The View From Section 241

[Duncan Idaho]

If you look at offer lists of UConn and Holy Cross there isn’t much if any talent gap

Cant believe they have anywhere near the players with P5 offers. 5-6 DLinemen multiple LBs and at least 3 TEs catching passes yesterday...

 

[billybud]

The Huskies have had an opportunity to build a winner. Why not a Cincinnati?

Teams that have been in a slump can come roaring back.

Cincinnati in 2016 and 2017 were 4-7 both years...yet won 11 games in 2018 and 11 in 2019 and in 2020 went undefeated in conference and only lost by 3 to Georgia in the bowl game.

They hired Luke Fickel for 2017...and by 2018 were rolling. A historic turn around.

 

[uconnfan68]

Matching BYU as an independent is not a step down. It was a lateral move. Going independent is a step up with the AAC being poached now.

Gotta love BY logic.

If you think we’re in the same situation as BYU, I have a bridge for sale.

 

[Chief00]

Is this oversimplifying things? Hire the HC coach and increase his pay 50% with incentives.
Chief has been on the road, but the thing that was a big red flag in BL’s writeup was the lack of energy thing. First home game, that’s not a good sign. We already know about the coaching issues at multiple positions. A friend who went to the game text me the same thing. There just seems to be no energy or confidence.

 

[billybud]

Cincinnati's recruit class rankings...

2016....#75
2017....#63
2018....#47

2019....#89 (small class of 17)
2020....#39

 

[BlueDogs]

I don't think that is the case any longer. The BE will sustain the BB program up to and until the P4 take full control of the tournament. That may happen quickly, it may take a while, it may not happen at all but, our FB program will not be able to save us were that to occur and this is coming from a FB first fan.

If this is the permanent state of UConn FB then it should be shut down it won't help the university or it's other revenue sports which was the entire point of upgrading to D1.

There is no question that basketball will suffer in the long term. The NBE is an edge case strong conference in a single sport competing against massively funded programs. It will never be better than a tough also ran. The theory is you can get by because they are inexpensive programs. It’s true but not when everything else is starved to death because there is no money. Let’s face it. The BoT effectively killed UConn sports beyond basketball.

 

[Uconnalliance]

We are disgusting…I won’t be attending any games this season. There just isn’t anything else to say. This is coming from a former season ticket holder who started in 1999 and hung in there until the Pasqualoni era ended. I still went to 2-3 games a year. Not this year. I’ll keep my hoops and hockey tickets though.

Gotta go see Yale game … it’s been a while

 

[BigTenFan]

Cincinnati's recruit class rankings...

2016....#75
2017....#63
2018....#47

2019....#89 (small class of 17)
2020....#39

They also have the benefit of being in a football hotbed of Southern Ohio, IN and Northern KY where there are some very good players. Not every kid makes the cut for Ohio State
We just don't have that local talent pool

 

[Bomber36]

Gotta go see Yale game … it’s been a while

I couldn’t handle the embarrassment of losing to an Ivy League school in person. Which after yesterday is almost a given. I really wanted to believe things had changed. A convincing win yesterday would have partially convinced me of that. Oh well, one can dream.

 

[BlueandOG]

The players quit on Edsall. They do not believe. We need a PLAN for succession so the players have hope again.

 

[Brochacho]

We still have one advantage over the G5 - if you want maximum P5 exposure, you either go to a P5 team, Notre Dame, or UConn. Remains to be seen how much this matters.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

They also have the benefit of being in a football hotbed of Southern Ohio, IN and Northern KY where there are some very good players. Not every kid makes the cut for Ohio State
We just don't have that local talent pool

How do you explain Boise State? Kansas State? Buffalo? Or SDSU?

 

[Bongo Fury]

Cant believe they have anywhere near the players with P5 offers. 5-6 DLinemen multiple LBs and at least 3 TEs catching passes yesterday...

Who cares about offers. The guy recruited Mensah at Assumption. They were a better team.

 

[noeynox]

The players quit on Edsall. They do not believe. We need a PLAN for succession so the players have hope again.

Edsall talks a big game then has his "gun slinger" throwing 1 yd passes near the LOS hitting DL in their hands or helmets. The game plan doesn't exactly scream i have confidence in my guys. His conservative ass approach has neither won games, got fans excited, nor gotten his players to buy all in. That is 100 percent in him. It's the style he chose to implement as it gave them the "best chance to win". How has that worked out? Hope is not a plan.

 

[Calhoun's Court]

I just don't see the benefit of RE coaching another game here.
A 56-3 loss to Purdue can be accomplished without him.
By letting him go now at least the few supporters left can at least pin their hopes on change coming for sure.
DB must have a list prepared already.
It's time.

 

[kemba]

UConn has always been afraid of being a stepping stone. PP and RE are prime examples. Diaco was a hope of success but that portion of this program should be wiped away....then again RE 2.0 might need to be as well.

I think the Edsall hire was strictly about not having a lot of resources to pay Diaco's buyout and hire a new coach, and this is what we felt we could afford. At that point if we could have hired someone who could get the program on track in 2-3 years and then left for greener pastures we would have done it.

With PP though, absolutely. And it wasn't just UConn admin, it was a huge portion of the fanbase too who wouldn't consider anyone who they thought might leave someday. Such a small time decision, and wow we've also had opportunities to turn it around that we've blown, that decision was the turning point

 

[d1reality]

Holy Cross is a well coached team. They were not a good program before they hired him. Coaching is a huge part of any program. Look at what BC is doing with their new coach. Get a young coach, hit the transfer portal and start beating the teams you should beat. They went from getting blown out by Clemson to nearly beating them last season. That’s the difference a coach can make. It’s not just calling the plays, it’s getting transfers as difference makers. 3 star recruits take 2-3 years to develop, transfers make an immediate impact.

The huge mistake was leaving the AAC. Having no conference makes it a difficult task attracting good coaches.

Very true!

Leaving the AAC was a bad move for football, but perhaps not for hoops.

When we left AAC football, we had no idea what AAC football would be facing today with the Big 12 poach, but at the time, considering the decision parameters - bad move for football. The results speak for themselves.

It likely hurt us in the football recruiting rankings the last few years, at least something did. Notre Dame and BYU can sell being an Indy in football, we certainly can't and haven't, and obviously not heading in that direction..

 

[kemba]

Very true!

Leaving the AAC was a bad move for football, but perhaps not for hoops.

When we left AAC football, we had no idea what AAC football would be facing today with the Big 12 poach, but at the time, considering the decision parameters - bad move for football. The results speak for themselves.

It likely hurt us in the football recruiting rankings the last few years, at least something did. Notre Dame and BYU can sell being an Indy in football, we certainly can't and haven't, and obviously not heading in that direction..

Basically none of this is true. Recruiting rankings have improved, future schedules have improved

As far as "we had no idea what aac football would be facing with the big 12 poach"--we didn't know specifics, but we did know that was a conference that every team in it was looking for a way out and would be poached at some point. We just didn't know when.

 

[PackTheRent]

The bigger/faster/stronger media pictures showed our players had more definition in their triceps and pecs. That was our secret to a great 2021 campaign. Who on the Boneyard sold our secret to the opponents? Treasonous!

 

[JohnFSilver]

No reason UConn can’t win games and be better at football. This is not an infrastructure problem with the team or a school too big for its britches.

This comes down to execution. That is the staff recruits right players, good players, coaches coach up, devise a game plan, execute game plan, get players to execute game plan.

uconn is a top 25 public university. National name brand. Great facilities. If coastal Carolina, liberty, and other teams like that can become good football schools occasionally, then uconn can.

UConn’s football issues are football related. Structurally, the program has good bones. This is a talent development, talent in house, coaching and game plan issue.

Sure the team is young. But that can’t be an excuse. Win football games.

 

[d1reality]

Basically none of this is true. Recruiting rankings have improved, future schedules have improved

As far as "we had no idea what aac football would be facing with the big 12 poach"--we didn't know specifics, but we did know that was a conference that every team in it was looking for a way out and would be poached at some point. We just didn't know when.

Sure, and everyone knew Texas and Oklahoma would be in the SEC in a few years, gimmee a break.

Aside from a payday game with Clemson, there is no real difference in schedule appearance than the recent prior years.

Although, 247sports shows recruiting classes for 2019-2021 as #s 117, 119, & 114 respectively, so I stand corrected, at 114 we are improving.

Basically all of this is true.

 

[billybud]

They also have the benefit of being in a football hotbed of Southern Ohio, IN and Northern KY where there are some very good players. Not every kid makes the cut for Ohio State
We just don't have that local talent pool

Rutgers has 27 on their roster from New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut....

VT has 11 from Pennsylvania and New Jersey

WVU has 14 from Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey

UConn has 13 from NY, Pa. and NJ

 

[kemba]

Sure, and everyone knew Texas and Oklahoma would be in the SEC in a few years, gimmee a break.

Aside from a payday game with Clemson, there is no real difference in schedule appearance than the recent prior years.

Although, 247sports shows recruiting classes for 2019-2021 as #s 117, 119, & 114 respectively, so I stand corrected, at 114 we are improving.

Basically all of this is true.

As far as the first line, my statement was very clear that no one knew specifics, so if it makes you feel better to argue against things nobody said have at it. But most people knew the american was an unstable conference that eventually would have teams leaving for greener pastures. If you didn't recognize that and are surprised that the american looks like they'll be losing their top teams thats fine, but its not surprising at all to others.

Schedules are a matter of opinion I suppose, but the feedback on the future schedules has been positive compared to what we were playing.

Thank you for admitting you were wrong about recruiting despite ignoring the 22 class

 

[BigTenFan]

Rutgers has 27 on their roster from New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut....

VT has 11 from Pennsylvania and New Jersey

WVU has 14 from Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey

UConn has 13 from NY, Pa. and NJ

If I was a CT HS player with any talent- I would rather play for Rutgers in Big 10 or VT That's my point- kids will go to a University with more exposure- as both VT and Rutgers offer similar academic reputations to Uconn

 

[UConnJim]

By my eye test, UConn had better athletes and players, EXCEPT HC’s QBs were much better than Jack Zergiotis. They threw better balls and could run with the ball. Switch QBs and I don’t think HC would have had a chance. And, it does appear HC was better coached.

For me, the turning point in the game was when Jack Zergiotis missed a wide open Ross on a tough throw followed by the inexplicable pick 6. Before this happened, the D was pumped and was playing well, except for the first drive. Instead of the game being 21-7 with huge momentum, it was 14-14 with a deflated team.

As I have stated previously, we have one guy in charge of our two most important groups: OL and the offense and it is just not working. And, Jack Zergiotis looks like freshman Jack Zergiotis and his throwing mechanics have barely improved. How could the coaches not have seen that in 2 years of practice and thought they didn’t need a transfer QB?

End of the day, it has to fall on Edsall. Times up. I don’t think the turnaround is that difficult as I think the roster is OK. UConn just needs a QB and an offensive minded coach. Hopefully, a new coach can attract a decent QB with his offense.