where's the beef? err.... talent?

[zls44]

Look, the talent disparity between CT and these other huge states is well known but outside of the huge programs that pay $50,000/yr to be a HSFB coach, the coaching isn't much different. Go watch the featured HS games on ESPN and you'll see those coaches are no better than the Filippone's, Trifone's and Marinelli's of the world.

Yeah, but those games - either because the players have earned it or the school has invested to earn it - have actual good players in them.

 

[TheDoggPound]

Ryslik left and was rated our best recruit in the 2015 class per 24/7 and Nazir Williams who was rated 2nd in the class per 24/7 could be gone from the program this time next year.

 

[TheDoggPound]

Fair, I seem to remember reading something along those lines. There are FBS schools closer to Baltimore though.

True, but I remember him being top 3 on our list that year. The larger point is every guy that seems to be a real FBS player somehow makes his escape out of here before ever playing. It must have something to do with Diaco that eventually turns them off to him. Other than Ulizio.

 

[Stainmaster]

True, but I remember him being top 3 on our list that year. The larger point is every guy that seems to be a real FBS player somehow makes his escape out of here before ever playing. It must have something to do with Diaco that eventually turns them off to him. Other than Ulizio.

That I'm not willing to speculate about. Not defending Diaco, but there are plenty of reasons for players to leave a DI program besides the coach.

 

[gtcam]

UConn will never get the talent that you think it needs to be where you envision it. Football is way too cultural in this country, and the south won long ago. If you're school isn't located below the Mason-Dixon Line then you are automatically starting going against the current, uphill, with 100 lbs weights tied to your ankles.

Even if a miracle does occur where UConn has a staff that can bring in the talent needed to reach that level, the powers that be in the ridiculously political college football world would put an end to it. It's just been that way every time UConn as a program has taken a step forward. The P5 shift and movement for autonomy is all about traditional football powers lowering overall risk by making sure they never have to play teams that they consider "lesser" again.

I Kinda get what you are saying BUT what about the Michigans, Wisconsins, Utahs, UWashingtons, Oregons, West Virginias, Ohio States, etc?
Plus theres some pretty bad teams in the south
But again there is some credence to your argument

 

[BUConn10]

I Kinda get what you are saying BUT what about the Michigans, Wisconsins, Utahs, UWashingtons, Oregons, West Virginias, Ohio States, etc?
Plus theres some pretty bad teams in the south
But again there is some credence to your argument

Yea certain schools can throw a wrench in my argument but to be fair, Ohio and Michigan are outliers in terms of talent, consistently produce great athletes in all sports, especially Ohio, culturally they are very athletically inclined in that region.
Also having the financial support and resources of institutions with alumni like OSU and Michigan helps a great deal.

I don't think there is a more high school football talent devoid region of the country than New England.

 

[UConnDan97]

Yea certain schools can throw a wrench in my argument but to be fair, Ohio and Michigan are outliers in terms of talent, consistently produce great athletes in all sports, especially Ohio, culturally they are very athletically inclined in that region.
Also having the financial support and resources of institutions with alumni like OSU and Michigan helps a great deal.

I don't think there is a more high school football talent devoid region of the country than New England.

How about Wyoming, which looks like a very competent football team right now. The idea that the 6 New England states are devoid of talent is ridiculous...

 

[JMick]

Yea certain schools can throw a wrench in my argument but to be fair, Ohio and Michigan are outliers in terms of talent, consistently produce great athletes in all sports, especially Ohio, culturally they are very athletically inclined in that region.
Also having the financial support and resources of institutions with alumni like OSU and Michigan helps a great deal.

I don't think there is a more high school football talent devoid region of the country than New England.

I mean, it makes sense. There are twice as many people in Texas than there are in all of New England.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

What great football players are going to play for a school in the northeast in today's world? Even great local talent wants to go where the football programs are better, and can you blame them? Is Diacco an attractive part of the program to play
For?

 

[JMick]

What great football players are going to play for a school in the northeast in today's world? Even great local talent wants to go where the football programs are better, and can you blame them? Is Diacco an attractive part of the program to play
For?

We could start offering players gold trans-ams and suitcases full of cash.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

We could start offering players gold trans-ams and suitcases full of cash.

We can't even offer them a football tradition and school rivalries,
We aren't even confident we want to even stay in our own conference

 

[BUConn10]

How about Wyoming, which looks like a very competent football team right now. The idea that the 6 New England states are devoid of talent is ridiculous...

Ridiculous? You really think that's ridiculous?

 

[UConnDan97]

I mean, it makes sense. There are twice as many people in Texas than there are in all of New England.

And more than twice as many D1 football programs...

 

[UConnDan97]

Ridiculous? You really think that's ridiculous?

Yes, I do. There are over 14 million people in New England. The issue is not that there is a lack of talent. The issue is that we lose those recruiting battles to ND, OSU, Michigan, etc...

 

[TheDoggPound]

2014:

2015:

Ulizio - 3* | .8343
Pettus-Dixon - 3* | . 8316
Ryslik - 3* | .8292 (1/21)
Williams - 3* | .8190 (2/21) [know he hasn't left yet but seems like a candidate to me though ppl probably won't want me to speculate]
Battle - 3* | .8076 (7/21)

2016:

Rose - 3* | .8261 (6/16)

We failed to retain our top 3 2015 recruits (with Williams no sure thing to come back next season so possibly 4) and lost a potential QB in Rose.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Yes, I do. There are over 14 million people in New England. The issue is not that there is a lack of talent. The issue is that we lose those recruiting battles to ND, OSU, Michigan, etc...

There is certainly a lack of talent compared to other parts of the country but u are right,
What little talent there is goes to a big program

 

[JMick]

We can't even offer them a football tradition and school rivalries,
We aren't even confident we want to even stay in our own conference

Look, the pitch is; do you want to come in and make an impact right away? do you want to help jumpstart a young program into the upper echelon of the college football rankings? Do you also want to attend a great public university?

But it doesn't matter what the pitch is unless you can get kids to believe it and buy into it.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Look, the pitch is; do you want to come in and make an impact right away? do you want to help jumpstart a young program into the upper echelon of the college football rankings? Do you also want to attend a great public university?

But it doesn't matter what the pitch is unless you can get kids to believe it and buy into it.

Right but, all they need to do is look at what is going on in the college landscape and where uconn is, I get they can come in and be a difference maker, but if ur qb sucks, u can't throw the ball for him, if the coach sucks, u can't coach for him, if the conference sucks, u can't go to a new conference.. There are schools that have a lot better situations right off the bat. That's what u are competing against.

 

[JMick]

Right but, all they need to do is look at what is going on in the college landscape and where uconn is, I get they can come in and be a difference maker, but if ur qb sucks, u can't throw the ball for him, if the coach sucks, u can't coach for him, if the conference sucks, u can't go to a new conference.. There are schools that have a lot better situations right off the bat. That's what u are competing against.

Of course all of that matters but being a CFB coach is part coaching and part selling. You can look at Utah as an example of that. There is no reason they should ever be good, yet they are. CFB may be the most coach-dependent sport in the world.

 

[UConnDan97]

There is certainly a lack of talent compared to other parts of the country but u are right,
What little talent there is goes to a big program

Just take the state of Massachusetts, for example. We average getting 2 of their top 20 players every year (according to 247). That's less than UMASS. This is the same state where we got players like Todman, etc.

If we were to get 2 or 3 more players from the MA top 20, along with 2 or 3 more of the CT top 10, that alone would make a big difference for our squad. We have to start winning those battles in our back yard...

 

[BUConn10]

Yes, I do. There are over 14 million people in New England. The issue is not that there is a lack of talent. The issue is that we lose those recruiting battles to ND, OSU, Michigan, etc...

Population doesn't matter so much as culture does. People in New England barely care about college football, let alone HS football, whereas high schools for small towns in Texas regularly hold tax referendums for multi-million dollar stadiums, and they pass unanimously in the land where "taxes are the devil".

Our kids have a fraction of the motivation to be great at football as they do down south.

 

[UConnDan97]

Population doesn't matter so much as culture does. People in New England barely care about college football, let alone HS football, whereas high schools for small towns in Texas regularly hold tax referendums for multi-million dollar stadiums, and they pass unanimously in the land where "taxes are the devil".

Our kids have a fraction of the motivation to be great at football as they do down south.

Nobody is arguing that we will recruit like LSU. But we certainly have every opportunity to recruit like programs such as Rutgers, BC, or other regional D1 schools. The fact that we don't is more about us than the region itself.

Edsall made a feast out of eastern Pennsylvania. there's no reason we can't continue that...

 

[noeynox]

How about Wyoming, which looks like a very competent football team right now. The idea that the 6 New England states are devoid of talent is ridiculous...

They hired Kirk Bohls who was kicking at North Dakota State. The right Coach wins,anywhere. Chris Peterson built powerhouse at,Boise and has,turned Washington around.

 

[uconnphil2016]

I know that if I had been a football recruit growing up and had a chance of going P5 there is very little chance I'd come to UConn. Who wants to play in front of no one, against irrelevant opponents, and on some obscure network? Can't blame all the CT kids who leave.

 

[zls44]

Of course all of that matters but being a CFB coach is part coaching and part selling.

And how can you expect Diaco to sell when all he does is talk about what UConn can't do. It's never about what UConn can do.

We can't throw.
We can't be up-tempo.
We can't play strong man-to-man defense.
We can't return punts.
We can't try and win games in year 1.

I'm sick of being told what my team can't expect to do.

I want someone who believes in what it can.

 

[UConnDan97]

I know that if I had been a football recruit growing up and had a chance of going P5 there is very little chance I'd come to UConn. Who wants to play in front of no one, against irrelevant opponents, and on some obscure network? Can't blame all the CT kids who leave.

Well, the network is ESPN, and there will be around 30k at the first game while there is still blind hope for the season, and you've got a much better chance to start here than at ND or Michigan.

Add a top 20 public education and a chance to be a local hero, and I can't understand how they leave...

 

[BUConn10]

Nobody is arguing that we will recruit like LSU. But we certainly have every opportunity to recruit like programs such as Rutgers, BC, or other regional D1 schools. The fact that we don't is more about us than the region itself.

Edsall made a feast out of eastern Pennsylvania. there's no reason we can't continue that...

But that's the thing I'm getting at.

Look at the names you want us to compete to become peers with, how depressing is it that that's our ceiling?

Even traditional powers that had a head start at the sport like BC (isn't Rutgers one of the earliest college programs as well?) are showing that the lack of talent and cultural relevance in this area makes it almost impossible to stay relevant beyond one or two seasons before your head coach era poached and you are back to square one.

 

[Devland]

And how can you expect Diaco to sell when all he does is talk about what UConn can't do. It's never about what UConn can do.

We can't throw.
We can't be up-tempo.
We can't play strong man-to-man defense.
We can't return punts.
We can't try and win games in year 1.

I'm sick of being told what my team can't expect to do.

I want someone who believes in what it can.

You forgot to add that we can't run the ball either. I get the impression here that some people here think our run game is better than it actually is. We are ranked 100th in the country out of 128 teams in rushing yards while we are 42nd in passing yards . You could argue that if we could run the ball decently the rest of the offense would improve. You could also argue that the passing game is actually ahead of running game. After all our one offensive weapon (Thomas) is a receiver.

 

[UConnDan97]

But that's the thing I'm getting at.

Look at the names you want us to compete to become peers with, how depressing is it that that's our ceiling?

Even traditional powers that had a head start at the sport like BC (isn't Rutgers one of the earliest college programs as well?) are showing that the lack of talent and cultural relevance in this area makes it almost impossible to stay relevant beyond one or two seasons before your head coach era poached and you are back to square one.

That's not our ceiling. That's what is currently ahead of us. But the top 5 of each of those states go to the Big10, ND, or the occasional Florida (i.e., Jordan Reed).

Our ceiling would be to consolidate half of that talent, which would put us on par with most teams in the top 25. We would have a higher rated team than Boise, etc., even if we would fall short of OSU and Alabama. I'll accept a Boise level of success here...

 

[zls44]

You forgot to add that we can't run the ball either. I get the impression here that some people here think our run game is better than it actually is. We are ranked 100th in the country out of 128 teams in rushing yards while we are 42nd in passing yards . You could argue that if we could run the ball decently the rest of the offense would improve. You could also argue that the passing game is actually ahead of running game. After all our one offensive weapon (Thomas) is a receiver.

Yeah, but Bob thinks we can be a good running team.
It's about the only thing he's said he thinks we can do well.