One Year After Change Future of Football Program Is Bright: Matt Schonvisky

[whaler11]

Can you imagine how brutal this season would have been with BD at the helm again? Would we even have any commits?

They would have been so bad we’d all be blind.

 

[Husky25]

Can you imagine how brutal this season would have been with BD at the helm again? Would we even have any commits?

Yes, but like his other classes, UConn would be the only FBS school offering a lot of the players. Some would pan out but not enough to make a difference.

 

[hardcorehusky]

And the RB coach now coaches WRs at Army, which completes like 10 passes a year.

Lonelier than the Maytag repairman!!

 

[Exit 4]

Yes, but like his other classes, UConn would be the only FBS school offering a lot of the players. Some would pan out but not enough to make a difference.

It would be his usual, 6'5'' guys from private schools with limited agility and only straighline speed. Guys that should be TE. Guys that are the third tackler in every highlight. He would probably have a 160lb full back and 170lb long snapper as part of the mix as well.

 

[Fishy]

I agree. It still feels like some event happened that forced DB to pull the trigger. If it wasn’t specifically Kill, it had to be something else. Maybe something changed with the cash available for the buyout. Or....RE dropped his asking price.

But you don’t draw up contracts for the assistants if you knew all along BD was out. Some event happened or barrier was removed to enable the change.

Thankfully.

I think it’s already been made pretty clear.

DB and Diaco agreed that they would bring in a certain offensive coordinator to fix the offense and then Diaco tried to back out. Once he did that, DB knew it was a lost cause and he threw Diaco into a volcano.

 

[weyuo]

I like Edsall's demeanor. He's been around the block in the head coaching world, this being his third H C job(sure it's with UConn again but his bosses are different). His clock management is so much better than Diaco's. But.... can he recruit to the level of his competition? Even in UConn's heyday they were never a dominant 10-2, 11-1, 12-0 top 10-15 ranked team. In their defense the Huskies started in Division 1 about a half century after everyone who took college football serious did so they obviously have a lot of ground to make up. No tradition, no legendary All Americans or major bowl victories to point at when making the recruiting visits. BC does, Penn St definitely does, even Syracuse does. I have my fingers crossed he can do something with the kids that do commit but my god what an up hill climb it is.

 

[UConnNick]

And the RB coach now coaches WRs at Army, which completes like 10 passes a year.

The WR coach at Army is like the Maytag repairman...the loneliest coach in America.

 

[TheDrifter75]

I think it’s already been made pretty clear.

DB and Diaco agreed that they would bring in a certain offensive coordinator to fix the offense and then Diaco tried to back out. Once he did that, DB knew it was a lost cause and he threw Diaco into a volcano.

I'd like to be thrown in a volcano that erupts Benjamins.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

I like Edsall's demeanor. He's been around the block in the head coaching world, this being his third H C job(sure it's with UConn again but his bosses are different). His clock management is so much better than Diaco's. But.... can he recruit to the level of his competition? Even in UConn's heyday they were never a dominant 10-2, 11-1, 12-0 top 10-15 ranked team. In their defense the Huskies started in Division 1 about a half century after everyone who took college football serious did so they obviously have a lot of ground to make up. No tradition, no legendary All Americans or major bowl victories to point at when making the recruiting visits. BC does, Penn St definitely does, even Syracuse does. I have my fingers crossed he can do something with the kids that do commit but my god what an up hill climb it is.

Randy's never had a track record of bringing in the blue chip recruits (or as much as a school with UConn's profile could attract) but he does have a track record of coaching 3-star kids into NFL players. Give me that guy any day over the one who brings in the blue chip kids but has suspect coaching ability. Randy is competent, understands the fundamentals of the game extremely well, has shown an ability to adjust his coaching style to the modern player and offensive philosophy - Lashlee's hiring and freedom to run his offense being the most glaring example of this - and of the realistic candidates we had last year, he was the best choice to dig us out of the gargantuan hole that P and D put us in. He runs a solid program, his former players love him and the school, and he deeply cares about the school himself. The ship is heading in the right direction, the question is how far will it get in that right direction, which remains to be seen. Six wins is a realistic goal for this season.

 

[Rocktheworld]

I think it’s already been made pretty clear.

DB and Diaco agreed that they would bring in a certain offensive coordinator to fix the offense and then Diaco tried to back out. Once he did that, DB knew it was a lost cause and he threw Diaco into a volcano.

If someone could photoshop a Civil ConFLiCT trophy here for the ring, I will like their next 20 posts regardless of content

 

[Hornet22]

I like Edsall's demeanor. He's been around the block in the head coaching world, this being his third H C job(sure it's with UConn again but his bosses are different). His clock management is so much better than Diaco's. But.... can he recruit to the level of his competition? Even in UConn's heyday they were never a dominant 10-2, 11-1, 12-0 top 10-15 ranked team. In their defense the Huskies started in Division 1 about a half century after everyone who took college football serious did so they obviously have a lot of ground to make up. No tradition, no legendary All Americans or major bowl victories to point at when making the recruiting visits. BC does, Penn St definitely does, even Syracuse does. I have my fingers crossed he can do something with the kids that do commit but my god what an up hill climb it is.

Excellent be post sir!

Remember this, even though he’s behind the curve in respects to everyone else, the athletes that he’s bringing in aren’t. Most high school athletes today, especially ones that have experienced success at their respective schools are better trained and gernerally are better athletes than before.
The hope is that the coaching staff can assist them in realizing their upside. We also have to trust that he was careful when recruiting this class and that he didn’t just throw darts in the wind

 

[CL82]

Interesting read. My favorite part was this:

Another piece of information that may be exciting for fans to hear is Edsall’s confidence in the quarterback position, which he called the deepest he’s had at any point during his time at UConn, with four players that are certainly capable.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I like Edsall's demeanor. He's been around the block in the head coaching world, this being his third H C job(sure it's with UConn again but his bosses are different). His clock management is so much better than Diaco's. But.... can he recruit to the level of his competition? Even in UConn's heyday they were never a dominant 10-2, 11-1, 12-0 top 10-15 ranked team. In their defense the Huskies started in Division 1 about a half century after everyone who took college football serious did so they obviously have a lot of ground to make up. No tradition, no legendary All Americans or major bowl victories to point at when making the recruiting visits. BC does, Penn St definitely does, even Syracuse does. I have my fingers crossed he can do something with the kids that do commit but my god what an up hill climb it is.

Two things:

1) If your expectation is that UConn is ever going to be Alabama or hell even West Virginia under Rich Rod, you're going to need to re calibrate expectations.

2) Edsall's 2 shared conference titles in his last 4 years at UConn, along with a litany of NFL players would lead me to believe he did recruit to the level of competition at the time in the Big East.

I'm not sure it will be possible given the hole we've dug ourselves, and in combination with the AAC, but if Edsall can get 75% of the talent he had here in the late 2000s, along with finally finding a competent QB, we'll win our fair share of games.

 

[Stinger92860]

if Edsall can get 75% of the talent he had here in the late 2000s, along with finally finding a competent QB, we'll win our fair share of games.

At 75% and with an improved offense we should be able to compete for an AAC division title every few years. I also expect us to go bowling in most years.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

At 75% and with an improved offense we should be able to compete for an AAC division title every few years. I also expect us to go bowling in most years.

Agreed. There is little doubt in my mind that the 2007-2010 UConn team's would have competed and likely won the AAC East at least twice.

 

[DoctorWho85]

I like Edsall's demeanor. He's been around the block in the head coaching world, this being his third H C job(sure it's with UConn again but his bosses are different). His clock management is so much better than Diaco's. But.... can he recruit to the level of his competition? Even in UConn's heyday they were never a dominant 10-2, 11-1, 12-0 top 10-15 ranked team. In their defense the Huskies started in Division 1 about a half century after everyone who took college football serious did so they obviously have a lot of ground to make up. No tradition, no legendary All Americans or major bowl victories to point at when making the recruiting visits. BC does, Penn St definitely does, even Syracuse does. I have my fingers crossed he can do something with the kids that do commit but my god what an up hill climb it is.

In fairness he was coaching against some very good head coaches at the time. Rich Rod, Petrino, Wannstedt, Leavitt and the likes. Edsall coached teams weakness his first go around was always the mobile QB (Pat White, Brian Brohm, Matt Grothe, Dennard Robinson). And those coaches always used that to their advantage. I mean we've beaten WVU once in our history and that's because they had Geno Smith run.