You don't want to hear this...

[RioDog]

Diaco coming back in 2017 just sends the signal to the fan base like us that Benedict doesn't understand how long and how far this program has fallen, and that we're sick of it. I get giving the guy a shot- but year 3 to be 3-8 going into the final week, including 2 shutouts in back-to-back weeks, that's horrible coaching. Period.

IF he returns, maybe they can find a way to blow up and rebuild the staff with some outside talent (maybe not affliated with or friends with Diaco!) to get this back on track. Religate Diaco to just being head coach and recruiting. IDK- this is a big maybe.

The only scenario I could stomach even a little would be:

DB hires a proven OC and a proven DC with the understanding that one of them will be named HC in 2018 and the other will be named Asst. Head coach with a nice raise after Diaco is let go at the end of the 2017. Diaco's responsibilities being relegated to Rah Rah and team-building exercises.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Spoke to an old friend who was in the Miami AD for years in many capacities including acting AD. His view is that Diaco will be back but will have to make many staff changes. He says 4 years is the general standard unless there is a scandal or the guy is just awful. But getting to a bowl almost guaranteed that he isn't in the just awful category. The problem he will face is replacing the guys he needs to replace. Who wants to leave a job to join a guy on the hot seat? So your pool for assistants is limited. Almost a no win situation so we could see a Cummings back just because nobody wants the job. His view is to get a 1AA coordinator who has potential and who would take the gig to get into 1A. And he thinks Bob will be put on notice that a winning record is a must in 2017 and maybe he gets muzzled a bit too

What in the hell standards could you use to determine Diaco isn't awful?

It's almost more of an indictment that he went back to 3 wins after winning 6 because it just further substantiated that last year was pure smoke and mirrors.

There is literally nothing you can say about Bob that isn't terrible. At least up until a few games ago you could say the guys played hard. Now he's lost the team.

We don't crack 10k paid season tickets next year if he is brought back. I'd argue maybe not even 5k if you exclude the students. A lot of those people are never coming back either.

 

[ZooCougar]

Spoke to an old friend who was in the Miami AD for years in many capacities including acting AD. His view is that Diaco will be back but will have to make many staff changes. He says 4 years is the general standard unless there is a scandal or the guy is just awful. But getting to a bowl almost guaranteed that he isn't in the just awful category. The problem he will face is replacing the guys he needs to replace. Who wants to leave a job to join a guy on the hot seat? So your pool for assistants is limited. Almost a no win situation so we could see a Cummings back just because nobody wants the job. His view is to get a 1AA coordinator who has potential and who would take the gig to get into 1A. And he thinks Bob will be put on notice that a winning record is a must in 2017 and maybe he gets muzzled a bit too

P somehow got Weist in year 3... Which makes it worse. Guys like Shane Day and Weist will probably take over when Bob gets canned mid-season and then we'll never see them again.

We know this sequence all too well now.

Diaco stays for another season, and then gets fired 4-6 games in. We putz around for the end of the season and then make a hire in December. The new guy scrambles to put together a recruiting class, which will be even worse than this one (if that's possible) and then we suck for another year as the new crew tries to get established.

I would just bite the bullet on 1 Jan. Make a new hire then (probably could be worked on the down low in December), that way really only eat one bad recruiting year and the new guy can get a head start getting established.

That puts the AD one year closer to regenerating season ticket holders and closer to making money again.

 

[Carl Spackler]

P somehow got Weist in year 3... Which makes it worse. Guys like Shane Day and Weist will probably take over when Bob gets canned mid-season and then we'll never see them again.

We know this sequence all too well now.

Diaco stays for another season, and then gets fired 4-6 games in. We putz around for the end of the season and then make a hire in December. The new guy scrambles to put together a recruiting class, which will be even worse than this one (if that's possible) and then we suck for another year as the new crew tries to get established.

I would just bite the bullet on 1 Jan. Make a new hire then (probably could be worked on the down low in December), that way really only eat one bad recruiting year and the new guy can get a head start getting established.

That puts the AD one year closer to regenerating season ticket holders and closer to making money again.

Stop making sense.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

The reality is that unless someone steps up and writes a very large check, we will have to go another year with Diaco as HC. If someone from Ct. Hits powerball there is a chance, shy of that there is nobody with deep enough pockets to pull this off willing to do so.

 

[Pudge]

Spoke to an old friend who was in the Miami AD for years in many capacities including acting AD. His view is that Diaco will be back but will have to make many staff changes. He says 4 years is the general standard unless there is a scandal or the guy is just awful. But getting to a bowl almost guaranteed that he isn't in the just awful category. The problem he will face is replacing the guys he needs to replace. Who wants to leave a job to join a guy on the hot seat? So your pool for assistants is limited. Almost a no win situation so we could see a Cummings back just because nobody wants the job. His view is to get a 1AA coordinator who has potential and who would take the gig to get into 1A. And he thinks Bob will be put on notice that a winning record is a must in 2017 and maybe he gets muzzled a bit too

Exactly ...

There is a FCS coordinator somewhere with a total PASS oriented SPREAD and needs to prove it in 2017. That is the one chance that we actually can root that Benedict pushes.

As for the buyout ($3.5m to $5m), I see all of us in the roles of the hippy looking kids at the Grateful Dead concerts hoping for that "miracle". It could happen.

 

[Dooley]

P somehow got Weist in year 3... Which makes it worse. Guys like Shane Day and Weist will probably take over when Bob gets canned mid-season and then we'll never see them again.

We know this sequence all too well now.

Diaco stays for another season, and then gets fired 4-6 games in. We putz around for the end of the season and then make a hire in December. The new guy scrambles to put together a recruiting class, which will be even worse than this one (if that's possible) and then we suck for another year as the new crew tries to get established.

I would just bite the bullet on 1 Jan. Make a new hire then (probably could be worked on the down low in December), that way really only eat one bad recruiting year and the new guy can get a head start getting established.

That puts the AD one year closer to regenerating season ticket holders and closer to making money again.

Agree 100000%. That is *EXACTLY* what is going to happen. UConn football gets pushed back another 2-3 years and is not ready to compete in time for the next wave of CR...which will be the final wave of CR...when FOX/B1G deal expires and B12 GOR expires. After that, the P5 dreams shut completely.

 

[ZooCougar]

Exactly ...

There is a FCS coordinator somewhere with a total PASS oriented SPREAD and needs to prove it in 2017. That is the one chance that we actually can root that Benedict pushes.

As for the buyout ($3.5m to $5m), I see all of us in the roles of the hippy looking kids at the Grateful Dead concerts hoping for that "miracle". It could happen.

Correct me if I am wrong, but we don't have to pay it all at once right? I can see how that sum could be painful but not completely prohibitive.

 

[Dooley]

Correct me if I am wrong, but we don't have to pay it all at once right? I can see how that sum could be painful but not completely prohibitive.

That is correct. It's not a lump sum payment - it can be made in installments. That is how every buyout I've ever heard of has operated. But don't put it past our stupid administration to have written in a clause that says it must be made in one lump payment.

 

[Pudge]

Correct me if I am wrong, but we don't have to pay it all at once right? I can see how that sum could be painful but not completely prohibitive.

YES

I see it as negotiable.

What has happened in the past? Some schools have tried to stiff the coach on some grounds. Can you imagine - for instance Baylor for Dave Bliss or Art Briles or Iowa State with Larry Eustachy on the morals front then Lane Kiffin at Tennessee or something. Employment law - as I watch a friend who is in 3 lawsuits from his 8 year period of being CEO in various companies - is tricky. You still have to bang away through years sometimes.

 

[ZooCougar]

YES

I see it as negotiable.

What has happened in the past? Some schools have tried to stiff the coach on some grounds. Can you imagine - for instance Baylor for Dave Bliss or Art Briles or Iowa State with Larry Eustachy on the morals front then Lane Kiffin at Tennessee or something. Employment law - as I watch a friend who is in 3 lawsuits from his 8 year period of being CEO in various companies - is tricky. You still have to bang away through years sometimes.

I think Kansas was paying three different head coaches recently. It's not like Benedict has to write a $5 million check or even a $3.5 millon. If the school doesn't do this, then it's because they simply don't want to.

 

[Pudge]

I think Kansas was paying three different head coaches recently. It's not like Benedict has to write a $5 million check or even a $3.5 millon. If the school doesn't do this, then it's because they simply don't want to.

Well ... that is not prudent.

The other side of Connecticut is the awful state self-image of public fiscal responsibility. Susan Herbst, Dannel Malloy and David Benedict do not want to be seen as letting that amount going floating to the Diaco family trust.

 

[huskymedic]

That is correct. It's not a lump sum payment - it can be made in installments. That is how every buyout I've ever heard of has operated. But don't put it past our stupid administration to have written in a clause that says it must be made in one lump payment.

Nope - payable within 60 days of the effective day of termination per his contract.

 

[Alum86]

Well ... that is not prudent.

The other side of Connecticut is the awful state self-image of public fiscal responsibility. Susan Herbst, Dannel Malloy and David Benedict do not want to be seen as letting that amount going floating to the Diaco family trust.

Well 1 of the 3. Suzy and her 100K+ assistants to the assistant and Dannel, well too many to list (has he decided to forego the 250M for XL upgrades yet?)
Benedict is probably weeping under his desk

 

[Dooley]

Nope - payable within 60 days of the effective day of termination per his contract.

Oh good Lord. We can't catch a friggin' break.

 

[uconnphil2016]

As time goes on, I'm less and less optimistic that BD gets the boot. Looks like we're stuck with him for at least the beginning of next season. I will not renew my season tickets. I did it this year because I believed--I recognized I could get tix for cheaper if I scalped, but I wanted to support the program. Next year, if I go at all, I'll be getting my tix from the dumpster outside of gate A as opposed to paying $125 for this crap.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Well ... that is not prudent.

The other side of Connecticut is the awful state self-image of public fiscal responsibility. Susan Herbst, Dannel Malloy and David Benedict do not want to be seen as letting that amount going floating to the Diaco family trust.

There is no barrier to increasing their own salaries though, and approving very bad contracts like the one awarded Diaco - apparently without considering the situation the program is in right now.

If Diaco isn't gone, this is a big problem.

 

[cgbgjr]

Diaco coming back in 2017 just sends the signal to the fan base like us that Benedict doesn't understand how long and how far this program has fallen, and that we're sick of it.
/QUOTE]

He understands--but he may believe the cost vs benefit numbers support keeping the guy. Unfortunately anyone buying season tickets for next year will just be enabling this bad decision.

 

[Athlete94]

There's no gray area here, he goes after Tulane game. 2 OC now maybe 3 in his 3 years? If he stays, UCONN football will become the UMASS of college basketball. Can't bring someone in to start all over again and wait and see for another 3 plus years. It needs to happen now.

 

[uconnfan68]

You don't understand. The UCONN administration is making a secret push to join the Ivy League for all sports. What's happening now is all part of their master plan.

I would be thrilled with that.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

There is no barrier to increasing their own salaries though, and approving very bad contracts like the one awarded Diaco - apparently without considering the situation the program is in right now.

If Diaco isn't gone, this is a big problem.

How could he have foreseen the situation the program is in today when he awarded the extension after a season in which we improved, got a top 25 win, and went to a bowl? I agree Diaco has to go now, but blaming Benedict for giving him an extension at the time because we suck now is a revisionist view of history.

 

[Husky68]

The only scenario I could stomach even a little would be:

DB hires a proven OC and a proven DC with the understanding that one of them will be named HC in 2018 and the other will be named Asst. Head coach with a nice raise after Diaco is let go at the end of the 2017. Diaco's responsibilities being relegated to Rah Rah and team-building exercises.

Not sure how his contract reads but would take it one level further and "make/order" him to hire new OC and DC to be approved by athletic director, don't do it breach of contract. Didn't Maryland force a coach/recruiter on FHCRE.

 

[SonsOfNutmeg]

Anyone else think that perhaps Diaco's job will be saved becuase of the $250,000 donation he and his wife gave to the University for the new soccer and baseball complexes?? It was a nice sign of good faith- just wish we had more "faith" in him coaching this program...

 

[FDNY99]

Not sure how his contract reads but would take it one level further and "make/order" him to hire new OC and DC to be approved by athletic director, don't do it breach of contract. Didn't Maryland force a coach/recruiter on FHCRE.

yeah...Kevin Anderson forced Edsall to hire Mike Locksley. It was to his benefit to hire that guy anyway...as far as recruiters go he is in Ed Oregon terrority...not as good as Eddy O but that kind of a recruiter.

 

[FDNY99]

Anyone else think that perhaps Diaco's job will be saved becuase of the $250,000 donation he and his wife gave to the University for the new soccer and baseball complexes?? It was a nice sign of good faith- just wish we had more "faith" in him coaching this program...

Nope if he keeps his job it's because there is no $$ to buy out his contract...nothing more nothing less.