Tired of Mediocrity

[Athlete94]

Can I tell Stanford too? So you are disagreeing that many schools (USF, Memphis, Houston) take kids that are not great students but great athletes and give them a free ride?

No I'm saying there's other schools that are tough to get into and they get athletes to be accepted into their programs, so it's not that..

 

[CTBasketball]

Saying our recruiting will automatically improve if we're P5 is something I disagree with. A good recruiter can get kids to commit. If you can't recruit you will not improve.

I don't see HS talent begging to play at Kansas, Boston College, Indiana, or Illinois.

 

[Palatine]

UConn has had three straight "You win running the ball and playing good defense" type coaches.

 

[FartMan69]

I know this boards famous for seeing a recruit that's only FBS offer is UConn and calling him "overlooked" and "underrated" but... maybe recruiting like an FCS school is catching up to us. Obviously there are exceptions but does anyone really trust this coaching staff to develop these diamonds in the rough? You can't be a G5 member in an area that's low on talent and not be able to do that.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

No I'm saying there's other schools that are tough to get into and they get athletes to be accepted into their programs, so it's not that..

You do realize that compared schools like the Navy, Stanford and Notre Dame we've been doing this (playing football at this level) for about a week.

To get the immediate results some are expecting, we would have needed to have made an investment similar (if not beyond) what Houston did with Hermann (look at his contract). To those here who believe that the school should be willing to make that level of an investment I ask: what investment are you willing to make for the program? I see far too many empty seats at the Rent (I know, PAWS ARF) and I read too many posts with complaints that sound like due to the current level of play, status of our conference and/or results since the Fiesta Bowl, it is beneath them to put up with the current rebuild attempt.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

You forgot that Rutgers is...well...Rutgers.

yeah well Uconn football aint anything to hang your hat on right now either

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I know this boards famous for seeing a recruit that's only FBS offer is UConn and calling him "overlooked" and "underrated" but... maybe recruiting like an FCS school is catching up to us. Obviously there are exceptions but does anyone really trust this coaching staff to develop these diamonds in the rough? You can't be a G5 member in an area that's low on talent and not be able to do that.

We have a winner. I'm not sure Diaco can't develop these kids but we need to recruit better players.

 

[kemba]

Agreed, but with great academics, top notch facilities and a dearth of other top programs within the entire northeastern market, how is it possible that we can't recruit? When Edsall was here we recruited well enough to make a BCS bowl. Now all of a sudden we can't recruit anymore?

If recruiting is the problem, that's all on the coaching staff. Admittedly Edsall was recruiting to a BCS conference and now we aren't, but other teams with less to offer in our own conference are doing a better job of it than we are.

It took Edsall time. He had some success early in the move to 1A thanks to Dan O, but once he left we had a few bad years in a row. Our recruiting on paper wasn't any better than it is now, but over time he was able to find players who fit what he wanted to do, and develop them. Diaco hasn't had enough time to do that yet.

And lets not oversell the BCS teaml. Great accomplishment, and a really fun year, but that team started the year 3-4 too, and put together some gutsy awesome wins down the stretch, but they weren't overwhelming anyone with their talent level

 

[polycom]

You guys are also forgetting that UConn is a tough school - USF, Memphis, Houston will take any dummy and push them through. UConn and New England schools in general do that less and take pride in education over sports.

This just isn't true..when it comes to sports all schools are the same with the exception of Duke, ND, Stanford, a few other schools and the ivies. UConn recruits the best players they can... good players don't come to UConn because #1 there aren't many good players in the area relative to Houston, USF.

 

[businesslawyer]

I am just sick and tired of watching every team in our conference for the past 6 plus years get better, while we pretty much stay at status quo. Now, I was one who thought and said I see change these past years but enough is enough. Why are we not better?? Defense was our calling card even when the offense was so so.. Now the D is as inconsistent as they come and I have to think a lot of that falls on the coaching. I know Edsall left like a slithering snake, but say what you will, his defense was consistent. I know is offense was not glamorous but for the most part it got the job done with the talent we had year in and out. I love my Huskies but Football in general is hard to swallow and show pride in these past few years (by few I mean a long time).

I mean Central Florida, Memphis, Houston, South Florida have all improved in most aspects. Yes, some has to do with recruiting but some also has to to with putting the right coaches in the right spots. If you do not have the right mix on your staff, you make the adjustment/change. When you stay the "course" so to speak you get mediocrity and I am sick of it. I, like most of UCONN diehards want to win and win now!! I disagree with a lot of the media who says we don't belong, can't play with the big boys, nobody wants to play for UCONN, and on and on... I call BS.. bring in the right mix of offensive and defensive coaches who have the ability to coach kids up and put them in the position to win and be aggressive vs give a good effort and settle for morale victories.. Come on UCONN, its time to bring in the right ingredients so we can make/bake the right coaching staff who can then give these kids a fighting chance. One thing is obvious, these kids are playing their hearts out and for the most part its not for the lack of trying, a bounce here and there and UCONN is 6-1 instead of 3-4.. there is still time left and I think now is the time to take a serious look at the coaching ingredients moving forward so the season can end on a positive note, bowl game, etc.. Let's show everyone we are not mediocre and can win! Go Huskies!!

This may be the funniest post ever. Because in your own words "a bounce here and there and UCONN is 6-1" and you want to fire everyone because we're not improved over a team that went 3-9 (after a 0-9 start) and 2-10 in back to back seasons. So your conclusion must be we need coaches who make balls bounce differently.

 

[businesslawyer]

I know this boards famous for seeing a recruit that's only FBS offer is UConn and calling him "overlooked" and "underrated" but... maybe recruiting like an FCS school is catching up to us. Obviously there are exceptions but does anyone really trust this coaching staff to develop these diamonds in the rough? You can't be a G5 member in an area that's low on talent and not be able to do that.

No. No one trusts them to because there hasn't been time to judge whether they can turn diamonds in the fought into diamonds. The first class that HCBD had more than a month to put together are, today, redshirt freshmen and true sophomores. So you ask "how can we trust that he can get something done" when there hasn't been time for anyone to accomplish what you want accomplished.

Grow up.

 

[UConnDan97]

This board is always too black and white for me. Could we have better recruits, especially at the QB and O-LINE positions? Yes.

Could we have a more experienced head coach and OC that take advantage of the opponent's weaknesses from the first kickoff instead of the third quarter? Yes.

This team has flaws in both areas, but we also have talent in many areas around the field. Do the following mental exercise; take this team and coaching staff as currently constructed, but give us Ward or Flowers at QB. Are we still having this conversation?

I'm guessing "no", because we would be at least 6-1 with all the other pieces being the same...

 

[BlueDogs]

A little balance in perspective:

1. You can't be anything but proud and pumped by the way the kids tried to bring it. After the first few series, the D amped up and they were laying some wood left and right and making plays. They were on empty by the last possessions thanks to an assinine approach to the game that stresses the D to the breaking point.

2. The O again showed sparks of production and the ability to make plays in chunks. BS is inconsistent, has poor vision and is slow with reads. BUT, he can complete passes with enough success that we can sustain drives with better play calling. We burn second downs on dumb play calls constantly and never get ahead of the sticks.

3. The team has quality play makers . We have no dominant superstar that is heads and shoulders over others on the field (like a Warde or Flowers), but we have dimensionality with a very good back and NFL quality wideout. We also have strong TEs that are constantly under utilized.

4. Make no mistake, there is tangible improvement. The problem is it's too slow in coming and the staff is mainly to blame for an out dated defense win games minded philosophy. Defenses can put teams in a position to win and take pressure of an Offense, but they are not a substitute for it.

5. The staff is lost. They have failed to create an identity for this team, and have deleveraged the talent they have consistently. The inability to exploit the middle of the field week in and out is extraordinary and reflects a slavish adherence to a scheme that just doesn't work.

6. The staff creates passivity. The emphasis on bend don't break, limited blitzing, limit mistakes, low risk passing, no punt returns, create timid second guessing players. The reason why we continually see the offense and D step up late is when they're behind and risk is off. The mentality of the team is culturally backwards and coaches create cultures.

7. Big is not bad, Slow is. We are a huge team. But, they are slow. So, you leverage your strength and you don't try and do things that require speed and agility. USF is a prime example. Yardage with Arkeel between the tackles was there all day. Yet, they went away from it. They inexplicably went to RJ when Arkeel had the hot hand, then started back into bubble screen, QB draw mode.

8. Close 'n Gaps. You have huge beef upfront and they have rediculuous spacing that allows faster Defenders to maneuver on stunts and Blitzes. Making slow lineman move two and three steps to pick-up stunting defenders. Create a tight pocket and close down the shoot gaps.

8. Use your TEs or go to a true Full Back. The TEs are useless because most of the penetration is coming up the middle. Outside speed rushes are rarely our problem. Checking Down to a TE or FB release should be done in BS's sleep without even looking. Yet, we struggle in the most basic of fundamentals. That is a coaching failure.

Overall, the team is being underserved by a poor coaching staff that is not helping the kids with schemes and fundamentals that can help them win. I expect further slow improvement by virtue of in/game reps. Major steps coming from outside of game day seem to be far and few between. Diaco needs to throw away his philosophy and start letting it fly.

 

[FartMan69]

No. No one trusts them to because there hasn't been time to judge whether they can turn diamonds in the fought into diamonds. The first class that HCBD had more than a month to put together are, today, redshirt freshmen and true sophomores. So you ask "how can we trust that he can get something done" when there hasn't been time for anyone to accomplish what you want accomplished.

Grow up.

No I don't trust them because they've shown me nothing except very good motivational talk. I sure as hell hope his one saving grace is being able to develop talent but Diaco and staff have regressed this season with no clear game plan week in and week out. You trust him? Good, good for you but I don't so blow it out your rear playboi

 

[Athlete94]

This may be the funniest post ever. Because in your own words "a bounce here and there and UCONN is 6-1" and you want to fire everyone because we're not improved over a team that went 3-9 (after a 0-9 start) and 2-10 in back to back seasons. So your conclusion must be we need coaches who make balls bounce differently.

Dude, go jump off a cliff, i dont care a rats ... what you think, moron

 

[Jimdish255]

No. No one trusts them to because there hasn't been time to judge whether they can turn diamonds in the fought into diamonds. The first class that HCBD had more than a month to put together are, today, redshirt freshmen and true sophomores. So you ask "how can we trust that he can get something done" when there hasn't been time for anyone to accomplish what you want accomplished.

Grow up.

Next year will be year 4. You are apparently on the record predicting a big step up. I don't believe defensive minded coaches with philosophies that value turnover ratio above all else will ever attract great offensive talent outside of maybe Alabama and a few select others. Add to that a passive defensive scheme and you have a real "wow" factor to sell. I guess we'll see how it plays out and how recruiting goes this year and results through next season. And last night's fair catches were thrilling as we attempted our comeback.

 

[Pudge]

Herman shot out like a cannon at Houston. Ruhle's 3rd year at Temple was great. USF making great strides. Why can't we do it? Why is anyone satisfied with our progress? Kids are playing their hearts out. Coaches sometimes adjust and other times play scared. We have a mediocre line (why?) and a skittish QB. So frustrating.

First ... let's agree: Herman did it, amazingly, with the previous guys kids. That doesn't happen too often.
Second ... as we see with Chris Petersen (Washington) and Dave Clawson (Wake) and Willie Taggart (USF), sometimes it takes 3 years. You can change the culture and gradually you polish into a diamond. Build build build. We have to think that Diaco has been successful in the Cultural department. Not seeing the big leap forward.
Third ... and what is always my Go To ... you have no idea what is going on in Recuiting. Recruiting Rankings???? If UConn was in the middle of farm land in NJ, every one of the kids we bring in would be a full Star higher up. Offers? Everyone lies. My opinion? Pasqualoni, I thought, got a higher kid on the recruiting rankings ... but I haven't thought those kids were as good as some of the Young ones we see with Diaco. HCRE got some really good finds in FL and Western PA and NJ and developed CT/MA kids; but, often I thought the last 5 kids he brought in the week before NLOI day were often reaches. Diaco seems to be far more organized on his board. We can recruit to UConn; but like an Iowa or Oregon ... we have to yank kids from a far wider demographic. USF had 48 of 96 players from the 7 County area of Tampa Bay. Think about that.

 

[Redding Husky]

A couple years ago I was praying for mediocrity.

 

[Wagers]

UCONN is a decent football team and would be dangerous if it had a bit more offensive firepower.

HuskyInFl.....I see you bagged on our academics a bit in a previous post. If you only knew how many good Florida players we had to reject because our academic committee at the school could not get them in. Here are some names: Noel Devine (West Virginia), Dexter McCluster (Ole Miss), and most recently Janarion Grant (Rutgers best player). There are many more.

Also fwiw....USF 'academia' staff has been busy at work for about 15 years now trying to get USF to AAU status within about 10 more years. We are remarkably close already based on metrics they use. We even recently reached a milestone set by UF and FSU to get 12 million extra state dollars per year. These metric were met by USF. So if anything, USF should get credit for being a choosy 'nerdy' school.....not in the same light as Memphis and others you mentioned. Our average SAT for incoming freshman was 1226 this year (out of 1600). I think even UCONN alumns can respect this number (yes we know UCONN is a good school...probably best in the AAC). But USF is probably 2nd. We also would be 2nd in the Big 12 based on the AAU metrics (2nd to Texas)....this was part of USF's presentation.

Enough about academics and let's get on to football. UCONN will most probably be bowl eligible but every game will be a fight for the Huskies due to the offense (or lack of). I do see 6 - 8 wins though.

 

[whaler11]

This board is always too black and white for me. Could we have better recruits, especially at the QB and O-LINE positions? Yes.

Could we have a more experienced head coach and OC that take advantage of the opponent's weaknesses from the first kickoff instead of the third quarter? Yes.

This team has flaws in both areas, but we also have talent in many areas around the field. Do the following mental exercise; take this team and coaching staff as currently constructed, but give us Ward or Flowers at QB. Are we still having this conversation?

I'm guessing "no", because we would be at least 6-1 with all the other pieces being the same...

Pretty bold announcement from a guy who doesn't like things so black and white....

 

[Huskygamble19]

You forgot that Rutgers is...well...Rutgers.

I want to give props to Rutgers this week..They scored a touchdown!!

 

[UConnDan97]

Pretty bold announcement from a guy who doesn't like things so black and white....

You would be surprised how much gray area goes into a 15-0 prediction...

 

[gtcam]

This just isn't true..when it comes to sports all schools are the same with the exception of Duke, ND, Stanford, a few other schools and the ivies. UConn recruits the best players they can... good players don't come to UConn because #1 there aren't many good players in the area relative to Houston, USF.

I respectfully disagree. I coached at a very high level soccer - both boys and girls and got involved in tons of recruitment. UConn is not easy to get into if you are an athlete have low B or lower grades and your SATs are in the lower 3/5ths nationally. We had 2 kids who were dying to play for Coach Len and were not accepted but 1 went to Duke and the other went to UVA. I had guys who looked at UConn and were told to look elsewhere - where did the go? UNC, Michigan, Colgate, Bates..... I know there are exceptions, especially on basketball and to a lesser extent in football but there are reasons for that and it's at all schools.
Stanford, yes; the Ivies, yes; Northwestern, yes and isolated others
Not sure about ND - I know of one kid who wanted to play baseball at UConn, told he had to go to Avery Point but got into ND to play

 

[Chin Diesel]

Old adage, but speed is tough to coach.

 

[J187Money]

First ... let's agree: Herman did it, amazingly, with the previous guys kids. That doesn't happen too often.
Second ... as we see with Chris Petersen (Washington) and Dave Clawson (Wake) and Willie Taggart (USF), sometimes it takes 3 years. You can change the culture and gradually you polish into a diamond. Build build build. We have to think that Diaco has been successful in the Cultural department. Not seeing the big leap forward.
Third ... and what is always my Go To ... you have no idea what is going on in Recuiting. Recruiting Rankings???? If UConn was in the middle of farm land in NJ, every one of the kids we bring in would be a full Star higher up. Offers? Everyone lies. My opinion? Pasqualoni, I thought, got a higher kid on the recruiting rankings ... but I haven't thought those kids were as good as some of the Young ones we see with Diaco. HCRE got some really good finds in FL and Western PA and NJ and developed CT/MA kids; but, often I thought the last 5 kids he brought in the week before NLOI day were often reaches. Diaco seems to be far more organized on his board. We can recruit to UConn; but like an Iowa or Oregon ... we have to yank kids from a far wider demographic. USF had 48 of 96 players from the 7 County area of Tampa Bay. Think about that.

As to Houston - there will probably be more talent on that roster by accident than we can get on purpose.