"They’re sick of losing. They want to win. They want to go to bowls."

[huskymedic]

"The way we operate our organization, there’s nowhere to hide,” Diaco said. “It’s so clear. There’s no way that, if you’re not totally invested, that you’re going to have success or survive. It quickly gets separated. We’re really not finding that. These players are very excited about being better than they would otherwise be."

http://coachingsearch. /Article/Bob-Diaco-How-is-that-possible-It-shouldnt-happen-28783703

*you need to add:"2-4-7sports.com" w/0 dashes after "coachingsearch." and before "/article" to make link work*

 

[UCFBfan]

Good stuff! It really is hard to believe that this was allowed to degenerate to this level by the AD and not taken care of sooner. Here's to hoping Diaco turns it around sooner rather than later!

 

[Dooley]

Geez...I guess you get a Mickey Mouse program when you hire a Mickey Mouse coach.

“But the team that we found, it has a losing culture, in terms of how they eat, sleep, train. Physically, you couldn’t see a lot of difference between a freshman and a senior. How is that possible? It shouldn’t happen.You’re training for four or five years, eating for four or five years and going to meetings at a university with a major college football team, and you look the same as you looked when you were 17? That’s unacceptable. We’re working to change that. We need to create a winning mentality, a winning culture.”

 

[sportsart]

Let's see if a shortened link evades that dumb ass filter.

http://goo.gl/96yMQg

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

I kinda hope he stops throwing the previous staff under the bus. I know some of them deserve it, but for guys like Weist it must be frustrating to hear. He should talk about what they are going to do to improve. We can read between the lines.

 

[FDNY99]

I kinda hope he stops throwing the previous staff under the bus. I know some of them deserve it, but for guys like Weist it must be frustrating to hear. He should talk about what they are going to do to improve. We can read between the lines.

My take on it is that it's more the S&C guys...and the atmosphere lead by the head coach. Let''s not forget that Weist inherited that same atmosphere and was able to move it forward at the end of the season with 3 wins.

 

[John Greene]

I kinda hope he stops throwing the previous staff under the bus. I know some of them deserve it, but for guys like Weist it must be frustrating to hear. He should talk about what they are going to do to improve. We can read between the lines.

The more of this I read the less comfortable I become with BD. This type of talk reminds me too much of many A----s I met when working. At the risk of going cesspool on this it also reminds me of a lot of politicians. Just tell us what you expect, put your system in place and let the results speak for themselves.

 

[huskysupporter]

The more of this I read the less comfortable I become with BD. This type of talk reminds me too much of many A----s I met when working. At the risk of going cesspool on this it also reminds me of a lot of politicians. Just tell us what you expect, put your system in place and let the results speak for themselves.

Definitely turned off by the blame game. As Will Rogers quipped, "Never let yesterday use up too much of today".

The past is the past. No need to dwell on it.

 

[huskymedic]

The past is the past. No need to dwell on it.

Hell, The Boneyard would be down to just posts about Beer and the Best Pizza/Burgers in CT

 

[Sportsman5]

I like it. He's making a clear statement that there is a culture change in the program and everyone around it including the media and the fans should be on notice.

 

[Nostical]

The more of this I read the less comfortable I become with BD. This type of talk reminds me too much of many A----s I met when working. At the risk of going cesspool on this it also reminds me of a lot of politicians. Just tell us what you expect, put your system in place and let the results speak for themselves.

Strongly disagree here. This program very much needs Diaco to be the ultimate salesman. Pasqualoni's approach was so maudlin it permeated the team. (His lack of attention to and enthusiasm for strength and conditioning was symptomatic of his laissez-faire approach to the program.) I can't imagine PP ever doing all those radio spots and interacting so well with the interviewers. The good vibes Diaco leaves behind makes these media folks want to spread positive comments about UConn Football. Bottom line, we need to fill the seats--and quickly. Better football results will help but promotion is vital right now. The circus may have some great high wire acts but without the barker drawing people into the tent no one gets to see them. It's all fine and dandy to want the results to speak for themselves but we also need a bold positive leader constantly speaking energetically about the future just as much, if not more.

 

[PUPPY4]

Geez...I guess you get a Mickey Mouse program when you hire a Mickey Mouse coach.

“But the team that we found, it has a losing culture, in terms of how they eat, sleep, train. Physically, you couldn’t see a lot of difference between a freshman and a senior. How is that possible? It shouldn’t happen.You’re training for four or five years, eating for four or five years and going to meetings at a university with a major college football team, and you look the same as you looked when you were 17? That’s unacceptable. We’re working to change that. We need to create a winning mentality, a winning culture.”

I second that emotion!!

 

[ASweet3781]

Blame game?

No. He is making an assessment. Stop looking in the past? How can he ignore the past when he needs to WIN the fan base BACK? Did you see some of the home crowds last year? People don't think UConn was taking football seriously. The results and the stories back that up. The fans fled. In order to create excitement again Diaco needs to give some hope and some signals that things will be DIFFERENT. Obviously in interview/media settings he will try to highlight some of the ways things are changing for the better. This is a BAD thing? It's impossible not to highlight or reflect on what went wrong the last 3 years

I don't see why this is a big deal at all. If your bothered by it you don't need to read and consume every Diaco interview out there because he's not going to be promising more of the same when trying to market the program in the press. In the end if he wins, that's all anyone should care about.

 

[huskysupporter]

Blame game?

No. He is making an assessment. Stop looking in the past? How can he ignore the past when he needs to WIN the fan base BACK? Did you see some of the home crowds last year? People don't think UConn was taking football seriously. The results and the stories back that up. In order to create excitement again he needs to give some hope and some signals that things will be DIFFERENT.

I don't see why this is a big deal at all. If your bothered by it you don't need to read every Diaco interview out there because he's not going to be promising more of the same. In the end if he wins, that's all anyojne should care about.

The fans can be won back without referencing the past. As you said, it is wins that matter.

The fact that I think he needs to stop with the blame game in no way means I do not like Coach D. I just think it is not needed, and is not something a leader does. A small quibble.

 

[ASweet3781]

You can't win games right now. The first one is not played until August.

In the mean time he has a program to resell to Connecticut. Apparently you think he can sit down in an interview setting for an hour and A. not be asked about the past and B. not have to address what will be different from the past.

That is not realistic.

Some of you want to play big boy football huh? Need a stronger stomach if this bothers you.

 

[sportsart]

The fans can be won back without referencing the past. As you said, it is wins that matter.

The fact that I think he needs to stop with the blame game in no way means I do not like Coach D. I just think it is not needed, and is not something a leader does. A small quibble.

He needs to let fans know that he understands the problems and he has a plan to fix them. Everytime he talks with the media, someone new will hear or read about him.

I also think people need to hear how the team was not given all the tools to win. They were driven to failure. If you think Diaco is being to honest and is repeating the past too much...believe me...he's leaving a lot out.

He needs the casual fan to get the message loud and clear...he almost needs the casual fan to feel sorry for the players and want to come back and support them.

He is a man with a plan. He has played and coached big boy football. I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt.

 

[CTMike]

I kinda hope he stops throwing the previous staff under the bus. I know some of them deserve it, but for guys like Weist it must be frustrating to hear. He should talk about what they are going to do to improve. We can read between the lines.

He's clearly not talking about Weist. He's not blaming- he's never called out P. He hasn't had to. He is giving us his honest assessment - which I appreciate. Any blame is us taking his assessment and applying it back in time- he hasn't taken any direct shots at P.

 

[Doggie Style]

Any time a New Leader takes over a Company, Military Unit, Team etc... He needs to asses its strengths and weaknesses and develop a plan. That being said the culture is the most challenging in terms of changing what has been done in the past to adjust to that plan and move forward to achieve positive results in the future. I don't think that BD is calling out the last regime as much as he is sending a message to the locker room and I feel that point is being missed here on this thread. These kids who are juniors and seniors have been allowed to evolve in an environment where they were "treated like adults" by many players accounts and look what they did.... They didn't put the time in at the gym and they didn't prepare adequately, but had no problem blaming the coaching staff for everything that went wrong and never took the time to look at the mirror as they quit on themselves and the University. That didn't happen overnight and cannot be fixed overnight either. The fact that BD specifically mentioned that you cannot hide now with the way the program is set up absolutely send a message to those who don't buy in to the new philosophy of what to expect if you are not part of the process. This message cannot be conveyed enough IMO, it puts a certain level of responsibility back on the players and its up to them to pull their weight. Something they have not done collectively over the last few years and the results verify that. I expect a different vibe and level of effort this year and can't wait to see it.

 

[coachcap]

Was at a family affair on Friday night. My brother-in-law & I were talking about the upcoming season & conference realignment in general. Let me preface this with the fact that he & my sister have been season ticket holders for the last 3 seasons. During the conversation, he threw out: "What makes you think that UConn will be attractive to the B1G or ACC when they can't sell out any of their games?" I reminded him that UConn added extra seating for Michigan & said that marquee attraction teams lead to better ticket sales, as does winning, which Coach Diaco was hired to do.
Coach D. is trying to change the culture of the fan base. By promoting his S & C program along with better nutrition. he's showing said fan base that the ship is being turned in a new direction.
Massages such as this shed a positive light on his program. Hopefully, this will lead to increased season ticket sales. (Many 'Yarders have already increased their allotment for this season). That's the bottom line.
On a related noted, a local resident, who knows that we have season tickets, asked one of my crew if UConn did group sales. He related that he wanted 40 tickets for a group outing due to the positive press since the new regime took over. My buddy referred him to the UConn A.D. ticket phone number to inquire. This is tangible proof that Coach D.'s message is being positively received.

 

[UCFBfan]

I don't care whether Diaco blames PP and others or not. I think he needs to turn this team around and it seems like he is likely to when he says things like this. He's been able to identify what is wrong with the team and now he's working on fixing it. It's very simple. Find the problem and fix it. Let's just hope that the process of fixing the problem can be quick.

I really think he's trying to let the fans know that this isn't going to be a quick fix. By stating time and again that this team was mentally broken, he's just trying to set reasonable expectations. One might even say he's trying to lay down an "I told you already" when the fans pick up their pitchforks after the team starts 1-5 or something like that.

Blame or not, the result needs to be the same. We need to win, we need to improve, we need to get the heck out of the AAC!

 

[CTMike]

I also think part of the issue is simply that us here on the Yard tend to follow his every word, so it can seem like a constant hammering. But when he's making various media appearances - I think he's just making the same point but to different people. We see it as repetitive when probably 95% of his audience is hearing it/reading it for the first time.

 

[Stinger92860]

In the mean time he has a program to resell to Connecticut.

He also needs to sell the program to the country, including the acc and b1g.

 

[BlueMAB]

Blame game? He's only describing the losing culture/mentality that overtook a program that went 10-23 the last three years.

Who gets the credit for that if not the prior head coach (not the interim one)?

If he's talking about the same thing 3 years from now and we haven't been to a bowl game, then you've got a point.

 

[SubbaBub]

If the intent is to lower expectations, it's working until I look at the schedule. We all know what the problems were and we knew before Diaco did. My question is, "You've been in charge for 5 months and been through spring practice, is the team looking different from when you started? When do you expect them to be where you want them to be? How many of them are in the weight room, film rooms, right now? Which players or positions are making the biggest strides, which are lagging? The fan base was used to big physically dominant OL's, can we expect a return to that this season?" The Horde should be asking these after the tenth time Diaco has used this line. Diaco has 3 months left to get this team ready for two pretty tough opening games. He'll get a pass with any reasonable record, but the eye test will tell us a great deal.

 

[CTMike]

Nothing about Diaco screams "lower expectations"... quite the opposite. And I know I've read quotes that the team has gotten better, both physically and mentally. That said there's a ways to go and no game until the end of August to see it all on the field...