OT: Blessing in Disguise or Curse? - the Patriot League | Page 2 | The Boneyard

OT: Blessing in Disguise or Curse? - the Patriot League

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BHusky said:
6'9 309
6'5 308
6'4 315
6'4 309
6'5 296

First string UConn OL and 123/123 rushing offense in FBS. Perception is often not the reality.
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Check back with these numbers at the end of the season. :cool:
 
sportsart said:
Check back with these numbers at the end of the season. :cool:
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I hope you're right. Every single problem that you can come up with going forward that should be and could be addressed somehow to give us the best opportunity to be successful, is fixed most easily - by simply winning. I really like TJ Weist. He's made an impression, but he's got to coach his first game still, at this level, and he's got to demonstrate that he understands the recruiting territory.
 
BHusky said:
6'9 309
6'5 308
6'4 315
6'4 309
6'5 296

First string UConn OL and 123/123 rushing offense in FBS. Perception is often not the reality.
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I don't expect miracles......but given what I heard today......I'm a bit giddy.

We would've been better off with players drawing up plays with sticks in the dirt the last 2 years.
 
Listen man... I used Lehigh's football facilities when I was an undergrad on the track team. We've got nothing to worry about, unless the kid really wants to go into material sciences.... then maybe. ;)
 
ZooCougar said:
This thread is a product of our microwave society.
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The problem with the offensive line is huge.
It effects every aspect of the game including QB performance and Defense.
Good OL equates to a running game.
The opposing team can't drop guys into coverage as easily if they fear your running game.
A play fake on a pass actually is cause for concern against a good running team.
Both these things contribute to higher QB effecicy and I didn't mention pass blocking.
The defense improves because of their teams ability to have longer possessions.
Football is a set of interesltionships but the primary is control of the offensive line.
If we can improve in this one area the ripple effect will be amazing.
 
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AZHuskiePop said:
The problem with the offensive line is huge.
It effects every aspect of the game including QB performance and Defense.
Good OL equates to a running game.
The opposing team can't drop guys into coverage as easily if they fear your running game.
A play fake on a pass actually is cause for concern against a good running team.
Both these things contribute to higher QB effecicy and I didn't mention pass blocking.
The defense improves because of their teams ability to have longer possessions.
Football is a set of interesltionships but the primary is control of the offensive line.
If we can improve in this one area the ripple effect will be amazing.
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This post is prototypical.
 
Jimmy Serrano said:
I don't expect miracles......but given what I heard today......I'm a bit giddy.

We would've been better off with players drawing up plays with sticks in the dirt the last 2 years.
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What makes you think that wasn't what was essentially happening?
 
Well, anyway guys it's been fun, and if you want to make light of it, or not , whatever - we have a new recruiting competition from the bottom side in the future.

FWIW - sportsart - don't know if you went to any of the open functions in the past 2 years, but the one thing noticeably absent and different to my eyes, to practice, were the sleds.

Hopefully they've been able to keep up in the weight rooms as much as they lost on the practice fields, because it's not going to come back overnight.
 
Carl Spackler said:
Regardless of whether or not you think 1-AA palyers can play in the NFL (they can) or not - this is a MAJOR issue for UCONN - and other northern/eastern football programs moving forward, as each one of the Patriot League programs ramps up it's scholarship football to 63.

It is slowly, over decades, changing again. The Patriot League consists of: at 1-AA, Bucknell, Colgate, Fordham, Georgetown, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, and currently 1A football independants Army and Navy. In a year or two, that will be another approximately 500 or so athletes per year out of the following regions being recruited for scholarship football and scholarship academics.

THe regions are as follows - per the first class 2013:

2013 Patriot League Football Recruiting Class consisted of 135 players. By 2015 or so it will be somewhere around 500 per year.
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While there is some truth to your argument, there are some problems with the math.

1. The maximum scholarships that a PL school can give out over four years is 60. However Bucknell and Holy Cross, at present, are planning to give out less. And Georgetown is planning to give out ZERO, since they are not going the scholarship route. So that is about 354 over four years. About 88 per year.

2. Of the list you linked to, a number of those players are only getting partial scholarships and some are getting little or no money at all.

3. All of the PL schools now giving out scholarships were previously giving out significant need-based grants. In fact, Colgate, Lehigh, and Fordham were already giving out the equivalent of 58+ scholarships, except that the recipients had to have parents who weren't wealthy. And Lafayette, Bucknell, and Holy Cross were all giving out 40-50 equivalencies.

So the landscape has changed somewhat - since those schools can now go after middle-class kids who they couldn't recruit before. But their overall athletic aid has not changed much.
 
Having been at Lehigh the first two years of my college career... transferring to and graduating from UConn was the best decision of my life, bar none. Carry on. :)
 
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sportsart said:
Psst....rumor has it Foley is the new OL coach and the players are loving it. Apparently they may be going back to some old time smash mouth football (some, not all)

OK...carry on.
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Your post is getting me pumped! But if you're wrong and we're zone blocking on Saturday I may have smash mouth a certain art poster!
 
It's an interesting thing - scholarship football, that's for sure.

I'm quite disappointed though, that nobody liked my haiku.
 
Carl Spackler said:
You're sure about this? I think my math was off, in that at in any one year, there will be approx. 500 total new scholarships in the region that didn't exist before, but the turnover will be more like 150 or so new schollies per year. So yes, I'm wrong about that, but I wouldn't be so sure about the NEC comment.

I watched Fordham play recently. I've seen their players. That's what the Patriot League model is going to be. I wouldn't be so sure about the level of players that you think they are going to draw.
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Carl,
Pretty sure about the Patriot League schollie limits. I think the level of opponents will dictate the level of recruits. As long as UConn plays Navy, Army, an AAC schedule and decent OOCs we will not be competing as much with recruits with the Patrioit league. Will there be some that would opt for Fordham or a Holy Cross or GTown, sure. Could see a kid(s) like a Casey C. go to places like that and be very successful. Im very happy that a lot of kids in the region will get full rides at some of the best schools in the country. I think that you may find that alot of the more succesful programs at the FCS/D1A level and below like Delaware, Appalacian State, Towson are stocked with many D1 or FBS transfers. Especially at the skill postions. I think Towson had 12-15 last year, that almost 25% of the schollie limit.
 
Wow . . . how far removed we are from the lofty days of 2003. Back then, the sky was the limit. We were breaking into the world of big time college football in a conference that was getting better and better (even after the first round of defections). Peak around 2006/2007. Now we are talking the effect of Colgate, Bucknell and Lehigh?
 
.-.
Duncan Idaho said:
Carl,
Pretty sure about the Patriot League schollie limits. I think the level of opponents will dictate the level of recruits. As long as UConn plays Navy, Army, an AAC schedule and decent OOCs we will not be competing as much with recruits with the Patrioit league. Will there be some that would opt for Fordham or a Holy Cross or GTown, sure. Could see a kid(s) like a Casey C. go to places like that and be very successful. Im very happy that a lot of kids in the region will get full rides at some of the best schools in the country. I think that you may find that alot of the more succesful programs at the FCS/D1A level and below like Delaware, Appalacian State, Towson are stocked with many D1 or FBS transfers. Especially at the skill postions. I think Towson had 12-15 last year, that almost 25% of the schollie limit.
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Fair enough. It's all just interesting stuff for discussion I think though. For many, many years the Patriot league followed the Ivy league model - so called - but actually did do it the way that Ivy's professed to hold standards to regarding athletics, football and scholarships. BUt the Ivy's for years and years have been doing exactly the same things with financial aid and admissions that people get on programs in the SEC etc. about. Admitting students lower in academic standing than normal students, athletes getting benefits as much as possible within rules academic support, etc. etc. THey don't have to adhere to NCAA rules regarding NLI's, scholarship awarding, all that - because they say they don't award official grant in aids, but they are giving essentially free rides to people that qualify economically - and have you seen what a Yale or Harvard tuition / room & board goes at these days?

Anyway - there was discussion around here about the Fordham football program, and it was Fordham that basically said - screw this - we're awarding scholarships and we'll do it our way, and see where it takes us - and the entire league followed.

In the long run I think it will be very healthy for UCONN, as more and more high school coaches and administrators realize that football, is a actually a very good thing to invest in for the health of the academic/athletic union, and more and more better athletes are produced out of high schools throughout the entire region.

I do think though, that we will have competition for athletes at the 2 star, NR rating level (if you put merit on those things) like we have never had before though since upgrading. We'll just have to disagree on that.

Either way - if we are a Big 10 or ACC program, none of this matters.

ANd most of all, our new head coach, needs to be a very good salesman of the UCONN program, and IMNSHO, the primary focus on the sales job needs to involve getting as many high quality athletes, and lower level coaches (and that includes D-3, D2, D1-AA coaches as well as high school coaches, to come through UCONN on campus visits, and football camps.

The one thing Pasqualoni did right, that Edsall tried to do from the beginnning once we had the facities going, but let slide in the latter 2000's, was run the football camps and get people to campus, recruits, coaches, entire programs and other administrators, but Edsall let it slide. We only had 2 seasons of it under Pasqualoni, and we brought some high profile high school programs and football players through, who's eyes were opened to what we actually have here. It needs to continue to grow with the next coach so that when high school players in coaches, and lower division, and division 1A college coaches, start seeing UCONN on the recruiting trail, they know what it we have, and are interested.
 
CTMike said:
Having been at Lehigh the first two years of my college career... transferring to and graduating from UConn was the best decision of my life, bar none. Carry on. :)
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Hehehe... I wish I had been so smart. ;)

I'm still here... I miss New England. If my job weren't so damn good I'd be back.
 
huskyblooz said:
Your post is getting me pumped! But if you're wrong and we're zone blocking on Saturday I may have smash mouth a certain art poster!
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My post was a dig at the back and forth in this thread, reminding people there was good news being reported about the OL getting Foley back.

I couldn't tell you what a zone blocking scheme looks like but I will be able to tell if the USF DL is getting pushed around.

I can't remember seeing us pulling the guards this year (not that I watch the OL all that much) so I'm thinking that might be a sign of changes as well if we see it.

Whatever changes are made aren't just going to click into place. I think we see a gradual improvement and by the UL game I'm hoping things are rolling.

My understanding also is we will see some "playing like your hair's on fire" defense as well. Whether they transition it in or go all out right away remains to be seen.
 
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sportsart said:
My post was a dig at the back and forth in this thread, reminding people there was good news being reported about the OL getting Foley back.

I couldn't tell you what a zone blocking scheme looks like but I will be able to tell if the USF DL is getting pushed around.

I can't remember seeing us pulling the guards this year (not that I watch the OL all that much) so I'm thinking that might be a sign of changes as well if we see it.

Whatever changes are made aren't just going to click into place. I think we see a gradual improvement and by the UL game I'm hoping things are rolling.

My understanding also is we will see some "playing like your hair's on fire" defense as well. Whether they transition it in or go all out right away remains to be seen.
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As far as I know, one of the first things Foley did last week, was have the sleds brought out to the practice fields which is something that's been absent for the past 2 seasons. You have to practice and play in a way that is appropriate for your age and skill level, whether it be 8 year old pee wees or 28 year old NFL pros.

My haiku was no joke.
 
sportsart said:
My post was a dig at the back and forth in this thread, reminding people there was good news being reported about the OL getting Foley back.

I couldn't tell you what a zone blocking scheme looks like but I will be able to tell if the USF DL is getting pushed around.

I can't remember seeing us pulling the guards this year (not that I watch the OL all that much) so I'm thinking that might be a sign of changes as well if we see it.

Whatever changes are made aren't just going to click into place. I think we see a gradual improvement and by the UL game I'm hoping things are rolling.

My understanding also is we will see some "playing like your hair's on fire" defense as well. Whether they transition it in or go all out right away remains to be seen.
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As my old grandmother used to say, from your lips to God's ear...or Weist's in this case...
 
Carl Spackler said:
As far as I know, one of the first things Foley did last week, was have the sleds brought out to the practice fields which is something that's been absent for the past 2 seasons. You have to practice and play in a way that is appropriate for your age and skill level, whether it be 8 year old pee wees or 28 year old NFL pros.

My haiku was no joke.
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You should start a haiku thread.
 
TouchdownHusky said:
Wow . . . how far removed we are from the lofty days of 2003. Back then, the sky was the limit. We were breaking into the world of big time college football in a conference that was getting better and better (even after the first round of defections). Peak around 2006/2007. Now we are talking the effect of Colgate, Bucknell and Lehigh?
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My gosh... Lets worry about us getting an invite to the B1G or the ACC and let us not worry about the PL unless they decide to go 1A and ask BCU, UMass, us and New Haven to join...:)
 
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