The View From Section 241

[jackl]

Outstanding analysis. How the hell do you take all that in live. You said you didn't watch a replay. BL you are the man. Hopefully WM and SH read or at least get pointed in your direction. There needs to be some excitment or HOPE generated for them to sell tickets for next year. I for one would even buy seasons tickets again that included the Michigan game to be moved away from the RENT if it would help to pay for the package to off load Coach Pee Pee and coach GDL.
Once again it was a great read, all of it. When was the grease fire? missed it.

 

[pj]

If you're a very good offensive line coach, you move up in some way or another. For example, the former LSU OL coach is now the coordinator there. The former Wisconsin OL coach is in the NFL. The Pitt OL coach was an offensive line coach in the NFL for nearly two decades before returning to Pitt.

He may not be a great OL coach but he was effective. GDL was ineffective. I'd settle for effective.

 

[businesslawyer]

Griffin had one offer and it was from UConn. He's a very good player, but that falls on Edsall for being the one that offered him.

Look up Foley's recruiting record with kids that have other offers. It's not good.

You can't possibly think you can tell who is a good recruitor from following Rivals. You have to be smarter than that.

 

[businesslawyer]

What will be really sad? When the only changes that are made, are coaches that we want to stay, leave because of the coaches that are terrible.

It's going to happen one way or the other.

 

[johnhuskies95]

He's already been "up." It didn't work. The fact that he is not going up again just is not proof -- it's not even evidence -- that he's not a great OL coach. Not every great pharmacist has to be able to run CVS.

Being an offensive coordinator at a 1-AA school is "up"?

 

[johnhuskies95]

You can't possibly think you can tell who is a good recruitor from following Rivals. You have to be smarter than that.

Then who has he landed that was offered by other schools? We get beaten in-state a lot and get killed in Massachusetts, which is his main recruiting area.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

How about head coach? Is that up enough?

More to the point, he was a position coach and an exceptional teacher. Not everyone can do this. I know of plenty of people who over the years were exceptional position coaches and/or coordinators who couldn't get the job done as head coach. At some point in time (Foley has been around for a while) you find a job that satisfies your financial needs and allows you some fulfillment. Foley was there with UConn and we were lucky to have someone with his skills who wasn't looking for the next step up.

 

[johnhuskies95]

How about head coach? Is that up enough?

More to the point, he was a position coach and an exceptional teacher. Not everyone can do this. I know of plenty of people who over the years were exceptional position coaches and/or coordinators who couldn't get the job done as head coach. At some point in time (Foley has been around for a while) you find a job that satisfies your financial needs and allows you some fulfillment. Foley was there with UConn and we were lucky to have someone with his skills who wasn't looking for the next step up.

So because he was a good position coach he now deserves a raise? Because becoming the tight ends coach was "humiliating"? That is what businesslawyer is suggesting.

 

[uconnell]

My bad -- I meant from scrimmage.

If Chandler was my son and PP had put him at risk like that I would have marched on the field slapped PP and dragged my kid off the field. I felt like doing that any way. What is wrong with these coaches?

 

[noeynox]

Oline was a strength of this program when he was oline coach. You really don't need to look further than that. That said, I get that P is trying to implement a pro style offense that may require a more complex scheme than Foley teaches.

P however, needs to accept that his bff has been a bust at UCONN this past season. I understand P wanting to be loyal to his bff but that, like has been said many times, the play that got Whitmer hurt is a sign of an out of touch coach. He has to go.

If there is one guy I wished we could bring back to the staff its Terry Richardson. He was great with the running Backs, to the point there was very little drop off when a back up came in.

 

[huskymedic]

If Chandler was my son and PP had put him at risk like that I would have marched on the field slapped PP and dragged my kid off the field. I felt like doing that any way. What is wrong with these coaches?

He shouldn't have been out there after he wobbled off the first time yesterday... someone should have hid his helmet. Can't trust the "I'm okay" words of a competitor.

 

[businesslawyer]

So because he was a good position coach he now deserves a raise? Because becoming the tight ends coach was "humiliating"? That is what businesslawyer is suggesting.

O.K. Not going to argue for the sake of arguing. I've made my point. You don't have to agree.

 

[huskymedic]

.If there is one guy I wished we could bring back to the staff its Terry Richardson. He was great with the running Backs, to the point there was very little drop off when a back up came in.

Agree 1000x... good recruiter as well. Played for PP @ Syracuse. May come into play if Golden bolts Miami.

 

[Waquoit]

I agree with a lot about what you said. But what bothers me the most is how disorganized the offense seems. Our sideline just isn't organized. If we can't get the right players in the game, if they can't manage time outs correctly, then how can get the play on the field right?

And to add, they don't seems to be very crisp. Part of the reason the wildcat is so bad is because the offense never seems to be in synch when they run it. Plays take forever to develop.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

So because he was a good position coach he now deserves a raise? Because becoming the tight ends coach was "humiliating"? That is what businesslawyer is suggesting.

So because he was a good position coach he now deserves a raise? Because becoming the tight ends coach was "humiliating"? That is what businesslawyer is suggesting.

What I don't understand is how a coach who has yet to develop anyone needs to be kept on board because he is such a great recruiter (I would like to see the blue chips he has brought us) yet one who developed players beyond anything we could have reasonably expected (do you remember our offensive line in 2005?) needs to go because he hasn't brought in anyone who had other offers (which I am not sure is the case but I won't argue that point).

Yes, I am in CTFire's camp that the best idea would be to start fresh with an entire new staff (as nobody that we have is irreplaceable and IMHO only JC & Geno have been at this school) but if we were to keep some assistants on, Sos would be near the bottom of my list while Foley would be at the top.

You have no need to worry because if PP & GDL are here, Foley almost assuredly won't. If only PP is here I still believe that Foley will be gone and if (by some miracle) a change in leadership is made, it is highly unlikely that the new coach will retain any of the current staff.

 

[huskysupporter]

Foley absolutely should not go. People are insane if they think he should go. I think he is gone, but it will be based on his decision. Coach Foley is an unbelievable teacher, he will be coveted by many teams with O Line coach openings.

 

[Chief00]

If apologies were to be handed out I think McCummings deserves one. He is one of the top 3 athletes on the team and he has been unfairly associated with the Wildcat Fiasco and GDL poor play calling. If he isn't the back-up QB then consistently play him as a flanker, etc. GDL 3 decade old mindset that a starting QB can't also be mobile is beyond me. But, since that's his viewpoint, at least get 11 on the field in other roles.

 

[ZooCougar]

And to add, they don't seems to be very crisp. Part of the reason the wildcat is so bad is because the offense never seems to be in synch when they run it. Plays take forever to develop.

Or they run it after a TV timeout. No element of surprise or deception.

 

[uconnell]

Oline was a strength of this program when he was oline coach. You really don't need to look further than that. That said, I get that P is trying to implement a pro style offense that may require a more complex scheme than Foley teaches.

P however, needs to accept that his bff has been a bust at UCONN this past season. I understand P wanting to be loyal to his bff but that,
.

The only thing PP has to be loyal to is the school that pays his salary.

 

[uconndogs]

Great post Biz. Again, thank you for doing these.

I actually think the defense let this team down for the first time this season and it's hard to be too critical of them given how well they have played most of the season and being without 4 DEs for all intent and purposes. The other issue is that this team was not ready to play a big game. The TOs and struggles to get the right personnel on the field on the 12th game of the season certainly indicates to me this team is not well coached. But, more than anything, I think Cincy is just a better team this season and we needed to play an almost perfect game to beat them.

As for the offense, I don't know what to say. I think McCombs is a very good college footabll player and goodness knows there is not a tougher one on the planet. But, he is badly mis-used. At 160 he simply cannot break through even arm tackles. As a result, those 3-4 yard runs when nothing is there don't exist and they are critical possessions. His inability to break tackles at the line of scrimmage also mean he is almost never getting the chance to make a move at the next level and get into space. He is not an everydown back from scrimmage. Max may not be Donald Brown, but he gets north and south real fast, low and carrying 210 pounds. Logic dictates to me that is a better compliment to McCombs than the wildcat.

Somebody called the goofy as play that got Chandler knocked out. I assume it was GDL. If any good can come out of that maybe it is that that play demonstrates how badly a change is needed with our OC.

 

[HuskyBarker]

BL - Thanks for another season of write ups!
THIS +100

We didn't improve at obvious and easy things to fix like clock management and getting the right personnel on and off the field in a timely manner..... we continued to force what we thought should work theoretically on our players instead of figuring out what would work for them and doing it that way.
Last season I thought PP was just Rusty from being out of head coaching and he would "get back his legs" so to speak, just didn't happen, time for PP to retire from HC of any kind!

Events of the last 20 days have convinced me that I was dead wrong and, if I were AD, I would hand him his papers.
I came to the same conclusion by the middle of the season. What a disappointing season. Hopefully for the sake of next years players, they won't have to go thru this type of "coaching".

 

[uconnbaseball]

Biz-you may be surprised at how attached PP is to George. They have been close friends for well over a decade. I don't see Pasqualoni firing DeLeone without a fight, even if he gets a safe landing in a non-football capacity.

We lose several draftable prospects off a pretty terrible team. 5-7 with this creampuff schedule is unaccpetable, even if we did get unlucky this year in some games. There is literally no hope for a successful season next year with the OOC strengthening by leaps and bounds. 7-5 is about the best we can do...another 5-7 season is more likely. I know that this university will look bad for firing Pasqualoni after only 2 years, but we are paying him 1.7 million next year to give vacant stares and waste time-outs 2 minutes into the game. He doesn't have a high buyout either. IMO, a change has to be made. It'll hurt this solid recruiting class, but I feel the positives in firing him outweigh the negatives.

At the very least, perhaps we can restructure PP's huge salary and distribute some of his cash to an incoming coordinator? I'd love the OC at San Jose State or Utah State for example. Don Brown could use a raise too.

 

[huskymedic]

At the very least, perhaps we can restructure PP's huge salary and distribute some of his cash to an incoming coordinator? I'd love the OC at San Jose State or Utah State for example. Don Brown could use a raise too.

What does Don Brown make?

 

[Husky68]

I don't accept that it should take until this last game to come to the conclusion PP should be gone. Calling a stupid play for CW is just stupid, if he wasn't ok to be on the field he shouldn't have been there, the medical staff should not have let him play.
Not sure what QB/WR/TE practices and route running/decisions were but looked by far worse than any Div 1a team we saw. Not talking talent level, talking how often WR or QB were shaking their heads after an incompletion.
This was and 8/9 win season given the opposition and team talent. We talk about how close Uconn was to 8 wins, you could also say Uconn was closer to just 1 win.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Biz-you may be surprised at how attached PP is to George. They have been close friends for well over a decade. I don't see Pasqualoni firing DeLeone without a fight, even if he gets a safe landing in a non-football capacity.
Over three decades. It was like 1979 or 1980 that they began coaching together. This was after about a half dozen years going against each other.

We lose several draftable prospects off a pretty terrible team. 5-7 with this creampuff schedule is unaccpetable, even if we did get unlucky this year in some games. There is literally no hope for a successful season next year with the OOC strengthening by leaps and bounds. 7-5 is about the best we can do...another 5-7 season is more likely. I know that this university will look bad for firing Pasqualoni after only 2 years, but we are paying him 1.7 million next year to give vacant stares and waste time-outs 2 minutes into the game. He doesn't have a high buyout either. IMO, a change has to be made. It'll hurt this solid recruiting class, but I feel the positives in firing him outweigh the negatives.
Our only shot at a bowl next year would be with a new coaching staff. The question needs to be what would cause more damage to the program, starting from scratch after three straight losing seasons or firing the head coach after his second year?

At the very least, perhaps we can restructure PP's huge salary and distribute some of his cash to an incoming coordinator? I'd love the OC at San Jose State or Utah State for example. Don Brown could use a raise too.
I don't know the number but I'm pretty sure that we opened the coffers far more than we ever had in the past (in terms of assistannts pay) to bring GDL on board. I would be stunned if we cannot find a suitable replacement for what he would get paid next year if we retain him.