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How many players have been drafted and/ or played in the NFL over the last 4 years? Yet, we were told that PPGDL had no players. We should have been competitive.
The cupboard is bare
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FfldCntyFan
Texas: Property of UConn Men's Basketball program
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Bingo!
We went through a few years where the offensive line continued to deteriorate (and for the past two seasons had trouble blocking anything but air, which they seemed to excel at) and our QB play was well below what should be the standard for a run of the mill Division II program.
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Getting 10 guys drafted over 4 years doesn't exactly mean we have tons of talent on the roster. Out of those 10, I think only 2 have been on the offensive side of the ball.
SubbaBub
Your stupidity is ruining my country.
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What burns me about these thread is that it provides an excuse for the abysmal performances and the glass is perpetually half full it ain't so bad crowd that seems a little too okay with that.
The truth is that in the sandbox we play in (non-top 25), there are no sure thing players or ready made talents. You take guys that will have the size, speed, and attitude to make an impact on the field for at least one or two seasons before they graduate and you teach them how to do the work necessary to make that impact. You'll have hits, misses, surprises and disappointments in every class. The mean skews depending on the name of the program and the ability of the coach to sell the program, but I spent a new years eve in Arizona that says that neither is a requirement for success as that squad had no name and a lousy recruiter as a coach. What he could do was recognize those guys who could have an impact a few years down the road, were willing to put in the work if he showed them how to get there.
Did P recruit as poorly as he did everything else? I guess we are about to find out, but in the drafts since he took over 10 huskies were drafted and a few more signed as UDFA and we won 15 games in 4 seasons. We've had players drafted on offense and defense. They guys that played last year were just as big and athletic as those who won games and a heck of a lot more than there was in the 05-06 era when they actually did win some games against decent teams. There is enough talent in the program right now to win games.
The truth is that in the sandbox we play in (non-top 25), there are no sure thing players or ready made talents. You take guys that will have the size, speed, and attitude to make an impact on the field for at least one or two seasons before they graduate and you teach them how to do the work necessary to make that impact. You'll have hits, misses, surprises and disappointments in every class. The mean skews depending on the name of the program and the ability of the coach to sell the program, but I spent a new years eve in Arizona that says that neither is a requirement for success as that squad had no name and a lousy recruiter as a coach. What he could do was recognize those guys who could have an impact a few years down the road, were willing to put in the work if he showed them how to get there.
Did P recruit as poorly as he did everything else? I guess we are about to find out, but in the drafts since he took over 10 huskies were drafted and a few more signed as UDFA and we won 15 games in 4 seasons. We've had players drafted on offense and defense. They guys that played last year were just as big and athletic as those who won games and a heck of a lot more than there was in the 05-06 era when they actually did win some games against decent teams. There is enough talent in the program right now to win games.
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It is very clear to me that P did not have the focus on player development, including S&C, that was necessary for the program to continue to progress. In the case of GDL, P allowed a complete cluster duckk to take place with the OL and running game. By the time Diaco came in we were turning over a seasoned OL (Bennett, Green, etc.) that never developed to the level they could and should have and then had to plug in young guys last season to start getting their experience. There is no reason to believe those new guys got any better development programs under P and GDL than their predecessors. Couple that with the inability to plug in some bigger and more talented backs - P spent 2 1/2 seasons running a flyweight back who simply was incapable of breaking tackles and wearing folks down.
P badly damaged this program. Is Diaco the answer to fix it? I really don't know. I understand what he was trying to accomplish last season, but the inability to get any momentum for the program towards the end of the season was disheartening. The performance of the offense was awful under any set of circumstances. Finally, this latest hire for the OC is complete head scratcher to me. I hope he has a good plan, because this 2015 schedule is a brutal way to start to rebuild.
P badly damaged this program. Is Diaco the answer to fix it? I really don't know. I understand what he was trying to accomplish last season, but the inability to get any momentum for the program towards the end of the season was disheartening. The performance of the offense was awful under any set of circumstances. Finally, this latest hire for the OC is complete head scratcher to me. I hope he has a good plan, because this 2015 schedule is a brutal way to start to rebuild.
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The lack of any sort of momentum is what troubles me most about Diaco. He had a team that essentially quit at the end of the year. But when you get utterly mismanaged that happens in business and in sports. And my sense was mismanaged things last year by not putting players in position to win, making head scratcher decisions and saying dopey things. I don't get the of choice either. Maybe he will be good but just maybe it might be worth looking for someone who didn't coach with Diaco somewhere. I hope I'm wrong but I am really not convinced that this guy is the right one for this job.
I guess that's it, then. UConn ought to just ask the AAC if we can forfeit our schedule next season and save the wear and tear on our new uniforms.
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good lord.....
ShakyTheMohel
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It was hard to get any momentum when the roster is that thin...AND...your 2 guys who just got drafted missed significant time on the field. I don't think Jones even played half the season. When UConn started to show some momentum (against UCF and ECU), the injuries hit and the team is just too thin to handle that. I think the thin roster and injuries didn't allow BD to get any momentum and it doesn't feel right to say it was BD's shortfalls.
When BD has a couple years to build the roster and this still happens...then all bets are off. But at this point is it almost impossible to say whether BD is or isn't the right guy for the job.
IMind
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I get this, but we also tended to have a bunch of UDFAs which points to some depth too. Even with the offensive issues, we should still have won more games. Paul Pasqualoni was just about as bad a coach as you could get. Just awful. RE or probably TJ Weist could have clawed out 7-8 wins with the same players.
OkaForPrez
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Since 2011, Uconn has had 14 guys drafted. Penn state over the same time period? 15.
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Yes - Randy would have won 7/8. He knew how to win without a good quarterback.
SubbaBub
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whaler11 said:
I think a better way to say this is to say that a FB team is about creating favorable matchups. If you have a spot on your squad (say OL) that is a consistently negative matchup, then no amount of NFL players in other positions is going to save you.
Whatever hope I bring in for this season is based on the players recognizing the game, executing better and being in better physical condition. I really don't believe we have an insurmountable talent/skill deficit (other than QB) to the rest of our schedule.
We saw improvement in the S&C last season and reports are of further gains this season. I'm hoping that in spite of Wacky Bob's pronouncements and inexcusable tanking of last season that we will see much better assignment football and mistake free football this season.
HuskyHawk
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I find I am torn between my belief that (a) Diaco has enough experience in highly successful programs to know what makes them successful, as well as my belief that he is a technically competent coach, at least on the defense side of the ball and (b) my desire for immediate improvement. Still the crushing negativity from some is grossly overdone. The guy coached one year with few of his own players. While improvements on field were not apparent, off field improvements were.
If he focused everything on winning the maximum games last year could we have won 3-4? Maybe. But it's obvious that he wants to build a "program", not a one year winning (or less losing) team. He takes a foundational approach. My gut tells me that he knows what he's doing. I think even he knows that he can't put up another season like last year however, so we will see some better results.
If he focused everything on winning the maximum games last year could we have won 3-4? Maybe. But it's obvious that he wants to build a "program", not a one year winning (or less losing) team. He takes a foundational approach. My gut tells me that he knows what he's doing. I think even he knows that he can't put up another season like last year however, so we will see some better results.
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This thread maddens me to no end! The cupboard was not bare.
On defense, on the roster in 2011 the defense included these draft picks by position:
DE: One 4th rounder
DT: One 2nd and one 7th rounder
LB: One 3rd and one 7th round rounder
DB: One 1st and two 3rd rounders.
Eight of the positions had NFL draft picks. Remember, the defense was coached by Donald Brown and Hank Hughes, not PP/GDL cronies, so players were developed by competent coaches.
On offense, there was a 6th round TE and a 6th round WR. On the OL, PP/GDL inherited plenty of depth and experience if you look at the roster:
LT: Ryan RSr, Bennett RJr, Gifford, FR
LG: Bardzak RSr, Bullock RSo,
C: Petrus RSr, Paull RFr
RG: Greene RSo, Cruz RFr
RT: Masters RJr, Friend RSo, Hanson RFr
The problem was that the OL was not developed. The raw ability was there.
Even WR had a lot of talent: Kashif Moore RSr, Geremy Davis RFr, Tebucky Jones RFr, Nick Williams Jr, Leon Kinnard So, Isiah Moore RJr, Mike Smith Sr, Gerrard Sheppard RJr, Malik Generett RSo. You had one 6th round draft pick and 4 WRs (Smith, Williams, K. Moore, and Sheppard) who were signed by NFl teams.
As for QB, I will take some crap for this, but Michael Box had a good career and even had some NFL draft consideration. He was rated the #68 QB coming out for the draft in 2014 by one service and was signed by the Redskins as an UFA. Mike Nebrich had a very good career at Fordham. By one service he was rated the #31 QB coming out this year and #46 by another. The QB position was serviceable when PP/GDL got to UConn, but they couldn't figure out how to make it work.
The one position that seemed to be thin was RB because Jordan Todman left early. After seeing the depth problems in 2011, how many RBs did PP/GDL bring in in 2012? One, Joe Williams. In my opinion, if Edsall had stayed, he would have gone after another RB for 2011 after Todman left.
Look, UConn made a big mistake in hiring PP/GDL. They were old, seemed to be set in their ways, and had been out of the college game for years and could not develop an OL which had been a strength at UConn for years. The roster was not the problem.
On defense, on the roster in 2011 the defense included these draft picks by position:
DE: One 4th rounder
DT: One 2nd and one 7th rounder
LB: One 3rd and one 7th round rounder
DB: One 1st and two 3rd rounders.
Eight of the positions had NFL draft picks. Remember, the defense was coached by Donald Brown and Hank Hughes, not PP/GDL cronies, so players were developed by competent coaches.
On offense, there was a 6th round TE and a 6th round WR. On the OL, PP/GDL inherited plenty of depth and experience if you look at the roster:
LT: Ryan RSr, Bennett RJr, Gifford, FR
LG: Bardzak RSr, Bullock RSo,
C: Petrus RSr, Paull RFr
RG: Greene RSo, Cruz RFr
RT: Masters RJr, Friend RSo, Hanson RFr
The problem was that the OL was not developed. The raw ability was there.
Even WR had a lot of talent: Kashif Moore RSr, Geremy Davis RFr, Tebucky Jones RFr, Nick Williams Jr, Leon Kinnard So, Isiah Moore RJr, Mike Smith Sr, Gerrard Sheppard RJr, Malik Generett RSo. You had one 6th round draft pick and 4 WRs (Smith, Williams, K. Moore, and Sheppard) who were signed by NFl teams.
As for QB, I will take some crap for this, but Michael Box had a good career and even had some NFL draft consideration. He was rated the #68 QB coming out for the draft in 2014 by one service and was signed by the Redskins as an UFA. Mike Nebrich had a very good career at Fordham. By one service he was rated the #31 QB coming out this year and #46 by another. The QB position was serviceable when PP/GDL got to UConn, but they couldn't figure out how to make it work.
The one position that seemed to be thin was RB because Jordan Todman left early. After seeing the depth problems in 2011, how many RBs did PP/GDL bring in in 2012? One, Joe Williams. In my opinion, if Edsall had stayed, he would have gone after another RB for 2011 after Todman left.
Look, UConn made a big mistake in hiring PP/GDL. They were old, seemed to be set in their ways, and had been out of the college game for years and could not develop an OL which had been a strength at UConn for years. The roster was not the problem.
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