Reality Check on HCPP

[Gate97]

It gets pretty exhausting reading all the same speculation about new head coach candidates, especially a day after a win. Somehow it makes it's way into almost every thread...

Look, I'm not thrilled about a 7 point win over a mid-level MAC opponent but we saw 3 quarters of very good football yesterday. A legitimate passing game balanced out with a strong running attack. Obviously they took the foot off the gas and went super conservative for the last quarter plus but let's not use that as fodder to kickoff the new head coach search.

I hate to be the voice of reason for all the Fire P Yesterday folks on the board but we're 3-2 with 3 or 4 winnable games on the schedule. Maybe even 5 depending on which Rutgirls team shows up on Saturday.

Even if we only go 6-6 to barely make the Tires Plus Wheels Piece O'Crap Bowl, HCPP isn't going anywhere. As a few others have said, it's not like any proven commodity is walking in that door...it's just not a good enough gig yet. And 6-6 with a bowl would represent progress over last year.

This point forward, I'm shelving any coach speculation until 12/2 when we know how the season turns out (not to say I won't criticize coaching decisions in the interim)...I hope more than a few join me.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

So, 6-6 with Beef O'Brady bowl is what were settling for now at UConn?

Sorry, that's just not good enough.

P needs to go to if that becomes our expectations.

 

[johnhuskies95]

That's our biggest problem. The program is going to bottom out this year because Syracuse and Temple both suck which will give us two very good chances at least two more wins. Pitt and USF aren't very good either.

Even Rutgers has beaten nothing but dogshit teams.

 

[Skiblets]

Even if we only go 6-6 to barely make the Tires Plus Wheels Piece O'Crap Bowl, HCPP isn't going anywhere.

I'm not sure this is true.

 

[Gate97]

So, 6-6 with Beef O'Brady bowl is what were settling for now at UConn?

Sorry, that's just not good enough.

P needs to go to if that becomes our expectations.

It's a reasonable expectation in year 2 of a new coaching regime and given that we played a whole season last year with a walk-on QB. Throw out the Dan-O years and 2 fluke season where we got to good bowls by running Brown and Todman into the ground against a down Big East, 6-6 or 7-5 was par for the course over the past 10 years.

 

[nycscooby]

I

So, 6-6 with Beef O'Brady bowl is what were settling for now at UConn?

Sorry, that's just not good enough.

P needs to go to if that becomes our expectations.

No disrespect but I think you and a lot of other posters on here seriously overestimate our team's talent level. Not saying that PP is the right coach but this team is what it is....a 6 win team in a minor bowl. Be thankful that WVU isn't in the league.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I

No disrespect but I think you and a lot of other posters on here seriously overestimate our team's talent level. Not saying that PP is the right coach but this team is what it is....a 6 win team in a minor bowl. Be thankful that WVU isn't in the league.

None taken. I'm not saying this team with a new coach would be in Top 10, however there is enough talent on this roster to not be losing to Western Michigan and barely beating Buffalo at home. Even losing to NC State at home isn't going to cut it anymore.

The out of conference schedule was incredibly weak. There is no excuse to not be 5-0 heading into Rutgers.

 

[metsfan2323]

Whitmer gives me hope that the future is bright. He's getting better every week and is only a sophomore. Compare what he is doing now to what Orlovsky was doing as a sophomore and there really isn't much difference.

Right now we just don't have a RB that is on the same level as Cauley, Brown, Todman, Dixon.

P is getting slammed, but in his first recruiting class it appears he found the best QB we have had in 10 years.

 

[Brochacho]

Since we have joined the Big East in 2004, we are 58-46 with 5 bowl appearances. We need a little reality. We are not a team that wins 8 or 9 games a season. Maybe we will be at some point, but right now 6 or 7 win seasons with a bowl are far from a failure. We still have to get rid of PP though. Considering last season, this season, and next season, this year's team should be the best out of the three. But yet we are probably going to have to luck our way into 6 wins and a bowl. He is not the right guy.

 

[ruskin]

Welcome to the "happy settling for mediocrity and set low bars" thread.

Thankfully, I don't think Herbst/Manuel do.

 

[SubbaBub]

Since we have joined the Big East in 2004, we are 58-46 with 5 bowl appearances. We need a little reality. We are not a team that wins 8 or 9 games a season. Maybe we will be at some point, but right now 6 or 7 win seasons with a bowl are far from a failure. We still have to get rid of PP though. Considering last season, this season, and next season, this year's team should be the best out of the three. But yet we are probably going to have to luck our way into 6 wins and a bowl. He is not the right guy.

Jim Calhoun disagrees with you. Thank you for your interest in UConn Football.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

 

[metsfan2323]

Welcome to the "happy settling for mediocrity and set low bars" thread.

Thankfully, I don't think Herbst/Manuel do.

or its the "Fans who haven't given up on this season" thread.

 

[nycscooby]

Welcome to the "happy settling for mediocrity and set low bars" thread.

Thankfully, I don't think Herbst/Manuel do.

None taken. I'm not saying this team with a new coach would be in Top 10, however there is enough talent on this roster to not be losing to Western Michigan and barely beating Buffalo at home. Even losing to NC State at home isn't going to cut it anymore.

The out of conference schedule was incredibly weak. There is no excuse to not be 5-0 heading into Rutgers.

Maybe there isn't a lot more talent on this roster?

 

[Brochacho]

Jim Calhoun disagrees with you. Thank you for your interest in UConn Football.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

Calhoun had 7 seasons of 20 wins or less before '99. Are those not similar to 6 win bowl seasons?

And he is the greatest program builder of all time, one of the top 5 GOAT coaches overall. Not to mention in basketball, a single player can change the perception of your program. Where is Cuse without Melo carrying them to the championship? Certainly not on the same planet as UConn.

Anyways, football to basketball is apples to oranges.

 

[metsfan2323]

Calhoun's record in Big East games his first three years was no better than Dom Perno's record his last three years. The quality of the team definitely improved alot, but it took a while to show up in the win column.

 

[ruskin]

And Calhoun had us within one game of the Final Four in 1990 and 1996. He wasn't afraid to raise expectations. And even when the program dipped, you had the sense it wasn't permanent.

Certainly football and hoops are different animals but the hard work of building the infrastructure - much harder for football than hoops - has been done. Now we need a Calhoun-style leader.

 

[UConnDan97]

And Calhoun had us within one game of the Final Four in 1990 and 1996.

So, by your analogy, we should expect to battle for a BCS bowl in 2014 (PP's fourth year)...

 

[ruskin]

Not written to be an "analogy". And we were in a BCS bowl 20 months ago. PP had a MUCH easier road in front of him than JC did in 1986.

 

[UConnDan97]

Not written to be an "analogy". And we were in a BCS bowl 20 months ago. PP had a MUCH easier road in front of him than JC did in 1986.

Three of the teams in the Big East currently are ranked in the top 25 right now. Our road isn't easy, and we still may get there.

And apparently (although I hate this thinking), if you ask the average Boneyarder about our getting to the BCS 20 months ago, they would say things like "we didn't deserve to be there" or "we were a joke to play in that game." I believe that we earned our way in, for what it's worth...

 

[Sean]

"It's the line, stupid."

I don't write this to call anyone on here stupid - it's a popular quote from my Redskins message board over the past 10 years. We are losing because our offensive line stinks. People blame McCombs but a ton of it is the line. I'm not convinced Andre Dixon was any better than McCombs but he had bigger holes for sure (and more heart, I think, but I digress).

The problem is - we had a great line for many years with a great line coach. Did this line coach leave us for greener pastures? Did he suddenly lose his mojo? No - he was moved to a different position because the coaches best friend wanted to coach the offensive line.

PP put his neck on the line that DeLeone could coach the offensive line successfully. Through five games, it has clearly been a massive disaster. When you start thinking about your loyalties and friends instead of running the business/team, it's time for you to go.

Would love to see PP coaching my hometown South Windsor High - think he'd be a huge upgrade.

 

[huskypantz]

"It's the line, stupid."

I don't write this to call anyone on here stupid - it's a popular quote from my Redskins message board over the past 10 years. We are losing because our offensive line stinks. People blame McCombs but a ton of it is the line. I'm not convinced Andre Dixon was any better than McCombs but he had bigger holes for sure (and more heart, I think, but I digress).

The problem is - we had a great line for many years with a great line coach. Did this line coach leave us for greener pastures? Did he suddenly lose his mojo? No - he was moved to a different position because the coaches best friend wanted to coach the offensive line.

PP put his neck on the line that DeLeone could coach the offensive line successfully. Through five games, it has clearly been a massive disaster. When you start thinking about your loyalties and friends instead of running the business/team, it's time for you to go.

Would love to see PP coaching my hometown South Windsor High - think he'd be a huge upgrade.

For the most part, good post except for the line about heart and McCombs, which was pretty ridiculous.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Calhoun's record in Big East games his first three years was no better than Dom Perno's record his last three years. The quality of the team definitely improved alot, but it took a while to show up in the win column.

Two major differences to your perspective: 1.) Jim Calhoun was a much younger coach at that time. By the time PP ever gets this going he's well . . . Old, real old. 2.) When JC got to UConn there was no Gampel just a run down field house. PP has got state of the art facilities.