The Civil Conflict!

[FfldCntyFan]

As opposed to SMU who wasn't very good didn't win any football games went on the road in the cold rain for a coaching staff that was looking for jobs elsewhere yet came back to win...

I'll try responding to you as for the most part you can be reasonable.

What is your opinion of the job Justin Fuente is doing at Memphis (keep in mind that they had a handful of winning seasons over the 25 prior to his arrival, most of those coming with DeAngelo Williams as their RB)? After answering that question tell me what happened on the last game of his second season as Memphis' head coach.

I still vividly remember Bill Parcells' first season as head coach of the NY Giants. Most pundits and many experts openly stated that it looked as if the team quit on him down the stretch that season. Many (myself included) wanted him gone and if the urban legend is true, if Howard Schnellenberger hadn't been given a ridiculous offer from the USFL (for a Miami franchise that never got off the ground), his buddy George Young would have hired him to replace Parcells in early 1984.

The thing is we see very little of what goes on with a sports team and more often than not it is not black and white as to whether a team is fully behind its head coach or is just going through the motions or running out the string.

The reality (which i do believe you also pointed out) is that Diaco will either succeed or fail and that is exactly what he will be judged on. Thinking that there is sufficient evidence at this point to claim that he has succeeded or failed is assinine.

 

[whaler11]

I'll try responding to you as for the most part you can be reasonable.

What is your opinion of the job Justin Fuente is doing at Memphis (keep in mind that they had a handful of winning seasons over the 25 prior to his arrival, most of those coming with DeAngelo Williams as their RB)? After answering that question tell me what happened on the last game of his second season as Memphis' head coach.

I still vividly remember Bill Parcells' first season as head coach of the NY Giants. Most pundits and many experts openly stated that it looked as if the team quit on him down the stretch that season. Many (myself included) wanted him gone and if the urban legend is true, if Howard Schnellenberger hadn't been given a ridiculous offer from the USFL (for a Miami franchise that never got off the ground), his buddy George Young would have hired him to replace Parcells in early 1984.

The thing is we see very little of what goes on with a sports team and more often than not it is not black and white as to whether a team is fully behind its head coach or is just going through the motions or running out the string.

The reality (which i do believe you also pointed out) is that Diaco will either succeed or fail and that is exactly what he will be judged on. Thinking that there is sufficient evidence at this point to claim that he has succeeded or failed is assinine.

My only point is we see a lot
of posts of how the kids believe in him and buy in.

To your point, almost none of us have any idea what's going on inside the program.

So what I saw was a team that rolled over and played dead twice at home. The other thing we see is that schools are starting to fill their 2016 classes (Houston and Tulane have 7-8 verbals for example) and UConn still doesn't have a commit.

So since the evidence that players have bought in seems to be what they post on Twitter - I don't see a lot of compelling evidence that one can claim players have bought in either.

But yes of course plenty of good coaches in all sports have had teams mail it in at the end of the season.

I haven't declared him a failure but it certainly would give me a lot more confidence if they would start landing some players instead of giving us more reasons to question his sanity.

I'd love to shake this feeling that he'll figure it all out at his next head coaching gig. I'd prefer to not be his Cleveland.

 

[huskymedic]

I haven't declared him a failure but it certainly would give me a lot more confidence if they would start landing some players...

Smaller class than usual expected for 2016 but if we don't have more than a couple of bell cow commits by July 4th I will be concerned.

 

[junglehusky]

Kreskin, now there's someone Diaco probably loves. Of course you probably referenced him without knowing one thing about him, oh well. But here's the thing pal, talking in December is what you did at the end of last year when you finally woke up (actually you still haven't completely opened your eyes). Some of us had our eyes wide open and our brains working last summer and saw the disaster coming, we didn't need to wait until the season was over before proclaiming we were right. We actually were right, you were wrong.

But I'll play your little small minded game, and see what the whackadoodle does over summer camp and then make my prediction before the season starts. It probably won't be much different than if I picked the games right now frankly, but I have hope he will shock me and pull a 180. If I was a betting man I'd say he goes down with the ship and we are rid of him after two years just like the last fraud off the Brian Kelly coaching tree was washed out after two awful years at UMass.

Next year UConn will probably get about 3 wins, give or take, and you'll be able to tell everybody how smart you are that you predicted he'd suck again. However, Diaco will not get fired at the end of the year, and will be given a chance to get UConn bowl eligible 2016. If he does that you'll still be able to tell everybody how smart you are because Diaco got 6 or 7 wins but a real coach would have got 9. The next year UConn will be playing in a mid-level bowl game against a decent opponent, and they'll lose because somewhere in the game Diaco makes a questionable call on 4th down or something, and you will again be able to crow about how you were right about him and everybody else was wrong. And perhaps (one can hope) some years later he'll have UConn playing for a conference championship and a major bowl appearance, and during the press conference before the game he'll give awkward praise to the opposing coach and quote some obscure philosopher and one more time you'll be proven right because gosh it's so embarrassing to the university to have the football coach who's such a weirdo. Or mabye I'm way off and Warde decides to can him mid-year 3 like he did with PP. The important thing is, you're the smartest guy in the room and we as a football board are lucky to have you grace us with your presence.

 

[Stainmaster]

One more thing: a coach's status as a success or a failure is determined by winning and losing games. Calling his public persona batsheet insane and lambasting his actions in the media doesn't make him a failure.

We didn't go 2-10 because Diaco is bizarre or a "snake oil salesman". That has nothing to do with taking out G. Davis on 3rd down, pulling CC when we enter the red zone, shutting down the passing game against USF, or calling poorly-timed time outs. This is X's and O's stuff. If you're pissed off by his shtick, you have every right to be. But that doesn't determine his value as a coach, and any rational person knows that.

 

[PAGS]

So it's kinda a dead time for football talk...is this a tactic? As stupid as it is...just about every blog, Twitter account and website related to college football is making fun of UConn. Bad press is better than no press? It's getting the "brand" out there....laughed at...but being talked about! Is he smarter than we think?

 

[Duncan Idaho]

My only point is we see a lot
of posts of how the kids believe in him and buy in.

To your point, almost none of us have any idea what's going on inside the program.

So what I saw was a team that rolled over and played dead twice at home. The other thing we see is that schools are starting to fill their 2016 classes (Houston and Tulane have 7-8 verbals for example) and UConn still doesn't have a commit.

So since the evidence that players have bought in seems to be what they post on Twitter - I don't see a lot of compelling evidence that one can claim players have bought in either.

But yes of course plenty of good coaches in all sports have had teams mail it in at the end of the season.

I haven't declared him a failure but it certainly would give me a lot more confidence if they would start landing some players instead of giving us more reasons to question his sanity.

I'd love to shake this feeling that he'll figure it all out at his next head coaching gig. I'd prefer to not be his Cleveland.

We had only a handful of players commit this early over the last ten years. Historically it starts picking up in the 3rd and 4th week of June.
As far as the players quitting; I believe they were told prior to the season how things were going to go down. Call it a player/program evaluation year, development year, year of scrimmage, whatever and it would be difficult to play under those circumstances especially the seniors and 5th year guys. Couple that with the large amount of morale breaking turnovers, its not surprising that some may have become weary toward the end of the season. I would bet that they put a lot more work in under Diaco then P.
I'm thinking his BSing and keeping the lid on program access will be areas of improvement when he sees the program climbing out of the mess he found. I'm not insulted by it as much as some.
Right now Diaco is like that coin flipping in the air, we are going to see on what side he lands this year. Looking forward to the Villanova game.

 

[Ldandy]

I love this trophy. It is so bad its almost good. PSU and MSU play for a trophy so wonderfully hideous that it makes "The Civil Conflict" Trophy look like The Stanley Cup by comparison. What they should do, and what I wish PSU/MSU did was have the losing side have to take the trophy. Require that it is placed in a position of "honor" where it would be seen everyday by players and staff entering and exiting the facility. That would be fun and possibly stir up a bit more of a rivalry. How funny would it be to see the winning side rushing across the field with the trophy to deposit on the loser's bench? Classic college football shtick turned on its head.

 

[NEforceUConn]

I think we all agree that BD did not impress anyone last year, but we give him a first year HC pass. I am upset that he did not hire a true experienced OC in the offseason. Wake up Bob!

 

[whaler11]

We had only a handful of players commit this early over the last ten years. .

That's a bad thing and something that needs to change.

Tulane has 7 verbals. Boston College has 4 verbals from players that UConn offered.

This doesn't get fixed until they start getting players.

 

[BlueDogs]

I'm still stuck on "Civil Conflict". What is a civil conflict? Umbrage is taken followed by volleys of sharply pointed retorts cast at the other until one side politely concedes and excuses itself from the field of play? Geez, does anybody in Storrs have a bran.

 

[Point6]

My question is how is this even a rivalry if UCF has never won one of these civil conflict games??

 

[whaler11]

The best take on the Civil Conflict was on Twitter.

 

[Jarhead_1775]

My question is how is this even a rivalry if UCF has never won one of these civil conflict games??

More like a civil blitzkrieg!

 

[BugsyCT]

Coach Love & Tenderness strikes again.

"Civil Conflict?" Reminds me of this:

 

[Doggie Style]

The best take on the Civil Conflict was on Twitter.

That's a pretty nice lamp!

 

[GoldCstHusky]

Ed Daigneault ‏@EdDaigneault 22m22 minutes ago
Also, as much as the "Civil Conflict" thing is odd, Diaco has no apologies. "Why do I care what they think?" Have to respect that.

We all knew the "who cares what they think?" defense was coming from HCBD, but when that is the best you got, perhaps it would be better to admit a mistake and move on.

 

[gwhuskyfan]

Full quotes from the Register (http://runwayramblings.blogspot.com/2015/06/uconn-te-mcquillan-not-enrolled-in.html).

DIACO ADDRESSES CIVIL CONFLICT BACKLASH
Diaco took plenty of heat when he had a photo of the trophy designed for the UConn/Central Florida game tweeted out. Diaco dubbed the game the Civic Conflict before last year's UConn win. Central Florida officials said they were unaware of the trophy leading people to proclaim that Diaco was making UConn football a punch line.

Diaco said he didn't care about UCF's take on all of this.

"I was excited that on June 2 we were talking about UConn football, that was exciting," Diaco said. "The rivalry needs to start somewhere, somebody calls out somebody. I think it is fun and exciting. I think it is definitely going to add a layer of energy and excitement to our contest on the 10th (of October). Whether (Central Florida) honors it, we will honor it, we don't have control over that so who cares. They don't get to say whether they are our rival or not. We might not be their rival but they don't get to say whether they are our rival, that is for us to decide. For us it is pretty clean and clear because those are things we have control over. For us it is exciting, it is fun. If you embrace it you embrace it, if you don't you don't. There was nothing before so if you don't embrace it there would still be nothing. If you do even a little bit it is more energetic and exciting. For me that is what college football is.

"Why do I have to call their athletic department to say that we've got them targeted as our rival, period. What control over that would they have? What do I care what they think? If they don't want to be a part of the trophy, I don't care about that either.

"We got here and Central Florida is the best team in the league and I think they are the best coached team in the league. I have ultimate respect for Coach O'Leary, what he does and how he runs his program. They run a class program there so what better team for us to target. In our locker room they get a little extra work and they are going to get a little extra work. They are a target for us, it is a big game for us and they are going to get an extra heartbeat from us, whether they want to give it back to us or not that is on them."

 

[Perfect Hair]

One more thing: a coach's status as a success or a failure is determined by winning and losing games. Calling his public persona batsheet insane and lambasting his actions in the media doesn't make him a failure.

We didn't go 2-10 because Diaco is bizarre or a "snake oil salesman". That has nothing to do with taking out G. Davis on 3rd down, pulling CC when we enter the red zone, shutting down the passing game against USF, or calling poorly-timed time outs. This is X's and O's stuff. If you're pissed off by his shtick, you have every right to be. But that doesn't determine his value as a coach, and any rational person knows that.

Here's the thing: it's not necessarily all about the record, no one is saying that, yet you defenders keep falling back on that. If the team had showed any progrees, any improvement, anything with the arrow up as Jim Harbaugh would say, we could live with 2-10, 3-9, 4-8 etc. We saw NONE of that last year. Maybe we see it this year and the team only wins 3 games but shows improvement, that would make me change my opinion on Mr Diaco, no matter what stupid things he says or does.

However when you combine bat-crazy behavior with disorganization on the field, misuse of personnel, poor decision making, and utter lack of will (USF game) that results in a horrible season (and all of that happened well before the SMU disaster so my opinion was well formed by then) I think it's reasonable and sane to question whether or not the man can coach. The man talked a lot of nonsense last year and backed it up with very questionable coaching.

If he talks more nonsense but the coaching gets better then he can talk all he wants, that's not the important part. But so far in my opinon he's failed off the field and on the field and recruiting "projects" can be considered by some a third failure. I'm not so sure about that, but what I am sure about is that if the first two areas remain failures he won't be around by the time those recruits grow into players.

 

[BNich]

This story has now made its way to ESPN front page.

http://espn.go.com/college-football...skies-do-not-need-ucf-knights-consent-rivalry

 

[ChampHusky]

Bob better start winning. This is embarrassing. Keep this in house if you want it to be a motivating tool for your players. Don't tweet it out to the public. We look bush league on the front page of ESPN. It's like Maryland fans insisting that they were Duke's biggest rival in college bb.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

Yeah I found this on the ESPN front page as well. Pretty insane PR if you ask me. UConn Football in June? C'mon, you can't buy this stuff!

 

[Fishy]

He got me back a bit with this....perhaps I just prefer arrogance to insanity:

Why do I have to call their athletic department to say that we've got them targeted as our rival, period? What control over that would they have? What do I care what they think? If they don't want to be a part of the trophy, I don't care about that either."

 

[epark88]

He got me back a bit with this....perhaps I just prefer arrogance to insanity:

Why do I have to call their athletic department to say that we've got them targeted as our rival, period? What control over that would they have? What do I care what they think? If they don't want to be a part of the trophy, I don't care about that either."

Shades of Geno's schtick before big-time match-ups: refer to an opponent's school as The Evil Empire, call one coach a liar, slap another one on the biscuits, etc. The goal? Pi$$ of the other side, put all the heat on himself and take the pressure off his players.

Maybe - just maybe - Diaco is crazy like a fox here. One can dream...

 

[BlueDogs]

I cant blame him for trying to energize things... I will blame him if this year we suck like the last.