When Diaco was here???

[Guru13]

So I have read a lot of y'all say that most of these players are undersize and what not in term of weight and lack of strength and a lot of players here are not up to FBS level... Does Uconn not have a nutritional coach that works with the Strength coach and make sure the athletes are getting the right nutrients they need and making sure they are getting stronger and bigger in the weight-room, because i think all that ties down to diet too and what they put in their bodies

 

[Showballot]

No. They only eat chicken wings from the gas station.

 

[whaler11]

Diaco won breakfast like 6 or 7 times.

Might just be they recruited players that aren’t good enough to win at this level.

 

[huskymedic]

They had every available support resource that other major programs have/had:

 

[noeynox]

We're just slow.

 

[kemba]

Its almost like recruiting talent matters

 

[Waquoit]

Diaco replaced the kicker's conference room with a repository for health snacks.

 

[Woof 101]

So I have read a lot of y'all say that most of these players are undersize and what not in term of weight and lack of strength and a lot of players here are not up to FBS level... Does Uconn not have a nutritional coach that works with the Strength coach and make sure the athletes are getting the right nutrients they need and making sure they are getting stronger and bigger in the weight-room, because i think all that ties down to diet too and what they put in their bodies

How would a Guru come up with a question like this ???
We are a VERY highly rated public university and our student athletes are shown the respect of all students on campus! No attack but even a fledgling guru knows all college students live on Ramen noodles and keg beer for nutrition and calories.

You may find a more in depth reply here...
Elizabeth Wluka Director of Sports Nutrition.... elizabeth. wluka @ uconn.edu

 

[Guru13]

How would a Guru come up with a question like this ???
We are a VERY highly rated public university and our student athletes are shown the respect of all students on campus! No attack but even a fledgling guru knows all college students live on Ramen noodles and keg beer for nutrition and calories.

You may find a more in depth reply here...
Elizabeth Wluka Director of Sports Nutrition elizabeth.wluka

I was not trying to insult or be ignorant, I was just curious on wanting to know about Uconn football nutritional program they have for the athletes. Like i said in my previous post, people say they are undersize and what not and are slow on the field. All this ties down to the amount of calories a player are suppose to consume week in and week out to either gain weight or lose weight and also being in the weight-room. Athletes have access to the nutrition room in other schools if they need a protein shake or whatever and the athletic department provides them with that. Not my intention to make it an attack on the football team or school.

 

[JMick]

I was not trying to insult or be ignorant, I was just curious on wanting to know about Uconn football nutritional program they have for the athletes. Like i said in my previous post, people say they are undersize and what not and are slow on the field. All this ties down to the amount of calories a player are suppose to consume week in and week out to either gain weight or lose weight and also being in the weight-room. Athletes have access to the nutrition room in other schools if they need a protein shake or whatever and the athletic department provides them with that. Not my intention to make it an attack on the football team or school.

you can't teach or eat your way to speed

 

[SubbaBub]

To be really good, especially here and in the AAC, you need the players to commit 100% in all aspects. While that sounds like something that Diaco would say, he did not get that kind of buy in from the players (cause he was nuts) and eventually he pushed them away (see Sherriffs, Bryant). Everything from film study, nutrition, S&C, to the attitude every time you enter the locker room suffered.

RE 1.0 got that kind of buy-in started by a few special players (Dan O and Fincher) and that became the UConn way in the Big East. If RE 2.0 can do that in the AAC, then we'll be fine. If not, we are screwed.

Bottom line is you are dealing with 18-22 year olds, some get it but most have to be taught either by the coaches or their peers. After the last of the 2010 leaders left there was not enough players left to carry on and the two regimes didn't help at all.

 

[UConnDan97]

There is a thread on the Boneyard since 3pm about Diaco and nutrition, and I'm the first one to bring up the words "vitamin D"???

I swear, it's like I don't even know you people anymore...

 

[buddy]

I was not trying to insult or be ignorant, I was just curious on wanting to know about Uconn football nutritional program they have for the athletes. Like i said in my previous post, people say they are undersize and what not and are slow on the field. All this ties down to the amount of calories a player are suppose to consume week in and week out to either gain weight or lose weight and also being in the weight-room. Athletes have access to the nutrition room in other schools if they need a protein shake or whatever and the athletic department provides them with that. Not my intention to make it an attack on the football team or school.

They are not getting enough Jalepeno mac and cheese. Hungry Huskies!

 

[gioff23]

We could hire the best S&C coaches in the country for the next 5 years and have them work with the Boneyarders 24/7. We would still not field a competitive team. At some point, there is only so much one can do with the product they were given.

 

[Palatine]

So I have read a lot of y'all say that most of these players are undersize and what not in term of weight and lack of strength and a lot of players here are not up to FBS level... Does Uconn not have a nutritional coach that works with the Strength coach and make sure the athletes are getting the right nutrients they need and making sure they are getting stronger and bigger in the weight-room, because i think all that ties down to diet too and what they put in their bodies

Diaco did NOT recruit undersized players. He liked big guys. He recruited big guys. He often said that big guys were more versatile than smaller players and could more easily be moved to different positions if they didn't work out at their original spot.

His problem was he didn't value SPEED.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

I went to the USF game last weekend. First UConn football game I've been to in a while. First one ever for my daughter, who is a sophomore at a high school where they completely mediocre football team.

We went to the husky walk... she remarked something to the effect "Dad... these guys look just like the football players at the high school... A lot of them are even smaller than our players !"

 

[gioff23]

Diaco did NOT recruit undersized players. He liked big guys. He recruited big guys. He often said that big guys were more versatile than smaller players and could more easily be moved to different positions if they didn't work out at their original spot.

His problem was he didn't value SPEED.

Some would argue it was only speed he didn't value.

 

[CL82]

They had every available support resource that other major programs have/had:

Well there you have it Red Pants was all about the Power Furnace. We may have been slow and weak, but by God our Power Furnace was among the best you will ever see on Nickelodeon! No doubt due to the liberal use of fish oil supplement in baked goods.

(Anyone else still feel like punching the screen when they listen to this idiot.)

 

[UConnJim]

Diaco did NOT recruit undersized players. He liked big guys. He recruited big guys. He often said that big guys were more versatile than smaller players and could more easily be moved to different positions if they didn't work out at their original spot.

His problem was he didn't value SPEED.

I agree. Obviously, every coach would like to recruit size and speed, but it is difficult to recruit both for all except the top P5 programs. Diaco's problem is that when it came down to valuing size or speed, he chose size. Here are some stats to back it up.

Players signed that were 185 lbs or less (typically fast guys):

Edsall:
2004: 8
2005: 5
2006: 4
2007: 8
2008: 4
2009: 6
2010: 6

PP:
2011: 5
2012: 5
2013: 6

Diaco:
2014: 3
2015: 3
2016: 2

Edsall:
2017: 9
2018: 5 (so far)

 

[gopher2]

I went to the USF game last weekend. First UConn football game I've been to in a while. First one ever for my daughter, who is a sophomore at a high school where they completely mediocre football team.

We went to the husky walk... she remarked something to the effect "Dad... these guys look just like the football players at the high school... A lot of them are even smaller than our players !"

I went to the Husky Walk before the Holy Cross game. I was struck by how small so many of the players looked. There were some big dudes in the mix but overall the team appeared very undersized.

 

[hardcorehusky]

Aside from FCS kids he recruited- the bigger kids were bulked up and couldn't move. Look at Alec Bloom- as a freshman he was able to get open- for the next 2 years he slowed down and now is not part of an offense to the tight end.

Shireffs is noticeably smaller. He told us Diaco wanted him to look like a fullback. Edsall wanted him to look like a QB. The physical difference in the training has made the team quicker- but go back to the first problem- they are FCS types.

 

[UConnRock]

I went to the most recent Diaco thread regardless of topic as I found humor in this:

Breaking Brad: After listening to Husker coach Bob Diaco, I have just one question — is he speaking a foreign language?

"Despite the University of Nebraska cuts, I still think it’d be worthwhile to spend $60,000 on a translator for Bob Diaco so Nebraskans know what he’s talking about." and "Darn it. I misplaced my “Diaco To English” translation dictionary again."

From a blogger/columnest at the Omaha World Herald

 

[whaler11]

I almost feel bad for those hayseeds but may you gotta be dumb to hire that guy.

 

[gioff23]

I'm getting confused. Under Big Bob we went for size, but anyone at a Husky Walk, can see how small we are?? And you can only be fast if you weigh less than 185?

There is talent there. There was talent that beat UH and got the team to a bowl game. There was talent last year, up until the brain fart at Navy exposed Big Bob to his team - get in the way of my well-cultivated image, and I'll throw you under the bus. From that point forward, the season and Bobby were done.

What we need is both consistency and culture. Hopefully, this staff stays together for a few years. This decade has seen too many coaching changes - head, coordinators and position coaches (which means we have seen too many schemes). Hopefully we can get the kids to buy in to what we are selling. Finally, augment the talent that is there (for some reason, we couldn't score, but had a decent D last year; now, we can seemingly move the ball at will but can't stop anyone).

 

[whaler11]

I'm getting confused. Under Big Bob we went for size, but anyone at a Husky Walk, can see how small we are?? And you can only be fast if you weigh less than 185?

There is talent there. There was talent that beat UH and got the team to a bowl game. There was talent last year, up until the brain fart at Navy exposed Big Bob to his team - get in the way of my well-cultivated image, and I'll throw you under the bus. From that point forward, the season and Bobby were done.

What we need is both consistency and culture. Hopefully, this staff stays together for a few years. This decade has seen too many coaching changes - head, coordinators and position coaches (which means we have seen too many schemes). Hopefully we can get the kids to buy in to what we are selling. Finally, augment the talent that is there (for some reason, we couldn't score, but had a decent D last year; now, we can seemingly move the ball at will but can't stop anyone).

Are you watching a different team than I am?

Move the ball at will?