Spanos -- are you freakin' joking?

[Alum86]

Biz, your 2nd paragraph is ridiculous.

If he wasn't responsible for the pieces, that means he hasn't been recruiting, has no relationships, and, worse, took no initiative to fix a clear talent problem.

If he was responsible for the pieces, you know.

Yep. He is responsible and is being asked to stay around as player loyalty to him trumps his ability. At least as Mora sees it. We need the bodies for now. Not good.

 

[DoctorWho85]

And the men just lost to Providence so by the logic here Hurley should be fired.

 

[DoctorWho85]

The defense will be ranked in the high 80s low 90s next year. You heard it here first.

 

[NowInStorrs]

Again, other than how Jason Gaffney played today, very little in the world is all or nothing. Some here want to blame Edsall for every detail, down to one harping on he didn’t care if we won, and now we’re split between Spanos was totally responsible for our defense not being good enough and being not at all responsible for it.

The truth is somewhere in the middle. But where in the middle I don’t know.

Who is Jason Gaffney? Is he a football player?

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Who is Jason Gaffney? Is he a football player?

Not good with a ball in his hands so no help coming from there.

 

[UCFBfan]

And the men just lost to Providence so by the logic here Hurley should be fired.

I guarantee there are a ton of folks over on the MBB board that would probably agree with you right now....

 

[Waquoit]

"The UConn that you used to know is not the UConn that you will see in the future". - HCJM

"Those were the words of UConn head coach Jim L. Mora, at the Sixth Annual Educating Athletes New Jersey High School Football Coaches Event of the Year at Waterside Events in North Bergen, New Jersey on Monday, December 13, 2021".

I'm thinking Gou buries the lede a bit here. Think about it, Mora was only hired a few weeks ago and he gets a gig to speak in front of the NJ coaches at their Event Of The Year! They have good players in NJ. I'm guessing he wasn't on the bill before the hire. I wonder if another coach gets that spot on short notice instead of Jim Mora. And good on coach for making it happen. One good thing we know already, Jim isn't afraid to ask.

 

[Samoo]

Yep. He is responsible and is being asked to stay around as player loyalty to him trumps his ability. At least as Mora sees it. We need the bodies for now. Not good.

Glad to hear that Mora has you to confide in. Can you share all the other ways he "sees it"?

 

[CL82]

It was young. It isn’t an excuse. It is another Edsall failure. He ran off the older players and didn’t replace them with transfers. We were playing a stupid number of freshman and sophomores all over the field. That’s was Edsall failing. That’s why we have a new coach.

I’m not sure if that was why Edsall was failing, but it certainly was a major contributing factor.

 

[CL82]

Here is a short article on Mora defending against rookie QBs written this fall. Any young Qb probably, and would be dictated down to Spanos.

Jim Mora on How to Defend Rookie Quarterbacks

Jim Mora on Defending Rookie Quarterbacks. Former NFL head coach Jim Mora Jr. shared his thoughts on how he would attack Trevor Lawrence

www.the33rdteam.com

I thought this was interesting and counter-intuitive.

 

[hardcorehusky]

I thought this was interesting and counter-intuitive.

View attachment 71946

You would think you want them to make quick decisions. I am not sure it means no pressure on the qb, just keep him contained in the pocket. It also could mean disciplined lane rushes and not having your ends take wide angles to the qb.

 

[SubbaBub]

The defense being easily read by opponents is the biggest mark on Spanos record. That needs to change immediately. If the Wyoming QB can read it that easily, then there was a very serious problem.

 

[DoctorWho85]

I guarantee there are a ton of folks over on the MBB board that would probably agree with you right now....

Most likely. I avoid the MBB board after a lost like the plague. It's about as toxic as Urban Myers locker room.

 

[Platt81]

You would think you want them to make quick decisions. I am not sure it means no pressure on the qb, just keep him contained in the pocket. It also could mean disciplined lane rushes and not having your ends take wide angles to the qb.

I think it just means a lot more of rushing and containing from the edge as opposed to stacking the box and blitzing up the middle. I could also be completely wrong but that’s what I take away from it.

 

[RSTuthill]

I’m not sure if that was why Edsall was failing, but it certainly was a major contributing factor.

Absolutely. I remember his first year. But I think Disco did the same thing. They all think they have a free year. Like a corporation taking a huge hit one year which makes it so much easier to show progress the next years.

The problem of course is that players now hit the portal for someplace better once they get good enough. A structural problem which makes it much more difficult for a school like UConn to pull itself out of the hole it is in.

 

[giddyup]

The defense will be ranked in the high 80s low 90s next year. You heard it here first.

Imagine flying so high as to break above the bottom 25%…and into the lower limits of the realm “below average”.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

I think it just means a lot more of rushing and containing from the edge as opposed to stacking the box and blitzing up the middle. I could also be completely wrong but that’s what I take away from it.

The idea is that you want QB's, especially inexperienced ones, to have to stay in the pocket and check down their list of options to throw at; by doing so, you can cause interceptions and at least incompletions rather than letting them get out of the pocket and make things happen with their legs, let receivers break off of their intended route so as to create chaos and get open in that manner, etc.

 

[RSTuthill]

The idea is that you want QB's, especially inexperienced ones, to have to stay in the pocket and check down their list of options to throw at; by doing so, you can cause interceptions and at least incompletions rather than letting them get out of the pocket and make things happen with their legs, let receivers break off of their intended route so as to create chaos and get open in that manner, etc.

Gotta be good on the edge to do that. And maybe send more on the edge rush. Which means the secondary has to be good enough for man coverage. Hmmm ... the problem in non-linear.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Gotta be good on the edge to do that. And maybe send more on the edge rush. Which means the secondary has to be good enough for man coverage. Hmmm ... the problem in non-linear.

Yes, all three levels of the defense have to improve.

 

[Hoophound]

I’m not sure if that was why Edsall was failing, but it certainly was a major contributing factor.

I meant, it was another of his many failures.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Gotta be good on the edge to do that. And maybe send more on the edge rush. Which means the secondary has to be good enough for man coverage. Hmmm ... the problem in non-linear.

There are zone blitzes. Usually drop a DE into pass coverage. They use to drop Julius Williams into pass coverage alot but he came in as a LB. Perhaps someone like a Hardy or the kid Branch coming in.

 

[RSTuthill]

There are zone blitzes. Usually drop a DE into pass coverage. They use to drop Julius Williams into pass coverage alot but he came in as a LB. Perhaps someone like a Hardy or the kid Branch coming in.

Yeah. Whether or not UConn will have the capability to execute this strategy next year is a currently open question pending portal arrivals and February signings.

 

[Palatine]

Mora's #2 is "create discomfort."

....it’s important to make the communication between the quarterback and center as difficult as you can, so there’s some uncertainty when the ball is snapped.

That means moving the front a little bit, moving the Mike linebacker a little bit — presenting some different looks. Make sure the quarterback and the center and the back and the line — all those responsible for protection – are not on the same page.

This is something Spanos almost never did. His defensive line and LBs were in cement. They rarely moved pre-snap. Our defensive was easier to read than "Fun with Dick and Jane."

 

[Samoo]

Mora's #2 is "create discomfort."

....it’s important to make the communication between the quarterback and center as difficult as you can, so there’s some uncertainty when the ball is snapped.

That means moving the front a little bit, moving the Mike linebacker a little bit — presenting some different looks. Make sure the quarterback and the center and the back and the line — all those responsible for protection – are not on the same page.

This is something Spanos almost never did. His defensive line and LBs were in cement. They rarely moved pre-snap. Our defensive was easier to read than "Fun with Dick and Jane."

I hope so. Fun with Dick and Jane is a movie.

 

[CL82]

I hope so. Fun with Dick and Jane is a movie.

Closed captioning?