The yore of UConn QBs & Coaches past… | Page 4 | The Boneyard

The yore of UConn QBs & Coaches past…

kemba said:
I believe the first 2 under PP we won easily. Took a couple of years for the talent to degrade that much. Then we lost to Towson and since then they’ve all been a struggle or a loss
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Technically, we did not play a 1AA team in Ps 2d year. UMass played role of cupcake game that year.
 
businesslawyer said:
IIRC, we have not beaten a FCS level team easily since the day FHCRE left the first time. Literally every game since then has been competitive, some far too much so.

It would be nice to go back to beating up on somebody. Anybody.
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I'm more confident about beating UConn beating FCS teams this year. Why? 1) I think a dual threat QB will help UConn's offense considerably against an FCS opponent, and 2) Mora has brought in more beef in the defensive front 7. Although size isn't the only factor to consider, but UConn was not physically much bigger than Holy Cross last year and at some key positions, Holy Cross was bigger (LB and RB). Last year, UConn had 1 d-lineman heavier than 300 lbs. This year's roster (although not updated), lists 5. And, last year, UConn listed 0 LBs greater than 234 lbs. This year's roster lists 6. Last year's starting LBs averaged 219 lbs and this year's starting LBs should average 235 lbs +.
 
UConnJim said:
I'm more confident about beating UConn beating FCS teams this year. Why? 1) I think a dual threat QB will help UConn's offense considerably against an FCS opponent, and 2) Mora has brought in more beef in the defensive front 7. Although size isn't the only factor to consider, but UConn was not physically much bigger than Holy Cross last year and at some key positions, Holy Cross was bigger (LB and RB). Last year, UConn had 1 d-lineman heavier than 300 lbs. This year's roster (although not updated), lists 5. And, last year, UConn listed 0 LBs greater than 234 lbs. This year's roster lists 6. Last year's starting LBs averaged 219 lbs and this year's starting LBs should average 235 lbs +.
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oh snap. Mora has fallen in to the PP "prototype" sized guy traps. We need speed not size. JK. Kinda. But us fans have gotten abused by both mentalities. Maybe it's talent regardless of size?
 
kemba said:
I believe the first 2 under PP we won easily. Took a couple of years for the talent to degrade that much. Then we lost to Towson and since then they’ve all been a struggle or a loss
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So let's split the difference. P's first game, they below out Fordham in 2011. I have no recollection at all of that game. They didn't play an FCS team in 2012, and then lost to Towson in 2013.
 
I have a bunch of friends who live in Maine who were so excited that Maine was playing UConn. So in typical fashion I offended the woof gods by laughing at their enthusiasm and very nearly paid the price when Mike Beaudry was unveiled as the Next Coming and promptly fell flat on his face. That night I learned never to do that again.
 
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UConnJim said:
I'm more confident about beating UConn beating FCS teams this year. Why? 1) I think a dual threat QB will help UConn's offense considerably against an FCS opponent, and 2) Mora has brought in more beef in the defensive front 7. Although size isn't the only factor to consider, but UConn was not physically much bigger than Holy Cross last year and at some key positions, Holy Cross was bigger (LB and RB). Last year, UConn had 1 d-lineman heavier than 300 lbs. This year's roster (although not updated), lists 5. And, last year, UConn listed 0 LBs greater than 234 lbs. This year's roster lists 6. Last year's starting LBs averaged 219 lbs and this year's starting LBs should average 235 lbs +.
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I am reminded of Ryan Fine, transfer from Miami. He was big too. But my grandmother could move quicker and tackle better than him. I do like your approach to the question, though.
 
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Chin Diesel said:
oh snap. Mora has fallen in to the PP "prototype" sized guy traps. We need speed not size. JK. Kinda. But us fans have gotten abused by both mentalities. Maybe it's talent regardless of size?
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I think the 3-3-5 defense that Crocker brought to UConn was a disaster and it lead to some poor recruiting decisions on defense that were felt for years. (The portal now allows you to fix mistakes much quicker.) In 2016, the defense was ranked 65th in yards per game at 410.8. In 2017, with 7 starters returning and Crocker's new defense, they were ranked 127th in yards per game at 519.0. Then the bottom fell out in 2018 with the historically worst defense.

On offense, UConn could not recruit decent QBs with Guifre as OC. Thankfully, the portal has allowed UConn to bring in some QB talent and the change in OC helped UConn to recruit Turner from Florida.
 
businesslawyer said:
So let's split the difference. P's first game, they below out Fordham in 2011. I have no recollection at all of that game. They didn't play an FCS team in 2012, and then lost to Towson in 2013.
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Yea I misremembered I was thinking umass was still fcs in 2012
 
UConnJim said:
I think the 3-3-5 defense that Crocker brought to UConn was a disaster and it lead to some poor recruiting decisions on defense that were felt for years. (The portal now allows you to fix mistakes much quicker.) In 2016, the defense was ranked 65th in yards per game at 410.8. In 2017, with 7 starters returning and Crocker's new defense, they were ranked 127th in yards per game at 519.0. Then the bottom fell out in 2018 with the historically worst defense.

On offense, UConn could not recruit decent QBs with Guifre as OC. Thankfully, the portal has allowed UConn to bring in some QB talent and the change in OC helped UConn to recruit Turner from Florida.
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That dumb gimmick and recruiting tweens killed us. It was concept that doesn’t fly with FBS personnel that are both bigger and faster.
 
giddyup said:
That dumb gimmick and recruiting tweens killed us. It was concept that doesn’t fly with FBS personnel that are both bigger and faster.
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FWIW, I believe Iowa St runs a 3-3-5. It works well when you have a great Nose Tackle and ends, with solid Linebackers and a hybrid LB who is mainly a DB, but only way it truly works is having a workhorse safety that can play both the pass and the run and with dbs that know their assignments. It is a difficult scheme to master when you don't have the players who know what to do/know their assignments pre-snap.
 
Guru13 said:
FWIW, I believe Iowa St runs a 3-3-5. It works well when you have a great Nose Tackle and ends, with solid Linebackers and a hybrid LB who is mainly a DB, but only way it truly works is having a workhorse safety that can play both the pass and the run and with dbs that know their assignments. It is a difficult scheme to master when you don't have the players who know what to do/know their assignments pre-snap.
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Right. I agree. Using a 3-3 requires exceptional athletes. It’s not a scheme to compensate for less then prototypical, undersized key position players. If your LBs can’t get off a block and fill, and your transitional LB/DBs lack the ability to speed rush effectively off the edge or lack the ability come up support the run, you’re dead. The is a reason we have been the worst D in football.
 
giddyup said:
Right. I agree. Using a 3-3 requires exceptional athletes. It’s not a scheme to compensate for less then prototypical, undersized key position players. If your LBs can’t get off a block and fill, and your transitional LB/DBs lack the ability to speed rush effectively off the edge or lack the ability come up support the run, you’re dead. The is a reason we have been the worst D in football.
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I wonder why RE didn't just use the players he had and played to their strengths instead of letting a lot of them go and slowly implement the defense later on. It seems he couldn't adapt and play to their strengths hence telling the media it will take some time to rebuild the roster. Maybe we never had to rebuild the roster but develop the guys like Mora is doing with RE guys with better coaching. Which is a big differenceI am seeing with Mora.
 
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Guru13 said:
I wonder why RE didn't just use the players he had and played to their strengths instead of letting a lot of them go and slowly implement the defense later on. It seems he couldn't adapt and play to their strengths hence telling the media it will take some time to rebuild the roster. Maybe we never had to rebuild the roster but develop the guys like Mora is doing with RE guys with better coaching. Which is a big differenceI am seeing with Mora.
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Most of them were D-2 caliber players. Diaco couldn’t recruit to save his life
 
Buffett10 said:
Most of them were D-2 caliber players. Diaco couldn’t recruit to save his life
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I have never understood why Diaco wasn't able to recruit better. He was a successful coach at ND who seemed to be turning the program around in his second year here. He was enthusiastic, charismatic (albeit a little
weird) and the players seemed to like him and play hard for him until near the end of his third year. Were his coordinators and position coaches ineffective recruiters? Did he/they target the wrong players? Did he lack connections in the big recruiting states? Or maybe he actually did bring in more talent than he is given credit for but didn't develop it. IDK, but the consensus on this board seems to be that the roster started to slide under PP and that the slide accelerated under Diaco. Outwardly he seemed to be a natural recruiter so I've just never understood why he missed so badly in the eyes of so many people.
 
So, you’re saying diaco has the edge, P is 2d string, and RE will sit because he’s obtuse?
 
Buffett10 said:
Most of them were D-2 caliber players. Diaco couldn’t recruit to save his life
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Okay lets look at the rankings for both defense and offense when Diaco and Edsall were here I tried cross-referencing between NCAA.Com and the sports-reference.com site.

Diaco 2014, Uconn 86th in Total Defense | 125th Total Offense
Diaco 2015, Uconn 15th in Total Defense | 122th Total Offense
Diaco 2016, Uconn 65th in Total Defense | 128th Total Offense
Edsall 2017, Uconn 122nd in Total Defense. | 103th Total Offense
Edsall 2018, Uconn 130th in Total Defense | 112th Total Offense
Edsall 2019, Uconn 128th in Total Defense | 120th Total Offense
Edsall 2021, Uconn 123th in Total Defense | 129th Total Offense

(Take my analysis with a grain of salt)

I am not sure in 2015 Uconn was ranked 15th in total defense, but I think we can all agree that 2017 and 2018 was a step in the right direction for the Offense, but after Lashlee and Dunn left, our offense just went downhill. Diaco fielded a better defense than Edsall 2.0, but his biggest problem was his offense not being competitive and putting points on the board. So to the point of Diaco having D-2 caliber players, I don't think that was the case with him, it was really him being a defensive head coach not knowing how to have a competent OC. In all seriousness, Edsall had players on defense to be successful regardless being recruited by Diaco, but he tried to use a defense that Uconn was not strongly suited for and that really hurt the team.

I believe Uconn had some very talented players on offense, but our biggest problem has been finding a consistent OC and surprisingly, Uconn has figured out that with a competent OC we can be competitive. The solution for our current program is can we find a way to field a somewhat competitive defense at the same time if our Current OC can make us competitive in being able to score more points than the other team. I think what Mora has done differently than Edsall and Diaco is give the OC full autonomy of the offense. In CFB you can get away with a subpar defense if you have a very talented offense who can keep consistently scoring and driving the ball down the field.
 
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Guru13 said:
Okay lets look at the rankings for both defense and offense when Diaco and Edsall were here I tried cross-referencing between NCAA.Com and the sports-reference.com site.

Diaco 2014, Uconn 86th in Total Defense | 125th Total Offense
Diaco 2015, Uconn 15th in Total Defense | 122th Total Offense
Diaco 2016, Uconn 65th in Total Defense | 128th Total Offense
Edsall 2017, Uconn 122nd in Total Defense. | 103th Total Offense
Edsall 2018, Uconn 130th in Total Defense | 112th Total Offense
Edsall 2019, Uconn 128th in Total Defense | 120th Total Offense
Edsall 2021, Uconn 123th in Total Defense | 129th Total Offense

(Take my analysis with a grain of salt)

I am not sure in 2015 Uconn was ranked 15th in total defense, but I think we can all agree that 2017 and 2018 was a step in the right direction for the Offense, but after Lashlee and Dunn left, our offense just went downhill. Diaco fielded a better defense than Edsall 2.0, but his biggest problem was his offense not being competitive and putting points on the board. So to the point of Diaco having D-2 caliber players, I don't think that was the case with him, it was really him being a defensive head coach not knowing how to have a competent OC. In all seriousness, Edsall had players on defense to be successful regardless being recruited by Diaco, but he tried to use a defense that Uconn was not strongly suited for and that really hurt the team.

I believe Uconn had some very talented players on offense, but our biggest problem has been finding a consistent OC and surprisingly, Uconn has figured out that with a competent OC we can be competitive. The solution for our current program is can we find a way to field a somewhat competitive defense at the same time if our Current OC can make us competitive in being able to score more points than the other team. I think what Mora has done differently than Edsall and Diaco is give the OC full autonomy of the offense. In CFB you can get away with a subpar defense if you have a very talented offense who can keep consistently scoring and driving the ball down the field.
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How many of those kids in 2015-2016 were kids he recruited on defense? Those were P’s kids. Diaco wanted huge kids that couldn’t run a sub 5 40 if their lives depended on it
 
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Guru13 said:
I wonder why RE didn't just use the players he had and played to their strengths instead of letting a lot of them go and slowly implement the defense later on. It seems he couldn't adapt and play to their strengths hence telling the media it will take some time to rebuild the roster. Maybe we never had to rebuild the roster but develop the guys like Mora is doing with RE guys with better coaching. Which is a big differenceI am seeing with Mora.
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A couple of counterpoints to the 3-3-5 criticism:
Big athletic humans were not easy to find. That staff could barely fill out the roster on 0-line, D-line or backer. They did recruit lots of smaller guys that potentially could play the schema.
The conference was full of gun slinging QBs at that time. That alignment could have created problems for them.
Obviously, it didn't work, but it did not seem to be a random idea without any basis to me.
 
Guru13 said:
I wonder why RE didn't just use the players he had and played to their strengths instead of letting a lot of them go and slowly implement the defense later on. It seems he couldn't adapt and play to their strengths hence telling the media it will take some time to rebuild the roster. Maybe we never had to rebuild the roster but develop the guys like Mora is doing with RE guys with better coaching. Which is a big differenceI am seeing with Mora.
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Because Randy would rather lose than be proven wrong.
 
Bad mix of HC and two coordinators who were not his hires from the start with unshared philisophies. Playing underdeveloped freshmen instead of Diaco's upperclassmen lent to to the front seven being physically overmatched and divided the team.The white flag was waved when an OC could not be secured with 150k of REs own money and Giufre was made OL coach and OC. Surprise we are going indie! Head coach unaware his AD was working to leave a conference from the very beginning. 2020 non season. Another graceless exit. The whole RE2 was a mess except the early 2022 recruiting. Mora has to turn things rather quickly. Its been 50 years, I'm getting old and I have better things to do then spend time and money on bad football.
 
Buffett10 said:
Most of them were D-2 caliber players. Diaco couldn’t recruit to save his life
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Not true. Edsall couldn't figure out how to use Travis Jones to play to his strengths. He was a poor and unmotivated coach. We have no idea how good the players were.
 
Duncan Idaho said:
Bad mix of HC and two coordinators who were not his hires from the start with unshared philisophies. Playing underdeveloped freshmen instead of Diaco's upperclassmen lent to to the front seven being physically overmatched and divided the team.The white flag was waved when an OC could not be secured with 150k of REs own money and Giufre was made OL coach and OC. Surprise we are going indie! Head coach unaware his AD was working to leave a conference from the very beginning. 2020 non season. Another graceless exit. The whole RE2 was a mess except the early 2022 recruiting. Mora has to turn things rather quickly. Its been 50 years, I'm getting old and I have better things to do then spend time and money on bad football.
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Most of this is on Edsall.

He was basically gifted the job at the 11th hour. He had an OC that he could have never secured on his own. But he screwed that up because he couldn’t get along with him..

AND he actually told the guy to score less.

Starting “his guys”. Should have been a fireable offense. Apparently the gap between “his guys” and the best was embarrassing and it killed morale.

Like every season we purged players like it was year one. Bad morale.

Couldn’t keep the next OC because again. Almost nobody good wants to work for the guy.

Then he hires Giufre to do both OL and OC. OL is the weak point so let’s cut down on the amount of coaching that unit gets in practice and in game. Plus OL coaches are notoriously bad at play calling.

Can you get any dumber?

2020? Any coach that is in it to win it would never support canceling a season. The 2020 season consisted of 25 practices and the weight room. Good and the Boneyard wondered out loud why we looked like a Division II team.

The sad thing is that the Boneyard and Edsall probably actually believed the nonsense that sitting out a year would be better. Idiots.

So going Indy? Given the other terrible decisions does it really matter. He should have never been hired back and should have been canned after the first season anyways.

Zero mercy to the guy. He drove us to oblivion.
 
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ZooCougar said:
As bad as Diaco was, he was better than Randy 2.0.

And Randy 1.0 is wildly overrated.
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God, I thought you'd actually get through a series of rational, well thought out posts before saying something silly that reminds us that all your posts are based on who you don't like.

My bad.
 
businesslawyer said:
God, I thought you'd actually get through a series of rational, well thought out posts before saying something silly that reminds us that all your posts are based on who you don't like.

My bad.
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Well look at his overall record in the Big East and then have a seat. He wasn’t as good as everyone remembers.
 
CL82 said:
Well, winning football games and going to bowl games will certainly cause people to do that.
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Only terrible teams in BCS conferences didn’t go to bowl games.
 
gopher2 said:
I have never understood why Diaco wasn't able to recruit better. He was a successful coach at ND who seemed to be turning the program around in his second year here. He was enthusiastic, charismatic (albeit a little
weird) and the players seemed to like him and play hard for him until near the end of his third year. Were his coordinators and position coaches ineffective recruiters? Did he/they target the wrong players? Did he lack connections in the big recruiting states? Or maybe he actually did bring in more talent than he is given credit for but didn't develop it. IDK, but the consensus on this board seems to be that the roster started to slide under PP and that the slide accelerated under Diaco. Outwardly he seemed to be a natural recruiter so I've just never understood why he missed so badly in the eyes of so many people.
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Neither can he
 
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