d rather have a QB who could step in.

Once again, whatever head coach we get needs to have NFL experience that he can use to attract recruits. It’s what Mora used successfully. It’s the biggest thing that we can use here.
How is Chesney doing at JMU?
 
Pat Fitzgerald would be a home run IMO and is my personal #1 target. He has a massive chip on his shoulder following what happened there, but won a ton of games at a tougher place to win in B1G.

IDK how motivated a Chip or Brian Kelly would really be. They've been paid and both fired now.

Patricia hasn't been in college long, but knows the NE well and maybe would do well? Seems like a high risk, high reward situation with him.

I do like Cahill or Reno a lot too and would happy with both.
I’m with you 100%. I have no clue if Fitzgerald is being considered but he absolutely should be and he’s my number 1. That chip on his shoulder is massive. You know he wants to get back and it can be a mutually beneficial situation. The hope would be crush it for 3-4 years and see where we’re at, but I’m definitely big on him. Theres been talks about him getting another P4 job this cycle; he’s going to be a coach again sooner than later, why not us?
 
that doesn't bother me per se.... but its clear that the new game of football is high roster churn and recruiting along with a lot of technological and information support. The coach that can wrangle both wins.

My worry is a lower division coach won't be able to handle the churn and recruiting and then do the dance of information support.
The portal isn’t just an FBS thing. The churn happens at all levels. My main concerns would be - does he have the skills to oversee NIL (if UConn has a good system, this is moot), and does he have a strong pitch to get players in here? The path to the NFL/P4 opportunity is one Mora used effectively - would Cahill have something like that?
 
How is Chesney doing at JMU?
I hear what you're saying, but for a couple decades I tell interns " Bill Gates dropped out of college to start a software company and became the richest man in the world. That does mean that being a college dropout is a path to wealth".

I imagine that for every Chesney type success story there are a dozen or so failures who made a similar move. I'm not saying it can't work, but I'm not confident that it will.
 
I know I said I want a new coach, yet Joe F is not what I want. He is good as a QB, but a high profile coach? I hope you are joking...

No to Malzahn...I doubt he want to coach in New England...
I assumed my comment would get a negative reaction and that is fine. I was actually not joking. Change is difficult, but a young guy, who has achieved success as a QB could spur unimaginable change. Young players would accept the change and with others on the staff to coach them up, they would do well. I don't expect it to happen, but one day someone will go young and it will come to your mind that "I HEARD THAT IDEA FROM OLD GUY! As the late great Jim Valvano once said NEVER GIVE UP.. Happy Thanksgiving...
 
.-.
Why...would you want to change our schedule. Why not scheduled Akron, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, UMass, Kent State...and lets throw in Georgia Southern? Sorry, we scheduled a few years ago, so we didn't know if a top QB and WR would graduate this year. We didn't even know we'd be 9-3 when it was was scheduled.

We might fall back to below .500 next year, even if JM was still here.

That’s why we should fix it.
 
My only problem is that Dante is a sophomore. If he was a senior I would think heck yes. But seeing as Tony has been there for a while now, I'd expect that they want Dante to get that yale degree.

But maybe his former AHC/OC/QB coach is an option...Kevin Cahill.
Tony Reno - I'm sure Tony wants to coach his son. Tony could come to UConn and Dante could stay at Yale to get that degree, or if Dante is that good, come to UConn. That would be a touch decision.
Dante was mentioned several times on these boards as a recruit
Loomis Chaffee then Cheshire Academy graduate 12/2023
South Carolina in 2024 but didn't play as far as I can tell
Received offers from many P4 programs and UConn - also Ole Miss, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Louisville, Arizona, Virginia...
Yale in 2025 - 2,040 yards, 17 td's, 6 int

Yale (unseeded) plays Youngstown State (15 seed) Saturday in Youngstown
 
I assumed my comment would get a negative reaction and that is fine. I was actually not joking. Change is difficult, but a young guy, who has achieved success as a QB could spur unimaginable change. Young players would accept the change and with others on the staff to coach them up, they would do well. I don't expect it to happen, but one day someone will go young and it will come to your mind that "I HEARD THAT IDEA FROM OLD GUY! As the late great Jim Valvano once said NEVER GIVE UP.. Happy Thanksgiving...

Head coach doesn't have to be the detail guy. He has to know what he wants And clearly communicate it, and to be able to manage other coaches and players so that they can take care of the details. In other words, let them do their jobs. He also needs to know a little bit about clock management because so many coaches are so bad at that when all it takes is a little bit of study. So maybe your take sounds a little bit extreme but it wouldn't shock me if somebody does try something like that in the near future. With the right staff it could just pan. I just don't think it'll be us that jumps in first. I don't think our AD operates like that.
 
The problem with a guy like Chesney is he is probably already put himself on a path to a p4 job. How long would he be here before he gets that offer? Right now the only he doesn't get an offer is if he has a career setback. We don't want that to happen here also.
 
.-.
I'm placing a dislike because we knew that he loves to ski. I knew he was not going to stay if he got a western area job. I'm wishing him good luck at CSU.

Feels worse than Edsall? Not to me..Jim left us in the best position since 2011. Now, let's hit a bullseye on the coaching hire.
I’m annoyed at Edsall for what seemed like half hearted effort during his second stint and his stubborn refusal to adapt to the Portal.
But during Edall’s first stint, he took a 1-AA program into the Big East and had a lot of success. It may not be the same as taking over a program that bottomed for a decade, but Edsall deserves credit for his first stint and against much better competition than what UConn’s been facing as an independent in recent years.

Uconn is definitely better positioned than when Mora took over but a lot of that is also due to increased university investment in FB since that time. The perception of UConn FB has improved immensely.

But as far as the status player personnel, Mora mainly brought in seniors and graduate students in the last portal cycle and the team’s losing the core of a very productive offense. So the next coach will have to rebuild the roster. The fan base needs to be patient and realistic. I don’t think Mora had UConn set up with a great returning roster for next year - at least, not yet.
 
.-.
NFL retreads, there's an idea for y'all. Mora was successful.

Jerad Mayo
Nathaniel Hackett - NFL and college experience
Darren Rizzi - NFL and College experience
Darrell Bevell - former UConn WR coach! Lol
 
Long enough to resurrect the program. I always figured he would only be here 4-5 years if he did his job right.

Oh, you thought this was his forever job?!?

He was interviewing for the next job after his first season here.

Exactly my point. Let's just hire another Syracuse coach. They don't want him anymore.
 
Last edited:
Better to hire a good coach to come in here and do a job and then leave after earning another opportunity than to hire some dud and go 3-9 every year.

It’s no wonder we have such a bad history with thinking like yours.

I liked the Mora hire, but he had a losing record at the time he left every previous job. UConn will not hire any current coach with a winning record.

We need a young position coach, or a successful D2 or 3 head coach.
 
.-.
Status
Not open for further replies.

Forum statistics

Threads
168,369
Messages
4,568,590
Members
10,472
Latest member
MyStore24


Top Bottom