Pete Roussel : Bob Diaco has retained only one uconn assistant

[MilliniumPrince]

I was hoping for Foley, TJ, and Day. It is what it is. Gotta have a strong finish to recruiting season.

 

[huskymedic]

Sure sounds like once BD was hired TJW wasn't an option to be retained:

desmondconner1:18pm via Twitter for iPhone
Former #UConn interim head coach T.J.Weist said he and new coach Bob Diaco never got to the point of an offer to stay. T.J wants to b an HC

The Departing Weist: 'I Want To Be A Head Coach'
http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn...rss&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

>>"I made the choice I was going to pursue other opportunities even though me and my wife [Karen] love this university. We bought a house a block off campus. My wife works in the business school. We really fell in love with this place, but I thought it was best to make a decision to pursue other opportunities. I want to be a head coach. Now that I've been a head coach ,I want to do it and know I can do it. I know there are a limited number of jobs out there. If it doesn't happen this year, it doesn't happen, but I want to be a head coach. <<

 

[Waquoit]

Let's hope Disco knows what he is doing.

Oh go jump in the lake.

 

[FDNY99]

nelson, nelson, nelson...this is Standard operating procedure in college football. Even when head coaches get promoted, they often replace large numbers of the existing staff. In basketball with 3-4 coaches, it is less common to make wholesale changes, though usually there are some. It almost always happens in college football at this level, especially when the previous administration has been fired. You know how many of Spazziani's staff Addazio kept? Two. And one was more an administrator. You know how many holdovers from last year's Syracuse staff there were? Two. Three if you count the head coach who was promoted from the staff, yet he still replaced the majority of the staff.

Addazio also had one of Spaz's Asst's say he was staying...then leave for the Eagles when Chip Kelly offered him the lb job...that would be Bill McGovern

 

[freescooter]

Addazio also had one of Spaz's Asst's say he was staying...then leave for the Eagles when Chip Kelly offered him the lb job...that would be Bill McGovern

Yes, but that happens at every school...not getting offered the Eagles job but its pretty common for a coach or two to move on to a new job even if the staff stays together...McGovern was probably going to the Eagles if even if Spaz had remained another year. But the point remains. A new head coach almost inevitably means a mostly new staff. Doesn't mean the old guys weren't good coaches. It just means that the new guy wants to put together his team.

 

[FDNY99]

Yes, but that happens at every school...not getting offered the Eagles job but its pretty common for a coach or two to move on to a new job even if the staff stays together...McGovern was probably going to the Eagles if even if Spaz had remained another year. But the point remains. A new head coach almost inevitably means a mostly new staff. Doesn't mean the old guys weren't good coaches. It just means that the new guy wants to put together his team.

I know that...I have several posts on here over the past 2 months about how we would FINALLY experience what a true FBS level coaching change would be like. I thought the new HC would keep 2 guys tops...I also figured we would get a new director of football op's and grad asst's too.

 

[Husky25]

Always the optimist Muntz… don't know how much weaker we can get in regards to football stats, wins, and national perception. I think you are dead wrong on this one.

Nope...He's pretty much right...for once. Where he is wrong is that he fails to mention that this is one of the exceptions to when a new Head of State (as it were) should clean house. The previous regime went 0 for 9 to start the season. It looks like Coach Diaco kept the strength of the staff and cut out the rest. The potential Diaco-Weist power struggle makes more sense as I continue to think about it. If Hughes was promoted to Interim Head Coach over Weist (a mistake, IMO), Weist quite possibly may have been kept as OC. He was really good for the receivers and Cochran. But that is not what happened and the bright side is that UConn salvaged their season.

I don't understand the melancholy of losing this coach or that coach because they were good recruiters. Really? According to the recruiting rankings and the product on the field, no one on the previous staff was irreplacable based on their recruiting ability. Clearing house was a good thing in this instance. It's a breath of fresh air and each player can now be independently evaluated by the coaching staff going forward.

 

[huskymedic]

UConn Football Coach Bob Diaco To Retain Only One Coach
http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-football/hc-uconn-football-1219-20131218,0,3429670.story

>>Diaco said he wants to get through the holidays before a new staff starts working. That, of course, does not mean he is not having conversations and does not have ideas on who will fill out the staff. Once 2014 rolls around, he wants a staff in place, yet he wants everyone to enjoy the holidays.<<

>>... So to me, independent of when this process gets done or not done, I want whoever is coming here to have a nice Christmas vacation. I'd like them to have a nice New Year's Eve and a nice New Year's Day. So let's say, when that's done, January 3rd, 4th, 5th, I'd like to think all these processes could be done and they could be on their way to campus."<<

 

[JaYnYcE]

Cleaning house, whether in football staffs or business, should only be done rarely. It actually sends a message of weakness, not strength.

Other than Foley, I didn't feel that strongly about any assistant, but is it really worth losing ALL that institutional knowledge?

Let's hope Disco knows what he is doing.

Disco, I like that. He does have a Travolta Dance Fever look to him.

 

[Bootsthemonkey]

Everyone knew the defensive staff was getting gutted. Switching to a 3-4 scheme necesitated that change.

On offense uunless Disco felt comfortable with TJ as his OC, a wholesale cleaning was coming too. The incoming OC has to be able to build his staff.

My biggest takeaway is that Diaco spent the weekend finding an OC/DC and getting input on who they were comfortable with retainng.

I just tried to spell Diaco on my phone and it changed it to "Disco" so I had to laugh when I read your post. Coach Disco.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Cleaning house, whether in football staffs or business, should only be done rarely. It actually sends a message of weakness, not strength.

Other than Foley, I didn't feel that strongly about any assistant, but is it really worth losing ALL that institutional knowledge?

Let's hope Disco knows what he is doing.

If this isn't one of those rare situations where cleaning house is appropriate, you are being overly generous by using the term 'rarely'.

I vividly remember when the NY Giants (finally) cleaned house post fumble. In the process a couple of quality people were lost (HC John McVay who as GM of the 49er's helped build the Walsh/Montana teams and LB coach Marty Schottenheimer). Even with those losses the cleaning house was the best move that franchise could have made.

I have no doubt that down the road we will read the names of at least a couple of the assistants we lost and begin thinking that they could have helped us here. For the big picture this is the correct move. There will be new blood, new life, new attitude. This was necessary.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I just tried to spell Diaco on my phone and it changed it to "Disco" so I had to laugh when I read your post. Coach Disco.

It's the holidays and I don't have time to add Diaco to my phone or Kindle. So Coach Disco it is. He already has the hair for a heavy night of hitting the disco clubs on a Saturday night.

 

[HuskyDogArt]

TJ will end up as a head Coach in the Future... TJ might be a head coach at a 1AA team, or maybe as an assistant coach. Good Luck, TJ.

 

[FDNY99]

What about TJ Weist as HC at Central? I haven't seen anything on the search there yet....

 

[sportsart]

What about TJ Weist as HC at Central? I haven't seen anything on the search there yet....

I'd love to see that. His wife working at UConn and a new home a block from campus...hate to see him have to move and start over.

 

[rich1122]

I'd love to see that. His wife working at UConn and a new home a block from campus...hate to see him have to move and start over.

CCSU paid the last HC about $150K. Not sure that fits the budget.

 

[Hoophound]

Surprised that TJ bought a house. He must have been given the impression this was a long term gig.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

... this ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around ...

 

[SonsOfNutmeg]

You gotta wonder if losing Day as QB Coach will have any affect on the progress of Casey Cochren and/or Tim Boyle?

Some Possible Landing Spots for TJ:

-Army
-Eastern Michigan
-CCSU? (if they could pony up some extra $)?

 

[huskymedic]

You gotta wonder if losing Day as QB Coach will have any affect on the progress of Casey Cochren and/or Tim Boyle?

Some Possible Landing Spots for TJ:

-Army
-Eastern Michigan
-CCSU? (if they could pony up some extra $)?

Eastern Michigan hired a new coach earlier tonight.

 

[husky91]

All good, guy has a vision and culture in mind and wants pieces that fit that. He has to own it overall so wants "his" guys. Like most business things I've seen.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

If this isn't one of those rare situations where cleaning house is appropriate, you are being overly generous by using the term 'rarely'.

I vividly remember when the NY Giants (finally) cleaned house post fumble. In the process a couple of quality people were lost (HC John McVay who as GM of the 49er's helped build the Walsh/Montana teams and LB coach Marty Schottenheimer). Even with those losses the cleaning house was the best move that franchise could have made.

I have no doubt that down the road we will read the names of at least a couple of the assistants we lost and begin thinking that they could have helped us here. For the big picture this is the correct move. There will be new blood, new life, new attitude. This was necessary.

I am saying what SHOULD happen, not what does happen. Cleaning house when a new coach comes in is very common, particularly with first time coaches. They generally have spent years thinking about exactly what they would do when they finally got their first HC gig, and they want to live the dream. They also often have a lot of favors to repay.

My point is that most first time coaches fail. They don't usually fail because of X's and O's, they fail because they are not ready to be program CEO. There are a lot of great coordinators that couldn't cut it as Head Coach (Ellis Johnson is the most pronounced example of this), and quite a few effective Head Coaches who are weak or worse at the X's and O's. Schiano was a joke as a game coach, but did an incredible job at Rutgers. Mack Brown is abysmal as a game coach, and is one of the most successful head coaches of the last 20 years.

One of my issues with cleaning house is that UConn wasn't failing. Weist took over in mid season, and play improved immediately. 2 of the losses were to ranked teams, and Cincinnati had been receiving votes or ranked for much of the season. We beat a Rutgers team by 11 that had beaten Arkansas earlier in the year, and destroyed a Memphis team that had played tough games against Houston, UCF and Louisville. It seemed like the team was getting better half to half by season's end. There is a lot of room for improvement, but it wasn't like the old staff was incompetent. So what does the new guy do? Clean house.

The message that a house cleaning sends is that his way is more important than the right way. That is how a lot of the players and other people around the program will interpret it, because that is how every organization interprets a house cleaning when the people still there don't think things were going that badly. "Because I said so" is not very effective for parenting or being a manager.

I don't want to make a bigger deal out of this than it is. Maybe Diaco wanted to keep 2-3 assistants, but the others didn't want to stay. We will probably never know. I am only saying that cleaning house is usually a bad idea unless an organization was completely failing or there were ethical problems. We don't have much to go on so far, but I would consider this a first time HC mistake. If he holds the recruiting class together and adds 3-4 3* surprises, then we will have some more to go off that is a little more positive.

 

[Colt house75]

I am saying what SHOULD happen, not what does happen. Cleaning house when a new coach comes in is very common, particularly with first time coaches. They generally have spent years thinking about exactly what they would do when they finally got their first HC gig, and they want to live the dream. They also often have a lot of favors to repay.

My point is that most first time coaches fail. They don't usually fail because of X's and O's, they fail because they are not ready to be program CEO. There are a lot of great coordinators that couldn't cut it as Head Coach (Ellis Johnson is the most pronounced example of this), and quite a few effective Head Coaches who are weak or worse at the X's and O's. Schiano was a joke as a game coach, but did an incredible job at Rutgers. Mack Brown is abysmal as a game coach, and is one of the most successful head coaches of the last 20 years.

One of my issues with cleaning house is that UConn wasn't failing. Weist took over in mid season, and play improved immediately. 2 of the losses were to ranked teams, and Cincinnati had been receiving votes or ranked for much of the season. We beat a Rutgers team by 11 that had beaten Arkansas earlier in the year, and destroyed a Memphis team that had played tough games against Houston, UCF and Louisville. It seemed like the team was getting better half to half by season's end. There is a lot of room for improvement, but it wasn't like the old staff was incompetent. So what does the new guy do? Clean house.

The message that a house cleaning sends is that his way is more important than the right way. That is how a lot of the players and other people around the program will interpret it, because that is how every organization interprets a house cleaning when the people still there don't think things were going that badly. "Because I said so" is not very effective for parenting or being a manager.

I don't want to make a bigger deal out of this than it is. Maybe Diaco wanted to keep 2-3 assistants, but the others didn't want to stay. We will probably never know. I am only saying that cleaning house is usually a bad idea unless an organization was completely failing or there were ethical problems. We don't have much to go on so far, but I would consider this a first time HC mistake. If he holds the recruiting class together and adds 3-4 3* surprises, then we will have some more to go off that is a little more positive.

Several good points, Nelson.
1)we don't have much to go on so far, probably never know the real inside story as assistants move on.
2)first time coaches can fail, true but only time will tell.
But, As a first time coach, BD does strikes me as a meticulous person and doesn't want to make a mistake. He is NOW in the line of fire
and wants to be in the trenches with HIS people...people he trusts and has personal knowledge of....thus makes sense for him to go this way.
Retain who will fit AND WITH PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BE HERE>His butt is on the line and he knows it!!!!
3)We don't know who was going to stay, i.e people having a desire to move on...what were there own career path decisions?
People are concerned about TJ in several threads..... don't be concerned. TJ strikes me as the person
who wants his own thing. If I were him, I would want my own GIG now. Staying or not had nothing to do with being an assistant.....I would take that
to the bank based on what we has been said on this BY. ....no bitter grapes etc. Personal thought...he wanted the HC position, didn't get it and now waits to get his own show.
I would strategically WAIT, bide my time and get into the right situation for a first
time head coach such as Patriot League (Moorehead) making $500 K a year, within a year. TJ's contacts run deep....he might not have wanted to come on board.
LAST....Most important.......We wish them well.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Waylon, I love the way you spend four paragraphs making a much larger deal of this than it really is only to begin your final paragraph by stating: "I don't want to make a bigger deal out of this than it is". Your attention seeking and need to attempt to prove to the outside world that you are of some substance is borderline pathological.

I am curious as to what you would view as a failure if you truly believe that we weren't failing. Perhaps my standards and expectations are a bit higher than yours but even factoring in the turmoil from taking over the dumpster fire that PGDL created and were dismissed from, adding to the equation that the staff was short a couple of bodies, we still can only view (if we are to be intellectually honest) the last half of the season (giving a bye on a couple of games for the transition) as mediocre at best. Yes, quite a bit of character was displayed in not giving up at halftime against Temple but if we were to take what happened as not failing, the idea that a program with that set of standards would be anything but a joke if they attempted football independence (which you have stumped for quite often) is assinine.

 

[UconnFamily]

I am saying what SHOULD happen, not what does happen. Cleaning house when a new coach comes in is very common, particularly with first time coaches. They generally have spent years thinking about exactly what they would do when they finally got their first HC gig, and they want to live the dream. They also often have a lot of favors to repay.

My point is that most first time coaches fail. They don't usually fail because of X's and O's, they fail because they are not ready to be program CEO. There are a lot of great coordinators that couldn't cut it as Head Coach (Ellis Johnson is the most pronounced example of this), and quite a few effective Head Coaches who are weak or worse at the X's and O's. Schiano was a joke as a game coach, but did an incredible job at Rutgers. Mack Brown is abysmal as a game coach, and is one of the most successful head coaches of the last 20 years.

One of my issues with cleaning house is that UConn wasn't failing. Weist took over in mid season, and play improved immediately. 2 of the losses were to ranked teams, and Cincinnati had been receiving votes or ranked for much of the season. We beat a Rutgers team by 11 that had beaten Arkansas earlier in the year, and destroyed a Memphis team that had played tough games against Houston, UCF and Louisville. It seemed like the team was getting better half to half by season's end. There is a lot of room for improvement, but it wasn't like the old staff was incompetent. So what does the new guy do? Clean house.

The message that a house cleaning sends is that his way is more important than the right way. That is how a lot of the players and other people around the program will interpret it, because that is how every organization interprets a house cleaning when the people still there don't think things were going that badly. "Because I said so" is not very effective for parenting or being a manager.

I don't want to make a bigger deal out of this than it is. Maybe Diaco wanted to keep 2-3 assistants, but the others didn't want to stay. We will probably never know. I am only saying that cleaning house is usually a bad idea unless an organization was completely failing or there were ethical problems. We don't have much to go on so far, but I would consider this a first time HC mistake. If he holds the recruiting class together and adds 3-4 3* surprises, then we will have some more to go off that is a little more positive.

nelsonmuntz, you have to realize there's a new sheriff in town. The motives for cleaning house is quite simple; chemistry; "all for one, one for all". A staff without chemistry (do not see eye to eye) will not succeed. Diaco met with the staff and felt the 81% of the staff he did not retain did not fit the mold in order for him to succeed, so why keep them? it wasn't personal. Mike Foley and the graduate assistant did fit that mold, which again is highly important. If things were not working (it didn't for the past 3 years) then cleaning house is a GREAT idea. Beating Temple, Rutgers, and Memphis was not a successful season. I was inspired by the players and coaches perseverance, but then again you call it how you see it and 3-9 is not successful. I'm sure the players know it wasn't a successful season. Again, they didn't quit, but it wasn't a successful season, period. "The message that a house cleaning sends is that his way is more important than the right way" this is not true. It sends a message to the players that he's here to win and the players get that, 3-9, 5-7, 5-7 is not acceptable. "I am only saying that cleaning house is usually a bad idea unless an organization was completely failing or there were ethical problems" The program was completely failing muntz, what games were you watching for the past 3 years? With the things you wrote on this poster it doesn't give the impression that you did your research on Diaco. Let Diaco do his thing and stop being an energy vampire. Your looking at this in a negative light. In college football coaching changes whether its some coaches or all is common and players understand that.