Look at the rosters he had in 2011 & 2012 (we can list a good number of NFL draft picks for a program that had already peaked), the competition we faced each of those seasons and tell me how many wins in each would be sufficient to view the coaching leadership as merely competent.
5 of the 6 draft picks were defensive. nobody will suggest that defense has been our issue the past two seasons.
you need to seperate your bias as a fan vs what impact PP could have made in his first year. hired late, minimal impact on recruits, installs a new system and has minimal talent at QB. And you really thought he could do better than 5-7?
I think it's hard for a lot of coaches in their first year. Getting players that were recruited for a different system to buy into a new system is difficult. Would more time have gotten a different result. Probably not.
I think 7 wins is the bare minimum. That and signs of significant improvement as the season progresses. Remember, though the schedule is way better than the last couple, Buffalo, Towson, Temple and Memphis are games UConn absolutely should win. So that means to get to 7 he only has to win 3 of the remaining 8. And getting 3 wins from Houston, SMU, Maryland, and South Florida isn't exactly impossible. Bottom line is I would say minimum of 7 wins, no bad losses and at least 1 good win, Louisville, Michigan, etc. and some signs that the offense is making reasonable progress. If they lose to Buffalo, Towson or Memphis he should not be allowed back into the locker room. Lose to Temple and he's allowed back only long enough to clean out his desk.
If P goes 7-5, and beats one of Rutgers, L'ville, or Michigan I take him back. That's the bare minimum results that would have me wanting him back. With this year's schedule, 7-5 sets us back on the right track, builds momentum for the following year, and will get the fans excited for 2014.
No, but it isn't two years ago. We are where we are, so looking forward 7-5 with at least 1 good win would demonstrate that UConn has turned the corner and is now on the right track. It took longer than I would have liked to make the turn, but I think it would be a sign that we finally did it. My view of the past two seasons is that 2011 was a bit worse than it should have been but given the change in systems, and the lack of a true D1 quarterback, and the losses from a functioning if unexciting offense it wasn't that much of a surprise. We left a couple of wins on the field no doubt, but we also hit some teams that were better than they were expected to be. 2012 was the real disappointment. Easy schedule, more experienced team, solid defense. But the offense was virtually non-existent. With 2011's offense UConn is 7-5 or better. That has been the real issue of the Pasqualoni regime in my mind. An offense that went from plodding but effective under Edsall to utterly ineffective by last season. I think an improved offense will be crucial going forward.
). Were we now sitting in a BCS conference, I'd have more patience with Pasqualoni, but we're not. Taking a "business as usual" approach as if we were already cashing our B1G checks, as our athletic ship bears down on the iceberg is absolutely the wrong message to be sending. 8-4 next year does very little to excite me because such a record in a conference like the AAC marks us as a failure, not a success.
