Oh no he didn't - High School Coaches Weigh in UConn Coaching Search

[Adios]

After the Rutgers I was standing by the C entrance waiting for members of my family. To my right is a group of people and one of them is talking about GDL and giving him props. After a minute or two, I could not take it anymore, so I lean in and ask; do you think a Ppgdl led team would have beaten Rutgers today? His response was maybe, but now we will never know. At the time I wondered if he was a ct high school coach.

Apparently this person doesn't care that 99% of UConn fans don't want to know or care to know. Amazing how dimwitted or self-centered people can be.

"Oh, my friend is a coach on the state's FBS college football team. He is a great coach! What? They were beaten by Towson, Buffalo, Vanderbilt, Temple and even Western Michigan twice?? So what! He's a great coach and might have won."

 

[Chin Diesel]

Apparently this person doesn't care that 99% of UConn fans don't want to know or care to know. Amazing how dimwitted or self-centered people can be.

"Oh, my friend is a coach on the state's FBS college football team. He is a great coach! What? They were beaten by Towson, Buffalo, Vanderbilt, Temple and even Western Michigan twice?? So what! He's a great coach and might have won."

That's funny. And worse yet, true.

 

[BHusky]

I laughed at Marinelli's quotes too, but I can't take an old man who clearly suffers from dementia seriously.

He wants UConn to hire someone who will take the in-state kids, but who will also throw the ball around the field. That's a heck of an oxymoron. Connecticut high school football is known for running the football because Connecticut barely produces any quarterbacks who can throw the ball over thirty yards. The two exceptions to that rule that are currently college-eligible are already on our roster- and even they aren't strong armed gun slingers. In order to play that style using Connecticut kids, Connecticut actually has to produce the quarterbacks to use in that system. It doesn't. High school coaches fail again.

Not sure if your comment about CT HS football is entirely accurate. Most of the top teams are running the spread (and have been for years) and throw the ball all over the place. It doesn't mean they are D1 quality QB's, but to say CT is known for running makes me think you haven't seen many of the teams play, especially the Fairfield County teams. New Canaan and Darien are in the state championship versus each other and probably throw the ball 30 times a game. New Canaan hosted a 7 on 7 passing tournament this summer and giot a huge turnout, CT teams and out of state.

It is funny how Marinelli brings up the recruiting of his singe major D1 prospect in 10-15 years. He is not really working from a large sample set of UConn recruiting slights when it is one kid and he was destined to go to ND since birth.....

I laughed at Marinelli's quotes too, but I can't take an old man who clearly suffers from dementia seriously.

 

[Waquoit]

Some coaches have no clue of reality. Complaining about how FHCPP was treated shows how out of touch he truly is.

True, as long as P's checks didn't bounce he was treated more than fairly.

 

[freescooter]

This is the same guy who is complaining because the State Championship game is in new Britain and not his backyard, no?

 

[Carl Spackler]

The thing about CT high school coaches is that a lot of them are getting older now, and were around in the late 70s early 80s as young guys in the game. When Tom Jackson was hired as UCONN football coach, he made an absolute priority of recruiting Connecticut and a very short radius of Storrs. I honestly don't know much about the UCONN program in the 1970s, before my time, but I'm sure there are others around here that do. We had some pretty poor stretches in the mid-late 70s though if I'm not mistaken. Sorry if I'm wrong, but anyway - Tom Jackson came over from Penn State, did his initial press conference in Middletown, just like they always did, and the CT guys loved what he said, and he did it.

Jackson built a very successful division 1-AA program by the late 1980s primarily on CT kids and local kids within a short drive of CT in the NY, NJ, and New England states. He had a few players here and there from outside the region, Florida, PA, etc. but the majority of the program was local kids.

Skip Holtz was hired in the early 1990s, and continued the trend. He went out a lot more frequently and farther than Jackson did in recruiting, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, but still made a priority of recruiting locally to build the core of the program. One of the best athletes to date that I've ever seen play the game out of downtown Hartford - Tavarr Closs. We were still 1-AA though. There is no doubt that there is enough talent in CT to build the core of a top level 1-AA team. It's been done twice in the past 30 years by two different coaches.

But we are 1-A now, and have been for 13 years.

Randy Edsall came along, the transition to 1A was becoming reality, and he continued to recruit as many local players as possible, but made it very clear that the priorities of the program recruiting wise had changed, and he was only taking the local players that he wanted. The CT coaches didn't like him for it, because for nearly two full decades, they had been catered to, by the UCONN coaching staff for their players that were scholarship worthy. Over a period of time, animosity was built up.

We went to 1A football full bore. Edsall recruited well, very well, for a number of years, but never really liked the situation he was in (my opinion on the 'liking' part - no doubt he recruited well) and got us to a Big East title in 2007 and our best recruiting class at 1A to date, at the same time. Coincidentally, or not, he started interviewing for other coaching jobs at the same time (2007)

By 2010, he was gone, and we've had some holes develop in the recruiting classes that were brought in b/w 2007-2010.

Enter Pasqualoni - all hail the CT high school coaches. The man that had taken all their best players to Syracuse two decades earlier, and was taking players to WestConn at the time Tom Jackson was recruiting Connecticut for 1-AA UCONN......He was their guy. He was one of them. He would take their best players as well as give the others the legitimate shot.

And you know what? he actually did. Any way we got both Cochran and Boyle at QB if Pasqualoni wasn't brought in? Doubtful. It would be good for UCONN to continue to keep the best local players home at UCONN as much as possible. Won't get them all, but good to keep as many as possible, but there is also no doubt, like Edsall knew, that to compete at the national level at 1A, we need a very wide ranging recruiting territory.

pasqualoni was too old and loyal to an idiot of an assistant coach to win though, and the CT coaches, much like the University of Connecticut itself, needs a change of the guard from the old to the young.

The young high school coaches in the region are going to get along with the young coaching staff at UCONN - I'm quite sure.

Have a good day all - it's a great day for UCONN football. A new day, unlimited potential for the future.

Tomorrow, I start my countdown clock to BYU.

 

[Stinger92860]

The thing about CT high school coaches is that a lot of them are getting older now, and were around in the late 70s early 80s as young guys in the game. When Tom Jackson was hired as UCONN football coach, he made an absolute priority of recruiting Connecticut and a very short radius of Storrs. I honestly don't know much about the UCONN program in the 1970s, before my time, but I'm sure there are others around here that do. We had some pretty poor stretches in the mid-late 70s though if I'm not mistaken. Sorry if I'm wrong, but anyway - Tom Jackson came over from Penn State, did his initial press conference in Middletown, just like they always did, and the CT guys loved what he said, and he did it.

Jackson built a very successful division 1-AA program by the late 1980s primarily on CT kids and local kids within a short drive of CT in the NY, NJ, and New England states. He had a few players here and there from outside the region, Florida, PA, etc. but the majority of the program was local kids.

Skip Holtz was hired in the early 1990s, and continued the trend. He went out a lot more frequently and farther than Jackson did in recruiting, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, but still made a priority of recruiting locally to build the core of the program. One of the best athletes to date that I've ever seen play the game out of downtown Hartford - Tavarr Closs. We were still 1-AA though. There is no doubt that there is enough talent in CT to build the core of a top level 1-AA team. It's been done twice in the past 30 years by two different coaches.

But we are 1-A now, and have been for 13 years.

Randy Edsall came along, the transition to 1A was becoming reality, and he continued to recruit as many local players as possible, but made it very clear that the priorities of the program recruiting wise had changed, and he was only taking the local players that he wanted. The CT coaches didn't like him for it, because for nearly two full decades, they had been catered to, by the UCONN coaching staff for their players that were scholarship worthy. Over a period of time, animosity was built up.

We went to 1A football full bore. Edsall recruited well, very well, for a number of years, but never really liked the situation he was in (my opinion on the 'liking' part - no doubt he recruited well) and got us to a Big East title in 2007 and our best recruiting class at 1A to date, at the same time. Coincidentally, or not, he started interviewing for other coaching jobs at the same time (2007)

By 2010, he was gone, and we've had some holes develop in the recruiting classes that were brought in b/w 2007-2010.

Enter Pasqualoni - all hail the CT high school coaches. The man that had taken all their best players to Syracuse two decades earlier, and was taking players to WestConn at the time Tom Jackson was recruiting Connecticut for 1-AA UCONN......He was their guy. He was one of them. He would take their best players as well as give the others the legitimate shot.

And you know what? he actually did. Any way we got both Cochran and Boyle at QB if Pasqualoni wasn't brought in? Doubtful. It would be good for UCONN to continue to keep the best local players home at UCONN as much as possible. Won't get them all, but good to keep as many as possible, but there is also no doubt, like Edsall knew, that to compete at the national level at 1A, we need a very wide ranging recruiting territory.

pasqualoni was too old and loyal to an idiot of an assistant coach to win though, and the CT coaches, much like the University of Connecticut itself, needs a change of the guard from the old to the young.

The young high school coaches in the region are going to get along with the young coaching staff at UCONN - I'm quite sure.

Have a good day all - it's a great day for UCONN football. A new day, unlimited potential for the future.

Tomorrow, I start my countdown clock to BYU.

One thing coach p did that I liked was the clinics for the tri state coaches. The open house mentality. Beyond that, I have little else. But I do agree that Casey and Tim probably don't come here. Is that because of p or the stubbornness of the high school coaches?

 

[Carl Spackler]

One thing coach p did that I liked was the clinics for the tri state coaches. The open house mentality. Beyond that, I have little else. But I do agree that Casey and Tim probably don't come here. Is that because of p or the stubbornness of the high school coaches?

I would expect Diaco to continue that kind of clinic thing with the facilities that Pasqualoni started. It's really essential for UCONN, to get as many kids and coaches as possible coming through the facilities in clinics and showcases. You recruit entire high school programs, not just players. 7-7 tournaments. etc. etc.

Edsall actually did the same things early on when the facilities were brand new, but it all fell off in his later years.

I supported Pasqauloni. I'm not afraid to admit it. I liked the hire. THe guy was a very well respected head coach, by me, when I was younger. Not so much anymore, I cannot believe what he allowed to happen to this program in 2 years on the field. I despise Deleone, and let myself be blinded for too long. The guy played football at UCONN!! For John Toner!!

Could he really tear down his own alma mater? We all know the answer. Pasqualoni was too old, and stuck in his ways when it comes to the actual coaching and playing of the game. But he was not wrong about recruiting, in any way. The two classes he brought in are going to be contributors for a while at UCONN, and we need to hold on to as many of the 2014 kids as possible through the next 2 1/2 months and get some new ones too.

We will need to recruit the best players we can out of CT, New England, NY, NJ, PA, OH, FL, TX, GA........we need a big recruiting budget at UCONN.

The clinics are a great way to generate revenue.

 

[noeynox]

One thing coach p did that I liked was the clinics for the tri state coaches. The open house mentality. Beyond that, I have little else. But I do agree that Casey and Tim probably don't come here. Is that because of p or the stubbornness of the high school coaches?

The UConn program doesn't have to kiss the CT HS coaches association's ass, but the relationship doesn't have to be adverserial. I always come back to the Amari Spivey recruitment. It's one thing to take the tape and say he doesn't fit what were looking for, it's another to refuse to take the tape and tell the coach he is not an FBS player. Not every FBS player is going to fit into what your trying to do and that can be explained, the second example comes off as lazy, arrogant, and douchy.

 

[ZooCougar]

Bla Bla Bla Tom Jackson, Bla Bla Bla Pasqualoni

 

[Carl Spackler]

Bla Bla Bla Tom Jackson, Bla Bla Bla Pasqualoni

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...AMhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Z3UFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1342,1001004

This is where the entitlement attitude of the CT H.S. football coaches began. It worked fine for 1-AA football from 1982 through 2000. Edsall knew it wouldn't work for 1-A football, and started looking heavily in the NJ, and PA, and was very picky about CT and New England. He wasn't much of a politician about it about 10 years ago, and pissed off local coaches that started steering their best players elsewhere. Pasqualoni came in and started changing that. Diaco will need to continue to try to keep the best CT and New England players home, and build on the wide recruiting range that Edsall built up through NY, NJ and PA. We will need to get deeper into Ohio, Florida and Texas.

THe younger generation of high school football coaches all understand that UCONN football needs to be this way.

 

[ZooCougar]

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...AMhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Z3UFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1342,1001004

This is where the entitlement attitude of the CT H.S. football coaches began. It worked fine for 1-AA football from 1982 through 2000. Edsall knew it wouldn't work for 1-A football, and started looking heavily in the NJ, and PA, and was very picky about CT and New England. He wasn't much of a politician about it about 10 years ago, and pissed off local coaches that started steering their best players elsewhere. Pasqualoni came in and started changing that. Diaco will need to continue to try to keep the best CT and New England players home, and build on the wide recruiting range that Edsall built up through NY, NJ and PA. We will need to get deeper into Ohio, Florida and Texas.

THe younger generation of high school football coaches all understand that UCONN football needs to be this way.

You can never make everyone happy.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I've missed Spackler.

 

[sportsart]

I would expect Diaco to continue that kind of clinic thing with the facilities that Pasqualoni started. It's really essential for UCONN, to get as many kids and coaches as possible coming through the facilities in clinics and showcases. You recruit entire high school programs, not just players. 7-7 tournaments. etc. etc.

Edsall actually did the same things early on when the facilities were brand new, but it all fell off in his later years.

I supported Pasqauloni. I'm not afraid to admit it. I liked the hire. THe guy was a very well respected head coach, by me, when I was younger. Not so much anymore, I cannot believe what he allowed to happen to this program in 2 years on the field. I despise Deleone, and let myself be blinded for too long. The guy played football at UCONN!! For John Toner!!

Could he really tear down his own alma mater? We all know the answer. Pasqualoni was too old, and stuck in his ways when it comes to the actual coaching and playing of the game. But he was not wrong about recruiting, in any way. The two classes he brought in are going to be contributors for a while at UCONN, and we need to hold on to as many of the 2014 kids as possible through the next 2 1/2 months and get some new ones too.

We will need to recruit the best players we can out of CT, New England, NY, NJ, PA, OH, FL, TX, GA........we need a big recruiting budget at UCONN.

The clinics are a great way to generate revenue.

As an FYI Edsall started the clinics. PP just turned it into a love fest.

 

[Waquoit]

The UConn program doesn't have to kiss the CT HS coaches association's ass, but the relationship doesn't have to be adverserial.

I agree, but it's the CT HS coaches that make it so just because they don't get their way.

 

[Carl Spackler]

It's pretty clear that I wrote that "Edsall actually did the same things early on when the facilities were brand new, but it all fell off in his later years." I get that it's taboo to credit Pasqualoni with anything positive.

Pasqualoni started rebuilding the "love fest" that Edsall had envisioned and started working for with the new facilities. only Edsall knows why he let things change as far as recruiting goes.

Dhameer Bradley's high school program brought a squad to a 7-7 tournament last summer. There were some heavy hitter prospects in his H.S. group that came through our facilities for a camp experience. His high school was not the only one with similar characteristics that showed up out of the MD, NY, NJ, PA, CT, New England corridor. I could be wrong, but I think his Elkton squad played Don Bosco's squad in our practice facility last summer. That kind of thing is HUGE for recruiting.

Edsall ran camps and clinics every year he was at UCONN, but he wasn't working as hard in his later years as he was in his early years at establishing the highest level he could, and he certainly wasn't open to accepting any level of local program to come and work out. Debate that if you want, it's what I think. Edsall started with the same kind of "love fest" concept of recruiting but changed to a recruiting paradigm that was much more individual based, selling himself and the program personally to athletes, rather than bringing them through the school and selling the school. Again - debate that all you want, it's what I think.

I think you can recruit successfully in many different ways. I think it would be dumb not to try to use the UCONN campus and it's facilities as a HUGE recruiting tool.

Diaco, has recruited the region heavily. He knows where the hot spots are, and I think he would be smart to continue the "love fest" that Pasqualoni revived and pump those clinics and showcases to the same recruiting corridor and target entire high school programs pretty hard.

 

[noeynox]

I agree, but it's the CT HS coaches that make it so just because they don't get their way.

So a HS coach calls a coach from State U, responsible for recruiting CT, wants to hand him a tape of one of his players that wants to go to State U, gets told I don't need to see the tape he's not a division one player. Said player then goes on to play in the Big Ten and the NFL.

What does getting their way mean anyways?

 

[Carl Spackler]

So a HS coach calls a coach from State U, responsible for recruiting CT, wants to hand him a tape of one of his players that wants to go to State U, gets told I don't need to see the tape he's not a division one player. Said player then goes on to play in the Big Ten and the NFL.

What does getting their way mean anyways?

I won't share the name of the player or coaches, but the scenario you describe which is probably about Spievey, was not an isolated incident with Edsall. There were other players who were very much interested in playing at UCONN, and being recruited by UCONN, but weren't given the slightest courtesy of even a phone call, after repeatedly making their interests known to the school. Players that were recruited by other division 1 programs in New England, and actually played for other division 1 programs in New England, and I'm not talking about UMass.

Edsall - with all of his traits, WAS able to build successful teams through recruiting at the division 1 level. He alienated a lot of people along the way, but it is what it is. You cannot make everyone happy, but it's college football. Your reputation is all you got, and if your rep as a recruiter is a pompous that won't give you the time of day if he thinks it's not worthy? Well, you better have lots new places to find recruits every year.

 

[noeynox]

I know it wasn't Carl, and it wasn't all on Edsall, some of the assistants didn't help matters. Time to move on, but the CT coaches get a bum rap here sometimes for the wrong reasons.

 

[freescooter]

So a HS coach calls a coach from State U, responsible for recruiting CT, wants to hand him a tape of one of his players that wants to go to State U, gets told I don't need to see the tape he's not a division one player. Said player then goes on to play in the Big Ten and the NFL.

What does getting their way mean anyways?

A. Who knows if that is the real story. B. Who knows if there were other issues and the UConn guy didn't want to embarrass anyone or had other reasons. I've heard that there were issues at Xavier and before that too. From what I recall, Spivey flunked out or otherwise left Iowa, went to some JUCO then returned, so its entirely possible that UConn had some other issues with the kid. to the best of my knowledge, UConn never made any public statements about him.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

So a HS coach calls a coach from State U, responsible for recruiting CT, wants to hand him a tape of one of his players that wants to go to State U, gets told I don't need to see the tape he's not a division one player. Said player then goes on to play in the Big Ten and the NFL.

What does getting their way mean anyways?

I have no clue if the above did or did not happen.

I do know that with a few alterations, the above is an identical story to Scott Lutrus. Scott's HS coach sent film to Friedgen and Friedgen refused to look at the film saying basically the same 'I don't need to see the tape he's not a division one player' from the above.

The first pick in last spring's NFL draft came from Central Michigan. How did the entire B1G miss this kid? The thing is (unfortunately this shows that we are still primarily a basketball school) you cannot always tell what a seventeen year old football player will end up being at twenty two. There will be kids, even local ones who get missed. That may piss off those close to that kid but those things happen.

 

[noeynox]

I have no clue if the above did or did not happen.

I do know that with a few alterations, the above is an identical story to Scott Lutrus. Scott's HS coach sent film to Friedgen and Friedgen refused to look at the film saying basically the same 'I don't need to see the tape he's not a division one player' from the above.

The first pick in last spring's NFL draft came from Central Michigan. How did the entire B1G miss this kid? The thing is (unfortunately this shows that we are still primarily a basketball school) you cannot always tell what a seventeen year old football player will end up being at twenty two. There will be kids, even local ones who get missed. That may piss off those close to that kid but those things happen.

The only point is the story as it relates to the thread was how the rocky relationship with the CT coaches developed over time while Edsall was here. Would have been easy to grab the DVD, and tell the coach we will evaluate. Of course you could always say were full at the spot or have some higher rated kids were looking at that we feel good about. My impression was never that "they wanted their ass kissed" and Edsall wouldn't do it. Believe me I defended Edsall/UConn, in how it was his job to offer the kids that they feel will best help them win regardless of where they were from. The relationship just wasn't good, and regardless of how you feel about CT talent, you simply cannot have CT kids with other FBS offers dismissing you off the bat, because the HS coach has nothing positive to say about you.

Like Carl said P, started to mend the relationship between the HS coaches and UConn, and after hearing coach Diaco, I'm sure he will keep it going.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Diaco nailed the reality of the recruiting territory in about 30 words or less yesterday. That's what impressed me the most about the guy. THe guy knows the region, knows the demographics, and knows what he's got to do with recruiting. He also laid it out clear that we are essentially on an island in recruiting, and have competition from the ACC and Big 10 on both sides (and independants in ND, and the service academies) - I believe he used those exact words actually. Understanding recruiting, and knowing the territory: That is priority #1 in a head football coach hire, and we got a guy that knows the ground.

The recruiting territory that UCONN calls home, has been getting mined for top quality division 1 athletes for decades, by multiple programs. There have been, and will continue to be, programs from all over the country, literally, searching out the best players along the I-95 corridor from D.C. to Boston, and out into Pennsylvania.

This is where the CT H.S. coaches come in. In CT, the best high school players for decades were plucked out by the programs, like the one Diaco just came from, by Penn State, by Boston College, by Syracuse as far west as CAlifornia. There was NO program locally in the state of CT that could provide the division 1 opportunities for those type of athletes from 1982 through 2000. Go back and research the number of NFL players that did their high school football in the state of CT in the past 30 years. GO find the number of players right now, that are in division 1 programs from CT.

THe number is not Dade County FL, nor is it New Jersey, or anywhere else, but there is top quality talent in CT, coming out of high school that can be developed. It's not enough, to be able to build a nationally competitive top 25, conference championship team in division 1A football. We all know this, so does Diaco. We have to extend out. We need to mine the I-95 corridor, we need to get into PA, OH, FL, TX. He said it yesterday. In CT - It is enough, to build conference winning, championship level teams in 1-AA football. We won championships in the 1980s and 1990s with CT players building the core of the program. AT 1-AA. (You know I'm reminded of the one guy crazier than me - HFD. Putting the UCONN wordmark inside the image of the borders of the state of CT. That might be the most brilliant idea the crazy one ever had - but I digress)

Edsall - was the first coach, to have a program in CT, at UCONN at 1-A and recruit at that level - in 20 years. Yale stopped recruiting at that level - at the same time that Tom Jackson took the UCONN football job. In the early 1980s, Yale had a top 25 football program, in 1-A. Yup - you read that right - Yale was a ranked team in 1981. When the 1-AA, 1-A split was in full effect and the first earthquake of great magnitude happened in college football alignment and priorities.

In those interim 20 years, CT high school coaches, were still steering their very best players, to those other 1-A programs, that I won't mention again. The rest were looking at the local 1-AA level, service academies ARmy and Navy, and Ivy's.

Edsall, had a 1-A program at UCONN with shiny new toys, but he didn't have the personality, and political communication, that it takes to get things done in New England and maintain a good rep. He was going to have to massage some ego's to get the players that were going out to 1-A programs, to come to UCONN, but that wasn't his way. No way Edsall is going to communicate with anyone like that. Edsall recruited very successfully, but quickly changed from the kind of recruiting that Pasqualoni was doing in the past 2 years, selling the school, to Edsall selling himself. That's my theory as to what happened to Edsall. By the time he had won the Big East title in 2007, he didn't have anything else to sell in recruiting, because his sales pitch has complete.

Sometimes, with new Englanders, all it takes is one cold shoulder, and it's over. We simply don't live and recruit in a region, where you can afford to shut down any possibility with your behavior. We are on an island and have the ACC and Big 10 and Notre Dame recruiting right next to us. Diaco is an Italian from Joisey. He can communicate. He can talk, and he's recruited the region.

I look forward to watching this guy work.

 

[FDNY99]

The UConn program doesn't have to kiss the CT HS coaches association's ass, but the relationship doesn't have to be adverserial. I always come back to the Amari Spivey recruitment. It's one thing to take the tape and say he doesn't fit what were looking for, it's another to refuse to take the tape and tell the coach he is not an FBS player. Not every FBS player is going to fit into what your trying to do and that can be explained, the second example comes off as lazy, arrogant, and douchy.

And to think there were a LOT of people on here that wanted WM to hire the coach that did this.

 

[Carl Spackler]

The only point is the story as it relates to the thread was how the rocky relationship with the CT coaches developed over time while Edsall was here. Would have been easy to grab the DVD, and tell the coach we will evaluate. Of course you could always say were full at the spot or have some higher rated kids were looking at that we feel good about. My impression was never that "they wanted their ass kissed" and Edsall wouldn't do it. Believe me I defended Edsall/UConn, in how it was his job to offer the kids that they feel will best help them win regardless of where they were from. The relationship just wasn't good, and regardless of how you feel about CT talent, you simply cannot have CT kids with other FBS offers dismissing you off the bat, because the HS coach has nothing positive to say about you.

Like Carl said P, started to mend the relationship between the HS coaches and UConn, and after hearing coach Diaco, I'm sure he will keep it going.

This about sums it up a hell of lot shorter than I ever could. We simply don't recruit in a territory where we can afford to completely dismiss anyone that's expressing interest in playing for UCONN. Moreso than ever, with the conference changes around us. You cannot shut off any possibility with your behavior (and that means the head coach managing his recruiting staff behavior too)

What's really, really exciting for me, IMNSHO, is that to date, we have not yet had a recruiter, head coach build a recruiting system, in 1A division , to put the full weight of what the University offers behind recruiting. From academics, to facilities, to everything the school offers, we have not yet had anyone put the full weight of UCONN nation into recruiting for football. Edsall sold himself, and the dream of winning championships building from nothing. Pasqualoni relied on 40 years of coaching career connections.

Diaco, clearly, laid out a plan to put the full weight of UCONN into this program.