Recruiting

[bobbyinaz]

Since i have been a loud complainer I'll be the first to step up.

As Parcells used to say "you are what your record says you are". This folks is a bad football team and it starts with a significant lack of talent. Could a better coach have coached them up & won a couple more games? Probably, but at the end of the day we do not have enough talent to compete.

I'm not saying there is no talent but, there is nowhere near enough. I respect the kids that come, play, and represent the university but the reality is that many of them would not be playing at an FBS school if not for receiving a UConn offer. There is a reason why most of them only had FCS offers.

Everyone loves to talk about the "diamonds in the rough" when it comes to recruiting. Yes, kids like that are great and generally become fans favorites because of the ability to overcome the shortcomings they have. However, when your entire recruiting class is made up of these types of players you are not going to be able to build or sustain anything long term.

Instead of talking about "right kinda guys" the talk should be about "right kinda players". Please don't think that i am in any way defending Diaco. I didn't like the hire when it happened & I certainly don't like it now. The most important part of being a college coach is recruiting. Lousy game day coaching can be overcome by superior talent but, when you have less talent than your opponent & you have an incompetent coach you end up where we are now.

 

[Ldandy]

Uconn is in a tough spot. It's not easy to recruit top players to a program that is currently stuck in the G5. Especially when the coaches promote a generally unappealing brand of football. Uconn needs to recruit players from the same pool as Cuse, Temple, RU, BC, but tries to do it with one arm tied behind its back.

While I find Diaco's Personality fascinating, I was not a fan of Uconn hiring him when they initially did. After The Pasqualoni Debacle your program desperately needed leadership and experience at the top. Not only that, they needed a jolt of excitement to engage a fan base weary of losing. What they got was a former blue collar linebacker who coaches like he believes Hayden Fry's Offensive game plans at Iowa were far too progressive for this team. He might say all the right things, run a generally clean program, and develop good kids, but his brand of football as a product is bad entertainment. There is a referendum every week on his product when you see the emptiness of the stadium.

I'm not sure that financially the AD could absorb letting Bob go this year, but on the other hand the damage to the program another 4-5 win season could do might outweigh any check they have to write. If they do pull the trigger they better be looking at offensive guys with former HC experience. I know people don't like the idea of guys with questionable pasts, but considering the position Uconn finds itself in they may need to swallow hard.

If you hire this kind of coach, you do so with the knowledge that he will be on an incredibly short leash. Guys like Briles and Sark come to mind immediately. Both are likely chomping at the bit to redeem themselves and would likely seriously entertain the position. Possibly wait for the firing season to see if any offensive guys like Rich Rod, Helfrich, or Dan Mullen get cut loose. If not look any of these guy then you look for an offensive innovator at The CUSA/MAC/Sunbelt Level. UConn is at a critical junction in its history, They are fighting for the relevance of its program. 41-3 at 2-5 ECU should not be good enough for anyone.

 

[Tdaley]

The AAC like the rest of college football has become a pitch and catch league. We simply do not have enough speed on either side of the ball the compete. We can question Bobby and our OC on playing calling and offensive strategy all we want but it very hard to overcome the obvious talent deficiency. We don't have a quarterback who can throw or run, or a running back ( Newsome is a great space player but not running back). Presently, we only have one dependable wide receiver. Our tight ends are not too bad but none of them are great play makers and as a group very average blockers. Its hard to find success with an offense with that many weaknesses. Learning that the coaches were converting Tyler Davis to a tight end was terrible news to start the season. It meant that a Diaco recruit was not working out at the quarterback position he was recruited for to play. That position more than any other position in this program really needed a big upgrade in talent. If Diaco was a better head coach maybe we steal a couple more wins to this point in the season but no more than that. Diaco has not recruited well enough to this point in time to turn this program around. The large amount of Connecticut players on our roster is NOT a good sign. Yes, there some good players coming out of Connecticut that can play at this level but not enough to take 27 spots on our roster. Diaco has made some inroads in New Jersey but he has to do a much better job in other areas of the country for this program to improve. I don't like our defensive strategy of rushing only 3 and playing zone. I would rather play more man coverage and never rush less than 4 players. Still, although Joseph, Walsh and Carrezola are nice inside type players they are all very slow. Watkins was too slow to play tight safety so we move Summers there but in my eyes he looks out of position and really hasn't played that well since the move. The lack of any kind of speed from the edge, at the linebacker position and in the secondary makes most my complaints about our defensive strategy moot. For all the weaknesses that Diaco may have at head coach, the cause his downfall will lie with his inability to improve the talent level fast enough to compete in this league. If he survives to coach another year, then Donovan Williams, Quayvon Skanes and others better be the real deal or it will be Diaco's last swan dance.

 

[bobbyinaz]

Uconn is in a tough spot. It's not easy to recruit top players to a program that is currently stuck in the G5. Especially when the coaches promote a generally unappealing brand of football. Uconn needs to recruit players from the same pool as Cuse, Temple, RU, BC, and but tries to do it with one arm tied behind its back.

While I find Diaco's Personality fascinating, I was not a fan of Uconn hiring him when they did. After Pasqualoni the program desperately needed leadership and experience at the top. Not only that, they needed a jolt of excitement to engage a fan base weary of losing. What they got was a former blue collar linebacker who coaches like he believes Hayden Fry's Offensive game plans at Iowa were far too progressive for this team.

I'm not sure that financially the AD could absorb letting Bob go this year, but on the other hand the damage another 4-5 win season could do to support might outweigh any check they have to write. If they do pull the trigger they better be looking at offensive guys with former HC experience. I know people don't like the idea of guys with questionable pasts, but considering the position Uconn finds itself in, they may need to swallow hard and hire this kind of coach with the knowledge he will be on an incredibly short leash. Guys like Briles and Sark come to mind immediately. Both are likely chomping at the bit to redeem themselves and would likely seriously entertain the position. Possibly wait for the firing season to see if any offensive guys like Rich Rod, Helfrich, or Dan Mullen get cut loose. If not look for an offensive innovator at The CUSA/MAC/Sunbelt Level.

At a time that was critical not only to UConn football but to the entire athletic department they had no business hiring a coach without head coaching experience. There have been many examples of coordinators who have turned into great coaches but, given the timing of everything going on around us in the CR world hiring a guy who needed training wheels was an absurd decision.

Now, IMO, we are stuck for at least another year. I don't see any way that the university can publically swallow a $5MM buyout to get rid of him when the subsidy to the athletic department is rapidly closing in on $40MM. At some point, likely very soon, the students, professors and taxpayers will revolt.

Everybody has reason for why we can't recruit. Geography, P5 vs G5, etc. but every other school seems to be able to do it. Is Temple's geography better? Maybe a little bit but they are also recruiting against a blue blood program in PSU plus RU & UMD in their backyard yet their talent is much better than ours.

My biggest concern with all of this is where is the bottom? We asked that question for several years with PP until we found it. Now, 3 years later here we are wondering if it can get any worse. I have a bad feeling it might

 

[UCweCONN]

Linebacker from Newtown HS is going to Michigan next year. We are an afterthought to CT's top high school talent, never mind other states'.

 

[noeynox]

Seriously, what type of offensive play making talent is going to sign to come here and play in this offense.

Diamonds in the rough in the former of Nick Williams, Jordan Todman, Marcus Easly, Noel Thomas, Arkeel Newsome, are your way out of this mess. Joe Williams at Utah, and Richard Lagow at Indiana came here with no other offers and are playing well at P5 schools.

ECU has a first year Coach and Scott Frost took over a winless that is 0-12, team and they are both performing at a higher level than us offensively . Diaco wanted a grind it out, low scoring approach off rip. Problem is,no,one else in the league wants to play his way.

 

[UConnJim]

I don't think the problems are twofold.

First, there is not enough recruiting of skill players. Think about this. We have 2 RBs plus one walk on RB that was given a scholarship. That's it. (2 are redshirting this year.). And, in three recruiting years, we have one scholarship QB recruited out of high school. With the lack of talent at QB we had, we needed to bring in more.

Second, our offensive and defensive schemes are killing us. As Hawkins said today during the broadcast is that you can't play a soft defense when you have a low scoring offense. I think UConn can be successful running a power offense with an attacking defense, which is what Edsall did. Also, I watch many college football games and I see WRs and TEs wide open due to designed plays, but I never see wide open players with our schemes. And, we need quick developing running plays, but they are slow developing. Ron Johnson running sweeps? Why would we do that?

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Skill players? Hello admissions, a little JC flexibility may be appreciated this year.

 

[UConnJim]

Skill players? Hello admissions, a little JC flexibility may be appreciated this year.

I don't think that's the problem. Diaco has never recruited 2 QBs in a class and he has recruited 2 HS QBs and 3 RBs in 3 recruiting cycles (Newsome was a PP recruit). One of the QBs has been converted to TE and one QB and 2 RBs are redshirting. Diaco has not delivered an impact QB or RB so far.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

This thread is maybe the best one I've followed on the BY in a long time. Most of these points have done a most accurate job in detailing the "hole" UConn is in. Heck, I "liked" a lot of these post for their insight. YES, the UConn team as it exists does not have the talent to go far in the FCS tournament. Not nearly. It would get destroyed by the 2009 and 2010 teams with many of these guys not ever seeing the field with those squads. Worse, the talent level will not get better. Not with the boring style of play that Bobby-Boy D plays on offense, defense and special teams. BD has to go, this year.

 

[bigAbruns]

Seriously, what type of offensive play making talent is going to sign to come here and play in this offense.

Diamonds in the rough in the former of Nick Williams, Jordan Todman, Marcus Easly, Noel Thomas, Arkeel Newsome, are your way out of this mess. Joe Williams at Utah, and Richard Lagow at Indiana came here with no other offers and are playing well at P5 schools.

ECU has a first year Coach and Scott Frost took over a winless that is 0-12, team and they are both performing at a higher level than us offensively . Diaco wanted a grind it out, low scoring approach off rip. Problem is,no,one else in the league wants to play his way.

Can't be low scoring when our defensive minded coach can't coach a defense worth a damn. He was a bad hire, and screwed UConn up for years

 

[whaler11]

It's the dirty little secret of any coaching change. Until the roster is overhauled there is an absolute ceiling on the results.

 

[noeynox]

It's the dirty little secret of any coaching change. Until the roster is overhauled there is an absolute ceiling on the results.

This more than any other reason, is why Im for giving Diaco his 4th year. problem as I see it, none of the players HE has recruited have the look of being difference makers. I think he keeps going to Ron Johnson because that is one of his guys, in fact he may be the most impactful skill player he has signed. Think about that.

 

[TKs]

Caught the Husky Walk before the UCF game for the 1st time in years. Last one I was at was an Edsall/Scott Lutrus team. Kept thinking to myself this years team looks like a High School team compared to that Edsall team. Had a bad feeling about our chances in the game after that. FWIW

 

[ConnHuskBask]

But they are RKGs that were captains of their basketball team with an offer from Stony Brook.

RKG --> Measurables --> Uptick

Same old poop.

 

[noeynox]

But they are RKGs that were captains of their basketball team with an offer from Stony Brook.

RKG --> Measurables --> Uptick

Same old poop.

I don't care what offers a kid has. soon as we saw kids like Larry Taylor and Nick Williams run with the ball you knew they would be contributors. Need kids like that that contribute from day one with the ball on special teams.

 

[huskyrob1]

This thread is maybe the best one I've followed on the BY in a long time. Most of these points have done a most accurate job in detailing the "hole" UConn is in. Heck, I "liked" a lot of these post for their insight. YES, the UConn team as it exists does not have the talent to go far in the FCS tournament. Not nearly. It would get destroyed by the 2009 and 2010 teams with many of these guys not ever seeing the field with those squads. Worse, the talent level will not get better. Not with the boring style of play that Bobby-Boy D plays on offense, defense and special teams. BD has to go, this year.

We need a coach who can sell the University to prospective recruits. We need a salesman, not Bobby Boy. That's the reason I thought way back that BD was the wrong choice. Geno sold the University to prospective recruits when Pat Summit was God, Calhoun was able to sell recruits on UCONN when everyone wanted to play for Rollie, Boeheim, Carnasecca, Pitino, and Calipari at UMass. We needed an experienced football coach who could do the same thing, not a coach who tries to impress recruits with his wardrobe.

 

[huskymedic]

We need a coach who can sell the University to prospective recruits. We need a salesman, not Bobby Boy. That's the reason I thought way back that BD was the wrong choice. Geno sold the University to prospective recruits when Pat Summit was God, Calhoun was able to sell recruits on UCONN when everyone wanted to play for Rollie, Boeheim, Carnasecca, Pitino, and Calipari at UMass. We needed an experienced football coach who could do the same thing, not a coach who tries to impress recruits with his wardrobe.

LOL...

Diaco was my 2nd pick. I'm happy with it. Wonder if he keeps TJ as OC? They know each other very well. From what I understand, Diaco is a terrific recruiter.

Stop, there are more.

 

[Dooley]

Recruiting/selling kids UConn is not Diaco's weakness. Gameday coaching is. Part of the blame goes to his staff too - which is 100% on Diaco to fix.

 

[noeynox]

LOL...


Stop, there are more.

Ouch!, how do you keep track of such things???

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Recruiting/selling kids UConn is not Diaco's weakness. Gameday coaching is. Part of the blame goes to his staff too - which is 100% on Diaco to fix.

Recruiting is most definitely a problem for Bobby-Boy D. Not impressed with the talent level he has brought in.

 

[Dooley]

Recruiting is most definitely a problem for Bobby-Boy D. Not impressed with the talent level he has brought in.

Kind of tough to recruit kids to a losing G5 program, don't you think? Diaco has a recruiting plan - recruit big frames, build them up through Coach Balis, and play physical (it has yet to materialize but at least it's a plan) - and has been able to find the types of kids he's looking for. We're never going to go toe-to-toe with Ohio St for 5* recruits. But we are winning a fair amount of battles for the 2* and 3* kids against lower tier P5 and other G5 programs that we need to...even with being a losing G5 program.

 

[huskymedic]

Recruiting is most definitely a problem for Bobby-Boy D. Not impressed with the talent level he has brought in.

2014 class was essentially a throw away class as the majority were Paqualoni's staff's offers and Diaco had less than 60 days from date of hire/staff composition to NLI signing days. (Crozier, Diggs, Levenberry, Watkins, Johnson are generally attributed to BD staff though based on commit date. (*Disclaimer - may have missed someone but close enough for exercise). Link to full roster here for reference as to others (sort by grade).

Here are the 2015/2016 classes. Red highlight = left program. Blue highlight on two-deep for ECU game.

2015 Class (recruited positions not adjusted to current roster positions where applicable):
1. Kevin Murphy(DE) - West Chester East High School, West Chester PA (UConn Commit 6/9/14)
2. Tyler Davis (QB) - Mepham High School, Bellmore New York (UConn Commit 6/12/14)
3. Philippe Okounam (DE) - St Paul's High School, Conway New Hampshire (UConn Commit (6/13/14)
4. Marshe Terry (S/WR) - North Burlington Regional HS, Columbus NJ (UConn Commit 6/17/14)
5. Connor Freeborn (OLB/DE - Salesianum School - Wilmington, Del (UConn Commit 6/18/14)
6. Aaron McLean (WR/FS) - St Mark's High School - Southborough, MA (UConn Commit 6/20/14)
7. Ian Campbell (TE/WR) - Pequannock Township - Pompton Plains, NJ (UConn Commit 6/24/14)
8. Nazir Williams (WR/DE/OLB) - Bridgeton HS - Bridgeton NJ (UConn Commit 6/26/14)
9. Aaron Garland (CB) - Fenwick High - Oak Park Illinois (UConn Commit 6/27/14)
10. John Robinson (CB) - Dwight Morrow High School, Englewood - New Jersey (UConn Commit 6/28/14)
11. William Richardson (TE/LB) - Ballou High School, Washington DC (UConn Commit 7/7/14 - original commit date)
12. Chris Lee (TE) - Severna Park High School, Serverna Maryland (UConn Commit 7/18/14)
13. Frank Battle (WR/FS) - Belen Jesuit Prep, Miami Fl (UConn Commit (9/2/14)
14. Felton "Trey" Blackwell (OL/DL) - Cedar Creek High School, Egg Harbor City NJ (UConn Commit 10/5/2014)
15. Michael Tarbutt (K/P) - Canisius High School Buffalo NY (UConn Commit 10/10/2014)
16. Tyraiq Beals (WR) - East Orange High School, East Orange New Jersey (UConn Commit 10/15/14)
17. Brian Cespedes (OT) - New London High School, New London CT (UConn Commit 10/17/14)
18. Hergy Mayala (SS/WR) - Trinity Pawling School, New York (UConn Commit 10/21/14)
19. Matthew Peart (DE/T) - Governor's Academy, Byfield MA (UConn Commit 11/11/14)
20. Dallas Parker (DE/TE) - Ponte Vedra High School, Ponte Vedra, Florida (UConn Commit (12/14/14)
21. Bryan Coney (WR) - Naugatuck High School, Naugatuck CT (UConn Preferred Walk-On Commit 1/5/15)
22. Tom Tabur (DL) - Worcester Academy, Worcester MA (UConn Preferred Walk-On Commit 1/18/15)
23. Brandon Bisack (PS QB) - Fairfield Warde High School, Fairfield CT (UConn Preferred Walk-On Commit 1/18/15)
24. James Bedell (LS/LB) - Shore Regional High School, West Long Branch NJ (UConn Preferred Walk-On Commit 1/20/15)
25. Jack Dexter (LB) - Wilton High School, Wilton CT (UConn Preferred Walk-On Commit 1/26/15)
26. Zordan Holman (TE/DE) - Cheverus High School, Portland, Maine (UConn Commit 1/30/15)
27. David Ryslik (DE) - Peddie School, Hightstown NJ (UConn Commit 2/1/15)
28. Luke Sowa (TE/DE) - The Gunnery School, Washington CT (UConn Preferred Walk-On Commit 2/1/15)
29. Chris Jean-Pierre (S/QB) - Valley Regional High School, Deep River CT (UConn Preferred Walk-On Commit 2/4/15)
30. Garrettt Anderson (QB) - Laney College, Oakland CA (UConn JUCO Transfer 3/8/15)

2016 Class
1. Donovan Williams (Ath/DT QB) - D.J. Hylton High School, Woodbridge VA (JMU Commit > UConn Commit 6/18/15)
2. Keyion Dixon (CB/QB) - Glastonbury High School, Glastonbury CT (UConn Commit 6/19/15)
3. Eddie Hahn (QB/DB) - Red Bank Catholic High School, Red Bank NJ (UConn Commit 6/24/15)
4. Quayvon Skanes (WR) - Phillips High School, Chicago, Illinois (UConn Commit 6/25/15)
5. Tahj Herring (CB/WR) - Suffield Academy, Suffield CT (UConn Commit 6/27/15)
6. Ryan Gilmartin (LB/FB) - Charlotte Christian School Matthews NC (UConn Commit 8/2/15)
7. Nino Leone (OL/DL) - Pingree High School, South Hamilton, MA. (UConn Commit 9/3/15)
8. Jasen (Jay) Rose (QB/TE) - Southington High School, Southington CT (UConn Commit 9/17/15)
9. Nate Hopkins (RB) - Marcus High School, Flower Mound Texas (UConn Commit 12/13/15)
10. Ja'Kevious Vickers (RB) - Glades Central High School, Belle Glade Florida (UConn Commit 12/13/15)
11. AJ Garson (TE/LB) -Oxbridge Academy of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach Florida (BGSU Commit> Decommit> UConn Commit 12/13/15)
12. Cam DeGeorge (OT) - Lynnfield High School, Lynnefield MA. (Syracuse Commit 4/6/15>Decommit> UConn Commit 12/14/15)
13. Tyler Coyle (S/WR) - Windsor High School, Windsor CT (UConn Commit 12/21/15)
14. Teddy Allmendinger (FB/H-Back/LB) - Avon High School, Avon CT (UConn PWO Commit)
15. Tre Bell (CB) - St Peter's Prep - Jersey City, New Jersey (Vanderbilt Transfer > UConn 1/16/16)
16. Nick Zecchino (LS/DB/QB) - Cedar Grove High School, Cedar Grove New Jersey (UConn Commit 1/24/16)
17. Noel Brouse (OL/DL) - Parkland High School, Allentown PA (UConn Commit 1/24/16)
18. Brett Graham (P/TE) - State College High School. State College PA (UConn Commit 1/24/16)
19. Mason Donaldson (WR/K) - Salisbury Township High School, Allentown PA (UConn PWO Commit 1/31/16)
20. Jack Giaconia (OL/DL) - Valley Regional High School. Deep River CT.(UConn PWO Commit 1/31/16)
21. Andrew Migliaccio ( C/DT/LS) - Granby Memorial High School, Granby CT (UConn PWO Commit 3/10/16)

 

[Stainmaster]

Bedell is gone as well, and Giaconia is not listed on the roster.

 

[huskymedic]

Bedell is gone as well, and Giaconia is not listed on the roster.

Noted on Bedell. Forgot Giaconia decided to focus on academics this year.