The saddest part | The Boneyard

The saddest part

Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Messages
50,188
Reaction Score
176,531
The saddest part is once upon a time there was real buzz and momentum here... There was buzz in the beginning with Dan O and Terry Cauley, there was major buzz years later when we were the only game on national TV and they were slamming Robert Griffin into the ground and we had more players drafted in the first several rounds than Ohio State, there was buzz when Taggert hit that 52 yarder to sneak us into the Fiesta bowl. The state was behind the team and there was major excitement. I saw it when I went to some games back then, I saw it when I would be at sports bars watching college football in Chicago with fans from major programs around the country taking notice and saying "Wow UConn is pretty good" "Wow, UConn is ranked?"

SportsFan88 started a thread during the game to ask where did it all go wrong? It all started when the snake Edsall snuck out on his team. Edsall was a dinosaur a decade or so ago and I thought he maxed out but we were relevant, we were putting guys in the NFL and then he told Jordan Todman he had to be a man and address his teammates before the Fiesta Bowl that he was leaving them to enter the NFL draft early. Meanwhile Edsall knew he was taking the Maryland job and snuck out the backdoor like a coward, leaving the kids in the dark....

Pasqualoni was hired, he was a bad hire by a terrible Athletic Director in Hathaway. Pasqualoni could at least coach, his problem was his loyalty to his pal DeLeone. It wasn't pretty but UConn hung with very good teams and beat some good teams but the school thought they could do better...

Warde Manuel then got sold a bill of goods with Diaco. The guy won defensive coach of the year in college football. He was energetic as hell, talked a big game about his vision for UConn football, he was good looking, charming, and a media darling. I was sold on the day of the hire but the people who make the decisions should've been able to see it was smoke and mirrors. Program was hugely damaged at that point and they felt they had to go cheap and safe instead of spending more and getting an up and comer who could turn it around quickly using it as a stepping stone. The cheap and safe thing never works and is made so much worse by going back to the snake who already bit you and sold you out...

Edsall was a boring dinosaur once upon a time who could get just enough with defense and ball control to crank out enough wins but it was clear years ago the game had passed him by and it was clear what his character is. You add to it that he's a stubborn a hole that talented coordinators can't work with and it's just a nightmare scenario. The school gave up on the program by hiring him back and every extra game he's given lessens the chances of this program ever getting out of the basement of college football...

There has to be real soul searching for Benedict and the others in charge if they want to continue on with the football program, if Edsall is allowed to continue on it's clear they have no interest in this program which would be incredibly sad because once upon a time the people of Connecticut really cared and were all on board with watching the program grow. People are starved for something to root for, bring in a hungry proven young winner. If not end it.
 
Last edited:

phillionaire

esta noche somos mantequilla
Joined
Aug 28, 2011
Messages
3,653
Reaction Score
13,248
When was the last time you were excited about watching this team play and actually felt they had a chance to win? I can’t even remember.
It’s felt like a chore watching them for so long. But at least when you go and do chores something productive came out of it.
 
Joined
Aug 29, 2015
Messages
21,125
Reaction Score
53,299
The school has just made terrible hiring decisions all around. Susan. Warde. Ollie. Diaco. Edsall. Tom K was hired and then quit because the board sucks.

It's a top down problem. The people in charge are a bunch of idiots
 
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
2,987
Reaction Score
10,632
The saddest part is once upon a time there was real buzz and momentum here... There was buzz in the beginning with Dan O and Terry Cauley, there was major buzz years later when we were the only game on national TV and they were slamming Robert Griffin into the ground and we had more players drafted in the first several rounds than Ohio State, there was buzz when Taggert hit that 52 yarder to sneak us into the Fiesta bowl. The state was behind the team and there was major excitement. I saw it when I went to some games back then, I saw it when I would be at sports bars watching college football in Chicago with fans from major programs around the country taking notice and saying "Wow UConn is pretty good" "Wow, UConn is ranked?"

SportsFan88 started a thread during the game to ask where did it all go wrong? It all started when the snake Edsall snuck out on his team. Edsall was a dinosaur a decade or so ago and I thought he maxed out but we were relevant, we were putting guys in the NFL and then he told Jordan Todman he had to be a man and address his teammates before the Fiesta Bowl that he was leaving them to enter the NFL draft early. Meanwhile Edsall knew he was taking the Maryland job and snuck out the backdoor like a coward, leaving the kids in the dark....

Pasqualoni was hired, he was a bad hire by a terrible Athletic Director in Hathaway. Pasqualoni could at least coach, his problem was his loyalty to his pal DeLeone. It wasn't pretty but UConn hung with very good teams and beat some good teams but the school thought they could do better...

Warde Manuel then got sold a bill of goods with Diaco. The guy won defensive coach of the year in college football. He was energetic as hell, talked a big game about his vision for UConn football, he was good looking, charming, and a media darling. I was sold on the day of the hire but the people who make the decisions should've been able to see it was smoke and mirrors. Program was hugely damaged at that point and they felt they had to go cheap and safe instead of spending more and getting an up and comer who could turn it around quickly using it as a stepping stone. The cheap and safe thing never works and is made so much worse by going back to the snake who already bit you and sold you out...

Edsall was a boring dinosaur once upon a time who could get just enough with defense and ball control to crank out enough wins but it was clear years ago the game had passed him by and it was clear what his character is. You add to it that he's a stubborn a hole that talented coordinators can't work with and it's just a nightmare scenario. The school gave up on the program by hiring him back and every extra game he's given lessens the chances of this program ever getting out of the basement of college football...

There has to be real soul searching for Benedict and the others in charge if they want to continue on with the football program, if Edsall is allowed to continue on it's clear they have no interest in this program which would be incredibly sad because once upon a time the people of Connecticut really cared and were all on board with watching the program grow. People are starved for something to root for, bring in a hungry proven young winner. If not end it.
Your post brought back memories. I remembered all those moments as well. Uconn had real momentum going at one time, but it's all gone now.

I thought hiring Edsall second time was a disaster, and nothing has changed my mind. Edsall 1.0 is an average coach at best that could never beat a spread offense like the old WVU Pat white team, and his current system is also so outdated comparing to most modern offenses. He is a stubborn SOB that refuses to change hence no good OCs will want to come here.

I have no idea what Uconn board or DB is thinking. In the real world, there is no way someone this bad at his job get to keep going year after year.
 
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
468
Reaction Score
844
I was on the flight back from the Fiesta Bowl with some of the players. Upon landing in Bradley their phones blew up with the news that Edsall was leaving "Coach is leaving for Maryland", they couldn't believe it. That was the moment the Program was hobbled.

We couldn't have chosen a worse time to tank on the field. Seriously, decent seasons after RE first left and we are in a good Power Conference. Then we lost a chance to get into the ACC, and Conference Realignment left us in the AAC where we could no longer compete. That was the death of UConn football...

Now we have a couple of seasons of historically bad football. Like we had a season of the worst defensive football in Collegiate football HISTORY. Today we lose handily to an FCS team.

The experiment failed. I'd be ok to put the Yankee Conference back together at this point.
 
Joined
Aug 29, 2015
Messages
21,125
Reaction Score
53,299
I was on the flight back from the Fiesta Bowl with some of the players. Upon landing in Bradley their phones blew up with the news that Edsall was leaving "Coach is leaving for Maryland", they couldn't believe it. That was the moment the Program was hobbled.

We couldn't have chosen a worse time to tank on the field. Seriously, decent seasons after RE first left and we are in a good Power Conference. Then we lost a chance to get into the ACC, and Conference Realignment left us in the AAC where we could no longer compete. That was the death of UConn football...

Now we have a couple of seasons of historically bad football. Like we had a season of the worst defensive football in Collegiate football HISTORY. Today we lose handily to an FCS team.

The experiment failed. I'd be ok to put the Yankee Conference back together at this point.
We aren't going to FCS. They'll just kill the program off instead.
 
Joined
Aug 24, 2011
Messages
9,262
Reaction Score
30,472
How a program can go from playing in a major bowl game to such levels of complete incompetence and irrelevance in just a decade is quite an amazing feat.
 
Joined
Sep 3, 2011
Messages
3,772
Reaction Score
3,443
The saddest part is once upon a time there was real buzz and momentum here... There was buzz in the beginning with Dan O and Terry Cauley, there was major buzz years later when we were the only game on national TV and they were slamming Robert Griffin into the ground and we had more players drafted in the first several rounds than Ohio State, there was buzz when Taggert hit that 52 yarder to sneak us into the Fiesta bowl. The state was behind the team and there was major excitement. I saw it when I went to some games back then, I saw it when I would be at sports bars watching college football in Chicago with fans from major programs around the country taking notice and saying "Wow UConn is pretty good" "Wow, UConn is ranked?"

SportsFan88 started a thread during the game to ask where did it all go wrong? It all started when the snake Edsall snuck out on his team. Edsall was a dinosaur a decade or so ago and I thought he maxed out but we were relevant, we were putting guys in the NFL and then he told Jordan Todman he had to be a man and address his teammates before the Fiesta Bowl that he was leaving them to enter the NFL draft early. Meanwhile Edsall knew he was taking the Maryland job and snuck out the backdoor like a coward, leaving the kids in the dark....

Pasqualoni was hired, he was a bad hire by a terrible Athletic Director in Hathaway. Pasqualoni could at least coach, his problem was his loyalty to his pal DeLeone. It wasn't pretty but UConn hung with very good teams and beat some good teams but the school thought they could do better...

Warde Manuel then got sold a bill of goods with Diaco. The guy won defensive coach of the year in college football. He was energetic as hell, talked a big game about his vision for UConn football, he was good looking, charming, and a media darling. I was sold on the day of the hire but the people who make the decisions should've been able to see it was smoke and mirrors. Program was hugely damaged at that point and they felt they had to go cheap and safe instead of spending more and getting an up and comer who could turn it around quickly using it as a stepping stone. The cheap and safe thing never works and is made so much worse by going back to the snake who already bit you and sold you out...

Edsall was a boring dinosaur once upon a time who could get just enough with defense and ball control to crank out enough wins but it was clear years ago the game had passed him by and it was clear what his character is. You add to it that he's a stubborn a hole that talented coordinators can't work with and it's just a nightmare scenario. The school gave up on the program by hiring him back and every extra game he's given lessens the chances of this program ever getting out of the basement of college football...

There has to be real soul searching for Benedict and the others in charge if they want to continue on with the football program, if Edsall is allowed to continue on it's clear they have no interest in this program which would be incredibly sad because once upon a time the people of Connecticut really cared and were all on board with watching the program grow. People are starved for something to root for, bring in a hungry proven young winner. If not end it.
An excellent post. Right on the money.
 
Joined
May 30, 2018
Messages
2,511
Reaction Score
7,162
When was the last time you were excited about watching this team play and actually felt they had a chance to win? I can’t even remember.
It’s felt like a chore watching them for so long. But at least when you go and do chores something productive came out of it.
I was actually excited this morning looking forward to a victory. My hopes were dashed rather quickly.

Superjohn brings back some great memories. I remember when Robert Griffin said that Rentschler was the loudest field he played at. I remember when 40K fans showed up for games. I worked at Cabelas when it first opened and the place would be packed with UConn fans buying supplies for their tailgates before the night games. We had a hard time finding parking on game nights.

Did anyone catch the UConn mention during the Alabama - Miami U. game? Sean McDonough was talking about the fact that Miami's offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee was at UConn at one time. Of course, he mentioned that UConn lost to Holy Cross today.
 
Joined
Sep 7, 2012
Messages
458
Reaction Score
1,043
I was actually excited this morning looking forward to a victory. My hopes were dashed rather quickly.

Superjohn brings back some great memories. I remember when Robert Griffin said that Rentschler was the loudest field he played at. I remember when 40K fans showed up for games. I worked at Cabelas when it first opened and the place would be packed with UConn fans buying supplies for their tailgates before the night games. We had a hard time finding parking on game nights.

Did anyone catch the UConn mention during the Alabama - Miami U. game? Sean McDonough was talking about the fact that Miami's offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee was at UConn at one time. Of course, he mentioned that UConn lost to Holy Cross today.
Lashlee is putting up points today....nevermind
 
Joined
Sep 3, 2011
Messages
3,772
Reaction Score
3,443
Your post brought back memories. I remembered all those moments as well. Uconn had real momentum going at one time, but it's all gone now.

I thought hiring Edsall second time was a disaster, and nothing has changed my mind. Edsall 1.0 is an average coach at best that could never beat a spread offense like the old WVU Pat white team, and his current system is also so outdated comparing to most modern offenses. He is a stubborn SOB that refuses to change hence no good OCs will want to come here.

I have no idea what Uconn board or DB is thinking. In the real world, there is no way someone this bad at his job get to keep going year after year.
Well said. RE ran an old school program on his first tour of duty (a run, run, run offense, a dependence on defense). He didn't not see the direction that college football was going even then.
 
B

Brianh

The school has just made terrible hiring decisions all around. Susan. Warde. Ollie. Diaco. Edsall. Tom K was hired and then quit because the board sucks.

It's a top down problem. The people in charge are a bunch of idiots
Hey now Ollie although had bad last couple of years won a title don’t lump him in there . Diaco seemed like a good hire who wouldn’t take a ND defensive coach of the year . Hiring Edsal back was bad. Have Randy step down give his kid the rest of the year . That’s what I would do .
 
Joined
Sep 17, 2011
Messages
3,981
Reaction Score
8,219
DB is sticking with Reid in soccer so why is anyone surprised he is good with Edsall? It isn't his money after all that is wasted.
 

SubbaBub

Your stupidity is ruining my country.
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
32,171
Reaction Score
25,090
When was the last time you were excited about watching this team play and actually felt they had a chance to win? I can’t even remember.
It’s felt like a chore watching them for so long. But at least when you go and do chores something productive came out of it.

PP blowing the Vanderbilt game. I also thought we could beat Marshall. Nothing since. I don't count expecting to beat Holy Cross, Army or any other cupcake squad.
 

phillionaire

esta noche somos mantequilla
Joined
Aug 28, 2011
Messages
3,653
Reaction Score
13,248
PP blowing the Vanderbilt game. I also thought we could beat Marshall. Nothing since. I don't count expecting to beat Holy Cross, Army or any other cupcake squad.
God being in a bowl game seems like a century ago
 

Online statistics

Members online
100
Guests online
1,248
Total visitors
1,348

Forum statistics

Threads
159,595
Messages
4,196,988
Members
10,065
Latest member
bardira


.
Top Bottom