So that happened

[Uconnalliance]

Our roster isn't good enough. It doesn't matter that P recruited players who were slightly higher rated than players that Edsall recruited. He did not leave HCBD with the roster that he was left (much less the rosters that Edsall should have been being applauded not for recruiting but for building up, training and developing).

Whether our coaching is good enough remains to be seen, but Urban Meyer would not even win the American with the team HCBD has.

Thank you!!!! I think some of the momo's here think it only takes 2 games to rebuild, would love to bottle some of these posts and release them down the road under a thread called" remember when". # rebuilding !

 

[businesslawyer]

Thank you!!!! I think some of the momo's here think it only takes 2 games to rebuild, would love to bottle some of these posts and release them down the road under a thread called" remember when". # rebuilding !

Unfortunately, this. Every team we play works out with weights. Every team we play developes players. If we went three years without doing this at an acceptable level, all HCBD can do is turn that around. You can't ever undo the damage of not having pushed your players forward every minute of every day for those three years.

 

[ctchamps]

Unfortunately, this. Every team we play works out with weights. Every team we play developes players. If we went three years without doing this at an acceptable level, all HCBD can do is turn that around. You can't ever undo the damage of not having pushed your players forward every minute of every day for those three years.

I won't say you can't ever undo the damage but the chances that things could be totally turned around by getting the offseason conditioning to the standard most good programs undertake plus a short period of practice before the season begins was extremely unlikely after such a prolonged period of less than adequate standards.

As an aside and not pertinent to your commentary, there are critiques that are instructional and there are critiques that are judgmental. Some of us consider it a positive thing finding fault with how others perform. There is a fine line when the emphasis of critiquing is meant to help others elevate themselves versus when the emphasis is about elevating ourselves by pointing out the flaws in others. The latter isn't a healthy behavior neither for others and, more importantly, not for ourselves. I guess it wasn't a total aside given that most of your commentary falls within the realm of critiquing that is supportive versus undermining.

 

[ctchamps]

Whaler I have to ask. What exactly should our standards be? The team is bad period. They have been bad for three years. What have you been looking at that would make you expect more? I said it last year when the debate over when to fire the coach was raging here. You can change the coach, but it only solves half of the problem. Getting a win is above where my expectations are right now, most games I hope to just be competitive the way this team plays, but to play like crap and win, against anyone, at this point! I'll take it!

Maybe you need to curb your expectations a bit Diaco isn't the next coming of JC and doesn't walk on water, this team needs time, there are going to be many rough spots ahead so you might want to get used to it quickly. And that's not accepting the performance, that's accepting where we currently are.

This is extremely perceptive imho.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Just by looking at the schedule, does anyone see anymore wins besides Army and SMU?

Yesterday was probably one of the more brutal games I've ever been to given the quality of play, weather and 5:45 wake up my dad and me did to drive up from Jersey. Besides tailgatng with my group, it's honestly become a chore following this program.

I know I'll end up caving and getting the season tickets again, but good luck with next year's schedule with Army, Nova, Tulsa, Tulane..

 

[UConnDan97]

Positives: Wain, Puyol,...

Thank you for bringing these two names up, because I haven't seen them brought up very much (with the exception of getting one of them some work from the right hash during game time). Special teams was actually one of my biggest concerns coming into this season, and I thought that it would be a relatively big negative this year. I am very happy to say that I was wrong in that assumption, and that these two kids are doing a very nice job. Foxx also helped the special teams with a fantastic punt return.

If there's a silver lining from the first two games, I would say that it's our special teams...

 

[businesslawyer]

Just by looking at the schedule, does anyone see anymore wins besides Army and SMU?

Yesterday was probably one of the more brutal games I've ever been to given the quality of play, weather and 5:45 wake up my dad and me did to drive up from Jersey. Besides tailgatng with my group, it's honestly become a chore following this program.

I know I'll end up caving and getting the season tickets again, but good luck with next year's schedule with Army, Nova, Tulsa, Tulane..

If CC is playing when we hit the conference schedule, I think Temple at home should be 4, and the road games at Memphis, Tulane and USF are all winnable. I don't think it's likely we're a 6-6 team (never did), but if CC is healthy I haven't given up on it yet either. If CC is out, it's going to be very, very rough.

 

[junglehusky]

If CC is playing when we hit the conference schedule, I think Temple at home should be 4, and the road games at Memphis, Tulane and USF are all winnable. I don't think it's likely we're a 6-6 team (never did), but if CC is healthy I haven't given up on it yet either. If CC is out, it's going to be very, very rough.

This is very fair. Human nature dictates fans react to every game as a microcosm. I don't mind that, I understand we want the team to start winning ASAP to change the culture and perception around the program (and help UConn's chances in realignment). But to expect the program to pivot from mostly incompetent to a consistent quality team in the first half or even first 2-3 games of the season with a new staff is a little silly*. Sure, there are a few coaches who can have success out of the gate. Usually that's when they inherit a roster with deep talent (or in basketball you can revamp the roster in a much shorter time).

*I count myself among the guilty here. But I will say there's a difference between expectation and hope.

 

[ctchamps]

Not arguing in any way. Diaco called Whitmer's performance wonderful today - so it's going to be a long time before I believe anything he says.

It's a tough balancing act to address the needs of all the parties that any head coach faces. Like it or not, Whitmer may be the only good option available for Diaco given the status of the quarterbacks particularly Casey"s medical status. And it may be that CW's biggest problem is a fragile psyche. Diaco alluded to this in assessing his quarterbacks preseason. A good coach understands that every individual handles things differently. Some of us respond to criticism well and some don't. It's a dangerous perspective to look at the world as just black and white and to insist that others handle situations in the way we handle them.

I would say that after having a George DeLeone Diaco faces an uphill battle in getting many players to believe in themselves. It's imperative to get the players to change more than satisfying the fragile psyche of fans. One doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to realize that Diaco isn't just a rah rah coach. The off season movement of players and insistence of standards demonstrates, in my mind, that he is a tough coach. He doesn't chose to air the negatives in public. His only other choice is not to say anything. That certainly is preferential to some of us and in some situations. However there are negatives with silence. Just observe how people run with controversial situations before details are presented.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I would say that after having a George DeLeone Diaco faces an uphill battle in getting many players to believe in themselves.

BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wish every fan of the program had even a minimal understanding of what that miserable excuse for a human being (exactly as he was described to me by someone who is very close to the program) and his best friend/boss had done with their constant berating of all of the players on the team.