We do not have much time; Pasqualoni has got to go.

[ZooCougar]

At this point, I think we can safely assume that with Paul Pasqualoni running this program, that we will never dominate the Big East Conference.

-Pasqualoni brings allot of baggage with him. The biggest suitcase is this George Deleone. If you guys think Pasqualoni will separate himself from George easily then you don't know the history at Syracuse. It is more likely that Pasqualoni will continue to expand Deleone's role just like he did last offseason when he demoted Foley and put the offensive line under Deleone's direct control.

-The last time his system worked really well was during Clinton's second term, Donovan McNabb was the QB, I am pretty sure he is just about retired from the NFL now. Guys, that was a long time ago.

-Look at where Syracuse is today as a football program. In many areas such as recruiting, offensive innovation and keeping up with the Jones’s they stagnated. Pasqualoni put them in a place that was difficult to recover from. The Good Doctor Gross made another mistake in hiring some clown that Pete Carroll recommended and they coffin was shut. I am not so sure about Doug Marrone, but I suspect that he is still working against forces that affect the program because Pasqualoni didn't realize where college football was going.

-Trying not to post a Spackler length post here, so my last point is this: The longer Pasqualoni is in place, the more work and the harder the job the next staff will face. Our goal should be to dominate this conference and compete for the championship, every season.

Our goal should not be gazing at the schedule and trying to count to six or seven possible wins.

 

[CAHUSKY]

Syracuse has brought in 7 recruiting classes since HCPP left. Do you really blame him for the current state of cuse football?

 

[husky210]

Come on people. PP is not going to be fired now. Calling for it now is just wasted breath. What kind of message does that send prospective coaches that we fire a guy midseason who was above .500? Barring epic collapse we should wait until December at least. I'm not a pp apologist by any means. I think a change needs to be made somewhere, but right now is not the time.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I don't agree with the basic premise that Pasqualoni is looking like a poor hire for the Huskies, but I have trouble connecting the dots that say if UConn doesn't fire Pasqualoni immediately, it will hire the next Greg Robinson and then hire the next Doug Marrone. GRob was one of the worst major conference head coaches of the last 15 years. UConn would have to try hard to make that kind of mistake. Doug Marrone is a decent coach that can't recruit. Not nearly the debacle that GRob is, but a likely failure too. Neither GRob nor Marrone is Pasqualoni's fault.

 

[husky210]

Grob was a such a horrid coach. So bad that I think marrone needs more time to see if he can get it done.

 

[husky210]

More on grob: cuse hires a coordinator from Texas with no ties to the northeast? How dumb was that? I was in high school when they hired him and I still knew enough to shake my head.

 

[pj]

Pasqualoni is an excellent coach, and it's not obvious that UConn can do better. The handling of the offense is just impossible to fathom. It seems DeLeone believes they can master a dozen looks and take on any identity, so they don't need to excel at a single identity, and never bothered to establish one. We still switch between offensive styles several times a game -- downfield passing, controlled passing, power running, wildcat. We've become jack of all trades, master of none. Our talent on offense may not be great, the offensive line struggles may make the ceiling mediocrity, but failure to develop and establish a single offensive identity seems to be a big problem too. So DeLeone has discouraged me.

I don't know what to say here. P & D do seem like a team, DeLeone seems stubborn in terms of wanting his team to be able to play a diversity of styles. Will that work in college with inexperienced players and limited practice time? Can the players catch up in the offseason with seniors tutoring young players and instilling their system? I'm not going to bail on the coaches yet but I agree that DeLeone's approach hasn't worked yet.

I don't see a simple solution if DeLeone continues to struggle. Requiring P to replace D would hamstring him, make the AD a part-time head coach, I don't think that's likely to work out. A top OC wouldn't be likely to come into an uncomfortable situation with a head coach in a fragile position, as forced loss of his favorite OC would indicate, unless he was made head coach in waiting. But that would likely cause other staff members to leave if they didn't believe they'd be a good fit with the next head coach. The whole thing would be a mess. I certainly don't want to lose P, that would be embarrassing for UConn and he's a great guy and great coach in my estimation -- so many positives. I hope they fix it.

 

[weyuo]

You guys are way off base. Coach P is building a program and you don't do that in a year and a half. The most glaring need we had was a decent quarterback so he went out and recruited the best one in the state and someone with a semblance of experience to hold us over. He's also recruited a tall, mobile quarterback out of Texas. He is improving that position over what Randy did. Everyone admits that the receiving corps is better so now I'm sure the emphasis will be on recruiting better lineman and a bigger, tougher running back. I know everyone is worried about the bland offense but there must be a reason for the madness behind the scenes that we don't see. Just give it time.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

The longer Pasqualoni is in place, the more work and the harder the job the next staff will face. Our goal should be to dominate this conference and compete for the championship, every season.

Our goal should not be gazing at the schedule and trying to count to six or seven possible wins.

Couldn't agree more on this. Unfortunately, too many fans can't wrap their heads around the fact that PP, turns out, was a terrible hire for UConn. End sooner and stop insisting "UConn can't do something like this . . . "

 

[metsfan2323]

Another asinine thread to start the new day.

 

[J187Money]

I'm not sure he is the right guy but let's just say we can him after we go 7-5 (4-3).

We say what exactly to some hotshot candidate who has multiple offers?

We have a program that doesn't have the history, that has recruiting challenges, and if you can't get to 10-2 in two years (while throwing 80% of the time even if you don't have the players) you will be fired.

And btw we pay less than other top tier programs.

Which says to me if we make a change it has to be to someone that either comes from a smaller program or hasn't been a HC before. Otherwise I don't see the attraction.

People here really think we can afford guys like Leach / Petrino / RRod? Maybe now because they have stink on them but in general no.

So just understand that if we take a flyer on a guy that isn't a proven commodity it could get worse. Not suggesting that we shouldn't do it (I probably would when it is time) but the feeling that it would be automatically better with anyone else (even with an imaginative exciting coach) is a stretch. We might have to kiss a few frogs to find the equivalent of Calhoun/Auriemma.

 

[ZooCougar]

I'm not sure he is the right guy but let's just say we can him after we go 7-5 (4-3).

We say what exactly to some hotshot candidate who has multiple offers?

We have a program that doesn't have the history, that has recruiting challenges, and if you can't get to 10-2 in two years (while throwing 80% of the time even if you don't have the players) you will be fired.

And btw we pay less than other top tier programs.

Which says to me if we make a change it has to be to someone that either comes from a smaller program or hasn't been a HC before. Otherwise I don't see the attraction.

People here really think we can afford guys like Leach / Petrino / RRod? Maybe now because they have stink on them but in general no.

So just understand that if we take a flyer on a guy that isn't a proven commodity it could get worse. Not suggesting that we shouldn't do it (I probably would when it is time) but the feeling that it would be automatically better with anyone else (even with an imaginative exciting coach) is a stretch. We might have to kiss a few frogs to find the equivalent of Calhoun/Auriemma.

Do we pay less than Cincy? Do you really think they are that much more appealing of an opportunity than us. No offense to them, I love them and all, but they have had lots of turnover and much success. We don't need the three you mentioned. We need the next Leach/Petrino/RRod etc.

 

[Nostical]

People here really think we can afford guys like Leach / Petrino / RRod? Maybe now because they have stink on them but in general no.

Ha! Are you kidding? There is no way Susan Herbst (or Ward Manuel) is hiring a candidate with known character flaws. Ain't happening.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

We have a program that doesn't have the history, that has recruiting challenges, and if you can't get to 10-2 in two years (while throwing 80% of the time even if you don't have the players) you will be fired. How about we at least try it?

And btw we pay less than other top tier programs.
How about we start to!

People here really think we can afford guys like Leach / Petrino / RRod? How about we make it a point to afford guys like this. Maybe now because they have stink on them but in general no.

We might have to kiss a few frogs to find the equivalent of Calhoun/Auriemma. Neither of whom BTW were already past their prime when they came to UConn unlike HCPP>

 

[ZooCougar]

Ha! Are you kidding? There is no way Susan Herbst (or Ward Manuel) is hiring a candidate with known character flaws. Ain't happening.

Leach's character flaws are a complete fabrication.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Syracuse has brought in 7 recruiting classes since HCPP left. Do you really blame him for the current state of cuse football?

Really. ZooCougar is beginning to sound like an Obama apologist.

 

[pj]

One thing they are succeeding at is in recruiting. The QB/WR/TE group looks great this year. If we can add a good RB and a couple more OL and a DE or two and CB then it will be an outstanding class.

Of course, if results on the field don't come, and the conference situation disappoints, it may get harder to recruit.

 

[mattp]

On SNY they titled DeLeone as the OC and TE coach. Was that their mistake, or did he relinquish his offensive line duties back to Foley? The line seems improved over the last few games, regardless.

 

[ZooCougar]

Really. ZooCougar is beginning to sound like an Obama apologist.

That's really messed up. Probably the meanest thing anything could ever say to me. I also don't understand why you said that.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

It was a joke (and I thought you'd get a kick out of it) based on CA's comment (on your blaming Cuse's troubles today on PP, which is eerily similar to many lib's claiming Obama's failures on GWB).

 

[ZooCougar]

It was a joke (and I thought you'd get a kick out of it) based on CA's comment (on your blaming Cuse's troubles today on PP, which is eerily similar to many lib's claiming Obama's failures on GWB).

Ahh ok. Pretty funny. Syracuse went from being a damn good program to being afterthought under Pasqualoni's watch. Granted, GRob and Marrone could have done better, but in college football, you can spend a career building an empire and ruin one in a season or two. I think Pasqualoni missed the boat somewhere and Syracuse has been there ever since.

Anyone remember Perry Patterson?

 

[J187Money]

Do we pay less than Cincy? Do you really think they are that much more appealing of an opportunity than us. No offense to them, I love them and all, but they have had lots of turnover and much success. We don't need the three you mentioned. We need the next Leach/Petrino/RRod etc.

I agree 1000% with the last line. It may take a couple of shots to find him though.

And you can't take the position that the program will be Buffalo in 2 years if we don't fire HCPP now but if we run through a couple of coaching mistakes taking flyers on young guys that couldn't hurt either.

To me it is worth the risk, but there is a potential downside.

 

[mattp]

Do we pay less than Cincy? Do you really think they are that much more appealing of an opportunity than us. No offense to them, I love them and all, but they have had lots of turnover and much success. We don't need the three you mentioned. We need the next Leach/Petrino/RRod etc.

Keep in mind the coach they brought was following Brian Kelly from CMU where he also was HC following Brian Kelly. They're essentially running the same thing so you wouldn't expect as much of a drop off, although you'll recall we had a rough first year. If Butch Jones continues to follow his BK career ladder to greener pastures we'll see if they can find another guy.

I like that we know P doesn't want to go anywhere else, and some might see that as setting my sights low, but I think I'm being realistic. Besides, no matter who you hire there's no guarantee they'll be any good. RRod was great at WVU, sucked at UM, and now he seems good again. I'm sure ND thought they were hitting the ball out of the park with Charlie Weis but he sucked. I remember a lot of people saying that Turner Gill would have been a better hire at Auburn than a guy that went 5-19 at ISU, but Chizik's doing pretty well while Gill has already been replaced at his greener pasture. There's no guarantee the next guy will do well, although I'm sure if our next hire does suck it'll be P's fault anyway.

 

[J187Money]

Keep in mind the coach they brought was following Brian Kelly from CMU where he also was HC following Brian Kelly. They're essentially running the same thing so you wouldn't expect as much of a drop off, although you'll recall we had a rough first year. If Butch Jones continues to follow his BK career ladder to greener pastures we'll see if they can find another guy.

I like that we know P doesn't want to go anywhere else, and some might see that as setting my sights low, but I think I'm being realistic. Besides, no matter who you hire there's no guarantee they'll be any good. RRod was great at WVU, sucked at UM, and now he seems good again. I'm sure ND thought they were hitting the ball out of the park with Charlie Weis but he sucked. I remember a lot of people saying that Turner Gill would have been a better hire at Auburn than a guy that went 5-19 at ISU, but Chizik's doing pretty well while Gill has already been replaced at his greener pasture. There's no guarantee the next guy will do well, although I'm sure if our next hire does suck it'll be P's fault anyway.

I guess that's my point. I wouldn't have hired PP, mostly just due to his age. I like having a long runway if it works out. He isn't here more than 4-5 years no matter how he does. But I'm not sure I'm ready to pull the trigger yet.

I've spent some time with Herbst and I trust her. Between Susan and Warde they will get it right when they feel the time is right. In the meantime I'm going to be supportive and not sweat things I can't change.

 

[ZooCougar]

I agree 1000% with the last line. It may take a couple of shots to find him though.

And you can't take the position that the program will be Buffalo in 2 years if we don't fire HCPP now but if we run through a couple of coaching mistakes taking flyers on young guys that couldn't hurt either.

To me it is worth the risk, but there is a potential downside.

When Cincy hired Brian Kelly, it was a no brainer. His rise was meteoric and he was kicking ass with every job he took. He scorched Division II, he was very successful in the MAC. He had consistent success and he was more aggressive than a Velociraptor.

Or look at Dantonio, he had head coach written all over him. He took the Cincy job and they overachieved under him.

You look at a guy like Kragthorpe who was successful, there were a ton of caveats and buts..

We should be looking for guys like that. We can sit around and hope for football's version of Calhoun to turn up, but that's infinitely less likely.