Realistically? Don't Expect A Dramatic Turnaround For UConn Football (J. Jacobs)

[Excalibur]

Edsall set expectations when he said that the talent on the roster can win. I don't know that I agree with him, but that's what he thinks . ..

 

[Husky25]

7-5 is not bold, its's conservative. This team will be one of the most talked about turn arounds in college football.

Vegas has UConn's O/U at 3.5 Wins. Most optimistic pundits predict I've seen are at 4, a few at 5, and even less at 6. Like Jungle said, It's possible to have a complete turnaround and still not win too many games.

Edsall started behind the 8-ball in '99 as well. UConn won 9 games in 3 years.

 

[Stainmaster]

7-5 is not bold, its's conservative. This team will be one of the most talked about turn arounds in college football.

This would mean more if we didn't hear it every year.

 

[Confident Carl]

I posted this previously but it's worth posting again. In case some didn't see it.

↑
In 2013 Auburn had one of the biggest turnaround's in college football history going from 3 wins in 2012 ( They were 3-9 and 0-8 in SEC play) to 12-2 in 2013 winning the Iron bowl against Alabama in dramatic fashion. They won the SEC Championship that year and went on to the Rose bowl losing against FSU. All of the coaches were in their 1st year. Their first year co-offensive coordinator and QB coach was none other than Rhett Lashlee and their 1st year Offensive Line coach was - you guessed it - JB Grimes! I'm sure Lashlee and Grimes will be using their experience in that turnaround to make a case for a dramatic turnaround for UCONN, proving it can be done! Ironically UCONN was 3-9 last year and 1-7 in league play with the lone league win being the 20-9 win over Cincinnati.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm?..

2013 Auburn Tigers football team - Wikipedia

 

[RedStickHusky]

"The Huskies won't go no-huddle just to stand there in formation as the play clock winds down, wasting their own good conditioning on Diaco's obsession to eat as much clock as possible in the relentless pursuit of a 0-0 game."

Diaco's relentless pursuit of a 0-0 game made me laugh out loud. I cannot wait to see this team score some points on Thursday night!

A great line all the better for being totally accurate...

 

[RedStickHusky]

better effort and organization alone would have won a lot more games the last 6 years.

Amen.

 

[BlueMAB]

@Nostical

So if we go 4-8, which is better than professional objective preseason expectations, what's your reaction?

 

[RedStickHusky]

Nice article... Two things that I agree with strongly are: 1) the schedule is not loaded with 'mark it down' wins but neither is it loaded with 'can't wins', and 2) the idea that the season unfolds its' story week-to-week. win a couple early, get some momentum and confidence and go on a roll. we've seen it happen in other places.
I wouldn't predict 8 wins (although I'm definitely in on over 3.5) but I wouldn't be shocked either.... 12 chances to go 1-0, right?

 

[Redding Husky]

Jacobs said what I said months ago. This feels like 5-7. Randy can work just enough magic to get there.

But I pull out the schedule and 4-8 looks likely. Maybe inevitable. And that's ok as long as we don't have any Navy game ending situations. I don't think we will.

 

[RedStickHusky]

Jacobs said what I posted months ago. This feels like 5-7. Randy can work just enough magic to get there.

But I pull out the schedule and 4-8 looks likely. Maybe inevitable. And that's ok as long as we've don't have any Navy game ending situations. I don't think we will.

I've always been an eye-test guy. I want them to look the way I know a good football team looks. Crisp, efficient, energetic, excited, organized.. get those things going right and the winning will take care of itself.

 

[SubbaBub]

Eye test will be important. 4 wins will still be disappointing. By definition it has to be.

 

[blue93]

Eye test will be important. 4 wins will still be disappointing. By definition it has to be.

While I get the general idea of what a lot of people are saying, the talk of being "happy" if we're competitive in every game regardless of wins cracks me up. If we win 3 games and lose the rest by 14 points or less, there will be plenty of meltdowns all around. It's just part of who we are as boneyarders.

 

[Stinger92860]

Win number 3/4 comes at Temple. We end up at 6/7.

 

[businesslawyer]

"Stop the presses! UConn is going to return punts. Don't even get me started on Diaco's cockamamie reasoning to fair catch everything." The fact that the coach recognizes special teams (and I don't mean fake punts) is an upgrade.

Anyone can can fake a punt. It was our incredible emphasis on faking fake field goals that showed the prior staff's incredible attention to detail.

Good lord.

 

[Confident Carl]

I posted this previously but it's worth posting again. In case some didn't see it.

↑
In 2013 Auburn had one of the biggest turnaround's in college football history going from 3 wins in 2012 ( They were 3-9 and 0-8 in SEC play) to 12-2 in 2013 winning the Iron bowl against Alabama in dramatic fashion. They won the SEC Championship that year and went on to the Rose bowl losing against FSU. All of the coaches were in their 1st year. Their first year co-offensive coordinator and QB coach was none other than Rhett Lashlee and their 1st year Offensive Line coach was - you guessed it - JB Grimes! I'm sure Lashlee and Grimes will be using their experience in that turnaround to make a case for a dramatic turnaround for UCONN, proving it can be done! Ironically UCONN was 3-9 last year and 1-7 in league play with the lone league win being the 20-9 win over Cincinnati.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm?..

2013 Auburn Tigers football team - Wikipedia

If you open up the Wikepedia, you will see this. ALL COACHES WERE IN THEIR FIRST YEAR AT AUBURN (Malzhan had been OC)

Auburn Coaching staff 2013

Name --------- Position------- Alma mater ------ Year Entering
Gus Malzahn Head Coach Henderson State 1st
Rodney Garner Associate Head Coach/Defensive Line/Recruiting Coordinator Auburn 1st
Rhett Lashlee Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Arkansas 1st
Dameyune Craig Wide Receivers/Co-Offensive Coordinator Auburn 1st
Ellis Johnson Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers The Citadel 1st
Charlie Harbison Safeties/Co-Defensive Coordinator Gardner-Webb 1st
Scott Fountain Tight Ends/Special teams Coordinator Samford 1st
Tim Horton Running Backs Arkansas 1st
J.B. Grimes Offensive Line Henderson State 1st
Melvin Smith Cornerbacks Millsaps College 1st
Ryan Russell Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Auburn 1st

 

[metsfan2323]

I think the people predicting 4 wins are grossly underestimating Rhett Lashlee. Look at what the Tulsa coach has done with talent no better than ours. I think its the same offense.

Plus our defense now gets the benefit of facing the spread offense every day in practice. That's a great way to prep for this league.

 

[TheDrifter75]

I posted this previously but it's worth posting again. In case some didn't see it.

↑
In 2013 Auburn had one of the biggest turnaround's in college football history going from 3 wins in 2012 ( They were 3-9 and 0-8 in SEC play) to 12-2 in 2013 winning the Iron bowl against Alabama in dramatic fashion. They won the SEC Championship that year and went on to the Rose bowl losing against FSU. All of the coaches were in their 1st year. Their first year co-offensive coordinator and QB coach was none other than Rhett Lashlee and their 1st year Offensive Line coach was - you guessed it - JB Grimes! I'm sure Lashlee and Grimes will be using their experience in that turnaround to make a case for a dramatic turnaround for UCONN, proving it can be done! Ironically UCONN was 3-9 last year and 1-7 in league play with the lone league win being the 20-9 win over Cincinnati.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm?..

2013 Auburn Tigers football team - Wikipedia

The kick 6, beautiful. I truly hope we implement/get to use the field goal return game.

 

[formerlurker]

I'm drinking the Randy Kool-Aid.

Only because I drank it back in the day, it didn't kill me and I liked it a lot.

 

[UConnNick]

Anyone can can fake a punt. It was our incredible emphasis on faking fake field goals that showed the prior staff's incredible attention to detail.

Good lord.

One thing I think we can all agree on is nobody has ever faked a fair catch signal better than our Larry Taylor.

 

[Nostical]

@Nostical

So if we go 4-8, which is better than professional objective preseason expectations, what's your reaction?

We're not going 4-8. No way. This team is going to turn heads. This is a vastly underrated team. I understand why that is. Pundits and professional predictors have reputations to protect. They look at the other teams and can't measure our improvement so they place us at the bottom and give us a 3.5 O/U. This is a Bowl team and a prime candidate for biggest turnaround in the nation. This is also a great coaching staff led by a HC who has instilled in these players (by their own admission) the one essential ingredient for success--rational confidence. Let the games begin!

 

[Marty Jackson]

Realistically? Don't Expect A Dramatic Turnaround For UConn Football

The opening is pretty rough. Certainly doesn't read like someone that is paid for their writing ability.

I think 4-8 may be realistic.... But why do this piece on game day of game 1? always feel this guy has an axe to grind with Uconn athletics.

He couldn't do this a week ago, and give a more up beat view of a new season and the changes made across the board. He sort of tried, but I take the overall tone to be "the program is so bad, don't expect much". That might be true, but as a fan, I don't need him to tell me that on opening day.

Just my opinion.

 

[Marty Jackson]

We're not going 4-8. No way. This team is going to turn heads. This is a vastly underrated team. I understand why that is. Pundits and professional predictors have reputations to protect. They look at the other teams and can't measure our improvement so they place us at the bottom and give us a 3.5 O/U. This is a Bowl team and a prime candidate for biggest turnaround in the nation. This is also a great coaching staff led by a HC who has instilled in these players (by their own admission) the one essential ingredient for success--rational confidence. Let the games begin!

Agree and also think this team is being marginalized by last years performance. But I don't think last year reflected the talent level. It reflected the leadership, or lack of. The team quit on the coach, pure and simple. It started with Navy, and just steamrolled from there.
Going into last season, expectations were good, especially coming off a bowl game. I don't think this is your typical 3 win team.

Good news, we get some answers today.

 

[J187Money]

7-5 is not bold, its's conservative. This team will be one of the most talked about turn arounds in college football.

This is a positive statement of yours I can get behind!!

 

[HuskyHawk]

Agree and also think this team is being marginalized by last years performance. But I don't think last year reflected the talent level. It reflected the leadership, or lack of. The team quit on the coach, pure and simple. It started with Navy, and just steamrolled from there.
Going into last season, expectations were good, especially coming off a bowl game. I don't think this is your typical 3 win team.

Good news, we get some answers today.

Jacobs even mentions that the team should have been 5-1, if not for the coach. Do they, at 5-1, then implode as they did? No...they gave up and quit playing, and Diaco gave them nothing to play for. So, you've got a team that lost some players, and added others. QB has been upgraded. The OL should be upgraded. RB is upgraded (even just with Newsome as a senior). WR looks solid, maybe a little down without Thomas. TE is the same. LB, if not for injuries, is upgraded. The DB situation looks very solid and deep. DL worries me a bit.

I don't see how this team is weaker than the one that would have been 5-1 with a win over a ranked Navy team, but for coaching blunders. A lot is unknown. So I understand that people, including Jacobs, are assuming the worst. I agree with his take on the schedule. No great teams, few bad ones. But we beat Cinci last year. How is that now an automatic loss? I'm expecting at least 5, and hoping for 6, with a best case of 7.

 

[BlueMAB]

We're not going 4-8. No way. This team is going to turn heads. This is a vastly underrated team. I understand why that is. Pundits and professional predictors have reputations to protect. They look at the other teams and can't measure our improvement so they place us at the bottom and give us a 3.5 O/U. This is a Bowl team and a prime candidate for biggest turnaround in the nation. This is also a great coaching staff led by a HC who has instilled in these players (by their own admission) the one essential ingredient for success--rational confidence. Let the games begin!

So you just don't want to answer the question, got it.