The wildcard for UConn's 2013 season? The coach.

[Palatine]

For the past two seasons, Paul Pasqualoni has gotten much less from his team than most coaches in the country. Besides being stocked with veterans and NFL prospects UConn hasn't broken the .500 mark.

His teams have melted in the big moments and often looked unprepared. In-game adjustments have been non-existent. Second halves are almost universal worse than first half. The play calling has lacked imagination. There is frequent confusion getting the play from the sideline to the huddle in a timely fashion. There has been little competition with starters rarely being pulled even when they are not producing and his use of time outs (and time management in general) is among the worst in the country.

These are not vague charges. It is a list of specific weaknesses. If there is no improvement on the sideline. There will be none of the field.

Once again there is hope that a new OC will change the course of the team. But the buck stops with the head coach. He will be ultimately responsible for the Ws and Ls. The is no reason on earth to have a losing record given the schedule. It's time the team start playing to its potential. If they don't, someone will have to pay the price.

I'm am not saying that P can't win. I'm not saying he doesn't have some good characteristics. I'm not saying he's a bad coach. I am saying, it is time to put up.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I think whaler may be the one guy with a more negative opinion of P than me.

But I have to admit that these threads are getting really old, stale, and serve no purpose right now. If P wins, great. If not, he's gone. Let the season play out.

 

[huskypantz]

If P wins, great. If not, he's gone.

This is what makes this a no-lose season for us. If we win, we go bowling and have some fun along the way. If we lose, P is gone and we look forward to a new coach. The danger zone is 6-6 - not necessarily very good but likely not enough to get P canned.

 

[whaler11]

I think whaler may be the one guy with a more negative opinion of P than me.

But I have to admit that these threads are getting really old, stale, and serve no purpose right now. If P wins, great. If not, he's gone. Let the season play out.

I've got no beef with the guy. He's a professional and runs a clean program which I respect.

He got his 3rd year so I agree. If he shows it's pointed in the right direction we go to year 4. If it's a disaster we move on to the next guy.

2011 and 2012 don't matter anymore. 2013 and the future do.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I've got no beef with the guy. He's a professional and runs a clean program which I respect.

He got his 3rd year so I agree. If he shows it's pointed in the right direction we go to year 4. If it's a disaster we move on to the next guy.

2011 and 2012 don't matter anymore. 2013 and the future do.

The few times I've had a chance to have a few words with P he was a class act. He treated my son very well. None of this is personal.

He is the coach this year. Lets see what happens.

 

[sportsart]

This is what makes this a no-lose season for us. If we win, we go bowling and have some fun along the way. If we lose, P is gone and we look forward to a new coach. The danger zone is 6-6 - not necessarily very good but likely not enough to get P canned.

I tend to agree with you except if this season is less than 7-6 then it will be 3 years of losing and if we have a new coach he would need a few years......so we run the danger of never recovering.

The ice is thin and we got fat the last 2 years.

 

[whaler11]

The few times I've had a chance to have a few words with P he was a class act. He treated my son very well. None of this is personal.

He is the coach this year. Lets see what happens.

Nothing would make me happier than having UConnDan97 taunting me about back to back 10-3 seasons and having P install his successor.

 

[jdb50]

The wildcard is the QB and if there is no improvement here then Coach P will be gone. We need to get more production on offense and if things start slowly it will be difficult to switch to a freshman but it would have to be done to salvage fan interest in the season and maybe Coach P's job.

 

[ruskin]

Agree these threads are getting old but: holding fire on PP until I see how much leeway Weist is getting. Won't believe GDL has no say until I see him on sidelines without a headset.

If the Horde had any stones they'd ask PP at the great Providence 'Clambake" who's calling the plays, who's signaling them in from sideline and who has change/veto power.

 

[Srqhusky]

Tj weist may actually be the wildcard. Depending on his plays and how he teaches them can be a difference maker this year. Hoping we maintain A good defense we still new to score points.

We have a second year quarterback with a pair of second year receivers. Deshonn fox seems like a playmaker. Hopefully our version of tavon Austin. Joe Williams in his second year with Lyle seems promising. Here's to averaging 25 ppg in 2013. (Drinks shot of patron repos ado chilled on ice)

 

[huskymedic]

Tj weist may actually be the wildcard. Depending on his plays and how he teaches them can be a difference maker this year. Hoping we maintain A good defense we still new to score points.

We have a second year quarterback with a pair of second year receivers. Deshonn fox seems like a playmaker. Hopefully our version of tavon Austin. Joe Williams in his second year with Lyle seems promising. Here's to averaging 25 ppg in 2013. (Drinks shot of patron repos ado chilled on ice)

The UConn Blog ran a two part story yesterday and today on the purported offense that may be seen under Weist.

He did a good job for the most part in my opinion - I just have no clue on the source for the story nor the author's accuracy/understanding of what he writes (other than what I see myself) but this thread seems as good as any to post the links :

Part 1 - http://www.theuconnblog.com/2013/7/10/4511192/from-least-to-weist

Part 2 - http://www.theuconnblog.com/2013/7/11/4513874/from-least-to-weist-part-deux

 

[ruskin]

Pretty thorough and decent job by new blog guy EXCEPT

one of the biggest reasons Weist was hired by Pasqualoni was


PP had as much to do with hiring TJ as I did. Bad reporting form to not characterize this as what it is - Manuel hired Weist. Like Oliver Luck hired Dana Holgorsen. For some reason Horde don't want to acknowledge that WM pulled off a similar move up here.

 

[huskymedic]

Pretty thorough and decent job by new blog guy EXCEPT

one of the biggest reasons Weist was hired by Pasqualoni was

PP had as much to do with hiring TJ as I did. Bad reporting form to not characterize this as what it is - Manuel hired Weist. Like Oliver Luck hired Dana Holgorsen. For some reason people don't want to acknowledge that WM pulled off a similar move up here.

Because there is no actual facts to back it up....

There is an assumption based on the Mike D "Warde Lost it" article but most writers still like independent confirmation from multiple sources before printing news. It may come out years down the road but that's why you won't see what you want to see in print - yet.

 

[ruskin]

Because there is no actual facts to back it up....

There is an assumption based on the Mike D "Warde Lost it" article but most writers still like independent confirmation from multiple sources before printing news. It may come out years down the road but that's why you won't see what you want to see in print - yet.

Easy on the "no facts to back it up" bro. don't need "multiple sources" to verify the evidence before everyone's eyes. Did you read the job description? Do you think PP would unilaterally demote his longtime crony? Warde gave GDL as soft a landing as possible -- with a fancy "assistant head coach" title that probably came with a nice pay bump.

Warde had his hands tied on firing PP so he did the next best thing. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if GDL resigns before camp start - prearranged deal in January to further soften the landing (getting a few months more of that wonderful $272K salary).

The bottom line it's the sort of move a big-time program makes (Mack Brown's assistants were all torched a few years ago, etc etc) but for some reason people up here can't wrap their arms around it.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Easy on the "no facts to back it up" bro. don't need "multiple sources" to verify the evidence before everyone's eyes. Did you read the job description? Do you think PP would unilaterally demote his longtime crony? Warde gave GDL as soft a landing as possible -- with a fancy "assistant head coach" title that probably came with a nice pay bump.

Warde had his hands tied on firing PP so he did the next best thing. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if GDL resigns before camp start - prearranged deal in January to further soften the landing (getting a few months more of that wonderful $272K salary).

The bottom line it's the sort of move a big-time program makes (Mack Brown's assistants were all torched a few years ago, etc etc) but for some reason people up here can't wrap their arms around it.

It's one thing for everyone to know what happened behind closed doors. But when the horde asks WM directly, "Did you force P's hand in hiring Weist?" and he says no......what are you supposed to print?

 

[businesslawyer]

The wildcard to the season is not Coach P. He's not going to block or tackle a single player all year.

The wildcard for the season is the play of the O line. The good news is that with the exception of Kevin Friend, who was out the end of last season anyway, everyone who played meaningful minutes is back. The bad news is that the group that is back wasn't good enough. If we get O line play like what we used to have at UConn, we will have a winning year no matter how poor the play calling and time management are. If the OL is no better than last year, we will have a losing year no matter how good the play calling and time management are.

It will mostly come down to the big uglies.

 

[Dooley]

The wildcard to the season is not Coach P. He's not going to block or tackle a single player all year.

The wildcard for the season is the play of the O line. The good news is that with the exception of Kevin Friend, who was out the end of last season anyway, everyone who played meaningful minutes is back. The bad news is that the group that is back wasn't good enough. If we get O line play like what we used to have at UConn, we will have a winning year no matter how poor the play calling and time management are. If the OL is no better than last year, we will have a losing year no matter how good the play calling and time management are.

It will mostly come down to the big uglies.

Agree with this. So, in an indirect way, does that mean the wildcard is GDL (again)?

 

[businesslawyer]

Agree with this. So, in an indirect way, does that mean the wildcard is GDL (again)?

1. More than P.

2. More importantly, the coaches are who the coaches are. We have an incredibly veteran staff overall. P is who he is. Hughes is who he is. GDL is who he is. Foley is who he is. None of them are going to be very different. The play on the field, however, can be very different from year to year. GDL coaching the OL may very well make it harder for them to succeed. But it doesn't mean they can't succeed. And, frankly, they have to succeed even if the coaching makes it harder.

 

[ruskin]

But when the horde asks WM directly, "Did you force P's hand in hiring Weist?" and he says no......what are you supposed to print?

Simple question for sure. Problem is it's never been directly asked of Manuel. Not mentioned in first Weist press conference transcript (although it could be and the transcriber chose not to include it).

Ed D of Waterbury paper seemed to know what the deal was, although the "partly out of necessity" line is a little vague. If he meant "because UConn's sucked" pretty sure PP wasn't making any changes on his own

Weist was officially announced as UConn's offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Tuesday, the first move in a revamping of the coaching staff partly ordered by athletic director Warde Manuel and partly done out of necessity. Weist replaces George DeLeone as offensive coordinator after the Huskies spent two years under DeLeone languishing toward the nation's bottom in most offensive categories.

 

[freescooter]

bl, I agree with this, but I'm neither expecting oline play as good as we have had in say 2007-10, nor as bad as we had last year, which was down right embarrassing. I expect some improvements if only due to experience, but I also continue to have some concern that we have guys who have the wrong type of guys to play the style we want to play. Our oline was pretty much built for power man on man blocking. Everybody is 6-5 or bigger and 305-320 or so. Zone teams tend to be smaller, Cincy, which used zone blocking, for example doesn't have a starting lineman over 290 on their roster, and most are more like 280-285. In the zone scheme, size gives way to agility to some degree unless you have especially talented players. Though obviously you're not sending out 5-10 220 pound tackles, LOL. A big question for me will be whether Weist will be able or willing to modify the schemes to make better use of the talent. I don't believe George DeLeon was willing to make those modifications.

 

[Srqhusky]

1. More than P.

2. More importantly, the coaches are who the coaches are. We have an incredibly veteran staff overall. P is who he is. Hughes is who he is. GDL is who he is. Foley is who he is. None of them are going to be very different. The play on the field, however, can be very different from year to year. GDL coaching the OL may very well make it harder for them to succeed. But it doesn't mean they can't succeed. And, frankly, they have to succeed even if the coaching makes it harder.

We r hoping that he is where hi strength is. He has written books and made videos about coaching the o line. Lets hope he is where he is actually useful because it wasn't as oc

 

[UCFBfan]

I think whaler may be the one guy with a more negative opinion of P than me.

But I have to admit that these threads are getting really old, stale, and serve no purpose right now. If P wins, great. If not, he's gone. Let the season play out.

You think these threads are old and stale now, just wait for the season to start! I'm hoping we start 4-1 and are competitive against Michigan. No need gor these threads then. (Obviously I want to be 5-0 but I'll be realistic)

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[ruskin]

With all due respect to BL I disagree. This brings up last year's big debate -- did the line stink or did the predictable, unimaginative playcalling (and brutal time management) put them in a position to fail?

I think the answer is B I think the line will play better not only because they're more experienced but because the defense won't know what's coming most of the time.

More from TJ after his hire:

"We're going to have a balanced attack because I believe that you win games running the ball and throwing the ball," Weist said on a conference call Tuesday night. "I'm not going sit here and categorize us as a throwing football team or a running football team or as wide open. I want to be an aggressive play caller where I attack the whole field. I want to throw it deep. I want to run. I want to pound it. I want to spread the field horizontally, vertically, multiple formations, multiple concepts."

This plus no-huddle/hurry-up will make a big difference.

 

[freescooter]

1. More than P.

2. More importantly, the coaches are who the coaches are. We have an incredibly veteran staff overall. P is who he is. Hughes is who he is. GDL is who he is. Foley is who he is. None of them are going to be very different. The play on the field, however, can be very different from year to year. GDL coaching the OL may very well make it harder for them to succeed. But it doesn't mean they can't succeed. And, frankly, they have to succeed even if the coaching makes it harder.

Agree, though some reports have at least suggested that De Leone is really a very good oline coach so it might not make it tougher for them to succeed. His problems were that he is a lousy offensive coordinator, and that the OC duties didn't really enable him to fully engage in his oline coaching duties. Don't know if that is true or not, but it is at least plausible, and if some NFL clubs were looking at him as a potential oline coach as was reported, one might think it is likely. Personally I hope it is true.

 

[freescooter]

ruskin, EVERY SINGLE new coach says that or some version of it. Go back and read Pasquolni's introductory presser. or read pretty much every presser for every head coach and every OC at every college from D1-NAIA. Weist's comments were straight from the football coach's version of Bartletts famous quotations. I hope he was telling the truth and he may intend to make those things happen, but there is a long way between hope and delivery.