Ryan Dickens Article Critical of UConn Football

[CTMike]

 

[businesslawyer]

The only other question that comes from this is whether, from a strategic standpoint, it's worth it to pull the offer and risk alienating one or more high school coaches from an area that you intend to recruit heavily. I have some concern that, even viewed in the best possible light, the decision is short-sighted.

I don't disagree with taking that into effect, but if Edsall doesn't belive the young man is good enough and he's not, and then feels like he never got a chance, that doesn't necessarily foster goodwill with the coaches either.

 

[Go_Huskies]

Edsall was wrong to do this because he told him his scholarship was safe.

"Edsall called on New Year’s Day to assure Dickens the school still wanted him and his scholarship was safe, his parents said."

Then he sent his lb coach to NJ tell him he still had a scholarship

"UConn linebackers coach Jon Wholley even met with Dickens at Raritan Thursday to talk about signing day and his upcoming visit to UConn on Jan. 20"

and then three days later he tells him he doesn't have a scholarship.

Once you give your word you keep it. Period. End of story.

 

[Exit 4]

I don't disagree with taking that into effect, but if Edsall doesn't belive the young man is good enough and he's not, and then feels like he never got a chance, that doesn't necessarily foster goodwill with the coaches either.

That is exactly what you tell NJ high school football coaches and frankly, its the truth. If the kid is unlikely to see the field because the new DC has a new philosophy, then this is actually a righteous move.

 

[UCFBfan]

Honestly, with the way kids pull their own verbals all the time, I have zero sympathy for this. I'm sorry but this is part of recruiting. You're telling me that all these schools who over recruit players never do this? Why doesn't twitter blow up after a big recruit tells a program they are fully committed and then reopens their commitment when a "bigger" school comes calling? Why no sympathy for the schools who get screwed all the time? It's a common occurance.

No one knows the whole story but you gotta know that your scholarship offer is always up in the air when a new staff comes in. Who knows what was really communicated.

I don't really care what the parents say nor do I care the ramifications on this. Win some darn games with players that are actually FBS players and recruiting will uptick on its on. Don't give hand outs to lesser talent that Diaco scrapped up because he couldn't recruit for crap.

 

[whaler11]

It is kind of nice to see UConn acting like a seedy program that only gives a damn about winning. Refreshing.

 

[Exit 4]

Edsall was wrong to do this because he told him his scholarship was safe.

"Edsall called on New Year’s Day to assure Dickens the school still wanted him and his scholarship was safe, his parents said."

Then he sent his lb coach to NJ tell him he still had a scholarship

"UConn linebackers coach Jon Wholley even met with Dickens at Raritan Thursday to talk about signing day and his upcoming visit to UConn on Jan. 20"

and then three days later he tells him he doesn't have a scholarship.

Once you give your word you keep it. Period. End of story.

Well, this team has sucked for 6 years. The staff must have received word that fewer kids are leaving this winter due the usual attrition and we could not afford to miss out on superior talent we could otherwise secure with the approx 10-12 scholarships we have left. Its a numbers game and it must be mapping out that we are coming up short of seats for kids we actually want.

 

[coachcap]

Wonder if i comes up

Most likely since Bullhorn Gresh is a URI alum. Though highly unlikely, I hope that any discussion of the subject is balanced. HCRE is tasked with putting the football house in order. As such, it is imperative that he & his staff evaluate & select the players that best fit his system.

 

[Colt house75]

Agree with above.
This happens more often than not.
Harbaugh, Meyer, Saban and every other coach (business owner or CEO) move in direction best suited for their program. Substitute "business " for program.
No different.

Best for all concerned to go in a different direction if CEO makes the decision.

For those that feel it is bad, you need a mourning room. Grow up.

 

[uconndogs]

We only have one side of the story, but imho, Edsall should have honored the offer. Right thing to do and we can't withstand the potential negative PR on the recruiting front.

That all said, this further supports my fears that Diaco had not a clue what he was doing on the recruiting front.

 

[Excalibur]

I'll be clear -- I'm only upset if it turns out to be true that they weren't up front with the kid. There's no reason to play with fire like that.

 

[huskymedic]

Bruce Feldman ‏@BruceFeldmanCFB 10m 10 minutes ago
Bruce Feldman Retweeted NJ.com HS Sports
The latest example of the cold business side of college athletics & the recruiting world that always happens at this time of year.

 

[sub legacy]

let the fun begin...

Spinning, spinning, spinning...

 

[Jax Husky]

Agree with above.
This happens more often than not.
Harbaugh, Meyer, Saban and every other coach (business owner or CEO) move in direction best suited for their program. Substitute "business " for program.
No different.

Best for all concerned to go in a different direction if CEO makes the decision.

For those that feel it is bad, you need a mourning room. Grow up.

The liberal NE media would be astonished at how often those coaches have 3* kids committed for 2 years, only to pull the offer week before signing day when a 4-5* kid at that spots all of the sudden wants in.

 

[Briuconn]

Everyone stop. Keep it all in perspective. The DC wasn't hired during initial Edsall call and Wholley visit. Now all I read, the just announced hire of the DC runs a 3-3-5 defense. High likelihood that the kid didn't fit it. Its sad for the kid, but he probably didn't fit the scheme and in turn would be viewed as a wasted scholarship. There is still time for him. I am more concerned that the only school that has called is URI. How good of an FBS level player is he?

 

[Jax Husky]

We only have one side of the story, but imho, Edsall should have honored the offer. Right thing to do and we can't withstand the potential negative PR on the recruiting front.

That all said, this further supports my fears that Diaco had not a clue what he was doing on the recruiting front.

I give a -ish about winning, not meaningless PR that no one even cares about. This story will be seen by hundreds of people, at best.

 

[Excalibur]

I give a -ish about winning, not meaningless PR that no one even cares about. This story will be seen by hundreds of people, at best.

It's probably been seen by hundreds of thousands given the retweets by Olney and Feldman.

 

[Jimdish255]

What are we gonna do here? Flog ourselves for working within the system to implement the change of course we spent millions to affect? These coaches will own the results of every player on the team 2-3 years from now even before they are seniors along with the guys they inherited. We need to use good judgement but this disaster wasn't created by the guys now charged with fixing it.

 

[huskymedic]

It's probably been seen by hundreds of thousands given the retweets by Olney and Feldman.

Add in Thamel:

Pete Thamel ‏@SIPeteThamel 57m 57 minutes ago
Pete Thamel Retweeted NJ.com HS Sports
Recruiting is a cold world. Hope this kid lands somewhere soon.


It's a slow college football news week - Besides Oregon's issues it's a "juicy" story.

 

[Jax Husky]

I give a -ish about winning, not meaningless PR that no one even cares about. This story will be seen by hundreds of people, at best.

Fine, I wasn't being literal anyway. What I mean is, that this story will be gone by tomorrow or the next day, and no one will care (outside of this kids family and local community). In the grand scheme of things, this is far from a serious PR issue.

Taggert just had his whole football team go to the hospital with life threatining illness due to overworking them. THAT is a potential PR nightmare, not this.

 

[uconndogs]

What are we gonna do here? Flog ourselves for working within the system to implement the change of course we spent millions to affect? These coaches will own the results of every player on the team 2-3 years from now even before they are seniors along with the guys they inherited. We need to use good judgement but this disaster wasn't created by the guys now charged with fixing it.

I generally agree with this. If true that we are rescinding as many as 5 offers than Edsall sees the issue as systemic (unbalanced roster and talent gaps).

That said, it truly sucks.

 

[Colt house75]

I give a -ish about winning, not meaningless PR that no one even cares about. This story will be seen by hundreds of people, at best.

...and it will be yesterday's news. No feelings for anybody caught in this real world scenario. Tough.
This is an extension in kumbaya, touchy feely everybody gets a trophy.

Time to lock this thread and move on...

 

[FDNY99]

Add in Thamel:

Pete Thamel ‏@SIPeteThamel 57m 57 minutes ago
Pete Thamel Retweeted NJ.com HS Sports
Recruiting is a cold world. Hope this kid lands somewhere soon.


It's a slow college football news week - Besides Oregon's issues it's a "juicy" story.

Any chance this gets to pile on UConn he does @huskymedic . Anyplace else other than UConn that hired a guy like Lashlee he would have been all over it saying how great a hire it was and what a steal it was.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

If the kid was fantastic we all know that Rutgers would have been after him. Just another indication of how bad Diaco was as a head coach. Going after kids that should be playing at URI or Cornell level. This also shows that Edsall is doing his job. We need to be recruiting nationwide -- not just in CT or a nearby state -- and looking for players that meet the coach's and team's needs. Looking good Randy!

 

[gwhuskyfan]

Gresh sticking up for us?