UConn Football: The Bridge Year

[freescooter]

Totally agree. I'm rooting for HCBD to succeed but his comments are dangerous in that they make us a laughingstock rather than simply a bad program. Once your program becomes the brunt of comedic routines you're kinda screwed. If we're going to suck, let's at least do so quietly.

People still joke about Rutgers and they have been mediocre for 10 years now. So you are right. And that's another big concern with Diaco. If Schiano had just kept quiet they'd be just a mediocre team.

OT but a few members of the football team were volunteering at the camp where I work today in Hartford and I have to say I was so impressed with how well they engaged with the kids. We've truly got a group of great kids on our hands and that's something worth rooting for. Whether were 2-10 or 10-2 this season, we ought to be proud

It's nice that we have good kids but good kids doesn't get you anywhere. I've changed my views on this after watching the non-punishment of basketball players at UConn and football players se where. We need good football player. They can be the guys on the Group W bench for all it matters as long as we win. Boise St isn't the darling of the G6 because they have good students and nice kids. In fact they take guys who can't even get into Utah and Arizona State. They are the media darling because the beat big name teams. That needs to be our goal too.

 

[History Geek]

People still joke about Rutgers and they have been mediocre for 10 years now. So you are right. And that's another big concern with Diaco. If Schiano had just kept quiet they'd be just a mediocre team.

It's nice that we have good kids but good kids doesn't get you anywhere. I've changed my views on this after watching the non-punishment of basketball players at UConn and football players se where. We need good football player. They can be the guys on the Group W bench for all it matters as long as we win. Boise St isn't the darling of the G6 because they have good students and nice kids. In fact they take guys who can't even get into Utah and Arizona State. They are the media darling because the beat big name teams. That needs to be our goal too.

I disagree 100%. If given the (false) choice between a bad team with good guys or a good team with bad guys, i would sign up for the former all of the time. Having winning athletic teams should not be a university's first priority. Develop

 

[freescooter]

Yeah, sure. I used to think that way, too. Then the laptop incident happened and I watched our fans get delirious when Williams came back just in time for the Big East season to start. Now I get that winning IS the most important thing and we just need to stop pretending we are better than anyone else on that score. Took me a while to come around but if we're going to play at this level we need players not choirboys.

 

[J187Money]

Yeah, sure. I used to think that way, too. Then the laptop incident happened and I watched our fans get delirious when Williams came back just in time for the Big East season to start. Now I get that winning IS the most important thing and we just need to stop pretending we are better than anyone else on that score. Took me a while to come around but if we're going to play at this level we need players not choirboys.

Sure - but we also don't need rapists and guys that will get kicked out of school and cause a ton of distractions either.

I still don't understand how some of our hoops players didn't get kicked out of school or at least off the team. I presume that the school makes the right decisions with this stuff. Once the players are actually on the field I will cheer for them no matter who they are.

 

[freescooter]

I think that's pretty much my view too. If they are good guys it's a bonus but most important is that they are good football players basketball players or whatever.

 

[CL82]

Randy didn't follow PP who should have been brought up on negligent charges.

Homicide. He pretty much killed this program. He's a serial killer, too - Syracuse.

 

[CL82]

Yeah, sure. I used to think that way, too. Then the laptop incident happened and I watched our fans get delirious when Williams came back just in time for the Big East season to start. Now I get that winning IS the most important thing and we just need to stop pretending we are better than anyone else on that score. Took me a while to come around but if we're going to play at this level we need players not choirboys.

So suspensions for half a season and for a season are "non-punishments?" You're an idiot Free.

 

[freescooter]

So suspensions for half a season and for a season are "non-punishments?" You're an idiot Free.

Look at the games he missed. Look at the ones he came back for and you tell me. As for Price, he was not medically eligible to play the entire time he was suspended. His "punishment" was the equivalent of taking away your 15 year old's drivers license until he turns 16. he was suspended for the entire time he couldn't play for medical purposes. Go back and check it out. Not too much different from what Florida State or Auburn would do in my mind. That's ghe way it's done at this level so let's stop pretending we care whether our players are "great kids."

 

[CL82]

Look at the games he missed. Look at the ones he came back for and you tell me. As for Price, he was not medically eligible to play the entire time he was suspended. His "punishment" was the equivalent of taking away your 15 year old's drivers license until he turns 16. he was suspended for the entire time he couldn't play for medical purposes. Go back and check it out. Not too much different from what Florida State or Auburn would do in my mind. That's ghe way it's done at this level so let's stop pretending we care whether our players are "great kids."

They got the same punishments that "non student athlete" would have gotten. You're wrong on this.

 

[Stainmaster]

@freescooter, you're advocating for a setup that will never be put in place. Continuing to argue for it is just a waste of your time. Maybe if you start writing letters to Warde, you can convince him to get rid of this dumb goody-goody coach and hire someone who doesn't care about ridiculous things like "attitude" or "character" that bear no relevance to the game of football.

 

[RedSoloCup]

LOL I love the ignore feature. I can tell when the fringe is making you guys nuts by the @... And I don't have to read it.

 

[06029]

Where Diaco got himself on the hotseat with the fanbase(not anyone at the University) is as follows:
(1) off the wall comments - first 4 games are pre-season, etc
(2) Not trying to win at USF, losing to an Army team that lost to Yale and losing to SMU at home
(3) a perceived lack of improvement offensively as the year progressed.

When Randy first came in - he cleaned house and brought in his own guys - but you could see the improvements- and a lot of it had to do with Orlovsky figuring things out the second half of his sophomore year. But Randy did not say anything that off the wall and even if he did not say much, a fan could relate to what he was doing.

BD is doubling down as of right now for weird off the field things with the one sided rivalry game and the trophy. I get that he wants excitement and something for the fans but it feels weird and keeps the doubt about him pretty close to the front on my thoughts. Bad game day coaching again, uninspired coaching and play calling, those are way worse than being whacky.

 

[uconnphil2016]

So, you're saying that because former basketball players demonstrated poor character and weren't properly punished that the football team ought not value character? Seems like a pretty poor view...

 

[freescooter]

I'm saying we want successful big boy football. Let's stop pretending that we should only recruit Eagle Scouts with straight As who spend their free time volunteering at the little sisters of the poor and live in the 06 zip code. Just like we brought in basketball players from around the world with zero regard for their fitness for college we should approach football the same way. If a guy is scum but can run over linebackers get him to sign in the line and hire a minder if necessary but get him. You think FSU fans cared when Jimbo hoisted the trophy that their star is probably a criminal? That's where we need to be from here on. Or go back to the Yankee Conference

 

[Husky25]

You think FSU fans cared when Jimbo hoisted the trophy that their star is probably a criminal?

I think Coach Diaco has already demonstrated that probable criminality is grounds for dismissal.

OTOH, I totally get where you coming from. Ideally, I'd like the best of both worlds (Animals on the field and choir boys off it), but after 4 years of putting down good money after bad, at the end of the day, all I really want is to be entertained by college football on Saturday afternoons.

Regarding Winston however, I now have three favorite (non-fantasy) teams, in this order: Washington, New England, and whoever is playing the Buccaneers.

 

[LIUCHusky]

I'm saying we want successful big boy football. Let's stop pretending that we should only recruit Eagle Scouts with straight As who spend their free time volunteering at the little sisters of the poor and live in the 06 zip code. Just like we brought in basketball players from around the world with zero regard for their fitness for college we should approach football the same way. If a guy is scum but can run over linebackers get him to sign in the line and hire a minder if necessary but get him. You think FSU fans cared when Jimbo hoisted the trophy that their star is probably a criminal? That's where we need to be from here on. Or go back to the Yankee Conference[/

Quite an exaggeration regarding the basketball players we recruited. Zero regard for their fitness for college? Bit of a stretch even for you Free. Personally, I don't want scum signing in the line even if we could hire a minder.

 

[freescooter]

Yeah we got banned for APR violation because we had guys who were too good. Did you ever hear of Stan Robinson? Went a full year without taking a single exam. And let's not mention Williams and Price who committed a felony, or the punk from East Hartford or the ever popular at least go the chief, Nate Miles.

 

[sportsart]

Yeah we got banned for APR violation because we had guys who were too good. Did you ever hear of Stan Robinson? Went a full year without taking a single exam. And let's not mention Williams and Price who committed a felony, or the punk from East Hartford or the ever popular at least go the chief, Nate Miles.

I took everyone off ignore. You are going back on.

Yeesh....

 

[Marty Jackson]

Bob Diaco is the head coach, and it's his job to put a team together that can achieve success in #1 the classroom and #2 on the field in the AAC conference. He appears to have taken the past year to squarely address #1 successfully.

He was hired in December 2013, and as of Thursday evening Sept 3, 2015, he will have had essentially 20-21 calendar months on the job to identify and assemble a roster of 105 players, 85 scholarships, for kickoff that night, that fit both #1 and #2. He will have had 2 spring football sessions, 2 fall camps, and 1 full season of practice and game experience as a head coach in guiding his staff in running practices, developing game plans, and competing in games. The majority of his roster will have had at least one full off season strength and conditioning program, and most will have had 2.

On Thursday night Sept. 3 will play Andy Talley's Villanova 1-AA team. The game should be a fight early, but by the second half, we should be dominating them. Their quarterback should come away from this game beaten up and bruised, and their running game held to a very low total. Our offense should be efficient enough to maintain possession and advance the ball and gain first downs (NO TURNOVERS) - and disciplined enough not to be committing procedural and fundamental skill penalties (PLEASE NO MORE CHOP BLOCKS) and win the battle of the line of scrimmage on offense because of strength condition and recruiting of lineman and TE's and backs, and generate high percentage field position scoring opportunities. Then we need to score. The kicking game needs to cover kicks and punts effectively, and catch kicks effectively without turnovers. We do all of that, and this game should be over by middle of 3rd quarter - in our favor. Apologies to JMoney, but if we're relying on our own QB play to win this game - we are in trouble I think.

Following that - we get Army at home. The terrible triple option offense. That will be another fantastic test of where we are at as a coaching staff and a team, and once again, apologies to JMoney, but if we are relying on QB play again to win that game, we are in trouble. We shouldn't really need a great game from the QB position until week 3.

We will know a heck of a lot more about this team, and Bob Diaco as a head coach, by the end of week 2, than we learned all of last season - I think.

fair assessment carl. but disagree on the last comment. RE coached at uconn for how many years and there is still a debate on what type of HC he was?

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Yeah we got banned for APR violation because we had guys who were too good. Did you ever hear of Stan Robinson? Went a full year without taking a single exam. And let's not mention Williams and Price who committed a felony, or the punk from East Hartford or the ever popular at least go the chief, Nate Miles.

We've had hundreds of kids play BB at UConn and you give
4 exaggerated examples of possibly bad kids.
One of which never played a game for us and was dropped from school based
on testimony which was later was rescinded.
We also have examples of lives being changed by UConn BB ie Caron Butler,
Or Excellellent Acedemic's like Emeka Okafor
And you still don't understand the the APR was a ridicules metric.

Even the two caught in Labtop gate
We're not involved until after the fact.
The theft was committed by a friend of Williams . Price roll. Was minimal


I agree athletes are not normally held to the same acceptance standards as regular students. But Once here through tutoring they should not be excluded from an education.
No UConn fan would ever call Stix Stan, Stanley maybe, Stan never

 

[06029]

We've had hundreds of kids play BB at UConn and you give
4 exaggerated examples of possibly bad kids.
One of which never played a game for us and was dropped from school based
on testimony which was later was rescinded.
We also have examples of lives being changed by UConn BB ie Caron Butler,
Or Excellellent Acedemic's like Emeka Okafor
And you still don't understand the the APR was a ridicules metric.

Even the two caught in Labtop gate
We're not involved until after the fact.
The theft was committed by a friend of Williams . Price roll. Was minimal


I agree athletes are not normally held to the same acceptance standards as regular students. But Once here through tutoring they should not be excluded from an education.
No UConn fan would ever call Stix Stan, Stanley maybe, Stan never

Fact remains on Robinson that he never took an exam over 2 semesters and never missed a game after January. He always managed to re-enroll in school in time for second semester games. He never graduated (I'm not sure he even earned more than 6 credit hours while on the team) and the BB team graduation rate during the Calhoun years was never stellar even when you factor out the NBA kids. The number of kids with issues over his tenure is more than 4 and you know it.