PSA for the Diaco Haters

[FDNY99]

you don't take about 100 out for dinner on the spur of the moment. And you certainly don't go to a good restaurant without significant upfront warning and planning. It is also a reservation you do not cancel without significant cost. This was a planned event by BD and his staff. Just like Six Flags was last year. It is not a bad thing (it is a good thing to do) but to suggest it is a reward that came up at the last minute is not accurate at all. And it is not something new that just Uconn does and it is something other Uconn coaches have done (maybe not a steakhouse but there was always something fun/off campus done with te teams).

News flash 06029 I have had season tickets at Memorial Stadium from 94-99 and at Rentschler since 2002...and have been going to UCONN football games since the early 80's. I know exactly what is done by college coaches at the end of pre-season camp. But thanks for the unneeded education about how UCONN football and other college football programs are run. I'll defer to the former UCONN football players I tailgate with every week for that info though. Do you know for a fact Diaco decided to go to Ruth Chris instead of Six Flags or maybe bowling like Edsall did. I have made a reservation for 75 guys at Smith & Wollensky's steakhouse in Manhattan for a firehouse outing at christmas time...it was actually pretty easy to tell you the truth, and I did it 2 wks in advance. When do you have your Ruth Chris reservations with Addazio?

 

[Carl Spackler]

Totally agree with blue93. Being a senior at UConn, I can speak to the fact that the food is God awful and that the players are eating at the same dining hall as I am. To have the opportunity to get off campus and enjoy a steak dinner is invaluable. Second, in personal conversations players have mentioned how excruciating off season workouts and summer camp has been...they've never been worked this hard. Third, doing things like this shows that Diaco cares about his guys and being a 'players coach' can go a very long way in recruiting. One summer practice will not make a winning team, but developing a team of good friends who love each other goes a long way.

Food was good when I was at UCONN. Dorm served food family style at meals though, and we had a really good chef. I would say it was great but I missed the drinking age cutoff from 18-21 and the days of kegs in the dining hall.

There is no single best way to build teams. The way you know you've been successful is by the results the team produces.

 

[06029]

News flash 06029 I have had season tickets at Memorial Stadium from 94-99 and at Rentschler since 2002...and have been going to UCONN football games since the early 80's. I know exactly what is done by college coaches at the end of pre-season camp. But thanks for the unneeded education about how UCONN football and other college football programs are run. I'll defer to the former UCONN football players I tailgate with every week for that info though. Do you know for a fact Diaco decided to go to Ruth Chris instead of Six Flags or maybe bowling like Edsall did. I have made a reservation for 75 guys at Smith & Wollensky's steakhouse in Manhattan for a firehouse outing at christmas time...it was actually pretty easy to tell you the truth, and I did it 2 wks in advance. When do you have your Ruth Chris reservations with Addazio?

Okay, you don't like me. I get it. But I also said it was a good thing. This was not spontaneous. That was my only point. Not knocking the coach or the meal or whether it was deserved. Anything at the end of camp is well deserved by the kids.

Have you been to the Newington restaurant? A full football team and staff take up most of that venue. Smith and wollensky in All their locations have multiple private rooms so not really comparable to this location in Newington. Have you worked in the steakhouse businesss? You can lecture me on that next time.

Looks like it will be a nice night. I am going to enjoy it.

 

[FDNY99]

Okay, you don't like me. I get it. But I also said it was a good thing. This was not spontaneous. That was my only point. Not knocking the coach or the meal or whether it was deserved. Anything at the end of camp is well deserved by the kids.

Have you been to the Newington restaurant? A full football team and staff take up most of that venue. Smith and wollensky in All their locations have multiple private rooms so not really comparable to this location in Newington. Have you worked in the steakhouse businesss? You can lecture me on that next time.

Looks like it will be a nice night. I am going to enjoy it.

You were the one who decided to start lecturing and informing (From your post word for word: And it is not something new that just Uconn does and it is something other Uconn coaches have done (maybe not a steakhouse but there was always something fun/off campus done with te teams).).....I just replied in kind. I haven't been to the Newington Ruth Chris. The only one I have ever been to was in San Antonio (for the record The Little Rhine Steakhouse on the River Walk is MUCH better). I eat at steakhouses as a hobby though. I am a fireman in NYC ...that's what I do for a living...sorry.

 

[ucjoet]

PSA initially means something else entirely to me at my age.

HA HA, Totally agree, the PSA I was thinking of was totally different then what original poster meant. Especially thinking in that direction because of a recent biopsy to that area. Funny that depending on age how certain things are interpreted .

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Food was good when I was at UCONN. Dorm served food family style at meals though, and we had a really good chef. I would say it was great but I missed the drinking age cutoff from 18-21 and the days of kegs in the dining hall.

There is no single best way to build teams. The way you know you've been successful is by the results the team produces.

With you Carl,
Lived in small dorm for a bit. Chow was good until the end of the semester..., but finished with steak and lobster before fall finals.
Agree with your finish.

 

[mets1090]

All I know is that the dining hall food was never better than it was during orientation the summer before my Freshman year.

My brother went to UConn before me so I already knew what the food was like and I know it wasn't just my perception being warped as a wide eyed high school kid. The food those two days was legitimately amazing. And then school started.

 

[HuskyHawk]

With you Carl,
Lived in small dorm for a bit. Chow was good until the end of the semester..., but finished with steak and lobster before fall finals.
Agree with your finish.

Same for me. 84-88, all in small dorms. Food was generally good when they served something you liked. We fired a chef once. But you ate what they served. No choices, except at breakfast (which was awesome).

Family dining really brought the dorm together and was one of the more memorable aspects of life at UConn compared to other schools. I know why it ended, but it was unique and had many benefits.

 

[Husky25]

Are there small dorm dining halls anymore? I thought they got rid of them in the early aughts.

Quality in the small dining halls was always superior to the large mess halls, but they were closed on the weekends. I primrily ate in Holcomb for a semester, McMahon for a semester, and Putnam for a year. The two years I lived in Hollister were the best in terms of food.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Same for me. 84-88, all in small dorms. Food was generally good when they served something you liked. We fired a chef once. But you ate what they served. No choices, except at breakfast (which was awesome).

Family dining really brought the dorm together and was one of the more memorable aspects of life at UConn compared to other schools. I know why it ended, but it was unique and had many benefits.

Lived in West Campus late 70's . Our chef was great and her asst was good too. She did all the buying and decided the menus. Made bag lunches for us if you couldn't make it for the noon hour. I thought breakfast was the best too! Moved off campus and I got asked to wash the pots and pans after dinner at my old dorm. Ate 3 squares for an hour's work, not bad.

 

[ktuck911]

With you Carl,
Lived in small dorm for a bit. Chow was good until the end of the semester..., but finished with steak and lobster before fall finals.
Agree with your finish.

enjoyed those steak and lobster meals while living on East Campus ( Sprague ) myself...

 

[uconnell]

The best food on campus from 2004 thru 2009 was South. We ate there several times when visiting my grandson. Towers and McMahon not so much.

 

[coachcap]

Lived in Towers (Jefferson House) from 72-75 & was a pot washer there when I moved off campus. Food was MUCH better than you got in the Jungle, Shippee, McMahon or any of the high rise cafeterias. The Towers Union's snack bar made great burgers & sandwiches at night.

 

[ucjoet]

Lived in Batterson C late 70's and was a waiter there early 80's. The waiter job was the best, if you lived off campus. You worked 1 1/2 hours a day ( with mostly friends of yours) and you got breakfast , lunch and dinner as compensation. Also gave you a place to hang out, if you did not want to go back to your off campus apartment. We had a Chef named Wally and his assistant was his wife Holly. Food for the most part was better, but downside was you had no choice. Whatever the menu was for the week, is what you got.

The other upside was if you complemented Wally on his food ( even if you did not mean it), he would give you extra or leave something for you so you can take to your off campus apartment. Looking back those were some much simpler, but great times.

 

[History Geek]

Terry A in the early to mid 80s. Ate too many cheese omelettes make to order for breakfast to count. Amazing my cholesterol level isn't in the stratosphere. Johnny hosted happy hour at Huskies for dorm residents every Thursday during the semester. Good times.

 

[Husky25]

The upside to the bigger halls was if you didn't like the main entree, they had bagels, sauce (meant for the over cooked macaroni), and shreaded cheese (meant for the salad bar). You could always smuggle out a bagel pizza and heat it up with your toaster oven in the dorm (RAs couldn't consider it contraband if it wasn't plugged in).

 

[weyuo]

In talking to Matt Balis at the season tkt holder bbq..he said that this is the hardest he has ever worked a team in his career. He said that i due to the tough schedule they have this year. It is not a surprise in the least to me that the kids have said this.

Seriously, what do you think Matt Balis told Miss. St. supporters during their meet & greet? "I've never worked a team harder than this".

Proof is in the pudding folks, supposedly the last S&T coach was the best.

From New Haven Register:
Saturday, January 11, 2014

Martin's departure from UConn raises some eyebrows
It was a given that new football coach Bob Diaco was going to do a little housecleaning after being hired to breathe some life into the program.

Offensive line coach Mike Foley was the only assistant coach retained. Diaco also brought in a Player Personnel Director (Michael Painter) and will be hiring a Director of Football Operations. Nobody's departure has generated more backlash and reaction than the firing of Strength and Conditioning coach Jerry Martin. Former players have taken to social media to express their shock at seeing Martin, an award-winning strength coach, sent packing after 24 years.

In saying that.... from what I've seen so far in spring and fall practice the team does look bigger, stronger, faster and pats on the back for Balis getting them there but please folks, the last guy here was an award winner, this guy is "the best", I'm sure Alabama's S&T coach is some kind of strength & conditioning guru along with USC's, Ohio St's.

If Balis's training can get the Husky offensive line to punch holes through Cincy's defensive line then give the guy some praise. If they can punch enough holes through Mizzou's D so that they can win then give Balis a RAISE!

 

[Sportsman5]

Seriously, what do you think Matt Balis told Miss. St. supporters during their meet & greet? "I've never worked a team harder than this".

Proof is in the pudding folks, supposedly the last S&T coach was the best.

From New Haven Register:
Saturday, January 11, 2014

Martin's departure from UConn raises some eyebrows
It was a given that new football coach Bob Diaco was going to do a little housecleaning after being hired to breathe some life into the program.

Offensive line coach Mike Foley was the only assistant coach retained. Diaco also brought in a Player Personnel Director (Michael Painter) and will be hiring a Director of Football Operations. Nobody's departure has generated more backlash and reaction than the firing of Strength and Conditioning coach Jerry Martin. Former players have taken to social media to express their shock at seeing Martin, an award-winning strength coach, sent packing after 24 years.

In saying that.... from what I've seen so far in spring and fall practice the team does look bigger, stronger, faster and pats on the back for Balis getting them there but please folks, the last guy here was an award winner, this guy is "the best", I'm sure Alabama's S&T coach is some kind of strength & conditioning guru along with USC's, Ohio St's.

If Balis's training can get the Husky offensive line to punch holes through Cincy's defensive line then give the guy some praise. If they can punch enough holes through Mizzou's D so that they can win then give Balis a RAISE!

each coach emphasizes different things. From watching clips of balis training it appears he emphasizes a program that will add maximum muscle mass. This is optimal for what we need because most lineman need to add 30-60 lbs as quickly as possible and we need huge lineman for a running offense and a 3-4 defense. He may not be the optimal coach for USC or Alabama, but he's what UConn needs.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

The general level of fitness and strength had declined. The question was answered within the body of the post. After the Tulane game Diaco made references on how shocking the level of fitness must had fallen. Weak and Fat were the used to describe it.

 

[FDNY99]

Seriously, what do you think Matt Balis told Miss. St. supporters during their meet & greet? "I've never worked a team harder than this".

Proof is in the pudding folks, supposedly the last S&T coach was the best.

From New Haven Register:
Saturday, January 11, 2014

Martin's departure from UConn raises some eyebrows
It was a given that new football coach Bob Diaco was going to do a little housecleaning after being hired to breathe some life into the program.

Offensive line coach Mike Foley was the only assistant coach retained. Diaco also brought in a Player Personnel Director (Michael Painter) and will be hiring a Director of Football Operations. Nobody's departure has generated more backlash and reaction than the firing of Strength and Conditioning coach Jerry Martin. Former players have taken to social media to express their shock at seeing Martin, an award-winning strength coach, sent packing after 24 years.

In saying that.... from what I've seen so far in spring and fall practice the team does look bigger, stronger, faster and pats on the back for Balis getting them there but please folks, the last guy here was an award winner, this guy is "the best", I'm sure Alabama's S&T coach is some kind of strength & conditioning guru along with USC's, Ohio St's.

If Balis's training can get the Husky offensive line to punch holes through Cincy's defensive line then give the guy some praise. If they can punch enough holes through Mizzou's D so that they can win then give Balis a RAISE!

First and foremost...Jerry Martin stopped working with the football team in 2011 when Pasqualoni was hired. He brought Todd Devers with him from the Cowboys where he had been a Asst S&C coach. He lasted 2 years and was replaced by Joel DeMarco for the 2013 season. Martin was still the Director of S&C for UCONN Athletics. DeMarco was the Asst to Balis last year, and is now reassigned in the S&C department with Balis having a grad Asst Tony Dieppa as his assistant this season. This team did fine when Martin was at the helm...imho it is back to where it was after 3 disastrous years of utter ineptness. Disco was hired to do a job and has been given everything possible with in Warde Manuel's means to get that done. Overhauling the S&C department was one of them.