Time for a Change

[Sean]

To be fair, PP's coaching career was dead before he came here. UConn's reputation should be, a place to resurrect your coaching career, if anything.

I also kind of laugh at the posts about "There is no point in posting this, they won't fire him". Well, yeah, but then what is the point of posting which QB should start? What's the point of posting anything, really?

 

[Sean]

No, I asked you what you were complaining about regarding the two personal fouls. You implied it was the coaches' fault. That's beyond silly because the roughing the passer call was totally bogus and the Junior play was simply a sign of the way things are called today. He didn't launch himself, he went in to dislodge the ball just as players are taught to do. Unfortunately, the player came down and the impact was helmet to helmet. Others here have commented that it was a good play that went against him. Unless you want the coaches to tell players not to rush the QB or not to attempt to hit a WR about to come down with the ball, there is little to be done about those two penalties.

Oh, enough. That play on Junior was as blatant as you can get and if Western Michigan hit Kashif like that, we'd all be calling for an ejection on top of the flag.

 

[upstater]

Oh, enough. That play on Junior was as blatant as you can get and if Western Michigan hit Kashif like that, we'd all be calling for an ejection on top of the flag.

Man, what happened to reading comprehension? Holy cow, is anyone arguing Junior's hit did not deserve a flag? NO!!!!!!! I wrote that in the very first post. READ!!!

 

[HuskyBandDad]

Right, so if he had gotten accepted he still would have transferred.

Would I be laughed out of the towns of Baton Rouge or Gainsville or Tallahasee? Are you going to try and tell me with a straight face that schools with good football programs don't make exceptions for football players they need?

Yea right - like they actually have grad students - few if any at these schools

 

[HuskyHawk]

Torn on this. I did not like the hire. As with Calhoun and Geno, I think you're almost always better off giving a young guy on the rise the job over an old retread. Even if the retread works out, he can't be the long term solution.

That said, I don't think PP is a bad coach. Going into this game we thought he had the D playing well, and needed to get the O untracked. So the O finally starts going and the D collapses. To be fair, W. Michigan can play. The close game @ Illinois looks pretty good in hindsight.
PP doesn't have his own guys, and hasn't had much of a chance. If he was the young coach I wanted to begin with, I'd suggest he needs more time. So if I'm fair, PP needs more time too.

 

[HuskyBandDad]

To be fair, PP's coaching career was dead before he came here. UConn's reputation should be, a place to resurrect your coaching career, if anything.

I also kind of laugh at the posts about "There is no point in posting this, they won't fire him". Well, yeah, but then what is the point of posting which QB should start? What's the point of posting anything, really?

Dead ? He was DC for the Dallas Cowboys before he was hired. Pretty good resume to recruit players - no?

 

[upstater]

Torn on this. I did not like the hire. As with Calhoun and Geno, I think you're almost always better off giving a young guy on the rise the job over an old retread. Even if the retread works out, he can't be the long term solution.

That said, I don't think PP is a bad coach. Going into this game we thought he had the D playing well, and needed to get the O untracked. So the O finally starts going and the D collapses. To be fair, W. Michigan can play. The close game @ Illinois looks pretty good in hindsight.
PP doesn't have his own guys, and hasn't had much of a chance. If he was the young coach I wanted to begin with, I'd suggest he needs more time. So if I'm fair, PP needs more time too.

UConn got a late start, first of all, to hiring because of the BCS, but some of the hotshot assistant coaches from far afield would be gone with their first offer. Talke Graham from Pitt. Sure, maybe the ACC will bolster him, but if he experiences success there he'll be gone. So it's not a longevity issue with Pasqualoni. It's purely based on his ability to coach. Remember, Edsall was sniffing around for a job for years before leaving, so even a coach with northeast ties will move to a perceived better school if he feels the pay is lower than what he can get, and the recruiting situation is more on him than the school.

 

[BlueDogs]

Had no opinion on PP and was hopeful. Simple fact is he is a disaster ...not for his record... But for just how poorly the team is coached and how poorly the execute at fundamentals that any decent coach should have under control. Fire his ass and make a statement.

 

[whaler11]

No, I asked you what you were complaining about regarding the two personal fouls. You implied it was the coaches' fault. That's beyond silly because the roughing the passer call was totally bogus and the Junior play was simply a sign of the way things are called today. He didn't launch himself, he went in to dislodge the ball just as players are taught to do. Unfortunately, the player came down and the impact was helmet to helmet. Others here have commented that it was a good play that went against him. Unless you want the coaches to tell players not to rush the QB or not to attempt to hit a WR about to come down with the ball, there is little to be done about those two penalties.

A. The amount of personal fouls is the symptom of a poorly coached team. The absolute key play in the loss was the personal foul on the drive when WMU was pinned deep by the students in the 3rd quarter.

B. The ball was long gone by the time Junior got to the receiver. If people think taking late shots at receivers is good football then there isn't much to argue. It's stupid football.

 

[Pudge]

I simply think this whole thread is an embarassment to a handful of posters. Its like you never tried anything difficult in your life. There is always a period of addressing big fundamental questions in something like this. Pasqualoni cannot ever be judged a Greg Robinson or a Kragthorpe on what we've seen.

Having said that, am I concerned? YEAH. I am. I think not working hard on keeping Robbie Frey was a serious error; I think the QB weakness was known by Moorhead & these new guys when they watched some film; and I don't like the personnel shuffling. I simply cannot understand the 99% utilization of McCombs to date. We are asking for it. On the other hand, the QB issue has been handled as best they could ... given the alternatives. Nebrich will be fine. McCummings will be better. And McEntee is decent; and we have had years where we haven't been decent.

Penalties? I thought that MAC ref crew was beyond silly. The WORST I have seen at the Rent. And the key thing you have to remember is that it wasn't just us ... they called 15 on WMU. They missed a few really clear calls. And frankly, I just think that it was an awful game because they don't know when not to reach for a handkerchief. It simply is said that you can call a penalty on every play in the NFL. This crew would have called two every play. And then they refused to march 15 for the idiot WM kid who celebrated by taking off his helmet. And that's IMHO.

Are we going to get better? Gawd. I hope so. But, it has been my opinion that Pasqualoni is just OUR needed transition to a better plateau. Edsall did not care about our legacy (just his). And I too ... was called an apologista. PP will get us right in recruiting ... and we should have our eye out for the perfect 40 year old successor.

 

[upstater]

A. The amount of personal fouls is the symptom of a poorly coached team. The absolute key play in the loss was the personal foul on the drive when WMU was pinned deep by the students in the 3rd quarter.

B. The ball was long gone by the time Junior got to the receiver. If people think taking late shots at receivers is good football then there isn't much to argue. It's stupid football.

The ball wasn't gone. You're dreaming. It was a good hit.

 

[whaler11]

The ball wasn't gone. You're dreaming. It was a good hit.

Yeah I dream a lot of things that happen 20 feet in front of me. Such a good hit it only resulted in a 15 yard penalty.

 

[businesslawyer]

I simply think this whole thread is an embarassment to a handful of posters. Its like you never tried anything difficult in your life. There is always a period of addressing big fundamental questions in something like this. Pasqualoni cannot ever be judged a Greg Robinson or a Kragthorpe on what we've seen.

Having said that, am I concerned? YEAH. I am. I think not working hard on keeping Robbie Frey was a serious error; I think the QB weakness was known by Moorhead & these new guys when they watched some film; and I don't like the personnel shuffling. I simply cannot understand the 99% utilization of McCombs to date. We are asking for it. On the other hand, the QB issue has been handled as best they could ... given the alternatives. Nebrich will be fine. McCummings will be better. And McEntee is decent; and we have had years where we haven't been decent.

Penalties? I thought that MAC ref crew was beyond silly. The WORST I have seen at the Rent. And the key thing you have to remember is that it wasn't just us ... they called 15 on WMU. They missed a few really clear calls. And frankly, I just think that it was an awful game because they don't know when not to reach for a handkerchief. It simply is said that you can call a penalty on every play in the NFL. This crew would have called two every play. And then they refused to march 15 for the idiot WM kid who celebrated by taking off his helmet. And that's IMHO.

Are we going to get better? Gawd. I hope so. But, it has been my opinion that Pasqualoni is just OUR needed transition to a better plateau. Edsall did not care about our legacy (just his). And I too ... was called an apologista. PP will get us right in recruiting ... and we should have our eye out for the perfect 40 year old successor.

I think the first three paragraphs are dead on. P deserves a chance. Talk about firing him, or he's a failure, is way premature. But there is reason to be worried with the start, at least in my mind, and if it takes him four or five years to build a roster that he needs to succeed then, even if he's then successful, how many good years do we have before we're looking again.

 

[freescooter]

A couple of things concern me, the lack of organization is a problem and the lack of discipline at times. Junior lead with his helmet and that is ALWAYS going to be called. And he should have been going for the ball! And I really did think we would have serious problems with the transition. this wasn't a case where a new coach came in, ran the same offense and defense and just changed the terminology. He totally re-vamped the approach on both sides of the football. I didn't think it would be this difficult, but I expected problems. But the lack of a quarterback, I think was a big mistake. Mac has progressed, since Vandy for sure, but I still think we should have been in the hunt for a JUCO, and we may yet be for next year. I also seriously question some of the decisions he made with respect to the quarterbacks he has. Wasting Nebrich's redshirt was simply foolish in my mind, and seemed to be based on hope that he would step up more than the fact of his performance. If necessary, you can always play a guy. But you don't do what we did with a true freshman quarterback unless you really intend to use him. The "experience" he got from a couple of series he played isn't going to make any difference in the future, but it could well cost a season of eligibility. And on top of that, it deprived Mac of practice snaps that might well have helped his performance. In my humble view, the handling of the quarterbacks had the feel of panic, not the calm deliberations of an experienced coach.

Finally, I don't think the schedule has been helpful. In august,this looked like a cakewalk, and I thought a good opportunity to make the necessary adjuments. But 3 of the teams we've lost to are better than expected. That didn't help.

Last year I remember thinking Butch Jones was going to be a disaster. His team seemed disorganized and confused. But this year he seems to have turned things around. Watching the NCState game they looked like a completely different team from last year. Sometimes it just takes a coach a while to implement his system. Brown's defense was a distaster in his first season as Maryland's DC. By year 2 they were very good. So I'm sure not willing to say Pasquoloni has to go after 5 games. I think this is most of all a transition problem. You see it on defense for sure, guys not knowing where to be, missing obvious assignments.

 

[upstater]

Yeah I dream a lot of things that happen 20 feet in front of me. Such a good hit it only resulted in a 15 yard penalty.

You just twist things. It should have been a penalty because of helmet to helmet.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

You just twist things. It should have been a penalty because of helmet to helmet.

Can't you guys see......that you're in love with each other? Not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

[2Infinity]

Chip is speculating in that piece. I can tell you unequivocally that RE was not going to retain Brown

Really?? You can tell us that unequivocally?? And just where is your proof? You've offered none!

The actual truth is that Edsall was caught off guard the day Brown TOLD Edsall he was leaving. Edsall was surprised. Please see the linked articles which support the accurate version.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/spo..._coordinator_don_brown_leaving_for_uconn.html

http://www.testudotimes.com/2011/2/...land-defensive-coordinator-don-brown-to-uconn

http://www.diamondbackonline.com/sp...f-for-coordinator-position-at-uconn-1.1964794

Hopefully the points of view and supporting articles haven't been posted among the the eight pages of the this thread already. If so,I apologize as I haven't been able to read them all. That being said though, I think these points need to be emphasized once again as one bad game by the defense has brought out the lynch mob!

With that qualifier Mr. Skiblets, I'll suggest that if you READ the articles instead of speculating and offering opinion as fact in many posts of yours, you'll see that Brown left Maryland of his own accord. You'll also see that Brown's defense took Maryland's players two years to grasp and become successful with. He's far more than just a slogan (as you call him) and his players at Maryland loved him and his style. In fact, if you read some of the quotes, you'll see that there was n't one who was happy to have him leave!

It's hard to believe I know, that it could take more than five games to learn an entirely new system AND execute it perfectly! But that seems to have been your deadline and expectation. I suppose your approach would be...Oops, five games, get him out of here..next! What a moronic approach...we'd go through three coaches a year with your system! Give the man and the coaching staff some time! The lack of patience on this board from you, and several other posters, seems to be almost juvenile. Sure adjustments need to be made. But last I knew, B.W. Wilson was injured and out of the lineup on Saturday, and THAT was the biggest reason that WMU was able to throw against us.

One other thing to take note of. Coming into the past week, we had one of the highest rated defenses in the nation. One week later, you're calling for the DC's head. Now does that sound like an informed and intelligent demand?

Also, one week ago, our offense seemed as if it could barely score. This week we put up 31 points and our QB threw 4 TDs. That's not to say it will happen every game, in fact it won't! But it is progress..and last week, there were very few people thinking JM would ever come close to that kind of performance with 300 yards passing! Have some patience!!

 

[freescooter]

2Infinity,

there is much truth in what you say. And I think that Brown's defense will take a while to get in place. Which is unfortunate because we returned some very good defensive players THIS year. And with an unpredictable offense, we need them to be the ones who make the plays THIS year. And I have found it extremely frustrating that we haven't been able to stop anyone late. We seem totally incapable of coming out ans shutting people down in critical situations. Took the lead at Vandy, and let them right back in. Had the lead late against IowaState...let THEM score. Same thing against Western Michigan. While the defense before saturday was good, it had a tendency to give up huge plays and failed to make the big stop. If you had told me Saturday at 3:15 that UCONN would run up 465 yards of offense, pass for 300 and score 31 points, I'd have said we win by 2 touchdowns. that our d was so completely overmatched was unbelieveable.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Believe it. It happened. I'd bet anything that the guys on defense last week were warned it would happen, repeatedly, if they didn't get up to scrimmage, recognize the offensive formation and get their assignments in place fast enough.

I had a feeling we'd have some trouble with their passing game, but when you see a receiver carrying three of your guys a good 15 yards into the endzone on a post pattern, and you see guys running around prior to snap sorting out coverages, and the ball is already in the QB's hands before they get set, and you've got some issues in single coverage matchups, you have a day like we had.

A zone, coverage shell based defense like we used to play, can certainly have a better day that we had against that kind of offense, and you know what - a pass defense like that, that's not going to be based on pressuring the QB and allowing for isolations on the field - a defense like that, that most are used to after the past decade...... is going to a good job of hiding the fact that a WMU player from the MAC was able to carry three of our defensive players about 15 yards into the endzone for a TD and still not go down.

Yes indeed, it was time for a change.

 

[businesslawyer]

Believe it. It happened. I'd bet anything that the guys on defense last week were warned it would happen, repeatedly, if they didn't get up to scrimmage, recognize the offensive formation and get their assignments in place fast enough.

I had a feeling we'd have some trouble with their passing game, but when you see a receiver carrying three of your guys a good 15 yards into the endzone on a post pattern, and you see guys running around prior to snap sorting out coverages, and the ball is already in the QB's hands before they get set, and you've got some issues in single coverage matchups, you have a day like we had.

A zone, coverage shell based defense like we used to play, can certainly have a better day that we had against that kind of offense, and you know what - a pass defense like that, that's not going to be based on pressuring the QB and allowing for isolations on the field - a defense like that, that most are used to after the past decade...... is going to a good job of hiding the fact that a WMU player from the MAC was able to carry three of our defensive players about 15 yards into the endzone for a TD and still not go down.

Yes indeed, it was time for a change.

I need to understand your last point. You're saying that we needed to change our defense because our new defense allowed a WR to carry three DBs into the end zone? Really?

 

[Carl Spackler]

No, I typed too fast. I'm saying that our defensive backs, across the board, in general, and even our linebackers, some of them, are small for the level of competition we expect to play at. This isn't talking bad about players, trust me, if a guy is good enough to be on the field at this level, he's very well aware of his own height and weight and how it factors into things.

They're who we have, and I love every single one of them, and every single one gives everything they've got, and I'll never have a bad thing to say about a player that gives everythign they've got.

When you play a 'bend don't break' - don't like that terminiology - but it works to make the point, when you play the systems we did, you can disguise things quite well, like a defensive backfield that is mostly very small, or might be lacking in some instinct and agility (Not ability - agility) when it comes to those football skills that you see in elite players that really aren't taught, they're just there.

I love Gary Wilburn, I love everything he's given and continues to give. But I don't know if there's anything that can be done to help him learn, figure out, when he's got a great position and leverage on a coverage, but doesnt' recognize that the ball is actually coming and gets his hands up and head turned to make a play on the ball.

and you certainly can hide the fact that you're small, when you can jam receivers up in a zone and slow them down from getting a head of steam, when it's time to make a tackle.

 

[mattp]

Had no opinion on PP and was hopeful. Simple fact is he is a disaster ...not for his record... But for just how poorly the team is coached and how poorly the execute at fundamentals that any decent coach should have under control. Fire his ass and make a statement.

the statement you just made is that you have no idea what you're talking about. you couldn't even be bothered to come up with a concrete example of what he did wrong, or what should be happening differently. considering we were within a TD of winning each of our games i think we need fine-tuning more than a wholesale makeover. our offense has shown improvement. our defense has looked tremendous at times, and failed at others. i really don't know what you're expecting but i don't see how this has been a disaster considering we have year coach that inherited some issues at QB and RB. i'm certainly not thrilled with our results so far, but if you're going to want to fire yiour coach everytime that happens you'll never attract a decent coach (see Davis, Al)

 

[J187Money]

Really?? You can tell us that unequivocally?? And just where is your proof? You've offered none!

The actual truth is that Edsall was caught off guard the day Brown TOLD Edsall he was leaving. Edsall was surprised. Please see the linked articles which support the accurate version.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/spo..._coordinator_don_brown_leaving_for_uconn.html

http://www.testudotimes.com/2011/2/...land-defensive-coordinator-don-brown-to-uconn

http://www.diamondbackonline.com/sp...f-for-coordinator-position-at-uconn-1.1964794

Hopefully the points of view and supporting articles haven't been posted among the the eight pages of the this thread already. If so,I apologize as I haven't been able to read them all. That being said though, I think these points need to be emphasized once again as one bad game by the defense has brought out the lynch mob!

With that qualifier Mr. Skiblets, I'll suggest that if you READ the articles instead of speculating and offering opinion as fact in many posts of yours, you'll see that Brown left Maryland of his own accord. You'll also see that Brown's defense took Maryland's players two years to grasp and become successful with. He's far more than just a slogan (as you call him) and his players at Maryland loved him and his style. In fact, if you read some of the quotes, you'll see that there was n't one who was happy to have him leave!

It's hard to believe I know, that it could take more than five games to learn an entirely new system AND execute it perfectly! But that seems to have been your deadline and expectation. I suppose your approach would be...Oops, five games, get him out of here..next! What a moronic approach...we'd go through three coaches a year with your system! Give the man and the coaching staff some time! The lack of patience on this board from you, and several other posters, seems to be almost juvenile. Sure adjustments need to be made. But last I knew, B.W. Wilson was injured and out of the lineup on Saturday, and THAT was the biggest reason that WMU was able to throw against us.

One other thing to take note of. Coming into the past week, we had one of the highest rated defenses in the nation. One week later, you're calling for the DC's head. Now does that sound like an informed and intelligent demand?

Also, one week ago, our offense seemed as if it could barely score. This week we put up 31 points and our QB threw 4 TDs. That's not to say it will happen every game, in fact it won't! But it is progress..and last week, there were very few people thinking JM would ever come close to that kind of performance with 300 yards passing! Have some patience!!

I talked to a personal friend of Brown's at Vandy that drove down to the game to see him (he is not a UCONN fan...just a friend of Brown). He said that Edsall wanted to keep him. I will take that over what anyone else says.

 

[Sean]

i don't see how this has been a disaster considering we have year coach that inherited some issues at QB and RB. i'm certainly not thrilled with our results so far, but if you're going to want to fire yiour coach everytime that happens you'll never attract a decent coach (see Davis, Al)

If you can find me one post of a poster saying 2-3 would be acceptable at this juncture, I'd be shocked. Let's not pretend that the bar we're being evaluated on has changed to become more stringent...if anything, it has moved lower and lower so that we can still meet it.

Losing to 2 of the worst teams in the BCS and a MAC team at home is not "great effort keeping it close". It's a disappointment. Period.

 

[whaler11]

Can't you guys see......that you're in love with each other? Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I like upstater. We just argue sometimes. I agree with him a lot too.

You have to be careful with these higher ed types... they are from another planet