UConn athletic director David Benedict searching for next football coach: "We need some charisma" | Page 2 | The Boneyard

UConn athletic director David Benedict searching for next football coach: "We need some charisma"

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ASweet3781 said:
When I drove that area last week I thought of the same thing. There is a ton of space on this road for a stadium and parking and the road connects Rt. 44 to campus.
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Right. One could drive 195 or 44 to Discovery Drive. Easier to get to than over by Freitas.
 
CL82 said:
Interesting I hadn't thought about there (indicated by an X on the map below.) I prefer behind Freitas in the athletic campus (indicated by the circle.) It is a good spot close to Burton and Shenkman and allows you to use one parking lot for multiple sports rather than separate lots for everything. My runner up is Horsebarn Hill (indicated by the H.) Far from Burton but would have an amazing view.

View attachment 69773
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I was thinking East of your X on the other side of Discovery where the corn field is. Close to 44 and 195. The tennis courts are also on Discovery Dr. Your H is actually where the forest is. On top of Horsebarn Hill would be a nice view, where it says "...at Storrs."
 
if this were 2013 BEFORE we knew what a dumpster fire BD was going to be, I bet there would‘ve been a decent percentage of B’Yarders who would’ve preferred him over Belichick (“Bill doesn‘t know the college game”, “he’s too old”….”Diaco is fresh, energetic, dynamic”, etc). it’s about winning, and developing a sustainable culture of winning, that’s it. It’s why you see 25yr old models with 80yr old millionaires. Charisma may be in the job description, but it’s down on the list, and will only even be remotely relevant until the first snap of the 2022 season.
 
Kolumbo said:
And a stadium. Here's a nice spot on Discovery Drive. 195 is on the other side of the field towards the left.

View attachment 69772
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If they ever do put a football stadium in Storrs, I would move EO Smith to a new location when the building needs to be rebuilt and build a stadium on the former EO Smith. On campus. Walking distance to most dorms. Close to athletic facilities. And, they already have a football field on campus! Near Storrs Center.

Can be reached from both 195 North and South and S Eagleville Rd. And, if the state of Connecticut wanted to rejuvenate economic development in Eastern Connecticut, they would finish the 11 mile section of I-384 to connect Bolton and WIllimantic.
 
UConnJim said:
If they ever do put a football stadium in Storrs, I would move EO Smith to a new location when the building needs to be rebuilt and build a stadium on the former EO Smith. On campus. Walking distance to most dorms. Close to athletic facilities. And, they already have a football field on campus! Near Storrs Center.

Can be reached from both 195 North and South and S Eagleville Rd. And, if the state of Connecticut wanted to rejuvenate economic development in Eastern Connecticut, they would finish the 11 mile section of I-384 to connect Bolton and WIllimantic.
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I think they might want to keep Willimantic isolated from the rest of the state. :)
 
Palatine said:
Charisma is nice but getting a coach that understands offense is critical. Edsall DC, Pasquoloni DC, Diaco DC, Spanos DC, the only OC we promoted was Weist. That's, what?, six games in the last 21 years.

The parade of "defense and running the ball" head coaches has to end.
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I'd love to see a coach who will help the offense, Kevin Kelly is one coach who would be interesting, but he might be to interesting for can - no punting? Last time we had a coach like that we lost games, 4th and long and he runs the ball...
 
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UConnJim said:
If they ever do put a football stadium in Storrs, I would move EO Smith to a new location when the building needs to be rebuilt and build a stadium on the former EO Smith. On campus. Walking distance to most dorms. Close to athletic facilities. And, they already have a football field on campus! Near Storrs Center.

Can be reached from both 195 North and South and S Eagleville Rd. And, if the state of Connecticut wanted to rejuvenate economic development in Eastern Connecticut, they would finish the 11 mile section of I-384 to connect Bolton and WIllimantic.
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Route 6 (I-384) needs to be built, BUT NIMBYs are always complaining. We should rebuild the Midland route (East Hartford to Willimantic railroad). The railroad can be a passenger/freight operation, but the G&W doesn't like passenger trains. Have the Connecticut Eastern RR Museum run the passenger trains. Even from Willimantic to East Hartford for students and citizens of Eastern CT.

Now, if you build a stadium on campus, what should we do with the Rent? I doubt you'll see an on campus stadium at UConn in the near future...The politicians (especially East Hartford's politicians) would veto it...
 
ASweet3781 said:
Oh the revisionist history....

From the Register when Diaco was hired:

Charismatic 40-year-old Bob Diaco was a walking bundle of pomp and circumstance.

Footballscoop.com:

Diaco brings an engaging and charismatic personality at a program - following the dismissal of Paul Pasqualoni

From the private plane UConn super-donor on twitter:

Mike Melio on Twitter: "Incredible evening with @UConnFootball ...​

https://twitter.com › enzosdad › status
A Man's TALENT and CHARISMA can get him to a place that ONLY his CHARACTER can ... Incredible evening with @UConnFootball Coach Bob Diaco @UConnAlumniGHC !


The New London Day:

UConn's new football coach, Bob Diaco, is on a mission​

https://www.theday.com › article › SPORT07

Dec 13, 2013 — Storrs - Bob Diaco didn't exactly play hard to get when meeting with UConn ... conference with his passion, energy, enthusiasm and charisma.


Warde Manuel:

"Is it a show? The first time you see him, listen to Diaco, that's the question. The second time, it's still the question. He's so charismatic, so full of energy and ideas and specific structures, you wonder how can he keep it up? And is it genuine?"


ADimeBack:

Bob Diaco, photogenic human/football coach. ... with the impossibly handsome and charismatic coach leading the program back on a positive ..


I could go into The-Boneyard thread on his hire but it would be too embarrassing to share the responses when he was hired (for me included).

One of the chief reasons Bob Diaco become our football coach was....his charisma. No need to rewrite history and say he had none. If you fail to learn from history...
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Oh, commentary from the same people that want to shut down the program?

I likely thought the same thing at first, but if you ever met Diaco in person he had nothing going on behind his eyes.
 
ShakyTheMohel said:
I am very glad to read this. For those who respond... "I just want wins... everything else takes care of itself".... yes... that's assumed. This is an extra element that is needed right now.

We all knew that the media and fans were a nuisance to Edsall. That's cute at Alabama...but a disaster at UConn. And really not cute when the team sucks. Maybe giving more media access or having a spring game is actually a good thing.

This puts Benedict on the spot...now he needs to deliver on this. Hard to hire a cranky old retread after making these statements.
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Kind of a moot point. In Alabama Edsall would have been gone long ago.
 
Think we could lure PJ Fleck away from Minnesota? This is the kind of charisma we need.

 
UCDaveD said:
Think we could lure PJ Fleck away from Minnesota? This is the kind of charisma we need.

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He makes $4.75 mil (base salary plus complimentary supplements) there so I'm going to guess no.
 
Tenspro2002 said:
This is a massive subtweet of Edsall, right?

He was clearly looking to coast.
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There's no way to read this:

“We’re going to need someone who doesn’t look at [engagement] as being a burden or something they don’t want to do,” Benedict said. “We’re going to need someone who has the want-to, to get out in the state and this community and really sell our program and get people engaged.
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without hearing "Unlike that other guy."
 
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Is he talking about our next coach or next athletic director. I have zero faith he is going to find the right coach for this program.
 
Charisma? Can’t do worse than Randy? Everyone outside and lots of people inside disliked him.
 
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Hskies4Ever said:
What about all that space at Depot Campus near the intersection of 44 and 32? Lots of space that doesn’t really exist in other suggested spots…
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I think it needs to be on campus and walkable. Plenty of space up there, just a matter of making it happen. Aztec Stadium is close but not really on their campus.
 
It's easy to grin when your ship comes in and you've got the stock market beat.

We need to embrace the situation and rise to the challenge.

 
ConnHuskBask said:
Not sure I would call what Diaco had charisma. He had something... But that ain't it.
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Diaco with each passing day revealed himself more and more to be a disoriented jackwagon. Remember the bucket hat because he was afraid of the sun? If he did not look like a model he would never been hired as head coach. Susan? Rock star? $337,000.00 a year to teach a course!
 
UConnJim said:
If they ever do put a football stadium in Storrs, I would move EO Smith to a new location when the building needs to be rebuilt and build a stadium on the former EO Smith. On campus. Walking distance to most dorms. Close to athletic facilities. And, they already have a football field on campus! Near Storrs Center.

Can be reached from both 195 North and South and S Eagleville Rd. And, if the state of Connecticut wanted to rejuvenate economic development in Eastern Connecticut, they would finish the 11 mile section of I-384 to connect Bolton and WIllimantic.
Expand ...

They just put a new roof with more insulation on E O Smith last year. There are town influencers that want E O Smith where it is to pump money into Storrs downtown as UConn students leave in early May and high school is in session until at least mid June. A UConn stadium was proposed on the west side of Rt 195 back in the 1980 timeframe just north of the water towers and this is still open land. The big problem is there are no parking garages in that area. E O Smith should have been moved to Rt 44 and Rt 32 the Mansfield Training school site when E O Smith was upgraded in the late 90's and the E O Smith land sold to UConn. That ship has sailed.
 
I think Benedict realizes that the Edsall hire took the life out of the program. A change needed to happen with Diaco...but it was the wrong change.

Look at this board...we haven't seen this many posters on this board in years. Sure some are just miserable trolls who come out when the program struggles....but there are a lot of real fans on here who seem energized by the prospect of change.
 
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hardcorehusky said:
For those of you who are doubting AD David Benedict, this one is his call and his call only. He is a sharp guy and he is a former football player. He knows exactly what he is looking for.
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@hardcorehusky not singling you out and this is no attack on your point. I agree with it but it should be noted somewhere in thread after thread and post after post nobody mentions Randy was DB's hire. I get he was getting his feet wet at a school with limited budget etc, but the point remains it was his hire. He has to hit the ball out of the park on this one.

So much smoke and mirrors, it's silly. Randy who constantly repeats "I look out my office window and see players getting better every day" and has to tell them every day "never quit" and two games into the season he quits !!! Then wants the last day of work to be the end of the season ???
Randy was a low budget hire in a low budget land and was able to get his son a D1 assistant job in the mix. Randy's salary should have ended the day he quit and the faux consultant / advisor to the AD designation terminated immediately. With money released there going to the new offense annalist.

Would simply love to know just what advice Dave is taking and getting our money's worth from Randy between now and Dec 1.
The jokes on me I pay for this ..... :confused: ..... :( ..... Head bang
 
Woof, there is no way he voluntarily “quit” two weeks ago. I’m sure he knew he was about to get canned, either told directly or the handwriting was on the wall. Im also sure when realizing having RE say on until the end of the year was untenable, he cut him lose.
 
Woof 101 said:
@hardcorehusky not singling you out and this is no attack on your point. I agree with it but it should be noted somewhere in thread after thread and post after post nobody mentions Randy was DB's hire. I get he was getting his feet wet at a school with limited budget etc, but the point remains it was his hire. He has to hit the ball out of the park on this one.

So much smoke and mirrors, it's silly. Randy who constantly repeats "I look out my office window and see players getting better every day" and has to tell them every day "never quit" and two games into the season he quits !!! Then wants the last day of work to be the end of the season ???
Randy was a low budget hire in a low budget land and was able to get his son a D1 assistant job in the mix. Randy's salary should have ended the day he quit and the faux consultant / advisor to the AD designation terminated immediately. With money released there going to the new offense annalist.

Would simply love to know just what advice Dave is taking and getting our money's worth from Randy between now and Dec 1.
The jokes on me I pay for this ..... :confused: ..... :( ..... Head bang
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I’ll say it again, most coaches have multi-year buyouts. Dave gave Randi a “extension” and name only and he’s only paying him through the end of the year. That’s a good deal in the coaching world. It’s tough to be mad at Benedict over that.
 
jdb50 said:
They just put a new roof with more insulation on E O Smith last year. There are town influencers that want E O Smith where it is to pump money into Storrs downtown as UConn students leave in early May and high school is in session until at least mid June. A UConn stadium was proposed on the west side of Rt 195 back in the 1980 timeframe just north of the water towers and this is still open land. The big problem is there are no parking garages in that area. E O Smith should have been moved to Rt 44 and Rt 32 the Mansfield Training school site when E O Smith was upgraded in the late 90's and the E O Smith land sold to UConn. That ship has sailed.
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That cornfield, North of Towers, & extending behind Mansfield Supply was talked about as you stated for a stadium complex whenever the subject of elevation of football to 1-A (FBS) was brought up. Town of Mansfield would always shoot it down. As far as parking, there is that commuter lot (W?) that had a back driveway attaching to the Towers Dorms lot & the shuttle bus system that could run from other lots on campus.
 
blue93 said:
I’d actually argue that his charisma was one of the few things he had going for him. It was everything else that led to the dumpster fire.
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I guess charisma does not = getting great recruits. I wish I had $20 for every recruits dad who thought Diaco was full of poo poo. I know that for a fact.
 
History Geek said:
Woof, there is no way he voluntarily “quit” two weeks ago. I’m sure he knew he was about to get canned, either told directly or the handwriting was on the wall. Im also sure when realizing having RE say on until the end of the year was untenable, he cut him lose.
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From the Mike Anthony article above…

-> The day after the Holy Cross loss, a Sunday, Benedict reached out to Edsall to set up a Monday meeting. Edsall called Benedict back and said he was going to retire at the end of the season and that announcement was made. On Monday, UConn announced that Edsall would instead depart his role immediately.

“I was caught a little off guard,” Benedict said. “He wanted to announce it quickly. … Given some time to think about it and have some conversations, we just got to a place where [his immediate departure] was the best decision for the team. It’s that simple.

“I don’t know that it’s appropriate to get into a conversation about why I think it didn’t work out. I’ll do a lot of soul searching on that as we move forward, because that’s something we have to take into consideration as we look at the type of person we want to come in.” <-
 
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