We beat Notre Dame 3 years ago....

[UConnDan97]

Still would have been a better choice than what we currently have.

I was waiting on that. I was throwing up the "alley-oop"...

 

[TouchdownHusky]

I was waiting on that. I was throwing up the "alley-oop"...

There you go!

 

[huskyblooz]

Our OL manhandled Notre Dame! But that was with Weiss. They outrushed Oklahoma 215-15!
Our OL cant manhandle Coast Guard this year!

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Do you really, really, really think UConn can recruit on the same level as ND? SMH

Setting aside the fact that a similar argument was made in terms of our men's hoops program when we kept Perno around for at least a couple of years after he clearly demonstrated that he could not compete at the top level, why is it that our only choice (if we cannot recruit on the same level as ND) is to accept mediocrity?

 

[huskypantz]

We settled for a New England guy. Surprised it wasn't John Toner. Need to join the rest of the big time college football playing country.

Sometimes you're just obtuse. Brian Kelly is a new england guy, that didn't hurt ND. Oregon is doing okay. ND went out and poached the best coach in the Big East. Our options were former head coaches, current assistants and lower division head coaches. The comparison is foolish.

 

[Stinger92860]

But Woody Hayes is dead!

Woody and PP have something in common...

 

[phillionaire]

the thought of a notre dame-alabama national championship makes me want to vomit

 

[Uconnalliance]

But Woody Hayes is dead!

And were on life support! Lmao!

 

[uconNYC]

Jim Tressel, Urban Meyer, Dan Hawkins, Butch Jones, Chip Kelly, Brian Kelly, Chris Peterson are all coaches that came from the MAC or even the FCS. I'm pretty sure each one of them would have been prepared to come to UConn if the university made them an offer while they were at their MAC/FCS school.

We need to try to find the next Brian Kelly and if he moves on to better pastures after a few years here that will mean we've probably had considerable success. I'll more than settle for that.

 

[Buffett10]

dont know if hes touchable right now. if he is by w/e measurement it is to take, im interested. i would go all out for urban right now. all out. the ncaa needs a letter saying why, i'll give them a Fecunditying letter.

Husky Fan Dan. love your love for the program. but SERIOUSLY dude Urban Meyer to uconn? Kid you gotta think resaonably. A 5th grader would know NO COACH would EVER leave a serious BCS contender for a job like Uconn. We couldnt/wouldnt offer Urban a fraction of what he makes at OSU. Come on man be serious.

 

[noeynox]

He meant Jim Tressel but he is old just like P, ran a conservative offense like we do now, only with superior athletes and he is a known cheater. No thanks. Go get someone like the Kent State coach. That guy coached his arse off against Rutty yesterday.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

The one thing the NCAA wants to hear with the show cause status on Tressel from the school hiring Tressel is that the school is not hiring Tressel because it only cares about winning. I don't know if a letter coming from a fan who temporarily is suffering from borderline psychosis due to the plight of our football program would accomplish this.

 

[UConnDan97]

Setting aside the fact that a similar argument was made in terms of our men's hoops program when we kept Perno around for at least a couple of years after he clearly demonstrated that he could not compete at the top level, why is it that our only choice (if we cannot recruit on the same level as ND) is to accept mediocrity?

You're saying we kept Perno after he "clearly demonstrated that he could not compete at the top level." When was that demonstration again?

1978-1979 21-8, NCAA Tourney
1979-1980 20-9, NIT
1980-1981 20-9, NIT
1981-1982 17-11, NIT

Perno's teams went south after that. And he was replaced in 1986 by Calhoun. There was no "couple of year" lapse between his drop off and his replacement. But none of this is the actual point that people are talking about. Let's get back to the point, shall we?

The point is that Notre Dame has VASTLY LARGE advantages to the UConn football team and their ability to recruit right now. It will take years.....I will say it again so that it sinks in....YEARS....to bridge the gap. It took Jim Calhoun, our greatest ever men's basketball coach, 13 years to win his first title. Before that moment, we could not compare ourselves to the Kansas's, Duke's, and Kentucky's of the world. Now, 26 years later, we can compete with those schools for top 100 national recruits...

(I hate ND, but let's not kid ourselves with who they are right now and with who we are)

 

[FfldCntyFan]

You're saying we kept Perno after he "clearly demonstrated that he could not compete at the top level." When was that demonstration again?

1978-1979 21-8, NCAA Tourney
1979-1980 20-9, NIT
1980-1981 20-9, NIT
1981-1982 17-11, NIT

Perno's teams went south after that. And he was replaced in 1986 by Calhoun. There was no "couple of year" lapse between his drop off and his replacement. But none of this is the actual point that people are talking about. Let's get back to the point, shall we?

The point is that Notre Dame has VASTLY LARGE advantages to the UConn football team and their ability to recruit right now. It will take years.....I will say it again so that it sinks in....YEARS....to bridge the gap. It took Jim Calhoun, our greatest ever men's basketball coach, 13 years to win his first title. Before that moment, we could not compare ourselves to the Kansas's, Duke's, and Kentucky's of the world. Now, 26 years later, we can compete with those schools for top 100 national recruits...

(I hate ND, but let's not kid ourselves with who they are right now and with who we are)

The way Perno's teams went south once the BE regular season kicked in during Corny's last two seasons (save one decent win in each of those years, offset by many disheartening losses) I personally started the clock in the spring of 1981 but even if you want to wait until the spring of 1984 to state that there was sufficient evidence, it still took another two (qualifies as couple of) yearsthat he could not compete with other BE coaches.

Again, why are our only options either being equal to the legendary programs from day one or accepting mediocrity? Where is this written? Are you claiming that it took us 26 years to compete with the top programs in men's hoops? We went into the NCAA's twice as a #1 seed and three times as a #2 seed before the first game of the season where we won our first title. We made it to three elite eights and three other sweet sixteens in the nine seasons prior to the one where we won our first title (I can also throw in another NCAA tournament and four NIT's, including one NIT title in JC's tenure before the first title but I don't view them, NIT title excepted due to where we were when he began and how quickly he got us there, as anything to brag about, unlike your boasting that Perno's three NIT appearances we evidence he did belong with the top coaches in the BE).

You are going out of your way to massage facts (more accurately, how these facts should be interpreted) to make it appear that a) we weren't necessarily far away from elite status as a basketball program, b) that it took a new coach a quarter century to bring the basketball program there and that we c) we have no hope of competing with ND (a team we recently knocked off in their home FWIW) because of their advantages.

I know they have advantages over us. I know that they will always have advantages over us in recruiting. I doubt that we could within the next thirty years reach the point where we will bring in HS kids rated even closely to what the top schools bring in (unless by some miracle a population shift to Ct puts us in a situation similar to what Miami and Florida St found a little more than thirty years ago). I have seen Boise St accomplish things that we can only dream about. I vividely remember when Kansas St was viewed as the worst college football program in D 1 without question (there was a time, until Snyder's fourth or fifth year at the helm, when they had more winless seasons than they had .500 or better seasons).

I know it takes years. I believe that at the time of our Fiesta Bowl appearance we were about five years away from being able to consistently land solid (not great. solid) recruiting classes, more often than not make a run at the (end of season) top 25 and on a very good season make a run at the top ten (note, year five was the starting point of this, not the completion point). Today I don't know if we can get there in a decade. I do know that we are dreaming if we believe that somehow the light will go off this off season and somehow we will move from possibly the worst team in the BE to taking a run at being the best. A change in leadership at least can provide some hope that things will get better.

 

[MattMang23]

We settled for a New England guy. Surprised it wasn't John Toner. Need to join the rest of the big time college football playing country.

I'd say John Toner's New England basketball hire worked out well.

 

[junglehusky]

But Woody Hayes is dead!

It's Halloween - Zombie Woody Hayes!

 

[TouchdownHusky]

All this negativity. Really should have gone in a different direction with the football program when Randy left. This is all on PP and Hathaway. Just a terrible hire.

 

[UConnDan97]

The way Perno's teams went south once the BE regular season kicked in during Corny's last two seasons (save one decent win in each of those years, offset by many disheartening losses) I personally started the clock in the spring of 1981 but even if you want to wait until the spring of 1984 to state that there was sufficient evidence, it still took another two (qualifies as couple of) yearsthat he could not compete with other BE coaches.

Again, why are our only options either being equal to the legendary programs from day one or accepting mediocrity? Where is this written? Are you claiming that it took us 26 years to compete with the top programs in men's hoops? We went into the NCAA's twice as a #1 seed and three times as a #2 seed before the first game of the season where we won our first title. We made it to three elite eights and three other sweet sixteens in the nine seasons prior to the one where we won our first title (I can also throw in another NCAA tournament and four NIT's, including one NIT title in JC's tenure before the first title but I don't view them, NIT title excepted due to where we were when he began and how quickly he got us there, as anything to brag about, unlike your boasting that Perno's three NIT appearances we evidence he did belong with the top coaches in the BE).

You are going out of your way to massage facts (more accurately, how these facts should be interpreted) to make it appear that a) we weren't necessarily far away from elite status as a basketball program, b) that it took a new coach a quarter century to bring the basketball program there and that we c) we have no hope of competing with ND (a team we recently knocked off in their home FWIW) because of their advantages.

I know they have advantages over us. I know that they will always have advantages over us in recruiting. I doubt that we could within the next thirty years reach the point where we will bring in HS kids rated even closely to what the top schools bring in (unless by some miracle a population shift to Ct puts us in a situation similar to what Miami and Florida St found a little more than thirty years ago). I have seen Boise St accomplish things that we can only dream about. I vividely remember when Kansas St was viewed as the worst college football program in D 1 without question (there was a time, until Snyder's fourth or fifth year at the helm, when they had more winless seasons than they had .500 or better seasons).

I know it takes years. I believe that at the time of our Fiesta Bowl appearance we were about five years away from being able to consistently land solid (not great. solid) recruiting classes, more often than not make a run at the (end of season) top 25 and on a very good season make a run at the top ten (note, year five was the starting point of this, not the completion point). Today I don't know if we can get there in a decade. I do know that we are dreaming if we believe that somehow the light will go off this off season and somehow we will move from possibly the worst team in the BE to taking a run at being the best. A change in leadership at least can provide some hope that things will get better.

Wow. Five paragraphs of "all over the map." Where do I even begin.

1) No, I'm not claiming that it took 26 years to compete with elite programs in men's hoops. I'm saying it took nearly that long to consider ourselves one. It certainly took us over a decade to compete with those elite programs in terms of recruiting, though, no matter how you slice it. That was the beauty of Calhoun; he took talent that wasn't considered "Top 50" and won championships with them.

2) I didn't massage a damned thing. Perno's facts were his facts. He had good years, but ended his tenure with about 3 or 4 bad ones, and UConn made the decision to look elsewhere.

3) Can we beat ND? Yes. Will we consistently be able to field a better football product than them every year? At this point, no. If you say yes, you are lying to yourself. And I am not saying that it will always be that way, but it will certainly be that way now and in the near future.

4) If you "know it takes years" to get there, what the heck are you arguing with me about??? I agree!!!

That's all I've got for now. Let me know if I missed addressing anything.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Wow. Five paragraphs of "all over the map." Where do I even begin.

1) No, I'm not claiming that it took 26 years to compete with elite programs in men's hoops. I'm saying it took nearly that long to consider ourselves one. It certainly took us over a decade to compete with those elite programs in terms of recruiting, though, no matter how you slice it. That was the beauty of Calhoun; he took talent that wasn't considered "Top 50" and won championships with them.
I don't care if it takes fifty years for us to consider ourselves an elite football program or if we never can be more than the non-elite program that somehow does semi-regularly compete with elite programs. I also see no reason why we cannot periodically pull a Boise St or Kansas St and make a run at the top five with recruiting classes that aren't considered top 50.

2) I didn't massage a damned thing. Perno's facts were his facts. He had good years, but ended his tenure with about 3 or 4 bad ones, and UConn made the decision to look elsewhere.
Perno's facts are that he landed a stud (Corny) for his first year on the job along with another kid who was far more along than anyone could have anticipated (McKay) by (with the possible exception of their freshman year) underperformed greatly with what he had. I still remember watching a huge lead slowly melt away in the BET my senior year (also Corny, Aleksinas & Mckay's senior years) with the team standing around watching helplessly as a game winning shot was hit by St John's (Mullin) as time was running out. If Perno had ';good years', Calhoun became elite well before 26 years.

3) Can we beat ND? Yes. Will we consistently be able to field a better football product than them every year? At this point, no. If you say yes, you are lying to yourself. And I am not saying that it will always be that way, but it will certainly be that way now and in the near future.
When the hell did I ever say we would consistently be able to field a better football product than ND? Hell, some of the top programs in the NCAA have had stretches where it appeared they surpassed ND only to have ND hit it right with their new HC and return to prominence. All I want is a little hope that we are moving in the right direction and that we won't be satisfied until we have reached something that approaches elite status.

4) If you "know it takes years" to get there, what the heck are you arguing with me about??? I agree!!!
My argument (which you have still skillfully avoided addressing) is why is it that the only option (as we cannot somehow magically become ND) is accepting mediocrity?

That's all I've got for now. Let me know if I missed addressing anything.

 

[UConnDan97]

There is no skillful avoidance here. At this point, I'm really not sure what we are even arguing about.

You say that the one question I am avoiding from you is, "Why is it that the only option is accepting mediocrity?" My friend, I can honestly say that I don't know what the heck this question is even asking. What do you specifically mean by "accepting mediocrity" and then tell me how I have made it (whatever "it" is) our only option? Maybe then I can have a more fruitful (and perhaps shorter) conversation with you on the topic...

 

[lsuconnman]

I'll never forget the magical sunlight during that game. It was a fun day to say the least.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

There is no skillful avoidance here. At this point, I'm really not sure what we are even arguing about.

You say that the one question I am avoiding from you is, "Why is it that the only option is accepting mediocrity?" My friend, I can honestly say that I don't know what the heck this question is even asking. What do you specifically mean by "accepting mediocrity" and then tell me how I have made it (whatever "it" is) our only option? Maybe then I can have a more fruitful (and perhaps shorter) conversation with you on the topic...

Look at the post you replied to that started this little back and forth.

 

[UConnDan97]

Look at the post you replied to that started this little back and forth.

I just did. Again, you mention "why is it that our only choice is to accept mediocrity?" If you don't want to actually take the time to type out what you specifically mean by that, then I guess the discussion is done, right?

 

[businesslawyer]

The one thing the NCAA wants to hear with the show cause status on Tressel from the school hiring Tressel is that the school is not hiring Tressel because it only cares about winning. I don't know if a letter coming from a fan who temporarily is suffering from borderline psychosis due to the plight of our football program would accomplish this.

borderline?

 

[ZooCougar]

Looking back on the Notre Dame game. Our DBs were young, they had to step up after Jasper Howard's death.

The offense was good that year. Frazer was actually clicking in the offense. Dixon and Todman were top flight college RBs.

Yet, John Silver wants us to acknowledge that we had more talent back then AND it was smoke and mirrors. That does not compute.

That year, we were outgained, but that had more to do with the efficiency of the offense and the bend but don't break nature of the D. Between the 20s we gave up yards but the team tightened up in the redzone.

John gets an F this week for his journalistic effort.