Why is the board so hard on Dez Conner?

[ZooCougar]

This.

And I don't remember him defending Coach Pasqualoni so much as him reporting the AD told him that Coach Pasqualoni's job was not in danger. Many fans didn't want to hear it and when they challenged this, he got defensive. Fault can be laid on both sides.

Secondarily, he toed the company line and fell back on the, "The team lacks talent" mantra. I mean that's got to be it because the coaches are in the office for 18 hours a day. The problem with this line is that it tosses the kids, who have had past success, under the bus. Is it not remotely possible that the coaches were not working in the most efficient manner during those 18 hour days? Mr Conner did not acknowledge this and 35,000 armchair QBs did not want to hear what he was reporting.

You may not remember it because you weren't in the chats with him.

Paraphrasing what Dez said:

"I support Pasqualoni because he inherited Edsall's trainwreck".

I was no Edsall fan, but if he thinks Edsall left Coach Ozymandias a trainwreck then he has zero credibility.

 

[CTMike]

I don't want to derail the topic, but at least to me it seems clear that both the talent on offense AND the coaches were lacking (defense gave me very little to complain about). Not just one or the other. Improve EITHER the talent on O or the coaching on O last year, and I think our O ranking climbs out of the basement and we go to a mediocre bowl. I'm optimistic that we've improved both this year.

Pointing out that there wasn't much talent for P to work with on O is fair... But it's also fair to point out that the last guy here found ways to do more with less.

 

[Husky25]

You may not remember it because you weren't in the chats with him.

Paraphrasing what Dez said:

"I support Pasqualoni because he inherited Edsall's trainwreck".

I was no Edsall fan, but if he thinks Edsall left Coach Ozymandias a trainwreck then he has zero credibility.

Yes I was. I don't use Husky25 as my moniker though.

He supported the staff throwing the kids under the bus. For that he loses credibility.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

It's not that he "didn't grab the torch and pitchfork and lead the march up 195 for Pasqualoni's head." It's that he wouldn't even acknowledge that there was a issue. He described the program as a trainwreck before P got there. Well, if it was has he made it at all better two underachieving years later? Almost as sad is Loops defense. We're not too far way from 8-5 he says. We were at 8-4 last year, but P coached that team to 5-7. Just awful. P is just pathetic. But the Spring Game is Saturday and I'm ten toes in. I would love a winning year. C'mon P prove wrong!

He's a beat reporter. It's not his job to offer opinions about whether a coach should or shouldn't be fired. No more than you hire a lawyer to do your taxes. If you want someone to call for Paqualoni's head, you don't use your straight-up news reporter, you use your opinion guy, Jeff Jacobs.

I know in a world of social media blitz it all kind of bleeds together, but there is a very distinct and important difference in the world of journalism between reporting and opining.

I won't waste my breath defending my opinions re: the team's talent level, as we've all heard it ad nauseum.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

I was no Edsall fan, but if he thinks Edsall left Coach Ozymandias a trainwreck then he has zero credibility.

See, here's my issue with you. It's not that you disagree with me. It's that anybody who disagrees with you has "zero credibility."

 

[ZooCougar]

See, here's my issue with you. It's not that you disagree with me. It's that anybody who disagrees with you has "zero credibility."

Well if the shoe fits. Dez has no credibility. You agree with him. Therefore..... which means... and

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

See, here's my issue with you. It's not that you disagree with me. It's that anybody who disagrees with you has "zero credibility."

Well, anyone who disagrees with you is a mouth breathing knuckle dragger who is not capable of analyzing complex issues in a nuanced kind of way.

Or something like that.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

Well, anyone who disagrees with you is a mouth breathing knuckle dragger who is not capable of analyzing complex issues in a nuanced kind of way.

Or something like that.

You have this view of me based on some false premise you have about New Haven and Yalies. You constantly condescend to me and yet I'm the only "arrogant" one. Pot, kettle, all that jazz.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

You have this view of me based on some false premise you have about New Haven and Yalies. You constantly condescend to me and yet I'm the only "arrogant" one. Pot, kettle, all that jazz.

Nope. My view of you is based solely on what you write, and how you write it, on this board. Nothing else.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

Nope. My view of you is based solely on what you write, and how you write it, on this board. Nothing else.

Meh, your whole "you hang out with too many Yalies" jibe tells me you've got some other opinions flavoring the way you view me. S'cool. I'm sure our political differences don't help either.

 

[JaYnYcE]

Desmond Conner uses the talent excuse to cover up for Pasqualoni and Deleone's lack of coaching effectiveness.

Even last season when it was obvious that Deleone was doing a terrible job he was making excuses and parroting Pasqualoni. "He's working 18 hours a day!".

Is that the new "We used to be in trailers?" If so I'm definitely adopting it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ZooCougar]

Is that the new "We used to be in trailers?" If so I'm definitely adopting it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes. Clearly it is. Along with:

"We had no talent on the offensive line and we had a first year BCS QB last season and that's why we only scored six points against USF last season".

 

[Waquoit]

He's a beat reporter. It's not his job to offer opinions about whether a coach should or shouldn't be fired.

You're living in the past. Those distinctions mattered back in the days when they still set type. Dez is a beat guy/columnist/blogger. He's given plenty of opinions over the years.

 

[Srqhusky]

even edsall may agree with dez s and coach p evaluation of offense. Lets look at 2010 offense. Michigan 10 points, usf no offensive touchdowns. Louisville shut out, Oklahoma no offensive touchdowns. None o these teams were top twenty defense nationally. Louisville was good defensively but even eastern Kentucky. Scored thirteen on them.
It looks like the lack of offensive talent was already showing signs so I am not so sure the reporters / coaches were being harsh. The offense does seem to finally be heading in the right direction. Sometimes you take a step back to take two steps forward

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

You're living in the past. Those distinctions mattered back in the days when they still set type. Dez is a beat guy/columnist/blogger. He's given plenty of opinions over the years.

I'm not sure I agree. The Courant still views itself as a fairly prestigious publication. It's one thing to offer an opinion like, "I think a dual threat QB would be a good thing to have" (heh.) or "We need a more dynamic offense," but actually damning a coach is a pretty serious charge to levy by someone who isn't technically an opinion writer.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

even edsall may agree with dez s and coach p evaluation of offense. Lets look at 2010 offense. Michigan 10 points, usf no offensive touchdowns. Louisville shut out, Oklahoma no offensive touchdowns. None o these teams were top twenty defense nationally. Louisville was good defensively but even eastern Kentucky. Scored thirteen on them.
It looks like the lack of offensive talent was already showing signs so I am not so sure the reporters / coaches were being harsh. The offense does seem to finally be heading in the right direction. Sometimes you take a step back to take two steps forward

Can you imagine that offense without Todman? Yikes.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I'm not sure I agree. The Courant still views itself as a fairly prestigious publication. It's one thing to offer an opinion like, "I think a dual threat QB would be a good thing to have" (heh.) or "We need a more dynamic offense," but actually damning a coach is a pretty serious charge to levy by someone who isn't technically an opinion writer.

True but the writer should also be unwilling to damn the players in an effort to defend the coach. If you listen to what Dez was preaching (takenwe had to work with. verbatim from GDL) in his defense of PP, you'd swear that we would be lucky to come away with a win against Central with the dearth of talent

 

[CTMike]

We did lack talent on offense, though not to the extreme that was portrayed. The problem is that we got used to seeing talent "coached up", and the inability to do that might be GDL's (and by extension, P's) biggest weakness. Hopefully Weist corrects this.

 

[Srqhusky]

Can you imagine that offense without Todman? Yikes.

Exactly. We only had one player drafted on that offensive team and it came in the sixth round.

 

[noeynox]

We did lack talent on offense, though not to the extreme that was portrayed. The problem is that we got used to seeing talent "coached up", and the inability to do that might be GDL's (and by extension, P's) biggest weakness. Hopefully Weist corrects this.

I think this is over stated on this board. Its easier to "coach up talent" when that talent happens to be Donald Brown, Andre Dixon, Jordan Todman, type talent. Fact is even in our best days we were incredibly one dimensional. The team was built one dimensionally offensively. We lost that dimension and were caught in a period where we were trying to implement a new offensive philosophy with parts not built/recruited for it. None of that changes the fact that Deleone has been an unmitigated disaster as OC, at UCONN.

 

[noeynox]

Exactly. We only had one player drafted on that offensive team and it came in the sixth round.

In fairness, we also had Sherman, but when your fullback is your best offensive draft prospect, your probably not going to be known for stretching defenses.

 

[ZooCougar]

Can you imagine that offense without Todman? Yikes.

Can you imagine UConn football without Pasqualoni? What a nice thought.

 

[ZooCougar]

Exactly. We only had one player drafted on that offensive team and it came in the sixth round.

Plus we had a first year QB in a BCS conference and a bad offensive line.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

Can you imagine UConn football without Pasqualoni? What a nice thought.

The problem with your entire premise is that you have to go into this season with no hope at all. Then what's the point? Why even bother with sports if you can't even hope for next year? If you just wanna give up?

The whole point of sports is that hope springs eternal. That as long as there's another game to play, there's another chance. You've given up before the season has even begun and it's sad and I'm glad our athletes at UConn haven't waved the white flag quite as hard and proudly as you have.

I'd say you ought to be proud of how well you've quit on this program, but it's simply not true.

 

[ZooCougar]

The problem with your entire premise is that you have to go into this season with no hope at all. Then what's the point? Why even bother with sports if you can't even hope for next year? If you just wanna give up?

The whole point of sports is that hope springs eternal. That as long as there's another game to play, there's another chance. You've given up before the season has even begun and it's sad and I'm glad our athletes at UConn haven't waved the white flag quite as hard and proudly as you have.

I'd say you ought to be proud of how well you've quit on this program, but it's simply not true.

We had a first year QB in a BCS conference and no offensive line.

 

[ruskin]

There's hope. It's spelled W-E-I-S-T. If not for that hire only those with rose-colored glasses who don't fully comprehend and accept the offensive coaching disaster of the past two seasons could be capable of hope.

Not sure how "imagine UConn without Pasqualoni' translates into "quitting on the program". It's OK to imagine how different things would be if the search was professionally done and landed a young Urban Meyer or Chip Kelly, instead of a proven college mediocrity whose top qualification was the blessing of Larry McHugh and the CT HS football coaches assn. Maybe a professionally done search would have gotten us Weist. Better to arrive 2 years late than not at all.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

We had a first year QB in a BCS conference and no offensive line.

The last time I dealt with someone who decided to just start repeating the same thing over and over again, that person was eight years old.

Congratulations on that.

 

[ZooCougar]

The last time I dealt with someone who decided to just start repeating the same thing over and over again, that person was eight years old.

Congratulations on that.

The last people I dealt with people that just repeated themselves over and over was you guys.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

The board loved him too much when he first started.....now it is way too hard on him when he doesn't agree with Boneyard Point-of-View. I have never found his football analysis to be deep, but he provides good coverage and he is actually more than likeable. He also beats the heck out of the coverage we had before he was assigned to cover Uconn Football. I have no problem with Dez, and I have no problem with a sports reporter using terms like "What's Good?". I would take him over J. Jacobs every day of the week and twice on Saturdays.