Coaching search…

[DoctorWho85]

Which would be fantastic. Almost like getting struck by lightning and getting super powers. Not happening.

Thanks for shattering my dreams....

 

[ZooCougar]

Disagree. I don’t think we have an FCS squad. The MAJOR issues with UConn football right are lack of an effective QB and very unimaginative offensive game planning. Watching these games, the defense plays decent (especially early) but the offense does it no favors with all the 3 and outs and quick punts. The games where the offense moved the ball kinda sorta well- the outcome was close.

Heck, it took Fresno a while to get going offensively as the defense consistently got us off the field. Eventually, forced fumbles for a td and more punts broke this young defense. Same thing happened in the Purdue game. It was only 7-0 at the end of the first. More punts and a few big plays and the defense broke again.

I truly believe if we had Pindell here with this team the narratives would be so much different. Yeah I may be crazy but we have FBS caliber players on both sides of the ball. Get a solid OC and a good QB (Maybe Tyler Phommachanh? Someone from the portal?) and we would be competitive. I truly believe a defense is at their best when they believe they’re going out to get the ball back for a capable offense. Hate to admit it but I believe at some point our defense says to themselves, “What’s the point?”

PS. We also need to do a better job of getting pressure on the QB. Kudos to our secondary for manning all that space fully knowing they will have to cover for over 5 or 6 secs which is extremely difficult. DB’s on teams that consistently get pressure can be more aggressive and take more chances knowing the ball is coming out in 4 secs or less. Just sayin

We lost to a team that lost to URI.

We lost to a team that doesn’t even have the full compliment of FCS scholarships.

Our true level is non scholarship FCS.

 

[Pudge]

I'm not sure about that. The high point of his tenure was one nine win season and he had a total of two winning seasons while he was there.

From the late 1980's until not long ago I saw two college teams whose situations baffled me, Temple football and Rutgers basketball. Considering the location of each, they should be able to field decent programs without really trying. Putting up the pathetic results each had for so long was mind boggling. There is so much basketball talent in metro NYC, metro Philly and the stretch (Jersey) in between. Even if bigger names were to take all of the first, second and third tier talent, there would still be enough for Rutgers to field a far more competitive team than they had from the mid 1980's until a few years ago. The same could be said for Temple football, considering the talent within an hour's drive in any direction from the school.

Golden did turn around a program that did nothing for decades, I am not about to diminish that but what exactly had UConn done prior to Edsall? I don't see how what from his arrival through the Motor City bowl cab be viewed as anything less than at worst the equal of Golden's tenure at Temple and the subsequent stretch, ending with three straight bowl appearances was well ahead of Golden's Temple run.

why hire a guy from Northern Illinois with no Philadelphia or NJ roots. Of course, this came after Collins. They seem to have gotten cocky. However, Rhule and Golden (and certainly Addazio) had local guys serving as assistants. I feel they have drifted through the last few years.

net net Football is tough in the Northeast unless you are really focused on the tight recruiting strategy that works. And then make the football tough and offensively interesting.

Personally, I'd rather go ground up - from trailers to the Rent - than a rehab job with poor bones. I toured Temple's athletic & football facilities in 2011. East of Broad Street. Gosh ... they were not anywhere near the Burton/Shenkman. And the wasteland of being 1-11 is hard to push. I am impressed by Golden's leap. But yes ... he did it in the MAC; we were with Big boys. Liable to get a 40 point beatdown if we didn't have most all components tied down.

 

[Kolumbo]

We lost to a team that lost to URI.

We lost to a team that doesn’t even have the full compliment of FCS scholarships.

Our true level is non scholarship FCS.

non-scholarship FCS. Ouch. It seems there is far more overlap between FBS and FCS than we'd like to admit.

13 things FBS should learn from FCS

The lower half of Division I does a bunch of things that could make the upper half better.

www.bannersociety.com

 

[Pudge]

think about it ...

After reading that piece - some good points - he says: think or all the MONEY that can be saved by being at 63 scholarships rather than 85. Cmon man. You simply aren't using your head (let alone - you leave out the women have to have 22 more scholarships). The COST is not in the extra enrollment. That also can be a accounting debit credit thing. Extra seats in various classrooms?

We are going to see an extra 5-10 FBS schools; and apparently 30 programs contacted the Commissioner of the CUSA to talk upgrade (or she called to check on the FBS independents). That is the report.

What this is really about ... it is the one time sports earthquake with after shocks. While you can say FBS should be FCS, how do you explain the current rise of Coastal Carolina, App State etc etc. The English Premier League doesn't have nearly the success of CFB in the rise of the unwashed to the higher level. The FCS is a Loser. Playoffs - ok Great. But when 12-20 of the top schools leave in a ten year period, what is that ... Erosion.

We have a Tier/Caste system. Unlike our Program going to the Fiesta for a Top Bowl: this is not going happen again. G5? The P5 does not want them in their Playoff deep. One game ok. But the Branding and Money is to be verboten to the bottom 60+. Flattening out.

 

[metsfan2323]

think about it ...

After reading that piece - some good points - he says: think or all the MONEY that can be saved by being at 63 scholarships rather than 85. Cmon man. You simply aren't using your head (let alone - you leave out the women have to have 22 more scholarships). The COST is not in the extra enrollment. That also can be a accounting debit credit thing. Extra seats in various classrooms?

We are going to see an extra 5-10 FBS schools; and apparently 30 programs contacted the Commissioner of the CUSA to talk upgrade (or she called to check on the FBS independents). That is the report.

What this is really about ... it is the one time sports earthquake with after shocks. While you can say FBS should be FCS, how do you explain the current rise of Coastal Carolina, App State etc etc. The English Premier League doesn't have nearly the success of CFB in the rise of the unwashed to the higher level. The FCS is a Loser. Playoffs - ok Great. But when 12-20 of the top schools leave in a ten year period, what is that ... Erosion.

We have a Tier/Caste system. Unlike our Program going to the Fiesta for a Top Bowl: this is not going happen again. G5? The P5 does not want them in their Playoff deep. One game ok. But the Branding and Money is to be verboten to the bottom 60+. Flattening out.

Why do all of your posts seem like Riddles?

 

[CONN78SEJ]

I think with a good quarterback and some imagination on offense, and maybe a bit of luck on the injury front where after all we lost our 2 best receivers, we are not terrible. We need to Upgrade for sure. And not a lot of depth especially on the offensive side of the football which has been a problem. And we had very little margin for error, but I think saying we are fcs level is not true. We werent capable of going 12-0 but there were multiple winnable games on the schedule. A good coach isn’t coming into nothing. I don’t see a 5 year rebuild but more like 3.

One really disappointing thing is that our schedule gets tougher starting next year. That makes it tricky for a new guy. Alas this was the year to start the process.

Well we were killed by Holy Cross, came within a whisker of blowing the game to Yale (refs bailed us out in that one), was soundly defeated by UMass.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

It’s not a right or wrong thing at all. Just respectfully disagreed with your take. We are all entitled to our opinions for sure. Just looking at the games and how they progressed you can see our talent. No way we’re competing with Fresno for an entire half, taking Wyoming and Vanderbilt down to the wire with an FCS roster. Not happening.


I get that it hurts to see the losses piling up. But when you remove the emotions, it’s not difficult to see that we have solid players on this team- on both sides of the ball. Just need a few pieces and some better coaching

Yeah right, solid players who were convincingly beaten by UMass, destroyed by that powerhouse Holy Cross, and almost to Yale. You make great sense.

 

[DoctorWho85]

Yeah right, solid players who were convincingly beaten by UMass, destroyed by that powerhouse Holy Cross, and almost to Yale. You make great sense.

And almost beat Vandy and Wyoming. The players are there. Puma made this offense go. Without him they went back to run run run punt. The team has to capability of putting up points. Problem isn't the players, it's the coaching and unimaginative play calling.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

You forget that Dave was at Auburn with Lashlee and why he came here with Diaco to begin with and to get away from Malzahn who was the offensive coach who called his own plays

Auburn and Malzahn also held the door open for Lashlee's departure. Read: nice way of saying Lashlee was pushed out and the timing worked for AD David Benedict. 2 separate, independent sources: 1. Big whale War Eagle donor, friend/former work colleague, 2. Neighbor who started circa Cam Newton.

 

[uconnric]

Well we were killed by Holy Cross, came within a whisker of blowing the game to Yale (refs bailed us out in that one), was soundly defeated by UMass.

And we certainly could have won the Wyoming and Vanderbilt games.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

And we certainly could have won the Wyoming and Vanderbilt games.

Maybe the Vandy game, but in the Wyoming game, though they put up a valiant effort, Wyoming physically beat the crap out of us, and the end our players physically had nothing left.

 

[CL82]

I'm not sure about that. The high point of his tenure was one nine win season and he had a total of two winning seasons while he was there.

From the late 1980's until not long ago I saw two college teams whose situations baffled me, Temple football and Rutgers basketball. Considering the location of each, they should be able to field decent programs without really trying. Putting up the pathetic results each had for so long was mind boggling. There is so much basketball talent in metro NYC, metro Philly and the stretch (Jersey) in between. Even if bigger names were to take all of the first, second and third tier talent, there would still be enough for Rutgers to field a far more competitive team than they had from the mid 1980's until a few years ago. The same could be said for Temple football, considering the talent within an hour's drive in any direction from the school.

Golden did turn around a program that did nothing for decades, I am not about to diminish that but what exactly had UConn done prior to Edsall? I don't see how what from his arrival through the Motor City bowl cab be viewed as anything less than at worst the equal of Golden's tenure at Temple and the subsequent stretch, ending with three straight bowl appearances was well ahead of Golden's Temple run.

So HCRE3?

 

[Bongo Fury]

I’ve never followed Golden but based on record he is a faster builder than RE

 

[Fairfield_1st]

Yeah right, solid players who were convincingly beaten by UMass, destroyed by that powerhouse Holy Cross, and almost to Yale. You make great sense.

If you didn't see the difference in play when Tyler P was healthy and Malzone was here, then there's no point discussing the players. That was the only moment during the season I had hope. When Malzone silently departed, you could see that once again the offensive play calling had reverted back to to the pre-Malzone times and hope was lost. I absolutely believe that a good coaching hire with good coordinators can instantly add wins. There is potential here.
It makes me think of the scene in Band of Brothers when Winters sent Speirs out into the field to replace the ineffective Dike during the attack on Foy. What a difference a leader can make. Hopefully you've seen the series and the reference isn't lost.

 

[Hoophound]

Mazzone made Krajewski look pretty good too. We are watching a level of offensive incompetence from our staff that is incomprehensible to most. That’s why people can’t get their heads around it.

We just aren’t this bad. Our OC is so bad that one guy, making $2500/week, could completely transform the team in 6 days and make it decent. It really is comical what we are dealing with.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

Too bad the Edit function is gone or I'd fix my butchering of Mazzone's name. Sorry Noel, you deserved better.

 

[SubbaBub]

I think when you hire a guy like Golden, he is picking his staff

I think AD David Benedict should be evaluating who the next HC would bring as part of the interview process. Anyone wants to bring a GDL type or hasn't prepared a thoughtful and verifiable plan AD David Benedict can evaluate in his own way doesn't get hired. None of this, you'll see my preferred staff once I'm hired nonsense. You can have a list of guys you are reasonably confident that you can get or guys you may have had preliminary conversations with (OC's at minimum) but staff has to be one of the evaluation criteria.

 

[uconnbill]

How about Bobby Petrino. He is coaching at Missouri St and always has winning teams "except Atlanta Falcons"
I know he has baggage a good deal of it, but heck I want a winner and I am tired of the talk that UConn will always stink.

So cast the stones

 

[ZooCougar]

Mazzone made Krajewski look pretty good too. We are watching a level of offensive incompetence from our staff that is incomprehensible to most. That’s why people can’t get their heads around it.

We just aren’t this bad. Our OC is so bad that one guy, making $2500/week, could completely transform the team in 6 days and make it decent. It really is comical what we are dealing with.

I have the same take.

It won’t even take a perfect HC to make this team better.

Mazzone is like GDL lite. But also the best 5 grand we ever spent.

 

[ZooCougar]

How about Bobby Petrino. He is coaching at Missouri St and always has winning teams "except Atlanta Falcons"
I know he has baggage a good deal of it, but heck I want a winner and I am tired of the talk that UConn will always stink.

So cast the stones

Look at his final years at Louisville. It was all smoke and mirrors. His players hated him.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

So HCRE3?

I don't know how you came to that conclusion but to use an "Office Space" reference you landed on "Loose One Turn".

 

[ktuck911]

Whoever we get I sure hope AD David Benedict gives him the green light to take advantage of the portal... I'm talking you bring in multiple kids (like they do with basketball) that are higher caliber and can provide immediate help to the team type guys... we need a "Johnny Be Good" moment (well not too over the top like the UTEX and USC visits he had... guys around my age that have seen that movie know what I mean).. but seriously, we need IMPACT guys...

I think, with our schedule, which isn't a weak one, we gotta get immediate help.. We can't come out looking week for 3 quarters against a team's 1st, 2nd & 3rd stringers, then looking competitive against their afterthoughts... We gotta show up.. (Hopefully the coaching staff we get won't put up with that garbage, in practice, either)...

 

[huskymedic]

Whoever we get I sure hope AD David Benedict gives him the green light to take advantage of the portal...

AD Dave has already addressed that…

 

[FfldCntyFan]

We can be but that model only works for ND and BYU, and even BYU is giving up on it.

I'm not sure we need to have ND success (in terms of media contracts, acceptance as a power program, etc) to be better off as an independent in football than if we were in a CUSA type conference as a football only member.

We can build an attractive schedule (could get even more attractive if the program improves) and create quite a bit of exposure. I don't see how that happens if 8-9 games a year are against the schools like UTEP and Georgia State.