Our Head Coach PP

[joey3$trike$]

In case some of you forgot, I'm new to this board but enjoy the enthusiasm. Much better than Rivals. I was wondering your thoughts on Coach P's philosophy. Especially his game decisions. I thought it was pretty mediocre last year. Didn't like how he kept Johnny Mac in there, and wished the freshman qb's played more. Since he has his guys that he wants coming to storrs, how much do you think a true freshman will play or transfer players? I know it's not even spring practice yet and quite ecstatic to see how things progress, but I really like how recruiting is on the upward trend finally.

 

[Palatine]

Welcome to the board.

 

[businesslawyer]

Welcome to the board.

I rarely say this, but I admire your restraint!

 

[sdhusky]

Ibut I really like how recruiting is on the upward trend finally.

How did you let that slip by BL?

 

[CTMike]

In case some of you forgot, I'm new to this board but enjoy the enthusiasm. Much better than Rivals. I was wondering your thoughts on Coach P's philosophy. Especially his game decisions. I thought it was pretty mediocre last year. Didn't like how he kept Johnny Mac in there, and wished the freshman qb's played more. Since he has his guys that he wants coming to storrs, how much do you think a true freshman will play or transfer players? I know it's not even spring practice yet and quite ecstatic to see how things progress, but I really like how recruiting is on the upward trend finally.

For in-game, I'd probably give him a B-. I think the folks who knee-jerk and say he was outright awful severely discount the limited options we had. But, regardless, I think there's room for improvement, and I'm expecting he will improve as players adjust and he gets "his" players in. How much of his first full recruiting class will hit the field right away? Hard to say but I suspect it won't be that many. I'm real anxious to see how things look at the Spring Game.

 

[jbdphi]

In case some of you forgot, I'm new to this board but enjoy the enthusiasm. Much better than Rivals. I was wondering your thoughts on Coach P's philosophy. Especially his game decisions. I thought it was pretty mediocre last year. Didn't like how he kept Johnny Mac in there, and wished the freshman qb's played more. Since he has his guys that he wants coming to storrs, how much do you think a true freshman will play or transfer players? I know it's not even spring practice yet and quite ecstatic to see how things progress, but I really like how recruiting is on the upward trend finally.

To answer your question, I'm sure you are aware of many different opinions with respect to the statements you made. In-game management by HCPP has been criticized on a number of fronts including personnel (in particular QB but also RB, CB and other positions) and time management. Play calling mostly falls on the Coordinators but I'm sure there are some who complain about HCPP's handling of that as well.

My personal opinion is that we were screwed at QB last year regardless. There was no single right decision, only a lot of theorizing as to what alternative decisions would have yielded. I personally would have liked to see more of Jonathan Jean-Louis in at RB to spell McCombs and I would have also preferred that Wilburn was kept away from the field at all costs but that's all with the benefit of hindsight. I disagreed with a lot of timeout / lack of timeout calls by HCPP but thankfully I don't think any of those changed the result of a game. Offensive playcalling was a step forward in my opinion but defensive strategies gave opposing QB's far too many career days. I hope our execution (yes, I said execution) gets better in the second year of Brown's system as many expect.

With respect to true freshmen, I'd be really surprised if CC sees the field next year in a live game. If he does, then I would take that to mean that he clearly outplayed the other four QB's available in practice / scrimmages and I tend to doubt that this will happen. Other true freshmen are also going to need to crack the depth charts with very limited time to prove it so I tend to doubt that they will get much live game PT either. It's not like we have a bunch of 5 star guys coming in who are expected to make immediate impact. In terms of transfers, I think many will see time much more quickly, particularly Whitmer at QB and Phillips at WR but also potentially the LB from Maryland too. I'm not sure about other more recently announced transfers.

And as someone else already intimated on your recruiting statement, many do not agree with you there either. For me it's too early to tell but according to the "experts", this class ranked as one of the lowest BCS programs in terms of average stars, etc. We'll see in four years or so.

And welcome to the board.

 

[businesslawyer]

How did you let that slip by BL?

I think recruiting is on an upward trend. Not as steeply upward as I hoped, and not as upward as we need it to be, but I agree with that statement. I have said consistently, I assume P will recruit better here (in terms of rankings) than his predecessor. I have also said he will need to because he is unlikely to do as well with unheralded classes as his predecessor.

 

[businesslawyer]

and I would have also preferred that Wilburn was kept away from the field at all costs but that's all with the benefit of hindsight. .

I thank Gary Wilburn for his five years of service to the program and sincerely wish him the best in his life after UConn. But, as to the substance of the quote, ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

[BlueMAB]

OT:

it's criminal that BL has 454 likes. 1%er indeed.

 

[BlueMAB]

In case some of you forgot, I'm new to this board but enjoy the enthusiasm. Much better than Rivals. I was wondering your thoughts on Coach P's philosophy. Especially his game decisions. I thought it was pretty mediocre last year. Didn't like how he kept Johnny Mac in there, and wished the freshman qb's played more. Since he has his guys that he wants coming to storrs, how much do you think a true freshman will play or transfer players? I know it's not even spring practice yet and quite ecstatic to see how things progress, but I really like how recruiting is on the upward trend finally.

Welcome.

I expected more out the team. We had more talent than 5-7. His clock management is my biggest worry. Somebody who has been coaching at such a high level as long as he has should not be making those mistakes.

Like many, I'm most interested in the transfers/returnees at QB/WR. I think Cochran redshirts, and I hope Nebrich does too. To me, that means Whitmer won the job, McEntee is the backup, and McCummings is getting 10-15 snaps a game.

I can't wait to see what we get from Michael Smith (who should be hungry and focused), Phillips, and McNeal. Neither of the transfers put up big time numbers, so I'm cautiously optomistic.

I expect the defense to stop giving up the big play this year. With Junior gone (wish him well), I hope we'll see less completed deep balls where the safety should be. Junior made some big plays, but also gave up too many.

I don't know if recruiting is improving or not. It was never as bad as the experts told us, and I believe this year is no different.

 

[sdhusky]

One thing we did see last year in almost every game were plays that designed to create a breakdown in the other teams coverage.

Once or twice a game, we would get somebody wide open or in a complete mismatch. Sometimes it worked and sometimes we didn't execute but I don't remember that kind of out-scheming the last few years.

We didn't have enough playmakers last year - on offense or defense. I think our roster is solid - lots of guys who can do their job - but games are turned on big plays. We still don't get enough.

 

[rich1122]

I"ll take Zach over Cody.

 

[auggie22]

Clock Management - F (somehow, worse than previous administration)
Offensive Playcalling - C+ (improvement)
Defensive Playcalling - B+ (improvement)
Recruiting - C (improvement)
Special Teams - D (much worse)
Consistency of Performance - B (improvement)
Desire to Be a Husky - A (definite improvement)
Fans - C- (worse, except for me, of course)

 

[NEforceUConn]

Clock Management in at least 3 or 4 games was a total joke. If that happened in the NFL for 3 or 4 games the coach would be fired. Plain and simple.

Why he never let JJ or someone else spell McCombs is unexplainable. One game McCombs scampers for a 60 yard run, is staring at the sidelines for a replacement, and PP's next play call is an off tackle McCombs run - for minus 2 yards.

Stupid stuff like that, which makes me question his age and how fast his mind works.

Its amazing to me that PP would Go with J Mac play after play with terrible results and virtually never give anyone else a chance.

Damn, i guess the off season has made me a bit bitter.

 

[businesslawyer]

You would have thought being better across the board wouldn't have cut wins from 8 to 5.

 

[whaler11]

You would have thought being better across the board wouldn't have cut wins from 8 to 5.

Well think of the schedule. Oh wait, don't think about the schedule that will just make 5-7 even worse.

 

[auggie22]

i don't believe PP's team was better across the board - in fact I think the team was much worse with regard to clock management and special teams. the improvement was marginal in most other areas. but the 2011 team had to contend with a much tougher big east, no jordan todman, and no serviceable college quarterback (if you subscribe to the notion that the best qb was on the field).

 

[Srqhusky]

Hard to tell I dont judge based on 1 year. It takes teams a few years to get the playbook down pat and gel together as a team. I think the offense looked lost at times but it looked great at times. We had fullbacks catching the ball, three tight ends in the game, recievers open all day long but qb not finding the reciever or getting squashed moments after the play. The defense looked better as the season went on. i think the linebackers started to give better pass coverage. Is this season going to be better remains to be seen. Hoping for good chemistry between qb and receivers.
Always fun listening to his press conferences. he sounds too much like Rocky Balboa.

 

[Excalibur]

Well think of the schedule. Oh wait, don't think about the schedule that will just make 5-7 even worse.

Schedules were almost exactly the same in terms of overall strength (64 in 2011 vs. 65 in 2010, though I may have that backwards). But if you look at the difference in the offenses, there was a significant upgrade in our opponents from 2010 to 2011.

 

[businesslawyer]

Hard to tell I dont judge based on 1 year. It takes teams a few years to get the playbook down pat and gel together as a team. I think the offense looked lost at times but it looked great at times. We had fullbacks catching the ball, three tight ends in the game, recievers open all day long but qb not finding the reciever or getting squashed moments after the play. The defense looked better as the season went on. i think the linebackers started to give better pass coverage. Is this season going to be better remains to be seen. Hoping for good chemistry between qb and receivers.
Always fun listening to his press conferences. he sounds too much like Rocky Balboa.

Of course you shouldn't judge on one year. I sincerely hope that in five years we're all damn sure that P was a much better coach than Edsall, and P's 2011 season really shouldn't convince anyone who thought coming in that he'd be better otherwise. Too small a sample size and sometimes it takes coaches a little time to get new messages across.

That having been said, I do think it's silly to claim that he had a better year coaching UConn in 2011 than the former coach did in any of the last four years. The difference in wins was significantly greater than the differences in personnel. But that's just my opinion.

 

[J187Money]

Clock Management in at least 3 or 4 games was a total joke. If that happened in the NFL for 3 or 4 games the coach would be fired. Plain and simple.

Why he never let JJ or someone else spell McCombs is unexplainable. One game McCombs scampers for a 60 yard run, is staring at the sidelines for a replacement, and PP's next play call is an off tackle McCombs run - for minus 2 yards.

Stupid stuff like that, which makes me question his age and how fast his mind works.

Its amazing to me that PP would Go with J Mac play after play with terrible results and virtually never give anyone else a chance.

Damn, i guess the off season has made me a bit bitter.

I've been told that JJL did not hold on to the ball in practice.

 

[BlueMAB]

I've been told that JJL did not hold on to the ball in practice.

Not for nothing, but neither did McCummings (in practice, in the spring game, in real games) and he still got his snaps.

Not saying you're wrong, just saying.

 

[mattp]

For in-game, I'd probably give him a B-. I think the folks who knee-jerk and say he was outright awful severely discount the limited options we had. But, regardless, I think there's room for improvement, and I'm expecting he will improve as players adjust and he gets "his" players in. How much of his first full recruiting class will hit the field right away? Hard to say but I suspect it won't be that many. I'm real anxious to see how things look at the Spring Game.

i agree with this for the most part, but i'd give him a C-/D+ for game management in terms of calling timeouts, working the clock, etcetera. hopefully it's just rust from not being a head coach for a while and will improve. i thought his play calling/game design was great for the most part. considering our QB options the production we got at that position was pretty amazing (that's right, i said amazing). whether that was him or Deleone, i felt like if we had 2010's QB options last year we'd have had 3000 yards passing and i think we'll have that this year. i'm really psyched for the spring game

 

[NEforceUConn]

I've been told that JJL did not hold on to the ball in practice.

Then I can understand HCPP's reluctance to use JJL. It does BEG the question why he under recruited RBs last year. If only McCombs can play (everyone knows the USC kid fumbles) then recruit a few RBs. Yes Dobbs disappointed but you need plan B and C at this level.