So, What are your Thoughts on HCBD Now?

[uconnphil2016]

Many were critical of HCBD coming into the year, and I'm interested in gauging where the fan perspective is at now that we're 10 games into the season. My personal feeling is that we've got the perfect head coach for our program, and I'd like to hear what the rest of the BY thinks.

 

[jbdphi]

Many were critical of HCBD coming into the year, and I'm interested in gauging where the fan perspective is at now that we're 10 games into the season. My personal feeling is that we've got the perfect head coach for our program, and I'd like to hear what the rest of the BY thinks.

Would have preferred an option that said "Seems to be going the right direction but the jury is still very much out"

 

[DoctorWho85]

Would have preferred an option that said "Seems to be going the right direction but the jury is still very much out"

Agreed. I think next year will show us what he can do. That's two fill recruiting cycles for him so a lot of his recruits will be on the field. Let's see what he can do

 

[Dooley]

Recruiting has taken a 180 degree turn during losing seasons. I would love to see the caliber of player he and the staff can bring in if we can get to a bowl game and contend for the AAC next season.

Aside from the Cincinnati game, we have had a realistic chance of winning every single game on the schedule this year. I'd say that that alone is an 100000% improvement.

I think the final critique of Diaco as a coach will come next year when expectations are raised and games become increasingly important. Can he coach in big game atmospheres? Can he go undefeated vs the ACC as he could/should? Can he make the right adjustments and coach with everything on the line?

 

[BleedBlue97]

In my opinion, I strongly felt that if UConn was looking for a Defensive-Minded coach, it had to be Pat Narduzzi. I still can't quite understand why we didn't give him a good offer, unless I missed something. I really liked his defensive scheme when he was at Michigan State and I thought he would be a perfect fit here because his foundation of Defense was something UConn built on too. I did like that Diaco won the Broyle's award, but I wasn't fully convinced about the hire until probably coming into this season. He has changed the Culture and attitude of these players tremendously. It speaks volumes to how far we've gotten from then to now being potentially Bowl-eligible

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I don't think it's any of the options listed.

There were very few who were more critical of Diaco than I was last year. Between the rotating of QB's, not using Geremy Davis, mind boggling in game decisions, the players seemingly quitting at the end of the year, and the nonsensical silly things that came out of his mouth. . . . . .brutal. I thought coming in to this year we had a chance to double our win total from last year. The progress has exceeded any expectations that I had. Diaco has improved in nearly every category that I knocked him on last year (though there are still some mind boggling in game decisions). Do I think he's the perfect guy for the job? I'm not there. I'm hopeful that he's good enough to get us where we need to be. Next year will the year to judge him fully. We should be competing for a conference title next year. I don't think that's an unreasonable expectation. Let this play out some more.

 

[Dooley]

In my opinion, I strongly felt that if UConn was looking for a Defensive-Minded coach, it had to be Pat Narduzzi. I still can't quite understand why we didn't give him a good offer, unless I missed something. I really liked his defensive scheme when he was at Michigan State and I thought he would be a perfect fit here because his foundation of Defense was something UConn built on too. I did like that Diaco won the Broyle's award, but I wasn't fully convinced about the hire until probably coming into this season. He has changed the Culture and attitude of these players tremendously. It speaks volumes to how far we've gotten from then to now being potentially Bowl-eligible

Narduzzi withdrew his name from the running and cited something about assistant's pay. Then he went to Pitt who pay on the same scale as UConn and have more empty seats inside their stadium than we do. Now he thinks that Pitt football is prestigious enough to not schedule road games against G5 schools when, in reality, it will be the only opportunity for his players to play in front of a crowd.

As far as I'm concerned, Narduzzi can go punt.

 

[freescooter]

Would have preferred an option that said "Seems to be going the right direction but the jury is still very much out"

That about summarizes my view.

 

[uconndogs]

I like Diaco. I think he's a sincere guy with great energy. He's young and has a lot to learn. He needs to control his adrenaline when he's on the sidelines and sometimes the clock management is just really bad. I see a lot more to like than not to like. That all said, he has a ton left to prove. UCONN is in this to be consistent contenders for conference championships, national rankings and packed stadiums. That's the goal - not necessarily over night, but that's where this has got to go.

That all said, I think Diaco assessed the situation correctly. The Stupid Twins had completely duck*ed what was a good culture. Diaco's decision to break it down and rebuild it appears to have been the right call. These kids seem to really care about him and the program. That was very important to re-establish.

 

[freescooter]

I don't think Narduzzi was Warde's choice fwiw. The withdrawal was just a mutual cover rather than having him Not get the job.

 

[huskysupporter]

I think next year is the year to truly Judge. I want to see development of players, and talent of recruits.

As for Coach Diaco himself? I think he learned to tone down his bizarre statements. I think he continues to make questionable in game decisions as it relates to clock management and making adjustments. Two things he absolutely has to solve. But he has this team playing hard, playing with emotion, and playing for each other. That deserves major kudos. I said in a preseason thread I would not be shocked if we only won 1 game this season. So to have 5 wins at this point is amazing to me.

 

[businesslawyer]

Would have preferred an option that said "Seems to be going the right direction but the jury is still very much out"

A slightly more positive version of THIS.

He exceeded all reasonable expectations this year, but those expectations have to do with getting us back to the corner, because we were blocks from it. However, nothing he did this year showed he is the right guy to turn the corner with this program. I give him credit but he still has a lot to show in the long term.

 

[uconnphil2016]

Narduzzi withdrew his name from the running and cited something about assistant's pay. Then he went to Pitt who pay on the same scale as UConn and have more empty seats inside their stadium than we do. Now he thinks that Pitt football is prestigious enough to not schedule road games against G5 schools when, in reality, it will be the only opportunity for his players to play in front of a crowd.

As far as I'm concerned, Narduzzi can go punt.

Eh, I have no problem with Narduzzi choosing Pitt over UConn. They have a much better recruiting pipeline and tons of high caliber NFL talent who have played there. I think Pitt put him in a better position to succeed more quickly, as UConn was a total rebuild and when he took over at Pitt he was replacing a head coach who was moving up rather than being fired.

 

[NYUConn]

He's made incredible strides with this team, but I'm not ready to anoint him our savior just yet.

Couple of things that have impressed me about HCBD:

He's continued our tradition of a dominant defense. I know this one is kind of a no kidding one, because he's got a strong defensive coaching pedigree, but it's important. Any time you transition at the head coach position you never know what you're going to get. Plenty of Offensive or defensive genius's have taken over as head coaches and that end of the ball has suffered inexplicably.

The offense is improving. I know that's a tough one to believe given last weekend in NOLA, but the offense is developing this year. We've got a true No. 1 QB and legitimate threats at the skill positions. He lost his starting center before the season even began and the O-Line is nearly all underclassmen. He's also working with a first-year offensive coordinator. Things are moving in the right direction here.

He's beating inferior competition at home and on the road. Nova, Army, UCF and Tulane. All teams we should be beating and we have taken care of them this year. You couldn't say that about the last two seasons. (USF I considered a toss-up and given their body of work thus far I would say they are about even with us talent-wise).

Couple of things that leave me wondering about HCBD:

His teams have been undisciplined at times during the year and it's cost us. Andrew Adams kicking the ball into the stands. BS's miserable clock management against USF. Costly personal fouls during the season. For all the talk of how tough HCBD, his disciplinarian chops seem to be lacking. You can excuse mistakes in execution on a young team, but you cannot excuse personal fouls and lapses in judgement.

He hasn't been able to close against tough teams. UConn had second-half leads against Mizzou and BYU. Especially in the Mizzou game with that fake FG play at the end, UConn had it's chances for a marquee win and they choked it away.

Overall the progress is outweighing the negatives in my opinion, but you measure success in winning seasons and bowl victories. So until we see some of those, I don't think you can say he's the man for the job so far.

 

[NYUConn]

Eh, I have no problem with Narduzzi choosing Pitt over UConn. They have a much better recruiting pipeline and tons of high caliber NFL talent who have played there. I think Pitt put him in a better position to succeed more quickly, as UConn was a total rebuild and when he took over at Pitt he was replacing a head coach who was moving up rather than being fired.

Also the last two weeks Pitt's been exposed as Frauds. They played Iowa tough but beat nobody for the first half of the season.

They needed a miracle drive to beat Syracuse for win No. 6 and have been owned by Notre Dame and UNC the last two weeks. They are at Duke this week and end with Louisville and Miami.

6-6 per usual in Pittsburgh.

 

[uconnphil2016]

Also the last two weeks Pitt's been exposed as Frauds. They played Iowa tough but beat nobody for the first half of the season.

They needed a miracle drive to beat Syracuse for win No. 6 and have been owned by Notre Dame and UNC the last two weeks. They are at Duke this week and end with Louisville and Miami.

6-6 per usual in Pittsburgh.

I'm not trying to say that Pitt is a stellar job, but I think it's safe to say that it was a more safe play to come on board at a relatively successful P5 program who has the benefit of recruiting in western PA than a team who was (at the time) probably one of the bottom 10 CFB programs in (at the time) a lackluster conference with a difficult recruiting area.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

I like is energy, which seems to have been transferred to the team; but, he still makes some bonehead errors, especially on clock management. Hopefully, as he is young, he will continue to learn. Overall, I think he is the best UConn could have gotten in our situation at the time (Pasqualoni debacle, American purgatory, new University leadership, etc.).

 

[NYUConn]

I'm not trying to say that Pitt is a stellar job, but I think it's safe to say that it was a more safe play to come on board at a relatively successful P5 program who has the benefit of recruiting in western PA than a team who was (at the time) probably one of the bottom 10 CFB programs in (at the time) a lackluster conference with a difficult recruiting area.

I know, I'm just saying that the only certainties in life are Death, Taxes and 6-6 Pitt Panthers football.

 

[HobokenHusky]

I think some people are not appreciating how complete of a s*&^show the situation Diaco walked into was. He has true freshman coming in after a 2-10 season that are beating out upper classmen. I think that speaks volumes to PP and co's inability to identify and mold talent. I am not sure what else could be expected at this point.

I personally think he is gone the minute he has that breakthrough season, but at that point the culture of the program and talent within the program will hopefully be of the quality to entice another quality coach, and for this I am relieved. We had basically been reduced to a G5 football wasteland when PP was shown the door.

He has basically rebuilt the UConn football program in 2 years. So yes, I think he was the perfect guy for the job at the time, and has delivered on his end of the agreement to date.

 

[SubbaBub]

None of the above. I think he's an excellent motivator, a good game wacky to a fault and looks like he could have any coordinator job he'd ever want.

I think he is a good recruiter, but we'll see in the next couple years.

I know he needs work on game day coaching and needs to have a little more faith in his players to make plays.

I think his attention to detail needs a little work, but that is a comparison to Randy the micro manager, so that one may not be a fair criticism.

I think he's earned another year to complete his plan. But like last season, he's upped the ante on the results if they don't put in a decent showing these last two weeks. A 6-6 bowl game next season isn't enough. 7 wins will be the mark, with an eye on a division title in year 4.

But, so far I'm OK with him leading the program if there hasn't been a wow we hired the right guy moment to date.

His performance evaluation would be, 'Meets expectations,' with some counseling to clean up a few things if he wants to advance his career. The performance goals for next season would include.

The 7 wins described above.
A win over a P5 team or ranked opponent.
Continued excellence in the classroom and the police blotter.
A top half of the AAC recruiting class
A bowl win.

 

[huskypantz]

* We would not have gone wrong with Narduzzi (if he was even interested)
* Based on other offers, Recruiting is as good as it's ever been
* Diaco has a great image and resume, I think Warde and Susan subscribe to that (similar to Geno, KO and Cav)
* He appears to be connecting with the players
* He was not afraid to make staff changes after 1 year
* Last year was occasionally chaotic from a coaching perspective and the staff still have their moments, but significant improvement is noted

After all that, I'm on board with the rest that say "incomplete but looking positive". B- and if we got to 6-6 and a bowl game I would push that to a solid B.

 

[Carl Spackler]

"So, What are your Thoughts on HCBD Now?"

I think that there are still some things going on at his direction and decision making during games that make we want to find a nice comfortable seat in Fishy's oven where it's warm and safe,,,,,but it's getting better.

 

[Carl Spackler]

I don't think it's any of the options listed.

There were very few who were more critical of Diaco than I was last year. Between the rotating of QB's, not using Geremy Davis, mind boggling in game decisions, the players seemingly quitting at the end of the year, and the nonsensical silly things that came out of his mouth. . . . . .brutal. I thought coming in to this year we had a chance to double our win total from last year. The progress has exceeded any expectations that I had. Diaco has improved in nearly every category that I knocked him on last year (though there are still some mind boggling in game decisions). Do I think he's the perfect guy for the job? I'm not there. I'm hopeful that he's good enough to get us where we need to be. Next year will the year to judge him fully. We should be competing for a conference title next year. I don't think that's an unreasonable expectation. Let this play out some more.

Rather than next year - I'm more of the mindset as to let's see what happens this week, for about 2.5 more "this weeks". It's pretty much a given that were supposed to continue to work to get better every year right? Coming from where we were - that's not a hard task really. It gets much harder to continue to improve when your room for improvement gets smaller and smaller, because your number of wins is getting bigger and bigger. We'll see.

What I do know, is that last season a year ago or so, had me reduced to writing extensively about how ritual animal sacrifice in my basement was equally, if not more, effective at helping the team get wins - as compared to whatever they were actually doing to prepare for wins during the week.

I haven't had to resort to that this year - so that's a move in the right direction.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

So far, I think he has created an atmosphere that's conducive to the redevelopment of the program.

 

[kemba]

I loved the hire at the time, last year shook my faith some, but I'm back on board. I have no doubts we are going to continue to get better, and he'll build a winner. He's clearly changed the culture, players are developing, recruiting looks strong. And I like that he evolved as a coach from year 1 to 2 and continues to do so. Many coaches, even young coaches, aren't willing to change but he clearly is.