Slow day yesterday, rewatched P's recruiting news conference.

[Palatine]

He is an impressive guy. Love the asides that they did this at Miami or that at Dallas. Watching him speak reminded me why I was so impressed by him last year. He really believes in UConn and Connecticut. He talks a great game. (If he didn't abandon his principles at Vandy... but that's a different story).

He started with the Connecticut guys, (Cochrane, Rennick and Ghio) and spent extra time on them. This might have been because he knew he would get questions about them immediately.

We get the same old, same old on the QB competition. We'll see.

He really loves Myers, heavy hands, he was genuinely excited talking about this kid. My guess, we should look for him in the DT rotation next year.

Same with Joe Williams. He was gushing about Williams speed and home run ability. I think he realized how excited he was coming across and quickly mentioned McCombs as an afterthought.

There was a difference in how he talked about Myers and Williams during the press conference. I could be reading too much into it, but I don't think so.

We signed a boatload of offensive linemen. he had nice things to say about all of them, of course. He was very happy to get Alex Mateas, the transfer from PSU. Checking back on the numbers, there is a difference in "proto-typical" size with these dudes, Rennick 319, Levy 280, Rugg 285, Samra 250, Bockeloh 286, Ghio 297, Mateas 303. Jerry Martin usually shrinks them before he builds them back the way he wants them, but as a group they would make a impact on a truck scale.

P. was also very happy about the LB group. There will be a tremendous amount of competition there next fall. He mentioned that Don Brown (DC) was very please to welcome Ryan Donohue the transfer from UMD. It does seem like an impressive group, once again it looks to be more proto-typical size wise.

It's along press conference, 40 minutes or so. But it is a big class especially considering the early entry transfers. Pasqualoni comes across as very comfortable in his own skin. He talks like the bar is higher this year (lord knows it has to be).

 

[businesslawyer]

Watching him speak reminded me why I was so impressed by him last year..

I'm speechless. Unless you mean why you were impressed with him until the team actually took the field.

I feel like I just read TDH posting that the first thing we need to do is establish the fullback dive and our punting game.

 

[metsfan2323]

The hope with P is that he will build this program, then build it some more, then build it some more, and then hopefully build it some more. The previous regime seemed more interested in building this program, and then building another program. There is a huge difference between the two mindsets. Hopefully P gets the job done. Nothing has been accomplished yet other than what looks on paper to be a solid recruiting class and a long overdue victory over Rutgers.

 

[SubbaBub]

The P hire was always to be a consolidation of the initial success. A hedge by the program to get a qualified coach that believed in UConn. One who had a record of recruiting the Northeast. One who wouldn't use a good first year to get a higher profile job. Remember before anyone realized we couldn't throw or defend the pass, there were big expectations for this year.

The negatives were his age, time away from CFB, and his last few seasons at Syracuse. It was a sound hire, not one I agreed with, but sound.

I like P the coach more than I thought I would, but this is a big year. Conference realignment saw to that.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

 

[Palatine]

I'm speechless. Unless you mean why you were impressed with him until the team actually took the field.

I feel like I just read TDH posting that the first thing we need to do is establish the fullback dive and our punting game.

Yeah, I loved him in the preseason. He said all the right things and there was no question about his commitment to UConn. If he had coached according to his preseason pronouncements, I think his results would have been better.

I completely agree with Metsfan, he seems right on the money with the exception, of course, that he is a mets fan (unless the name is ironic).

 

[Marty Jackson]

at the end of the day, we are always measured against our expectations. When P was hired, I think people expected him to 1) stabilize an up and coming program whose coach unexpectedly left, 2) improve recruiting in the state and the overall northeast, and then 3) get this program to the next level and start making the BCS bowls the norm, not the exception.
Overall, in his first year I think P has definitely hit made significant strides to the first two points. I think the expectations on the program getting to the next level for most people was over a couple seasons.
that said, I think there will always be people that are unhappy with any decision. But I don't think (IMO) that there is any reason to look at coach P's tenure over 1 year as anything but positive. Mildly positive at worst. but, people's expectations probably gave him a bye headed into last season given our QB situation...
I don't think he's on the hot seat, but from a fan's perspective, this is a big year for Coach P...

 

[businesslawyer]

at the end of the day, we are always measured against our expectations. When P was hired, I think people expected him to 1) stabilize an up and coming program whose coach unexpectedly left, 2) improve recruiting in the state and the overall northeast, and then 3) get this program to the next level and start making the BCS bowls the norm, not the exception.
Overall, in his first year I think P has definitely hit made significant strides to the first two points. I think the expectations on the program getting to the next level for most people was over a couple seasons.
that said, I think there will always be people that are unhappy with any decision. But I don't think (IMO) that there is any reason to look at coach P's tenure over 1 year as anything but positive. Mildly positive at worst. but, people's expectations probably gave him a bye headed into last season given our QB situation...
I don't think he's on the hot seat, but from a fan's perspective, this is a big year for Coach P...

I don't think he's midly on the hot seat, and don't want him to be. And I expect this year to be significantly better. But 5-7 was not, at the worst, "mildly positive," and going from 8 wins to 5 wins is not stabilizing things.

 

[Palatine]

I don't think he's midly on the hot seat, and don't want him to be. And I expect this year to be significantly better. But 5-7 was not, at the worst, "mildly positive," and going from 8 wins to 5 wins is not stabilizing things.

I love it when BizLaw is making sense.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

I don't think he's midly on the hot seat, and don't want him to be. And I expect this year to be significantly better. But 5-7 was not, at the worst, "mildly positive," and going from 8 wins to 5 wins is not stabilizing things.

I wouldn't say it's mildly positive, but I don't really see it as a net loss. Given that we lost the cornerstone of our offense (Todman), and really didn't have an offensive leader to step up, and an entirely new gameplan, 5-7 was not that bad. Especially considering we lost a few of those games close. Obviously it was disappointing, but given what we had, the amount of time to implement a new system, etc., I'd say I was mildly satisfied with the job done so far. This year will be much more telling, imo.

 

[sdhusky]

8 wins to 5 wins is not stabilizing things.

Last year wasn't much different than what we got under the previous coach. 3-4 in the BE was FUCRE's normal season. The only thing really different was the losses OOC but Vandy and Iowa St were better than some of the teams we faced previously.

I would say, given the new QB, it was about what we've come to expect.

Add in the new coach and it looks about right and makes me think things will improve.

FYI - Going from 9 wins to 2 wins with an All-conference type QB is not stabilizing things

 

[businesslawyer]

Last year wasn't much different than what we got under the previous coach. 3-4 in the BE was FUCRE's normal season. The only thing really different was the losses OOC but Vandy and Iowa St were better than some of the teams we faced previously.

I would say, given the new QB, it was about what we've come to expect.

Add in the new coach and it looks about right and makes me think things will improve.

FYI - Going from 9 wins to 2 wins with an All-conference type QB is not stabilizing things

Edsall's year in Maryland was an unmitigated disaster. Period. How in the world is that relevant to what P's record is.

And if you think it's o.k. to say 3-4 in conference is an average year when, the prior four, we went 5-2, 3-4, 3-4, 5-2, we have different views of math.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Edsall's year in Maryland was an unmitigated disaster. Period. How in the world is that relevant to what P's record is.

And if you think it's o.k. to say 3-4 in conference is an average year when, the prior four, we went 5-2, 3-4, 3-4, 5-2, we have different views of math.

Pabst blue ribbon is having an unmitigated disaster of year in Maryland huh? Odd, you'd think that beer sales would be up way up down there, the way the football team has been handled.

 

[businesslawyer]

Pabst blue ribbon is having an unmitigated disaster of year in Maryland huh? Odd, you'd think that beer sales would be up way up down there, the way the football team has been handled.

I give you credit for keeping your post short. But I have no clue what you're trying to say.

 

[Kgun7]

I don't think he's midly on the hot seat, and don't want him to be. And I expect this year to be significantly better. But 5-7 was not, at the worst, "mildly positive," and going from 8 wins to 5 wins is not stabilizing things.

Biz - You can't pass a judgement on P's first season ... (I hate doing this) unless you let us know what results you expected in 2011 if the former coach had boarded that plane with his team.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Too much to explain right now.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Biz - You can't pass a judgement on P's first season ... (I hate doing this) unless you let us know what results you expected in 2011 if the former coach had boarded that plane with his team.

I think that if Pabst Blue Ribbon had been on the plane with team, everybody would have had a real good buzz going when they landed. I don't get what you guys are talking about.

 

[Dann]

someone didn't take their meds this morning but i'm not saying who

 

[businesslawyer]

Biz - You can't pass a judgement on P's first season ... (I hate doing this) unless you let us know what results you expected in 2011 if the former coach had boarded that plane with his team.

Of course I can. I've seen the whole season. I shouldn't have a judgment on the P era at UConn after one season, and I don't. But the season is done. I predicted 8-4 preseason assuming no effects of a coaching change. That might have, in hindsight, been a little optimistic as I hoped we'd have better QB play than we got. But I thought we took a 7-5 team and made it a 5-7 team by giving them too much new too soon. (And by being too aggressive with the lead and the ball in Nashville.)

I'm hoping that a lot that was forced on the team last year leads to more wins this year as they get comfortable with it. I really am. And I have not in any mind given up on this Coach and his staff. But of course you can grade last year, and I don't think, overall, it was a strong start.

 

[sdhusky]

Edsall's year in Maryland was an unmitigated disaster. Period. How in the world is that relevant to what P's record is.

And if you think it's o.k. to say 3-4 in conference is an average year when, the prior four, we went 5-2, 3-4, 3-4, 5-2, we have different views of math.

Ah, you skipped the season before when we went 1-6 in conference. Over 5 years, he was about .500 - which is tough to extrapolate to a 7 game conference season.

 

[businesslawyer]

In '06, he was playing with kids who were recruited before we were in the Big East. Despite the arguments of that fact's relevance on this board, in the real world it simply is.

 

[sdhusky]

In '06, he was playing with kids who were recruited before we were in the Big East. Despite the arguments of that fact's relevance on this board, in the real world it simply is.

I'm just curious why you didn't just go back one year and claim he was 5-2 in his average season?

He was 3-4 two of the last 4 years but somehow, that is not a "typical" result?

 

[businesslawyer]

I'm sorry SDH. You're right and I'm wrong.

We won 9, 8, 8 and 8 games the four prior seasons, but 5 was typical. And our overall SOS was not significantly higher last year than it was during the prior 4.

 

[CAPS]

At some point we need to put Edsall to bed it's old and over either get on or get $&k off the wagon,"what is understood need never be discussed". All hail coach P!

 

[rich1122]

Why are we still talking about this guy??

 

[CAPS]

Yes rich yes uhhhh! WTF!