So about all the coaching options we had when Pasqualoni was eventually hired....

[thatguyed]

....which ones went on to have good years since then and which ones ended up tanking? Just curious. I've lost track of who was theoretically in the running back then.

 

[CCSUblue]

Mike Leach was the hot name on the interwebs. Was supposedly second to RE for the Maryland job.

Hank Hughes got the interim tag - currently DL coach at Penn

Some other names offered up by the Courant and others:

Bill McGovern - recently NYG LB coach
Mark Whipple - after a second stint as UMass HC currently Pitt OC

Other NFL names floated included Eric Mangini, Kevin Gilbride, and Tony Soprano (RIP)

Other College names linked by various news papers included:

Mario Cristobal - then HC at FIU currently HC at Oregon
Bud Foster - VT DC then and now

 

[Woof 101]

Can't be sure to answer your question directly. It was a rush job with not many being vetted. Hathaway took the easy way out with Larry McHugh in his ear and the support of CT high school coaches. Constantly touted as The Big East's coach with the most wins. All the old minds forgot that it was not pretty at the end of his tenure with Cuse.

They only took 12 days to give Paul the job and it is MHO he had it from the start. At the time Hathaway was on the hot seat so he went with all the press and voices for Paul. Then sent packing not long after.
Here are some names that were bantered but not sure how they have fared since.

Who Will Replace Edsall At UConn?

As Randy Edsall was introduced as the new Maryland coach Monday, the decision-makers in Storrs were left with a significant job opening. Replacing the man who built the UConn football program will …

www.courant.com

 

[Chin Diesel]

Mike Leach was the hot name on the interwebs. Was supposedly second to RE for the Maryland job.

Hank Hughes got the interim tag - currently DL coach at Penn

Some other names offered up by the Courant and others:

Bill McGovern - recently NYG LB coach
Mark Whipple - after a second stint as UMass HC currently Pitt OC

Other NFL names floated included Eric Mangini, Kevin Gilbride, and Tony Soprano (RIP)

Other College names linked by various news papers included:

Mario Cristobal - then HC at FIU currently HC at Oregon
Bud Foster - VT DC then and now

Hughes was a guy who intrigued me. He stepped up to the microphone and said he wanted the job. I liked the fact he was forthcoming and wanted to be here. Maybe it was because he knew it was his only chance at getting an HC job. IDK. I do know it stood out to me at the time.

 

[hardcorehusky]

Ken O'Keefe from Iowa was on the list. Whipple wanted the job. Hughes and Moorhead as well.

 

[Waquoit]

CT HS coaches were never a friend to UConn.

 

[Chin Diesel]

CT HS coaches were never a friend to UConn.

They were looking out for their interests, not Uconn's.

 

[huskypantz]

Pete Lembo was a guy I thought might have been a good fit. Kind of a weird career path but he’s still on the doorstep of a P5 HC job.

 

[huskymedic]

Pete Lembo was a guy I thought might have been a good fit. Kind of a weird career path but he’s still on the doorstep of a P5 HC job.

Lembo was on the short list when Diaco got hired...

 

[JohnFSilver]

Ken O'Keefe from Iowa was on the list. Whipple wanted the job. Hughes and Moorhead as well.

Should have been Morehead.

 

[CCSUblue]

Even after Pasqualoni was fired, most news outlets saw Connecticut as a desirable job, and there were plenty of good candidates. I think a crazy what if is, what if Diaco took a different job after the bowl game against Marshall? Apparently he has offers. Yes, the roster probably needs a lot or rebuilding even then, but better candidates for the job.

 

[CL82]

In some ways Pasqualoni was a worse hire than a Red Pants. There was ample evidence that Pasqualoni was past his prime. Red Pants was a disaster, but there wasn’t a ton to indicate that before he came to UConn.

 

[Bongo Fury]

Should have been Morehead.

Hindsight tells us that but at the time Hughes or Foley would have been considered before and thought of as being disappointing hire. Ambrose had some good seasons.

 

[SubbaBub]

Should have been Morehead.

History confirms this. Decent chance he would have stayed a while if successful.

 

[Waquoit]

In some ways Pasqualoni was a worse hire than a Red Pants.

In most ways. He only took one season to destroy our O-line, the backbone of the program. It was disgraceful that he didn't go to a bowl game his first year. He had the players, he failed and UConn never recovered. Instead of scorn, he received support. It was evident then that he wasn't the guy and he got two more years. And to repurpose some old Pete Vescey snark: I hope someone does for you and yours, what Dez Connor did for Paul Pasqualoni.

 

[UConnSportsGuy]

My biggest "what-if" in our coaching hiring history was when we were having backroom discussion on hiring Dan Mullen away from Mississippi St before Manuel decided to go the superstar Coordinator route (Diaco/Narduzzi).

Can you imagine the alternative universe where we hired Mullen and had his offense at UConn?

 

[Bongo Fury]

History confirms this. Decent chance he would have stayed a while if successful.

He was demoted and seemingly stripped of responsibility and input. Better than being released

 

[Palatine]

I wanted us to interview Scott Frost who was an assistant at (Oregon?) at the time. The next year he took the UCF job.

 

[hardcorehusky]

In most ways. He only took one season to destroy our O-line, the backbone of the program. It was disgraceful that he didn't go to a bowl game his first year. He had the players, he failed and UConn never recovered. Instead of scorn, he received support. It was evident then that he wasn't the guy and he got two more years. And to repurpose some old Pete Vescey snark: I hope someone does for you and yours, what Dez Connor did for Paul Pasqualoni.

That was De Leone who killed the O line. The debatable question was McEntee and whoever else was around at QB able to get us to a bowl

 

[ThabeetDown]

The fact that the current OC and DC at the time of Edsall leaving are now at high profile P5 programs as coordinators speaks volumes to the talent on the staff and how massive of a fail it was to not promote either from within. Obviously, we know Morehead and his story, but Todd Orlando had been at UConn for 12 years at the time and has since been DC at Texas and now USC.

If either is hired I think the trajectory is massively different -- Orlando gets the gig and Morehead probably stays on, Hughes may be promoted to DC. Who knows what the team looks like the next few years before Morehead probably gets his HC gig elsewhere. I don't know what Orlando's deal was at the time, maybe he didn't want the HC job? Morehead clearly did, and it's a shame he didn't get it either.

There are two ways to looking at hiring in college sports (and sports in general I suppose) -- do you need to clean house and start over with an outside hire or try to keep the momentum and hire from within. For us, coming off the highest point in program history, the easy answer was the latter, and it was not done. For the two coaching changes in MBB, I think both decisions were right at the time (first within, then outside).

 

[freescooter]

Pete Lembo was a guy I thought might have been a good fit. Kind of a weird career path but he’s still on the doorstep of a P5 HC job.

Agree on Lembo. Northeast guy and had very good teams at Ball State. Would have been a good hire I still think.

 

[freescooter]

In most ways. He only took one season to destroy our O-line, the backbone of the program. It was disgraceful that he didn't go to a bowl game his first year. He had the players, he failed and UConn never recovered. Instead of scorn, he received support. It was evident then that he wasn't the guy and he got two more years. And to repurpose some old Pete Vescey snark: I hope someone does for you and yours, what Dez Connor did for Paul Pasqualoni.

I don’t think he was worse. At least he could recruit. Diaco couldn’t recruit and couldn’t coach either. Funny thing is both guys relied on their long time assistants/ friends. DeLeone killed any hope P had. He was just awful. I kind of wonder if losing his assistant hc, Patterson I think was his name, was a big loss to Diaco. i Had a sense that he kept Bob sort of under control and once he left Diaco had nobody to reel him in when required. Not saying he would be great, but I always felt Patterson kept the weird stuff under control and provided some stability. After the 6-6 season with the bowl game he left and the downward spiral started.

 

[Waquoit]

That was De Leone who killed the O line.

No! GDL had a boss who signed off on what he did.

 

[Bongo Fury]

Breiner did well after leaving UCONN too. Morehead was his mentor.

 

[HobokenHusky]

Breiner did well after leaving UCONN too. Morehead was his mentor.

He's a pass game analyst for the Eagles . . . . .. . how is he not our OC right now? Too big time for Randy's ego?