The improvement is obvious

[JMick]

We can talk about schemes all we want, but I feel like the coaches don't believe we have the right players in the right positions in order to do everything they want. It's evident on offense, and I think it's starting to show on defense.

 

[uconnbill]

They need to practice tackling, which again this week was lacking.

Bend don't break is not suppose to give up big plays and yet they gave up 12 plays of 20 yards or more today. That is very frustrating

 

[tduconn]

Where's the beef? eerrrr........talent?

The problem is the talent. You can't consistently have a team with the lowest rated recruiting classes year after year and expect to openly compete against better teams without resorting to trick plays. Take away Diaco, PP, RE and re[;ace with coaches like Tuberville, Fuentes, Herman, Mendenhall and you will have the same results with the current players we have. I don't recall anyone suggesting any of the current coaches were previously fired from other teams because of incompetence.

To some degree they were all successful when they had athletes with higher upside limits,

I think BD can certainly bring some excitement to the program. A number of plays attempted and failed were never attempted before under any HC leadership. It's nice the coaches try to instill their confidence on the team by attempting to incorporate some college schemes common to better programs, but as a former UCFB player, and coworker, stated after last weeks loss to USF.......they've got to scale back the schemes to the players skill level

Maybe that is why the D schemes did not change from BYU to USF to UC,.........could it be they couldn't execute any other D scheme better?

BD never lost to Navy while at ND, and this year ND did not have any problem beating one of the best Navy teams BD ever saw.

There's a reason why other FBS programs don't heavily recruit NE,

 

[mdkhusky]

the staff definitely has to their fair share of blame but i honestly think on the offensive side ts hard for them to put in a well structured offense when we dont have good players right now. our o line is better than it was but its bad. shirreffs will be good eventually i believe and isnt bad now but hes very inexperienced especially in the pocket which can kill drives especially when he takes off and tries to run like a fullback. our only good receivers besides noel thomas are all true freshman, shirreffs sometimes has trouble identifying the tight ends unless theyre way up field. and the coaching staff cant control that we keep giving up the ball inside the 25 yard line. shirreffs fumbled around the 27 after we came right now the field and we gave up atleast 3 points there possibly 7. we had the penalty at the 1 yard line which cost us 4 more points. and multiple other penalties like 2 men in motion which is just confusion by players. on the defensive side i think the coaches definitely need to make adjustments because we are running a defense that we dont have the personnel for. its a well thought out defense but we dont have very good coverage by our dbacks nor linebackers so we cant afford to sit off the line and let guys have space to get open. itd be more useful playing press coverage and letting the linebackers blitz because they cant make tackles anyways so the safeties have to make all of the tackles 10 yards down the field. so its impossible to run diacos defense right now. maybe its smart to implement it sooner rather than later but weve been burned the past few weeks as we will by any team with big and athletic recievers

 

[JMick]

Maybe that is why the D schemes did not change from BYU to USF to UC,....could it be they couldn't execute any other D scheme better?

ding ding ding! we have a winner. It's pretty obvious that the staff feels limited by their current talent level. it's nothing they'd ever say, but it's the truth. You don't just play deep zone, zero press defense unless you feel like you have no other choice. it's fairly obvious most critiquing Diaco have never played or coached football before.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

We have heard the "multi-year" process talk before - ala - PPGDL. It is true. But, one needs to be able to determine if the crew in charge will come through the other side with a winning program. It is not clear to me in year 2 that more time means success, nor is it clear it doesn't. What can be said is Diaco has proven himself to be quite pedestrian at best. His schemes are less than impressive on the D side the ball, and is Offense remains anemic. His game management is poor. His ability to coach up players remains unclear, which means it is likely average . His recruiting impact is an open question. The only clearly superior capability is building a healthy team culture. His midterm grade is a C-, meaning he is barely passing at this point.

Thinking this is a very good analysis.

 

[JMick]

Personally, I feel like we're playing at a C- level with D+ players. Do think many of our D+ players can turn into B- or B+ players within the next two years.

 

[Milo65]

Biggest issue I have... Our O line sucks and we have a running QB with 5 foot 8 back. Why are we running a pro set power offense? Why?

 

[Greathusky]

Houston, Temple and Memphis have all turned around their programs so the question begs - Why not us?

 

[SubbaBub]

Improved in a sense that we aren't being embarrassed by the lowest of the low. You have to be a decent FB team now to embarrass us, now.

 

[Palatine]

I refuse to blame the players. So now we're back to the cupboard is bare? I just don't buy it.

Personally, I feel like we're playing at a C- level with D+ players. Do think many of our D+ players can turn into B- or B+ players within the next two years.

Look at last week. We dominated USF in the first half. Then they dominated us in the second. So your theory would dictate that we had good talent in the first half and poor talent in the second. It's not a talent issue. What happened is Diaco got outcoached. USF made an adjustment and put their players in a position to win.

Look at BYU. Diaco wanted to play his system not take advantage of the opponents' weakness. That's not a talent issue.

Against Cinny, same thing. The scheme sucked. When we rushed four and got some pressure, the "D" had much better results.

And on offense, where are the slants and down and outs and three step drops that take advantage of a pretty good receiving core?

It's not the kids, there is enough talent here to make a bowl game. Enough talent to go toe to toe with Missouri. We have lots of B+ players. They are not being put in a position to take advantage of their talents. The coach plays a soft defense. Then he doesn't understand why his players get soft. DUH.

 

[king conn]

ding ding ding! we have a winner. It's pretty obvious that the staff feels limited by their current talent level.



Actually, it's pretty obvious the players feel limited by the staff's current talent level.

 

[tduconn]

Houston, Temple and Memphis have all turned around their programs so the question begs - Why not us?

simple question.......simple answer.......lack of FBS talent. There must e reason most of UConn' s recruiting competition is at the FCS level, as its been since the "upgrade".

"under the radar" doesn't equate to very many successful seasons against higher level competition....even those years UConn went to bowl game, a good portion of its victories came from pre-conference FCS or low level BCS teams.

 

[uconndogs]

We don't have the horses yet and this coaching staff is struggling.

We have one RB right now and yesterday we played a lot of true frosh at WR. While the OL is improving it has a ways to go. To my eye, the early success if the D was a little bit of smoke and mirrors. The DL is stout, but there is no pass rusher. The secondary is good and a few of those kids will get a shot at the League. The LBs are without a doubt the least talented group we have had in quite a long time. They don't run well, next to hopeless dropping into pass coverage and I can't remember the last time one made a play. It may very well be time to sit Stewart and Vaughn and get more experience for the younger guys.

Diaco will prove his worth by keeping this group motivated through the remainder of the season. That will not be easy, but picking up another win or two will be important.

 

[tduconn]

I refuse to blame the players. So now we're back to the cupboard is bare? I just don't buy it.


Look at last week. We dominated USF in the first half. Then they dominated us in the second. So your theory would dictate that we had good talent in the first half and poor talent in the second. It's not a talent issue. What happened is Diaco got outcoached. USF made an adjustment and put their players in a position to win.

Look at BYU. Diaco wanted to play his system not take advantage of the opponents' weakness. That's not a talent issue.

Against Cinny, same thing. The scheme sucked. When we rushed four and got some pressure, the "D" had much better results.

And on offense, where are the slants and down and outs and three step drops that take advantage of a pretty good receiving core?

It's not the kids, there is enough talent here to make a bowl game. Enough talent to go toe to toe with Missouri. We have lots of B+ players. They are not being put in a position to take advantage of their talents. The coach plays a soft defense. Then he doesn't understand why his players get soft. DUH.

If we can't exploit a teams weaknesses, doesn't that speak to talent? It didn't take much effort for a 2-3 USF team to exploit UConn.

If you can't exploit a teams weaknesses, forget about competing against their strengths.

By the way, with all the academic challenges Vanderbilt faces in recruiting players in the SEC, they managed to beat Missouri this weekend.

 

[Jimdish255]

ding ding ding! we have a winner. It's pretty obvious that the staff feels limited by their current talent level. it's nothing they'd ever say, but it's the truth. You don't just play deep zone, zero press defense unless you feel like you have no other choice. it's fairly obvious most critiquing Diaco have never played or coached football before.

I'm not buying it. We're married to a process and a scheme and even if they "think" the players can't adapt you try something anyway when it's not working. I can't defend not making adjustments to the opponent and we do have athletic guys that can at least pressure the QB.

Way too many coaches turn around programs without a wholesale upgrade in talent so the argument just doesn't hold water.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

We don't have the horses yet and this coaching staff is struggling.

We have one RB right now and yesterday we played a lot of true frosh at WR. While the OL is improving it has a ways to go. To my eye, the early success if the D was a little bit of smoke and mirrors. The DL is stout, but there is no pass rusher. The secondary is good and a few of those kids will get a shot at the League. The LBs are without a doubt the least talented group we have had in quite a long time. They don't run well, next to hopeless dropping into pass coverage and I can't remember the last time one made a play. It may very well be time to sit Stewart and Vaughn and get more experience for the younger guys.

Diaco will prove his worth by keeping this group motivated through the remainder of the season. That will not be easy, but picking up another win or two will be important.

I struggle with the "cupboard is bare" argument too. UConn isn't playing Alabama and LSU, or even Pitt and WVU. UConn is losing to solid mid-majors, nothing more, and the three wins are over and FCS and two of the worst teams in FBS.

 

[Pudge]

My gut says you''ve found a false rationale to explain reality. As much as it pains me I now believe if we put Diaco with Houston and Herman with us we would not see the same result that both teams have displayed. You think Diaco has them at 6-0? You think Herman has us (after two years) where we are today? I don't. Sad to say but true.

I keep seeing this. It's your false rationale.

TEXAS. Hermann could not do in New England what he can easily do in Houston. Simply a good fit considering his background as a successful HS coach in Texas and then a variety of promotions (in Texas first). How can you possibly think you can replicate that in the Northeast? I understand: You are discouraged. Dismayed. Disappointed.

This isn't Texas where you are referencing. This isn't NFL or Fantasy; you can easily plug 6-4 WRs in with a troubled past. This is a University that wants Student-Athletes; did you check the number of JCs on Cincinnati's roster?

I will argue til I am BLUE'r than our National Flag Blue. We have seen improvement. What else could be done? If I had all the resources necessary: I would elevate NE prep schools to be feeders for UConn. Throw cash. (*boosters Nostical-like) I would push the HS all over NE to get their kids into UConn summer. etc etc

Elsewhere, YOU can find where I outlined what I didn't like yesterday. It ain't an easy fix.

 

[J187Money]

Personally, I feel like we're playing at a C- level with D+ players. Do think many of our D+ players can turn into B- or B+ players within the next two years.

One or two of them will end up being drafted so therefore we must have a roster of A players.

 

[Dooley]

Team is still learning how to win. After watching yesterday, it's quite clear that we still have quite a bit of learning to do.

 

[Nostical]

It's pretty obvious that the staff feels limited by their current talent level.

I think you have the problem reversed.

 

[UCFBfan]

Team is still learning how to win.

I just don't buy this expression anymore. It especially doesn't apply to yesterday. It might work in some close games where we make dumb mistakes, but yesterday, and even against USF, we were just taken out. We were in it for 2 and a half quarters against USF and then we just folded up. There was no "learning how to win" yesterday. It was a complete dismantling. I'm not taking this out on you Dooley because lots of posters throw this expression around but I'm getting sick of it.

I know 4 wins was the reality this year but it seems we're moving away from the other part of that 4 win expectation, staying competitive in loses. Yesterday was not sticking to that and after the way the USF game went in the second half after they scored to go up for good, it's starting to build into a pattern that's concerning. Hopefully we bounce back against ECU.

 

[Nostical]

I keep seeing this. It's your false rationale.
Hermann could not do in New England what he can easily do in Houston.

Sorry but here are some facts. None of Hermann's recruits (in his first year)--no true freshmen--are even playing. He's coaching what he inherited--at a higher level than we are. I ask you again. Would Diaco have this same Houston team at 7-0? Would Herman have us at 3-5? This is all opinion. Mine is that our coaches have let this team down.

 

[Dooley]

I just don't buy this expression anymore. It especially doesn't apply to yesterday. It might work in some close games where we make dumb mistakes, but yesterday, and even against USF, we were just taken out. We were in it for 2 and a half quarters against USF and then we just folded up. There was no "learning how to win" yesterday. It was a complete dismantling. I'm not taking this out on you Dooley because lots of posters throw this expression around but I'm getting sick of it.

I know 4 wins was the reality this year but it seems we're moving away from the other part of that 4 win expectation, staying competitive in loses. Yesterday was not sticking to that and after the way the USF game went in the second half after they scored to go up for good, it's starting to build into a pattern that's concerning. Hopefully we bounce back against ECU.

I agree that yesterday was a complete dismantling. There was absolutely nothing close about yesterday whatsoever. My "learning to win" statement was directed more at the "cupboard is/isn't bare" debate. Had we pulled out a W against USF, a game that we should have won given the 500+ yards of offense we amassed, then yesterday might not have been so bad. Or a W in Missouri - same thing. If we're sitting at 4, or even 5, wins before yesterday, then a lot more of us would be able to brush off yesterday as just being one bad game. But instead, yesterday pretty much sealed the deal on not making a bowl game - although that hope was probably more realistically lost after our USF loss.

Learning to win applies to everyone in the program: coaches and players. We are not going to win by paying incredibly zone coverage like we did yesterday. We won't beat anyone left on our schedule playing that soft. Hopefully the coaches will adjust the schemes and employ more of an aggressive style defense going forward and our players respond. Playing so soft sends a message to our players that we don't believe we can win, we are just hoping that the other team makes mistakes so we can keep it close. That attitude has to stop now. As a coaching staff, you have to know that Cincinnati thrives on their passing game and giving a QB that much time in that soft of coverage is a disaster waiting to happen.

 

[whaler11]

Hermann took over a roster so good that THE QUARTERBACK WHO LOST THE JOB TRANSFERRED TO MICHIGAN.

Comparing what Diaco took over compared to Houston is so far beyond insanity it's incredible.

 

[whaler11]

Houston went 8-5 and 8-5 and beat Pitt last year in a bowl game. What planet are some of you from?

 

[Nostical]

Playing so soft sends a message to our players that we don't believe we can win, we are just hoping that the other team makes mistakes so we can keep it close. That attitude has to stop now.

Absolutely, right on the money. I'd rather go down to Cincy playing press coverage and trying a few blitzes than laying back and getting beetch slapped anyway. Our attitude and swagger is phony. We jump around pre-game and yet stay tentative throughout. Let the big dogs run!! They might chase a few stray cars -but they also may catch a few stray cats.

 

[Dooley]

Comparing Houston and UConn is a complete non-starter. A better comparison would be to compare UConn to Memphis. Fuente won 4 games in year 1; 3 games in year 2 and then took off in year 3 and this year. I don't think we have 10 wins in us next year, but the floor expectation should be 6-7 wins. Anything less than 6 wins should mean that Warde will sift through the Classifieds.

 

[Pudge]

Sorry but here are some facts. None of Hermann's recruits (in his first year)--no true freshmen--are even playing. He's coaching what he inherited--at a higher level than we are. I ask you again. Would Diaco have this same Houston team at 7-0? Would Herman have us at 3-5? This is all opinion. Mine is that our coaches have let this team down.

Answer:

No.

Hermann has done a phenomenal job with what was left him. (More than PP ... But that's another point). I guess I'd be hard pressed to see anyone else do what Hermann is doing in 2015. But both Briles & Sumlin did something similar. (You'd have to ask why Levine failed?)

And ... Contrary to your wet dreams ... Tom Hermann was not coming to UConn no way/no how.

No.

I'd go in more detail. But the very nature of CFB today is making me say that a NEW ENGLAND program isn't going to be easy. I'd say 3-5 with the schedule we've had is pro Forma Maybe one more win.

Whipple? I'd say I'd agree that he has brought a bunch of disparate parts to a far higher level. That's true. Call me crazy ... I'd still take Diaco over Whipple on a 5 year arc. Knowing everything.

 

[UConnDan97]

Hermann took over a roster so good that THE QUARTERBACK WHO LOST THE JOB TRANSFERRED TO MICHIGAN.

Comparing what Diaco took over compared to Houston is so far beyond insanity it's incredible.

The coach that I'd really like to trade for on the Houston staff has a name that rhymes with "Modd Jorlando". The dude makes winning defenses wherever he goes, including Utah State. Houston has the #28 defense right now, and #9 against the run. That's really impressive when you consider that they give the ball back to the opposing offense every 2 minutes after they score. I would love to see him back in a UConn jacket again...