Shane Day interview

[Carl Spackler]

Welcome to UConn coach Day. Looking forward to next season. Greatly.



per espn.com....
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigeast/post/_/id/30754/checking-in-uconn-qb-coach-shane-day


You can say UConn assistant coach Shane Day might have the toughest task among all league assistants this spring.

Not only has he just started a new job, Day is tasked with helping develop the next Huskies starting quarterback. This, of course, is the biggest question facing UConn going into spring practice next month.

Day said in a recent phone interview he realized the spotlight would be on his players once he arrived on campus in Storrs to interview for the quarterbacks coach job.

"I went around to talk to administrators, the athletic director, football operations -- everyone told me about the quarterback situation," Day said. "Even fans randomly told me about the situation at quarterback."

The situation is a familiar one for UConn fans. Just like last spring, there is an open competition for the starting job. The Huskies have five players in contention this time around -- returning starter Johnny McEntee, Scott McCummings, Michael Nebrich, true freshman Casey Cochran and junior college transfer Chandler Whitmer.

Day said all five players will be given the same opportunity to win the starting job, but he's not quite sure how all the reps are going to be divided.

"That's the hardest part," Day said. "We talked about this a lot as a staff. We're in a unique situation where we have five guys. After watching them on tape, they all bring something to the table. We are as a staff planning on how to parcel out all those reps. It's going to be difficult. Hopefully somebody emerges halfway through so we can tailor those reps to the guys that are leading the charge."

Day has met with his quarterbacks and told them they all have a "blank slate." He already has watched cut-ups of last year, but wants to judge each player based on what he sees during the spring. He did not want to comment on the performance of the three players returning from last season -- McEntee, McCummings and Nebrich -- because he was not with the team.

But Day did say that McCummings will not be strictly a Wildcat quarterback in the spring. "We want to develop him like all the other guys," Day said.

He also defended the inconsistent McEntee, saying, "I don't think people understand how hard it is to go from not playing to starting. It takes time to get back to your timing. The strength for him is his playing experience and the strength of his arm."

And it is not a given that the two new players -- Cochran and Whitmer -- are automatically favorites to emerge from the group.

"It is a process, so it's going to take some time," Day said. "You can't make an evaluation in one day. We'll see how they all respond. They're all on a blank slate so to speak. We'll see how they do when they step on the field."

Day has spent the majority of his career as an offensive assistant in the NFL. Last year, he worked with the Bears' Jay Cutler, so he certainly understands what it means when players come under scrutiny. Day said what appealed to him most about coming into the college ranks is being able to teach and make a bigger impact on his players' lives.

His coaching style might also help in determining the quarterback of the future for the Huskies.

"The most important thing is I'm a teacher, and I teach first," Day said. "When you get on the field, that's where it changes. I like to apply pressure to see how guys handle it. The game is a pressure game on Saturdays, so you have to simulate that at practice and see how they respond."

 

[uconnbaseball]

I am pleased that we were able to grab a coach with NFL experience to coach our quarterbacks. Our offensive line wasn't good at pass protection last year, so what better man to bring in as your QB's coach than a guy who worked with Cutler?

 

[CAPS]

Hope my man spent some time in the circus because he's gonna have some juggling to do come spring.

 

[mattp]

realistically he seems like about as ideal a candidate as we could have hoped for. i've been starting to wonder if we're going to see any more movement within our coaching ranks. it seems like if we were going to we'd have seen it between signing day and spring practice. i know a lot of people wanted to see a change at WRs coach but now we're hearing all of this news about how well he's doing on the recruiting trail so it doesn't seem like he's going anywhere.

if this is it for changes this year it would be a pretty remarkable thing for our program to keep so many coaches from one head coach to another. i think it shows that everyone is committed to building the program and developing the players.

 

[Palatine]

Given the QB decisions of P, I hope that Day has much input in determining the QB starter and the rotation.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Given the QB decisions of P, I hope that Day has much input in determining the QB starter and the rotation.

I was vocal that I thought Nebrich should've been given a shot last year. But I'm not 100% certain that JMac wasn't our best option. Neither one of us see practices.

Having said that, I don't think you will see JMac under center next year as our starting QB. My predicition, based on absolutely nothing because spring practice hasn't even begun yet is Whitmer starts, JMac/Nebrich is #2, McCummings gets his snaps, and Cochran redshirts. This may be more wishful thinking on my part than an actual prediction. I hope Whitmer comes and takes the job by the horns. From what I've seen on film, he is more polished than Cochran at this time.

 

[metsfan2323]

Given the QB decisions of P, I hope that Day has much input in determining the QB starter and the rotation.

Because Day is P's handpicked guy and he is coming from the NFL, I have to believe he will have more input on the offense than Moorehead. That's not a knock at Moorehead whom I like, just the reality of the situation.

Unfortunately for you Day referenced McEntee's stong arm in this article.

 

[Palatine]

Because Day is P's handpicked guy and he is coming from the NFL, I have to believe he will have more input on the offense than Moorehead. That's not a knock at Moorehead whom I like, just the reality of the situation.

Unfortunately for you Day referenced McEntee's stong arm in this article.

I'm sure he has said something nice about all the QBs. I do believe he is not invested in any of the QBs and will be true to his word that there is a blank slate.

(Of course, I also believed P. when he said the position would be decided by production.)

 

[FrostyNuggets]

Welcome to UConn coach Day. Looking forward to next season. Greatly.


Day said all five players will be given the same opportunity to win the starting job, but he's not quite sure how all the reps are going to be divided.

"

He could save a lot of time and resources if he would just ask Palatine who should get the reps.

 

[Palatine]

He could save a lot of time and resources if he would just ask Palatine who should get the reps.

Thank you.

 

[Palatine]

Bad boy, bad Cutler, bad.

 

[Husky68]

I hope it's all about production on the field, just like last year. After seeing the Vandy game up close and personal, knew the "production" guy had been found and Uconn had its starter for the next 10 games. Maybe one of the 5 will stand out like JMc did against Vandy and sew up the job early.

 

[Carl Spackler]

It seems to me that there are many, many football fans, for whom the best player's on their favorite teams, are always the guys that are on the sidelines waiting to go in, and UConn football fans are no exception to the rule It is what it is.

Dividing up all those reps is a problem for sure, but I'm much more concerned about who's going to be snapping the ball for all those reps in the spring rather than who's taking them.

I'm glad we've got a young guy, with the experience and knowledge like Coach Day on board. We've got a group of talented QB's to work with. He'll need to figure out how to set them up in the best pecking order for both the immediate success, and sustained future success of this football program, and he's got the next 6 months to do it. That's what he's getting paid to do.

I hope he finds the collegiate football world more rewarding than the NFL, because it's all about recruiting and developing and teaching players to achieve success rather than the professional demands and rewards of the NFL, and he appears to have brought that kind of excitement and energy you need for college football.

 

[businesslawyer]

1. He is going to try to put the QB on the field that gives UConn the best chance to win football games. Just like everyone else at any level. Whether they get it right or not will, as always, be impossible to know.

2. If I had to guess who is getting the ball on opening day, I would think it would be between Nebrich and Whitmer. If P really thought JM was going to win the job, he would have offered him a schollie. That doesn't mean JM won't get a fair shot -- just that I think P would be surprised if that's how it ends up.

3. Someone on talk radio once said he saw kids with a Cutler jersey "playing at being Jay Cutler" in the parking lot before a game. His cohost said "How do you play Jay Cutler? Do you throw the ball and then start running towards the sideline so you're in position to tackle whomever picks it off?"

 

[Carl Spackler]

1. He is going to try to put the QB on the field that gives UConn the best chance to win football games. Just like everyone else at any level. Whether they get it right or not will, as always, be impossible to know.

2. If I had to guess who is getting the ball on opening day, I would think it would be between Nebrich and Whitmer. If P really thought JM was going to win the job, he would have offered him a schollie. That doesn't mean JM won't get a fair shot -- just that I think P would be surprised if that's how it ends up.
3. Someone on talk radio once said he saw kids with a Cutler jersey "playing at being Jay Cutler" in the parking lot before a game. His cohost said "How do you play Jay Cutler? Do you throw the ball and then start running towards the sideline so you're in position to tackle whomever picks it off?" the yoYou thorw the

I think it's a pretty telling thing, that elegibility wise, we've got a true frosh, a true soph (both of which have a RS year available). a RS soph, a Jr (eligibility wise) and a Sr on the depth chart, BUT...... all five are starting with a blank slate.

We're not where we should be yet, with teh QB position on the depth chart, but you know what - when you look at the spread of players, the structure of the depth chart is a hell of a lot better than it was last year.

THat alone, is goign to make competition better. The fact that we've added talent when it comes to the actual job of throwing the ball, is even better.

All that remains to be seen, to me, is if the actual performance of the players is going to reflect the depth chart structure, because that's what you want ideally. You want those two in the back red shirting, and you want the other threein age order on the depth chart.

But I don't know if that will be the case in reality.

we'll see.

 

[freescooter]

he said exactly what you'd expect the new quarterback coach to say. Pretty much that its wide open. In reality I doubt that it is, but no new coach is saying that unless you have a big time starter coming back. Even then he might not...Who can forget Edsall telling people that the qb job was wide open entering Orlovsky's senior year? Day of course has the advantage, if he takes it, of getting input from palatine. Morehead didn't use this resourse to his detriment.

 

[Carl Spackler]

he said exactly what you'd expect the new quarterback coach to say. Pretty much that its wide open. In reality I doubt that it is, but no new coach is saying that unless you have a big time starter coming back. Even then he might not...Who can forget Edsall telling people that the qb job was wide open entering Orlovsky's senior year? Day of course has the advantage, if he takes it, of getting input from palatine. Morehead didn't use this resourse to his detriment.

I think you can infer, conclude, whatever with a reasonable degree of certainty, that if the coaching staff is seriously spending time on how they're goign to be dividing up reps in spring practices when it comes to the QB position, that the position really is up for grabs.

The clear differences between where we're at this year, as compared to last year, are two fold.

#1. We've got a 5 deep on the QB roster that is age / class appropriate for the position. As noted, we've got a Sr, final year of eligibility. who's got the most playing experience at the 1-A level we're at - 12 games. A Jr, (2yr eligible) player, that's got plenty of playing and practice experience, and is prepared to compete at the level of competition we're at after transferring in from JUCO. A RS Soph with plenty of playing and practice experience at the level we're competing at. A true Soph with plenty of practice experience, and a some playing experience at the level of competition we're at , and a True Frosh coming in. BOth the soph and frosh have the RS year available to them.


Do I even need to compare that to what our depth chart looked like at QB going into 2011?

That structure and experience in that depth chart alone, is going to be a major, major upgrade in competition on the practice fields.

#2. When you factor in that two new guys coming in, are actually pretty good at throwing the ball? The competition gets even better.

I expect that this QB depth chart is going to get itself straightened out pretty quick once competition starts. Last year, there was nothign to start with in throwing stuff at these players to handle on the field. This year, there is plenty to start with as to what kinds of pressure points you can hit on the different players in this depth chart to see how they can handle it and perform.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Whitmer is Soph eligibility wise. He has 3 years remaining but no RS available.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Whitmer is Soph eligibility wise. He has 3 years remaining but no RS available.

Aha, thanks for correcting me. I jsut checked, I didn't realize, or remember, that he used a redshirt year at Illinois. I think he's a junior academically, but you are correct he's got three years of eligibity left. Good for him, and us.

So - we've got a guy with 1 year left, two guys with 3 years left, 1 guy with 3 years and redshirt available, and another guy with 4 years and a redshirt available. All of them with proportional playing/practice experience as to where they're at.

Still light years from where we were on march 1, 2011 with the QB position.

 

[mattp]

maybe it's just the natural optimism you always feel for the guy you haven't seen before, but i think Whitmer is going to be announced as starter shortly before or after the spring game, and will tear it up next year. 3000 yards+ passing barring injury. you heard it hear first

 

[Palatine]

It seems to me that there are many, many football fans, for whom the best player's on their favorite teams, are always the guys that are on the sidelines waiting to go in, and UConn football fans are no exception to the rule It is what it is.

Dividing up all those reps is a problem for sure, but I'm much more concerned about who's going to be snapping the ball for all those reps in the spring rather than who's taking them.

I'm glad we've got a young guy, with the experience and knowledge like Coach Day on board. We've got a group of talented QB's to work with. He'll need to figure out how to set them up in the best pecking order for both the immediate success, and sustained future success of this football program, and he's got the next 6 months to do it. That's what he's getting paid to do.

I hope he finds the collegiate football world more rewarding than the NFL, because it's all about recruiting and developing and teaching players to achieve success rather than the professional demands and rewards of the NFL, and he appears to have brought that kind of excitement and energy you need for college football.

Seems to me that some guys just spew the convention wisdom and think it is insightful. They trot out old tired cliches, mix in a little a little smugness and superiority, and add nothing while wasting bandwidth.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Seems to me that some guys just spew the convention wisdom and think it is insightful. They trot out old tired cliches, mix in a little a little smugness and superiority, and add nothing while wasting bandwidth.

Weak. Man. Weak.


What we need is awareness, we can't get careless.
You say what is this?
My beloved, let's get down to business.
Mental self defensive fitness.

Freedom of speech is freedom or death.

 

[Nostical]

Tell us how you really feel Pal, lol. My sense is that the JUCO will start. Like Tyler Lorenzen, you don't bring in one of those guys unless you're pretty confident of a major contribution. JMac will be better and yet still may be a backup. But I discount the impact of McEntee not receiving a Scholly. He said often that he did not need one (financially) and would rather see it used for other purposes.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Weak. Man. Weak.


What we need is awareness, we can't get careless.
You say what is this?
My beloved, let's get down to business.
Mental self defensive fitness.

Freedom of speech is freedom or death.

Who is that in your avatar? Matt DeGennaro?

 

[metsfan2323]

maybe it's just the natural optimism you always feel for the guy you haven't seen before, but i think Whitmer is going to be announced as starter shortly before or after the spring game, and will tear it up next year. 3000 yards+ passing barring injury. you heard it hear first

That is the dream many of us have. For me that optimism for Whitmer comes from the number of high caliber schools that recruited this kid out of high school, his passing numbers at the Junior College, and the few glimpses caught on the recruiting video which show a powerful arm and quick feet. There was also a post on this board that said the talk coming out of the practice facility was that Whitmer easily had the strongest arm of our QB's. That said, Zach Frazer also had the high profile with the cannon arm so we have to wait and see.