Paying The Price For An Uninspired Hire

[ruskin]

I have no doubt Coach P is a good football man and would be a fabulous D coordinator. I don't blame him for applying for this job. The idea we had a committee of one with little oversight and less knowledge of FBS football in the 21st century doing the hiring was laughable in January and more so now.

By the way, you think the Texas HS football coaches assn. will have a role in choosing Mack Brown's successor? Can't think of a more self-important group than the crew in this state that churns out 10-12 FBS players a year (and that's a good year). I hope the person/group who chooses the next coach WON'T listen to a group of wanna-bes and has-beens.

 

[upstater]

I have no doubt Coach P is a good football man and would be a fabulous D coordinator. I don't blame him for applying for this job. The idea we had a committee of one with little oversight and less knowledge of FBS football in the 21st century doing the hiring was laughable in January and more so now.

By the way, you think the Texas HS football coaches assn. will have a role in choosing Mack Brown's successor? Can't think of a more self-important group than the crew in this state that churns out 10-12 FBS players a year (and that's a good year). I hope the person/group who chooses the next coach WON'T listen to a group of wanna-bes and has-beens.

You seem to have overlooked the fact that the current commissioner of the Big12 recommended Pasqualoni for this position.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

We lost to West Virginia. they are a Top 15 team and will likely finish 10-2 or 11-1. Should the coach be fired if UConn doesn't beat a team like this?

 

[BigEastCT]

We lost to West Virginia. they are a Top 15 team and will likely finish 10-2 or 11-1. Should the coach be fired if UConn doesn't beat a team like this?

no, but if the team quit on him, we have issues.....

 

[husky10]

Being within a point at the half should be an encouragement to us we a seeing a steady improvement from a group of kids that were left over from the previous regime and lets face it this would have been FHCRE weakest team in a while. How many wins in this stretch does FHCRE lead us to? I remember the first year we won a title of the Big East (2007?) and WVU put up (52?) against us, we finished tied for 1st that year, I have no problem with the game today you could tell McEntee was raddled after that fumble if that fumble doesn't happen who knows how the game turns out. Let HCPP get some of his kids in here before you start calling for his head. is that all that unreasonable?

 

[sportsart]

Simply amazing....

I love when people say "Give him a chace to get his own kids before we judge him"

Contrary to you belief Randy didn't leave the cup board bare.

Granted PP had no RB or QB (cab't blame Randy for Frey and Todman being gone or for Endres indescretions.

One thing you can be embarrassed about is how PP handled the QB competition. Turns out we have a QB better than Frazier but a RB still learning.

The rest of the offense and defense are not lacking in talent at all.

The problem I see is PP and company look like they are trying to fit a square peg in a round hole very quickly. I am pretty sure some of the team ain't bought in yet. It shows sometimes.

As for how many wins RE has at this point can only be a guess but it would be hard to argue with 5-1 or 4-2

One thing Randy was good at was knowing what his team could do and couldn't do. PP seems to be forcing it.

Finally you could almost always count on a disciplined team under Randy. Regardless of what we on the board think the players believed in Randy (up until he left) and always overachieved. Coaches always get credit for either overachievers or underachievers.

I think we finish strong as Kash and the rest of the captains don't want their senior year to suck. They will rally.

Being within a point at the half should be an encouragement to us we a seeing a steady improvement from a group of kids that were left over from the previous regime and lets face it this would have been FHCRE weakest team in a while. How many wins in this stretch does FHCRE lead us to? I remember the first year we won a title of the Big East (2007?) and WVU put up (52?) against us, we finished tied for 1st that year, I have no problem with the game today you could tell McEntee was raddled after that fumble if that fumble doesn't happen who knows how the game turns out. Let HCPP get some of his kids in here before you start calling for his head. is that all that unreasonable?

 

[zls44]

Does everyone bitching about lack of discipline realize that the team entered the game averaging only 5 penalties a game? It's not nearly as bad as everyone says it is. Don't let the timing make you think the team is constantly committing terrible penalties.

 

[husky10]

I agree with you for the most part:
I think that PP handled the QB competition in a bad manner but he was left with 3 qbs that never saw the field before and trust me I played football all my life a game and practice are 2 different animals. I personally think that the qb competition should have been resolved after the 1st game but it wasn't and i am not sure that it really contributed to any of our first 4 losses.

I am not sure how good our offensive line really is. I know we pushed the defense off the ball in the running game consistently under RE but different blocking schemes require different skill sets. I don't know I never played line but we have the same line coach so my feeling is that the faults in our line are due to the losses from last year.

As far as defense goes our d-line has been spectacular i think we can agree on that. Our LB corp is new and our secondary wasn't that good last year plus BWW got hurt.

I agree that the coaching staff is probably trying to fit square pegs into round holes but in their experience these are the schemes and devices that work and they are trying to weed out the players from the old regime that don't fit their model. This is something that needs to be done and will pay dividends in the future.

"As for how many wins RE has at this point can only be a guess but it would be hard to argue with 5-1 or 4-2 "
I think most people on this board last year thought we would beat Michigan going into the season and no one thought we would lose to Temple, Rutgers or UofL so who knows?

"Finally you could almost always count on a disciplined team under Randy. Regardless of what we on the board think the players believed in Randy (up until he left) and always overachieved. Coaches always get credit for either overachievers or underachievers.

I think we finish strong as Kash and the rest of the captains don't want their senior year to suck. They will rally. "

I agree with you RE disposed of anyone that wasn't disciplined on his team and we will rally this year because everyone is still being acquainted with our schemes and I believe we will steal a few BE games this year.

 

[mets1090]

I agree with you for the most part:
I agree that the coaching staff is probably trying to fit square pegs into round holes but in their experience these are the schemes and devices that work and they are trying to weed out the players from the old regime that don't fit their model. This is something that needs to be done and will pay dividends in the future.

+1

What is a new staff supposed to do? Keep running the old schemes that fit the current players and then go splitsies in the next two or three seasons when they have half of Edsall's players and half of their own? I would rather they go with their system and see who on the current roster is up to it. Next year the growing pains of the schemes will be pretty much gone. That way in two or three years you have a full team that is ready to play in this system.

Going with their scheme to weed out the players that don't fit is good for the future, IMO. I would rather have a new coach build for the future with expectations of good things down the road than jeopardize the future and limp to a 7-5 record.

The problem is that these are things that everyone knows are coming when a new staff comes in, but when things have a rocky outlook the first season it is still hard to accept. Each game I am frustrated by things but every week when I step back and think about it, I find I am able to more rational about it. If we finish 5-7 this year with a new system which I think is more complicated and more demanding, I think it is reasonable to think they can go 7-5 or 8-4 next year and establish 8-4 or better as the norm for the next 5 or so years. The issue is making it through the first two years, IMO.

 

[sportsart]

Does everyone bitching about lack of discipline realize that the team entered the game averaging only 5 penalties a game? It's not nearly as bad as everyone says it is. Don't let the timing make you think the team is constantly committing terrible penalties.

Suprisingly UConn led the BE in least amount of penalties last yr at 4.9 per game, right where they were ciming into this game.

But discipline is more than just penalties. They probably seem less disciplined due to the new schemes. The 3 headed qb didn't help.

 

[mets1090]

The "lack of discipline" is probably a result of the super aggressive scheme that Brown uses on Defense. I think what we have seen is a Defensive Coordinator that basically tells his players to play hard and play by their instincts but they have been groomed to play conservatively so you see them kind of caught in between those attitudes sometimes. Like they aren't quite sure when they should fly all over the field and when they should drop back and play safe.

 

[Skiblets]

We're 2 and 4. We've beaten the mighty Fordham Rams and the mighty Buffalo Bulls. How do you guys not see the Kragthorpian mess we have on our hands?

 

[mets1090]

We're 2 and 4. We've beaten the mighty Fordham Rams and the mighty Buffalo Bulls. How do you guys not see the Kragthorpian mess we have on our hands?

Lol You and I had this same discussion before the WVU game happened. We both knew this was going to be the result of the WVU game and probably factored that into our thought process. Therefore, logic follows that this discussion will go much the same way as last week's. Perhaps we can revisit it in a week or two

 

[Skiblets]

This team is a mess. Agreed that we could anticipate this outcome. But ....c'mon man. Coach P seems like a good guy but this team has lost the ability to figure out how to win

 

[UConnJim]

It is way too early to judge Coach P. He was hired in January and he was left with 3 QBs: a redshirt soph, a redshirt freshman, and a walk-on junior plus a true freshman. By the time the season started, we were down to 3 QBs, none with game experience, and none of them stood out. I think they knew McCummings didn't have the throwing ability, McEntee was not the LT solution, and they hoped Nebrich showed something during real games to make him the starter. Unfortunately, Nebrich turned out not to be ready, so we were left with McEntee.

Look at RB. For the first time in a long time, the cupboard was empty. We have a 170 lb change of pace back as our workhorse. I like McCombs, but that is not going to work in a BCS conference.

In hindsight, we lost a lot from last year: QB, BE's top RB, an NFL FB, the top back-up RB and best kick returner, very good OLineman, 2 of the best linebackers to play at UConn, ...

 

[UConnJim]

One additional thought. RE probably knew his roster issues and he may have done a couple of things that Coach P didn't figure out in time to do anything about. Like what? I think Edsall may have pursued a JC QB and a JC RB to shore up 2 glaring holes in the roster. (Remember, going into last season, we had Endres projected at QB with Todman and Frey at RB for this year.) Remember, Edsall brought in a JC QB when it became apparent that DJ was not the answer at QB.

This team would be 5-1 or 4-2 at worst this year with an experienced QB. Should have beaten Vanderbilt and probably would have beaten Iowa State and Western Michigan, although Western Michigan is better than we give them credit for.

 

[temery]

That's what Terp fans are saying right about now.

I have no doubt Coach P is a good football man and would be a fabulous D coordinator. I don't blame him for applying for this job. The idea we had a committee of one with little oversight and less knowledge of FBS football in the 21st century doing the hiring was laughable in January and more so now.

By the way, you think the Texas HS football coaches assn. will have a role in choosing Mack Brown's successor? Can't think of a more self-important group than the crew in this state that churns out 10-12 FBS players a year (and that's a good year). I hope the person/group who chooses the next coach WON'T listen to a group of wanna-bes and has-beens.

 

[Waquoit]

Contrary to you belief Randy didn't leave the cup board bare.

Granted PP had no RB or QB .

These two sentences were written together. LOL!

 

[Carl Spackler]

no, but if the team quit on him, we have issues.....

Evidence please. This concept that the team is 'quitting' is a load of crap, and tells me that people might like the game of football, but really have no idea what the hell they are looking at. THis team is playing with heart and desire from opening whistle to final whistle, every down.

 

[Carl Spackler]

We're 2 and 4. We've beaten the mighty Fordham Rams and the mighty Buffalo Bulls. How do you guys not see the Kragthorpian mess we have on our hands?

Really? Really? Did you watch the game yesterday? Do you understand what happened and why? Did you see a WV wide receiver make move in the open field and out run our entire defense 70 yards? Have you paid attntion to the speed we're recruiting so far this year? Did you see a defensive backfield of freshmen? Freshmen all over the place on this roster? guys that are fighting for everything they're worth, and learning the hard way that they need to play smart at the same time as fightng for every inch that they can get? DId you see a TE run the length of the field after already running a route to stop a TD?

This staff is squeezing every drop of ability out of this roster we're working with, and we're improving as a team week to week. It hasn't been a straight line up for every unit, but the trend is definitely up.

We were flowing as a team, a complete balanced team, into the third quarter of that game yesterday,like I haven't seen a UCONN team play the game in a LONG time. It was a wonderful feeling, when McEntee dropped that pass into Kashif on the timing route it was a thing of beauty.

I'm sure everybody on that team was riding on top of a momentum wave that they haven't felt in a LONG time, if ever. THen the mistake, the problem, the adversity comes.

It always does. We hit the bottom of that wave - hard - when you ride high, you hit low too, and you have to find a way to get back on top of that wave.

Yet another learning experience for this team.

I can't believe what I read around here sometimes, and I wonder what people are really paying attention to and why.

 

[NHUConnfan]

no, but if the team quit on him, we have issues.....

Who said the team quit on him? The fact is, PP needs to bring in his own game, his own recruits. It's stupid to think with what we were left with that he was miraculously going to have some amazing team.

I'd like to point your attention to Cincy - who this year has an amazing team, but last year struggled mightily under Butch Jones. Cincy was 4-8 last year. UConn is probably going to be around there. Cincy is most definitely headed to a bowl game this year and is poised to be top 2/3 in the BE.

You have to give PP time to implement his plan. RE left us with almost nothing.

 

[BigEastCT]

Who said the team quit on him? The fact is, PP needs to bring in his own game, his own recruits. It's stupid to think with what we were left with that he was miraculously going to have some amazing team.

I'd like to point your attention to Cincy - who this year has an amazing team, but last year struggled mightily under Butch Jones. Cincy was 4-8 last year. UConn is probably going to be around there. Cincy is most definitely headed to a bowl game this year and is poised to be top 2/3 in the BE.

You have to give PP time to implement his plan. RE left us with almost nothing.

I said it, it appeared to me they got so rattled and wanted to go home, thats what I witnessed...a bunch of scared kids

 

[whaler11]

Evidence please. This concept that the team is 'quitting' is a load of crap, and tells me that people might like the game of football, but really have no idea what the hell they are looking at. THis team is playing with heart and desire from opening whistle to final whistle, every down.

Um 33 points against in 14 minuts of game time?

If that team played every down with heart and desire then it's just a plain flat bad football team because that was a laughable joke. Around the time of the fumble it was about 250 yards each of total offense. Post fumble 300-25.

You've taken on this bizarre persona that is playing a strange script. You actually had me fooled for a while and I believed that you really thought this nonsense that you spew, but there is no way that a sentient being with a pulse and the ability to string together as many paragraphs as you can could be so consistently and absolutely wrong.

 

[Carl Spackler]

I think you should stick to hockey, kevin dineen is probably a hero of yours, b/c I've read your commentary on football for a long time, and in my opinion, you don't know jack about football, and I don't think I"ve ever read a positive thing you've got to say.

Uconn football - a laughable joke.

Why do you write around here?

 

[whaler11]

I think you should stick to hockey, kevin dineen is probably a hero of yours, b/c I've read your commentary on football for a long time, and in my opinion, you don't know jack about football, and I don't think I"ve ever read a positive thing you've got to say.

Uconn football - a laughable joke.

Why do you write around here?

What else can you describe a 14 minute stretch of game where you are outscored 33-0?

That was a pathetic stretch of football.

UConn's drives post fumble
3 plays -1 yard
3 plays 6 yards
2 plays -6 yards safety
4 plays 13 yards
3 plays 0 yards
3 plays 7 yards
6 plays 10 yards punt (I mean why wouldn't you punt down 43-16 with a minute left)

Where is the evidence of all the heart and desire? Does it show up in the WVU drives?

2 plays 9 yards td
1 play 81 yards td
3 plays 18 yards punt
6 plays 51 yards td
9 plays 34 yards fg
3 plays 95 yards td

Seriously. Who has evidence and who doesn't?

I'm sure your response will be what it always is. Everyone else knows nothing. You are the most brilliant football mind the world has ever seen. Anyone who disagrees with you is an idiot.

Maybe everyone in Tampa is sleeping still too. When do we get to that weekly idiotic thread? I mean I'm sure there is 15 paragraphs coming about how much better they will play this week because it's Homecoming - like anyone gives a damn about that.