Warde Speaks:

[Jimdish255]

Those quotes sound a lot more like someone who has a season long leash for PP than a guy who is going to fire him in 4 days. He is throwing the fanbase a bone by saying he shares the frustration. As much as I think PP is just damaging the program by the day, I dont think Warde feels there is any gain to bin PP now.

If he doesn't relieve the captain before the ship totally runs aground, there might not be enough lifeboats.

 

[Jimdish255]

Why do people want Weist as the intermin coach? You just heard it from himself that he calls the plays... I'd rather have DJ Joey coach.

His quote about the plays seemed a little strangely worded.

 

[rich1122]

What % of the plays that he calls are actually run? That is the question that should have been asked.

 

[Fishy]

We're trying way too hard here - Weist is calling the plays.

You can tell because he said, "I am calling the plays".

What he meant with that statement is that he is calling the plays - unless, of course, you believe that GDL is calling the plays and TJ is trying to steal credit for the offense that is probably mere weeks away from causing the mass unemployment of every human being on the coaching staff.

So, to recap, Weist is either calling the plays or he is a garden-variety lunatic bent on his own professional destruction.

 

[ruskin]

So, to recap, Weist is either calling the plays or he is a garden-variety lunatic bent on his own professional destruction.

Some would say taking a job with the Sunshine Boys, being the first 'outsider' to split them in the organizational chart in 40 years, expecting to run a 21st century offense with GDL coaching your line and not getting rock-solid guarantees of autonomy and future employment would put you in that latter group. I don't think TJ is. I think he took one for the team yesterday. If TJ says the same things at the start of spring practice (where ever he is) that he said yesterday, that's when I'll cry Uncle.

 

[gioff23]

This place is beyond rationale - I am a fan of TJ and I see the O doing things we have not seen in the past. But, 2 minor points - what the heck has he ever done to annoint him the patron saint of UConn football? He was a WR coach for most of his career, absent a brief stint as OC at a SunBelt school. And can we please stop with the every good play was his call, and every bad call was GDL's. It's lunacy. This debacle is bad enough to watch, but some on this board have turned in to truthers and 911 conspiracy nuts.

 

[whaler11]

Weist was available for a reason.

 

[ruskin]

The point of the 'how much control does TJ really have' discussion is being missed. It's not black-and-white. Read between the lines. TJ is altering some of his playcalling to P's whims. P himself acknowledges "sometimes he changes things". How much is the unanswered question. Whose lips are surgically attached to P's ears?

I think it's safe to say GDL has not "called" one single play this year, or changed one on the sideline from the one called from the booth. It's the "scripts" -- especially when UConn takes an early lead as they have in both games this year and as the game gets into the second half -- that look awfully similar to last year's and the year before that. So is the ongoing failure to get plays in in a timely manner.

On the evidence of two games it looks like TJ may not be on a short leash, but he's on one. That's part of the problem. It's too bad TJ can't have just about anyone else in the world as his line coach and GDL 10,000 miles from this program. Then it would be a lot clearer how good/bad he really is.

 

[ruskin]

Weist was available for a reason.

Yep. Butch Jones didn't take him to Tennessee. Not even close to the reasons P and GDL were available in January 2011.

 

[metsfan2323]

Weist was available for a reason.

A coaching change in Cincy. It happens. He landed on his feet pretty quickly, and maybe he turned away another opportunity because he knew this position was opening, maybe it just took a while to announce it.

Our wide receivers look better than ever and our O-line is a disaster that is killing the offense. Who coaches the line?

We also know that we are still operating with GDL's wallpaper; Weist wasn't allowed to install his own system.

How many times in the last 10 years have our WRs been the strength of the team? (the answer is zero) So far this year I would say our WR's are the strength of the team.

Weist is not the problem.

 

[whaler11]

A coaching change in Cincy. It happens. He landed on his feet pretty quickly, and maybe he turned away another opportunity because he knew this position was opening, maybe it just took a while to announce it.

Our wide receivers look better than ever and our O-line is a disaster that is killing the offense. Who coaches the line?

We also know that we are still operating with GDL's wallpaper; Weist wasn't allowed to install his own system.

It's too early to say Weist is a problem.

I'm not saying he's a 'problem'.

Couple of points:

A: I can't imagine how bad the positions were that he would turn them down for this one. This was like boarding the Titanic from a life raft because you like to play violin.

B: The offense is a disorganized mess. He's the offensive coordinator. The only defense one could generate is that he's a patsy. I should have put defense in 'quotes'.

Your post completely contradicts itself If 'we know' GDL is still running the show why would a capable coach with other opportunities sign up. I'll hang up and listen to your response.

 

[metsfan2323]

Your post completely contradicts itself If 'we know' GDL is still running the show why would a capable coach with other opportunities sign up. I'll hang up and listen to your response.

You are assuming P hired Weist. I'm in the camp that thinks Warde played a role. (both have Michigan ties) I hope we find out very soon why Weist took the job.

My post doesn't contradict itself. I'm sure he's making more money as our Offensive Coordinator then he did as a WR coach. Probably six figures more. If things don't work out here he'll land on his feet somewhere else, taking this job is not a risk to his career, it's a great opportunity.

 

[ruskin]

B: The offense is a disorganized mess. He's the offensive coordinator. The only defense one could generate is that he's a patsy. I should have put defense in 'quotes'.

Yep, just as disorganized like the past two years. Poor habits die hard. He's got a cadaver who players have no respect for and the coaching fraternity laughs at as his line coach. Sure, it's fair to question why he came here. Maybe Warde is a better salesman than you think.

 

[Jimdish255]

A coaching change in Cincy. It happens. He landed on his feet pretty quickly, and maybe he turned away another opportunity because he knew this position was opening, maybe it just took a while to announce it.

Our wide receivers look better than ever and our O-line is a disaster that is killing the offense. Who coaches the line?

We also know that we are still operating with GDL's wallpaper; Weist wasn't allowed to install his own system.

How many times in the last 10 years have our WRs been the strength of the team? (the answer is zero) So far this year I would say our WR's are the strength of the team.

Weist is not the problem.

Thank you but what you just said is so painfully obvious it's sad you had to go through it.

And this:

"From Coach [Paul] Pasqualoni's standpoint [coordinators] have complete autonomy," Weist said Tuesday. "I am calling the plays. I work very closely with the offensive staff throughout the week. Everybody has input and during the game everybody has input. I decide what play is called but it's a collaborative effort between all of us and I depend on the offensive staff every drive to tell me what's going on, what do we like, what do we see."

The qualification of that first sentence really leaves a lot of room for interpretation. But seeing it in context he is relying on a group of people during the game to feed him information. Still probably figuring out each week after watching the tapes who's advice was good and who's wasn't. This does not sound like complete autonomy but the collaborative effort he described is accurate, and necessary. He's just going to have to figure out how to filter the good from the bad and what to do about it. Until the o-line situation is fixed (and we know what that means) he's really looking at an uphill battle regardless of the play calling.

 

[whaler11]

Yep, just as disorganized like the past two years. Poor habits die hard. He's got a cadaver who players have no respect for and the coaching fraternity laughs at as his line coach. Sure, it's fair to question why he came here. Maybe Warde is a better salesman than you think.

Has no one else ever been unemployed? Do we really need to discuss TJ's motivation to take the job?

 

[ruskin]

Has no one else ever been unemployed? Do we really need to discuss TJ's motivation to take the job?

Thought the discussion point was that Weist was available/unemployed because he had flaws of some kind.

 

[whaler11]

Thought the discussion point was that Weist was available/unemployed because he had flaws of some kind.

Yeah that's inherent to the situation that some would like to ignore.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Those quotes sound a lot more like someone who has a season long leash for PP than a guy who is going to fire him in 4 days. He is throwing the fanbase a bone by saying he shares the frustration. As much as I think PP is just damaging the program by the day, I dont think Warde feels there is any gain to bin PP now.

Wholly disagree. These are the quotes of an AD who knows he can't make public knee-jerk quotes two games into the season unless he's planning to drop the axe on Monday. WM was right to make comments, and it was 100% necessary, but if he makes any kind of incendiary comments, they will, of course, be heard by the team and assuredly pollute the vibe and environment of the locker room for them - that would be incredibly counterproductive. At the same time, the comments are very clear that he's not happy, he doesn't accept what's going on, he is not endorsing the coach whatsoever, and specifically states he reserves the right to make a coaching change whenever he sees fit. Honestly, I thought the quotes were about as good as they could be on September 18. If this were Thanksgiving and we're 2-8 and he made these comments, then I'd be upset. But if he had gone any farther now than he did, he would've essentially had to fire him today or send the program into even more chaos.

 

[ruskin]

Yeah that's inherent to the situation that some would like to ignore.

OK, what flaws do you see after two games that reveal he was unhireable elsewhere?

 

[whaler11]

OK, what flaws do you see after two games that reveal he was unhireable elsewhere?

I didn't say he was unhireable. I said he was available. He wasn't taken to Tennessee and he didn't have a better offer than a job where the head coach is on the hot seat and didn't want him in the first place.

That's all evidence that maybe he isn't a shooting star. He might be but I think it's less likely just based on the fact he is here. I'm hearing enough elsewhere that further confirms my suspicions.

 

[SubbaBub]

People are looking to TJ because he is the OC, he came from a very successful program and because no one likes the other options on staff.

 

[CTMike]

I see that he's had success at other stops, and been around successful programs. The brief time I've seen him in person- he's an "energy" guy and strikes me as being well prepared. Players (at least in August) had a very positive impression of him. Now none of that speaks specifically to game coaching, but I see a lot of good things to work with there. He says he's calling the shots, and I mostly believe him. I think the play calling has been better, but the variables out of his control are a) being overridden and b) coaching of the OL. I think TJW is a good hire, but we won't know how good until PGDL are gone.

 

[FDNY99]

Interesting article Jacobs wrote ths morning on Manuel. When you see his quote it takes on totally different meaning than the way ED and Dez put them out on Twitter. It was more like he has pretty much made a decision than just monitoring the situation. If I were P I sure hope my team doesn't get blown out Sat!

 

[upstater]

Why do people want Weist as the intermin coach? You just heard it from himself that he calls the plays... I'd rather have DJ Joey coach.

When Moorhead and Ambrose were here, they called their own plays too, and the plays consisted of dive after dive up the middle. Now that they call their own shots without a HC lording over them, they are lighting up the Colonial offensively.

 

[freescooter]

In Weist's defense, anyone who thought changing coordinators would make this team alot better just was incredibly optimistic. In the first place, that type of change is really cosmetic. Coaches on the hot seat do it all the time, and it buys them an extra year maybe but it seldom gets tot he underlying problems. And that's what is happening at UConn. Our problem isn't that the offense is bad, though it is. That is just a symptom of a much larger issue. We have no fire. We are disorganized, poorly disciplined, watch the offensive line that in its 3rd year still is utterly clueless many times...in a word, UConn is poorly coached. Don Brown's firey personality and an abundance of NFL level talent kept the defense from succumbing last year but this year the malady is spreading to that side of the ball. And unlike Brown, Weist has a much tougher job. He isn't trying to maintain something that was there, he is trying to create something that hasn't been present for 2 years. I won't say it is impossible, but it is pretty unlikely. I'll also concede that having George DeLeone on the staff still doesn't help things. But even if George was sent to the Australian Outback, changing coordinators had only a very long shot chance of solving this team's problem.

 

[Pudge]

I don't like the idea of Weist being the Interim HC ... with any talk of not having a wide search late November. And replace HH? With whom? We used to have Todd Orlando, Lyndon Johnson ... and now we have two 20 year old assistants and Perkins ... just don't know where you would go (Cochran?)

 

[Pudge]

I think if it unfathomable how deep a hole we have dropped into with the Offensive Line's performance. Good God ... we were pushing top rated Notre Dame recruits all over the lot & now we are getting guys beat regularly by Towson.

 

[noeynox]

When Moorhead and Ambrose were here, they called their own plays too, and the plays consisted of dive after dive up the middle. Now that they call their own shots without a HC lording over them, they are lighting up the Colonial offensively.

I thought both of their offenses looked very similar to what they ran when they were here. The obvious difference was that they had capable passers. The biggest mystery of the Edsall era is why he had such a hard time recruiting capable passers when the Mac churns them out like clockwork.

 

[freescooter]

I think if it unfathomable how deep a hole we have dropped into with the Offensive Line's performance. Good God ... we were pushing top rated Notre Dame recruits all over the lot & now we are getting guys beat regularly by Towson.

I can't disagree with that! As to your other point, I don't know who would be named interim coach if P is relieved of his duties, which I still think is a long shot, but I doubt any of the current staff goes. You just can't retool the whole staff mid-year. Hughes will continue running the Defense. Weist, if he's not the head coach, will continue running the offense. Maybe he does both. Maybe they also bring in someone for the rest of the season. As I said on another thread, I could see someone like Keeler stepping in as offensive coordinator to finish out the year. Who knows who else is sitting on the sidelines or in an ESPN booth right now that would take the job for 8 games, but I bet there is someone. Maybe its such a hornets nest on the staff right now that they don't promote anyone, but bring in a grey eminence type to finish out the season. In a different context it would be a perfect set up for Pasqualoni. Or offer the job to someone like Keeler on a no guarantees basis. Wouldn't be that different from what they did with Ollie and Dave Berard last year. both did well. One got the permanent job, the other didn't.

 

[noeynox]

I really don't care if they let P go in season or after. The damage has been done in IMO, by the opening loss to Towson. The UMD and Michigan games were supposed to create huge buzz. Instead coach buzzkill, has completely taken the anticipation out of the biggest game in Rentschler Field history. More than all the other shenanigans, this is what has me completely pissed off. Even at 1 and 1, this game would have had some buzz. Now it feels like I will be attending a public flogging more than an anticipated football game we've been waiting on for years. Afterwards we will hear about how we had self inflicted wounds and if we had scored more points, we actually would have won.