Worst decisions in UConn coaching history

[Excalibur]

Taken together , the fake and the kick were puzzling. The mid-drive qb switch was worse.


What surprises me is how surprised some of you are about it. This is what happens when you hire someone who hasn't been a head coach.

What I disagree with is any suggestion that the players looked listless. The energy level was higher than anything we saw over the previous two years. Defenders pursued the ball, The running backs all seemed to run hard, and the effort was consistent. There was occasional confusion, which is not surprising given inexperienced players in a new system.

 

[FAIRTIDES]

For sure, Whaler isn't wrong. But I don't buy the supposition that because Diaco chose to treat this like a preseason game and not continue the drive, that he won't do that say, next year against a conference opponent in the middle of the season. For me, it's more about the tone and you'd think with a staff that's trying to change the mentality of a team, going for the FG sends the message that we're not competing in this game. Maybe that sets in if we lose again to Boise and some of the players would view this as a throwaway year. Later in the season if we're flirting with bowl eligibility I'm hopeful they'll be able to wipe that mentality away. And whether it's this season or next, I'll reserve judgment on Diaco's gameday decisions for a situation where there's a little more on the line... and as I've said in the preseason, HCBD and his assistants can make some screwy decisions as long as they get them out of the way early and improves over time.

One of the good things I took from the game is that I didn't see one player, not one, display anything but a positive. "keep at'em attitude. RD played, according to at least one written report, 59-players in the first half alone. I'm assuming it was a smaller number in the second half; and it seemed that things settled down; especially on defense.

By the way. Who is responsible for the, "Hill can't pass" crap? I guess the Manning camp really helped him cause the truth is: Hill is a much better than average passer who will drive 11-opponents nuts. The good news is that we won't see anyone close to Hill in remaining games. Here's hoping he opts for the NFL and we never see him again.

 

[Husky25]

I went to my first UConn football game in 1986. I've been a season ticket holder since 1998. I've been to at least 40 road games.

My top 3 worst decisions:

3. 2011 at Vanderbilt. The pass. Enough said.

2. 2003 at North Carolina State, Edsall tries to drive the long field with almost no time and no kicker in a tie game only to see Orlovsky throw a pick 6 as time expires.

1. Down 21 points in fourth quarter at home: Bob Diaco kicks a field goal to cut lead to 18. Bonus points for listening to an interview where he wasn't asked what in the hell his motivation was.

It's a tie between them all from January 2011 - September 2013.

 

[BlueHen]

I give up.

I would have gone for the TD.

All I'm saying is that I can understand kicking the FG, and I don't think the coaches were giving up by doing so.

 

[whaler11]

I would have gone for the TD.

All I'm saying is that I can understand kicking the FG, and I don't think the coaches were giving up by doing so.

Well then they can't be trusted to make that decision. They need someone who can comprehend simple addition.

 

[CTBasketball]

The reason why we took the FG was to make the score look not as "embarrassing." That's it.

 

[BlueHen]

Well then they can't be trusted to make that decision. They need someone who can comprehend simple addition.

I thought you gave up?

 

[Srqhusky]

The worst part is that everyone in the stadium knew it. After Puyol nailed the kick, the concourse was swamped with people heading for the exits. I just threw my hands up in the air, wondering what mathematical plan he had worked out that led him to that conclusion. Uggh...

Diaco is think I g coats of paint. In three years we will have a team with a bunch of guys with game snaps. Diaco will get this I don't doubt. He will have a statue on campus

 

[cohenzone]

He doesn't have a hell of a lot of talent to work with and if we forgot what P did to this program, we sure remembered it tonight....but even grading on the curve, Diaco was a mess tonight.

The existence of a quarterback platoon scares the holy hell out of me. First, it screams indecision and second, I'll wager these kids will throw some picks coming in cold and trying to force the issue. Third, it's a bad idea.

Nothing good happened tonight. I am going to pretend it never happened.

You're so wrong. Watching the young woman in front of me go from just plain blotto at the opening kick, to emptying more little bottles of airplane bourbon in one swallow than a 747 holds, to where she came close to putting on a total burlesque show when the dance cam was on, well, what field goal try are you guys talking about?

For the record, aside from the sea of yellow rags on the field, the worst thing about last night in my book was the QB merry-go-round. This was not a game I thought we had a real chance to win, but the QB shuffle has to stop and the answer in my book has to be to play Cochran. More decisive, showed last year he can be a winner, and don't let him go cold on the sidelines watching Whitmer bolt the pocket way too soon.

 

[Palatine]

Yanking CC in the red zone after he led the team down the field to start the second half was a complete head scratcher.

To quote Sean Wallace, INCONCEIVABLE!

 

[RMoore1999]

Everything about the way he went about the game makes me think that Diaco treated it like it was an exhibition, a chance to see what he had in a game environment against a good opponent. I can understand why he would do that.

That said, if the season-ticket holders who shell out a lot of time and money for the program are quite upset about that, you can't blame them.

This is a long process, folks. This was the first time Bob Diaco took the field as a head coach. Ever. He did so against a good team with a very good coach.

"Everything about the way he went about the game makes me think that Diaco treated it like it was an exhibition"

He virtually told anyone willing to listen before the game this was going to be his approach.

In retrospect, it should have been more obvious that BD's pre-game theme of [paraphrasing here] "we're going to be a much better football team after the game", "we've got two great QB's who will both play", and "many players are deserving of and will see action", etc. scream "we're not ready for big-boy football against a decent program like BYU, so we'll treat this game like an exhibition".

And don't be surprised if this philosophy continues for some or all of the remainder of the schedule.

Not the way I'd manage this season, but if the approach results in 7 or more wins next year, I'll accept it.

 

[UConnDan97]

Diaco is think I g coats of paint. In three years we will have a team with a bunch of guys with game snaps. Diaco will get this I don't doubt. He will have a statue on campus

I hope he WILL have a statue on campus. I will help work on the bronze (you and I can both "chem" it up). But he's been around a lot of good head coaches in his life, and there were a lot of decisions he made that screamed "amateur hour". Especially based on some of his post-game comments that I'm hearing about from second-hand sources.

Here's what I ultimately took away from the game:

1) We have some talent in spots that should help us stay in and win games.
2) We have two quarterbacks that, when given a chance to settle in (a.k.a., just freaking pick one of them!), could lead us to victory.
3) We have a bunch of kids that refused to quit last night, and put in a solid effort everywhere on the field.
4) We have a coach that I hope learned a lot from his first appearance as a head coach.

If all four things play out next week, we get the win against Stony Brook and we head into the Boise game with some momentum and a good taste in our mouths...

 

[itgoeslike]

Leading up to the game it was reported that the athletes were a work in progress. Clearly that applies to the coaching staff as well. But then again, it's not totally unexpected considering the circumstances. Both have the potential to improve. We'll see how it unfolds. . .

 

[junglehusky]

"Everything about the way he went about the game makes me think that Diaco treated it like it was an exhibition"

He virtually told anyone willing to listen before the game this was going to be his approach.

In retrospect, it should have been more obvious that BD's pre-game theme of [paraphrasing here] "we're going to be a much better football team after the game", "we've got two great QB's who will both play", and "many players are deserving of and will see action", etc. scream "we're not ready for big-boy football against a decent program like BYU, so we'll treat this game like an exhibition".

And don't be surprised if this philosophy continues for some or all of the remainder of the schedule.

Not the way I'd manage this season, but if the approach results in 7 or more wins next year, I'll accept it.

I think that definitely explains, for example, having Puyol kick the FG down 3 TDs.