Welcome John Dunn: New OC

[HuskyHawk]

Give him a fair shot.

At least we know he’s not a retread failing his way down the ladder.

Now that is what I was worried about. The OC equivalent of PP. {{shudder}}

 

[Exit 4]

As others had said, I think this hired boiled down to two fundamentals:

• Randy wanted loyalty. No more 1 year wonders which is hurting all the players with new systems every year. This guy will need at least 2, but maybe as many as 4 years here. No way this guy given this opportunity and his history with Randy can walk after year 1 or even year 2.
• Budget - its is very limited. Probably couldnt afford many others like Brian Wright. Sure, we are a pay raise for Wright, but he is pretty darn close to a much bigger pay raise. Regardless, he would be another one year guy if successful.

Silver lining; looks like a plus on recruiting.

Major concerns:

• Never called plays &
• Doesn't sound like a QB coach.

 

[huskysupporter]

Yeah not going to pan the hire. It’s a wait and see.

Love his recruiting experience. Like others I am concerned he has not called plays before. But that in no way means he can’t be successful.

My main concern is keeping an up tempo offense. HCRE addressed it in his statement, I just hope he sticks with the philosophy.

Like Whaler, I like that he is not a castoff. This is his shot to run with a coordinator spot.

 

[DoctorWho85]

I'm not overly enthusiastic about the hire, but he recruited well for edsall at Maryland. I'm trying remain hopeful

 

[HuskyHawk]

Honestly though if Pindell is our guy, don’t we think he is most dangerous from the gun? Quick easy reads and throws, much easier to use his legs with the option, etc

My honest opinion is that any team that limits itself to shotgun makes life easier for the D. I suspect we will see lots of it. But not exclusively. And any team that runs every time it isn't in shotgun, makes life even easier. Have to be able to pass out of a pro set.

 

[The Viking]

If his wife attends the opening game in a heavy coat, this will not end well.

 

[HomeKing93]

Have to be honest, not thrilled with the hire. I hope this works out, but to me our offense hasn't done well recently with OCs with little playcalling experience. There were no FCS OCs with experience running good offenses that wanted to come here?

 

[Rocktheworld]

I’m not super worried about not calling plays. He was the direct assistant to the OC of an NFL team, an integral part of preparation, which was done at several levels of the offense including the line. He knows schemes and knows preparation, and again was the right hand man of the guy calling plays. With a sharp, young mind, I think we may have something here.

Not to mention we need a recruiter to fix the massive talent deficit we have going on right now thanks to Captain Cranberry

 

[ktuck911]

The moves being made with our coaching right now shows how much Hathaway and Big Boy had virtually NO clue (or respect, referring to the latter of the 2 guys) for what UConn Football was attempting to accomplish. We were growing then those 2 made a mess of things (call a spade a spade).

 

[Pudge]

Edsall has a track record.

Norries Wilson Rob Ambrose Joe Moorhead Rhett Lashlee. All really good - frankly

Not a TJ Weist or Verducci in the mix (I kid)

I think this guy HCRE knows what he’s doing. Plus add in a Todd Orlando ... and admit. He’s got a solid evaluation skill set on Coordinating coaches.

 

[jazyj]

Arizona Cardinals Defensive Coordinator, James Bettcher
“John is a highly intelligent, innovative, energetic, motivator! All of us coaches look around our profession and judge the character of the man, the measure of the coach on whether we would want our son to play for him. There is no doubt someday my son will play for Coach Dunn!!!”

 

[Skiblets]

I'm a Edsall apologist and find this disappointing. Never called plays in an uptempo offense but aligns with our offensive philosophy? Can't get there right now

 

[HobokenHusky]

Does John have a twitter handle yet? Someone should send him this link:

Hurry-Up, No Huddle - An Offensive Philosophy - Gus Malzahn- VHS Tape - Football | eBay

 

[UConnSportsGuy]

It looks like his wife has already spent more than 5 consecutive days north of the Mason-Dixon Line in her life—so that’s a positive.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Edsall has a track record.

Norries Wilson Rob Ambrose Joe Moorhead Rhett Lashlee. All really good - frankly

Not a TJ Weist or Verducci in the mix (I kid)

I think this guy HCRE knows what he’s doing. Plus add in a Todd Orlando ... and admit. He’s got a solid evaluation skill set on Coordinating coaches.

And of course we can’t forget all the Edsall players in the NFL.

Honestly he is just a good evaluator of talent in general.

 

[Hornet22]

The positives are (if he works out) the age and inexperience--he'd be here for more than a year, which is huge for us. The negatives are lack of play calling experience obviously and for me the idea of applying more a more pro style approach as opposed to spread. I'm not sure he will be more pro style (articles say we'll be 'multiple'), but who knows. I'm interested to know what areas he was responsible for in recruiting at MD...

I’m ok with multiple. As RE2 said, you have to get a first down to be successful with a tempo offense. You have to be insanely efficient on 1st down with tempo to stay ahead of the chains. Too many three and outs and your defense is toast.
You have to mix it up a bit. Keep defenses honest. It’s ok to slow it down a bit to get first downs. Run and pass on non obvious downs.

Honestly though if Pindell is our guy, don’t we think he is most dangerous from the gun? Quick easy reads and throws, much easier to use his legs with the option, etc

i tell you what. I think he will be the guy. He definitely progressed. Love his athleticism and he has a live arm. That Cincy game he really impressed me. Another year under his belt. He’ll be more confident next season.

 

[FDNY99]

Dan O maybe??

At what spot? Dunn makes the 10th Asst. There are no more open spots on the staff.

 

[Jaybird65]

One never knows until the guy gets here & does his thing. Have to be positive & give him a chance & trust RE & DB. Been many, many other coaching hires in the coaching work where someone was an absolute wouldn't miss & failed to folks where the public asked who & things worked out great.

 

[HuskyHawk]

At what spot? Dunn makes the 10th Asst. There are no more open spots on the staff.

The article said the guy who was responsible for "offensive quality" was likely leaving with Lashlee for SMU. Whatever the hell that was, maybe Dan O can do it.

 

[Dove]

It's A DUNN DEAL!!!

Swung on and missed !!

 

[PAGS]

Come on...if you can call plays on madden you can call plays in real football! The fact that everyone is so “meehhh” on this hire gives me hope he’s going to be great! Remember how excited everyone was for Batshit Bob!? Yeah...exactly!

But for real...young mind with some experience on the recruiting trail seems ok. I’ll give him a chance! 3 years before I call for him to get fired...Crocker’s got 2!

 

[CTMike]

I’ll believe it’s a good hire when I see it’s a good hire.

I get that given our lot in life we might have to take on a bit more risk than we would like... well, here’s to hoping he makes the most of his shot.

 

[UConnDan97]

Welcome to the Dog Pound, John!!!

Positives:

1) NFL experience
2) Former QB
3) Recruiting coordinator experience
4) Previous coaching history with Edsall

Does this feel like it did when we heard the name "Lashlee"? No. But I'm gonna stick with that list above and then let the results dictate the assessment. Let's go get em, John....

 

[NorwalkHusky]

What I like most about his is what I read on the Bears website:

He recruited a few top guys:

Stefan Diggs
Yannick Ngakoue

That's about it, he has to prove himself on the field, we shall see.

 

[gioff23]

Welcome to the Dog Pound, John!!!

Does this feel like it did when we heard the name "Lashlee"? No. But I'm gonna stick with that list above and then let the results dictate the assessment. Let's go get em, John....

It took 8 minutes for the board to see the link, ignore most of the facts, and say ugh.

Let's be honest, when we heard Lashlee was coming, most thought, WTF is wrong with him? Was he fired? Did Gus push him out? Did AD David Benedict offer him a life line? Who would make that move? Then, everyone looked at his 1/2 year of calling plays at Auburn and decided he was a 5 star coach.

Here, we ignore the fact that he was a recruiting coordinator and an OC for the equivalent time Lashlee was and assume he was the best we could find in the bargain bin.

Great stuff.