The 2011 UConn Huskies, "the cupboard is bare."

[Palatine]

Let's look back and judge that 2011 team that Pasqualoni inherited from Edsall.

That team featured 12 future NFL players (and a couple that still have a shot) and some very good college players. Yet, the geniuses who cover sports for Connecticut newspapers kept telling us that Edsall left the cupboard bare. That UConn didn't have the talent to compete. Many Boneyarders agreed with this sentiment.

Kendall Reyes
Blidi Wilson
Yawin Smallwoood
Shamar Stephen
Sio Moore
Dwayne Gratz
Ryan Griffin
Trevardo Williams
Nick Williams
Kash Moore
Germeny Davis
Byron Jones

The following signed with NFL teams but never played a down

Shakim Phillips -steelers
Dave Teggart -bears
BJ McBride -eagles
Tevrin Brandon –broncos
Andrew Adams -giants
Kenton Adeyemi - bears

The following played in the CFL

John Delahunt
Alex Mateas (1st overall draft pick CFL)
Jesse Joseph
Rueben Frank

I print this simply to defend this team which had its talent bad mouthed. The players were NOT the problem, they were extremely poorly led. They should have made a bowl.

 

[CTMike]

You really have no life.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Perhaps nobody ever mentioned it here but it is ppossible that P didn't do too good of a job when he was here.

 

[sportsart]

Yes it is old news but he's right. I don't mind a little PP hate in the off season.

Being that it was pointed towards the press covering the team, it makes it even more correct.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Perhaps nobody ever mentioned it here but it is ppossible that P didn't do too good of a job when he was here.

I attended one summer open practice with P and his buddy, Dragon Breath DeLeone. DeLeone had the OL so Fd up that not a single guy could answer any question regarding assignment and situation. Not a one in 14.

 

[Palatine]

You really have no life.

I simply waited until the book was closed (pretty much). And I thought the kids deserved it. They were a tremendously talented group. Guys like Dez constantly threw them under the bus. They win.

BTW, it's the same with recruiting, the book isn't closed on a class until they exit the university.

 

[uconndogs]

The 2012 defense was off the charts good. Whitmer was a decent QB too, but by that time the OLine was so duck*ed up it didn't matter. I have it from a decent source that the OLine development was stunted under the stupid twins. It was further proven out in subsequent Pro Days when we learned that Steven Green wasn't all that much stronger than I was.

P was terrible and Edsal forgot more football than Dez was ever likely to know. Hiring P literally set the program back more than half a decade. And as much as I like Diaco, the jury is still out as far as I'm concerned as to whether he can fully right this ship.

 

[SubbaBub]

2011 needed a quarterback and a coach that wasn't an idiot.

 

[Husky68]

2011 needed a quarterback and a coach that wasn't an idiot.

Had a QB, just played the wrong one.

 

[huskymedic]

Let's look back and judge that 2011 team that Pasqualoni inherited from Edsall.

That team featured 12 future NFL players (and a couple that still have a shot) and some very good college players. Yet, the geniuses who cover sports for Connecticut newspapers kept telling us that Edsall left the cupboard bare. That UConn didn't have the talent to compete. Many Boneyarders agreed with this sentiment.

Kendall Reyes
Blidi Wilson
Yawin Smallwoood
Shamar Stephen
Sio Moore
Dwayne Gratz
Ryan Griffin
Trevardo Williams
Nick Williams
Kash Moore
Germeny Davis
Byron Jones

The following signed with NFL teams but never played a down

Shakim Phillips -steelers
Dave Teggart -bears
BJ McBride -eagles
Tevrin Brandon –broncos
Andrew Adams -giants
Kenton Adeyemi - bears

The following played in the CFL

John Delahunt
Alex Mateas (1st overall draft pick CFL)
Jesse Joseph
Rueben Frank

I print this simply to defend this team which had its talent bad mouthed. The players were NOT the problem, they were extremely poorly led. They should have made a bowl.

You missed Deshon Foxx on your list but Shakim Phillips and Alex Mateas were ineligible to play in 2011 (they had to sit the year for transferring from BC and PSU respectively).

N0t intending or desiring to defend PP (and staff) but any allegedly missing staples in the cupboard surely weren't of the defensive nature...

 

[businesslawyer]

You missed Deshon Foxx on your list but Shakim Phillips and Alex Mateas were ineligible to play in 2011 (they had to sit the year for transferring from BC and PSU respectively).

N0t defending PP (and staff) but any allegedly missing staples in the cupboard weren't of the defensive nature...

To be fair to PP (if I can't stop myself), the offense did not have a ton of talent and did not have a QB. To be fair to those who think PP sucked, that should have made him circle the wagons, play conservatively and let the D win us games. Instead he kept trying to fit round pegs into square holes and playing the Offense he wanted and not what would maximize the chances of winning. While it played out for abou 106 weeks after it, he was done when he let Whitmer throw the pick 6 on 3rd and long in Nashville when all we had to do to win the game was to keep the offense from stopping the D and specials from winning.

 

[noeynox]

To be fair to PP (if I can't stop myself), the offense did not have a ton of talent and did not have a QB. To be fair to those who think PP sucked, that should have made him circle the wagons, play conservatively and let the D win us games. Instead he kept trying to fit round pegs into square holes and playing the Offense he wanted and not what would maximize the chances of winning. While it played out for abou 106 weeks after it, he was done when he let Whitmer throw the pick 6 on 3rd and long in Nashville when all we had to do to win the game was to keep the offense from stopping the D and specials from winning.

It was Johnny Mac.

 

[businesslawyer]

It was Johnny Mac.

You are correct of course. But my point still is what it is.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Watched the first 32 minutes of the 2013 Michigan game today and it was funny to see how bad that team was but how many guys play on Sundays.

 

[CTBasketball]

So you're saying Paul Pasqualoni did a poor job as head coach? Got it.

 

[Palatine]

So you're saying Paul Pasqualoni did a poor job as head coach? Got it.

I'm saying there was a ton of talent on that team that was maligned.

Got it now?

 

[Excalibur]

I'm saying there was a ton of talent on that team that was maligned.

Got it now?

The talent was almost exclusively on the defensive side, and there were major holes on the offensive line, at QB and RB. Some of those holes were a direct result of the actions of the staff.

Admitting that is not defending the coaching staff.

 

[rich1122]

Where was 'n QB. No QB No QB NO QB. Johnny football? Really?

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Leading receiver: a trash can in Burton

 

[Nostical]

I'm saying there was a ton of talent on that team that was maligned.

Absolutely. Who would even try to argue with that. Those who liked PP made excuses for his dismal level of success by maligning the players. He and GDL ruined that team.

 

[Excalibur]

You guys continue to respond to an argument that literally nobody is making . . .

 

[jdb50]

You guys continue to respond to an argument that literally nobody is making . . .

Lighten up Francis, we are still in therapy. Watching the highlights of Baylor at the Rent I think we are finally back to matching that team and the one after it in talent level. Going to be a fun season at PAWSARF.

 

[jdb50]

I should add that the coaching will be at the level of those Edsall seasons when we knew what we wanted to do, the players were confident in the plan and it maximized our chances to win games.

 

[Excalibur]

Lighten up Francis, we are still in therapy. Watching the highlights of Baylor at the Rent I think we are finally back to matching that team and the one after it in talent level. Going to be a fun season at PAWSARF.

Where did that come from? Save your angst for the OP.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Can't make this place up.