whaler11
Head Happy Hour Coach
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2011
- Messages
- 44,374
- Reaction Score
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I very much hope that I am wrong.
I grabbed lunch at Maggie McFly's in Glastonbury last week. On my way back to the highway I was reminded of a great memory. I was with my daughter at Smiles for the Future the day after Christmas in 2016 when we learned Diaco was relieved of his duties.
We could go dig up the threads but I was convinced there was no way they were bringing back Edsall - wow was I wrong. I tried to get on board, I really did. Going into season three you really have to squint to make a case that we are any better on the field than we were on 12/26/16.
The record against FBS teams is ghastly. Two FBS wins in two years - the mess at Temple and Tulsa ending up 15 seconds short of a mindblowing comeback at the Rent. Pyrrhic victories would be fair to describe the two FCS wins.
Edsall's insistence of burning every roster to the ground has done him no favors. He goes into the season with 77 scholarship players because the annual caps can't overcome the mass exodus. A young paper thin roster that hasn't even started to pile up injuries - not that we'll know who is hurt, because Randy Edsall believes he should collect his paycheck under the cover of dark.
Returning to our thesis, I agree with the move to leave the AAC - but clearly it puts the football program on life support:
First you hire Randy Edsall - a coach who burned you worse than a nasty case of chlamydia. What's his selling point? He'll work for less than half the average AAC coach.
Second, after Edsall and Benedict combine to put together a horrible staff, the coaching exodus looks as bad as the player exodus. Much like the players, many of the coaches end up in.... better places.
Then you drop a bomb on the program, dropping it into independence - with everything from bowl tie-ins to scheduling immediately falling into chaos.
Which leads us to today: Edsall continuing to flounder on the recruiting trail and reduced to D-II transfers from schools that sound like they were created for an unlicensed Nintendo game. Multiple classes that wouldn't rate as acceptable for an average MAC team. I'm sure we are supposed to believe in the magic powers of Randy Edsall... but his lifetime head coaching record is 100-124. I haven't had the time not desire to confirm this - but I'm fairly certain that no head coach in major college football history will end up with more career losses and a career record under .500.
Only the most blind optimist can still think that the football program has any institutional support. Even if you believe the move to independence could be a positive - every other signal out of Storrs is that the football program is an annoyance that they would rather not deal with. Edsall treats the media and fans like annoyances that stand in the way of his 7 figure annual retirement program. Certainly when he spends the season jamming the ball into the line he is trying to bore us all to death.
Anyway - as far as how the season will go. The defense will be a bit better. The offense is going to be terrible. The offensive line is wildly overrated. The tight ends and receivers are totally undermanned. Beaudry was talking about the trouble Coyle has given him in practice - that's legitimately frightening. Maybe next year they will hire a qualified offensive coordinator (lol).
Prediction: If Beaudry is servicable the 2.5 win total is a coinflip. The schedule is sneaky soft. Wagner is a glorified high school program. Navy stinks. UMass blows. Temple blew their hire finally. Houston is overrated. ECU certainly aren't world beaters and come north in November. USF still employs Charlie Strong.
If Beaudry can't play - cover the children's eyes. If they have to play SJ, then back to back 1-11 seasons are in play.
If Beaudry stays healthy I'll take 3. If he doesn't make it through the season, gimme 2.
I grabbed lunch at Maggie McFly's in Glastonbury last week. On my way back to the highway I was reminded of a great memory. I was with my daughter at Smiles for the Future the day after Christmas in 2016 when we learned Diaco was relieved of his duties.
We could go dig up the threads but I was convinced there was no way they were bringing back Edsall - wow was I wrong. I tried to get on board, I really did. Going into season three you really have to squint to make a case that we are any better on the field than we were on 12/26/16.
The record against FBS teams is ghastly. Two FBS wins in two years - the mess at Temple and Tulsa ending up 15 seconds short of a mindblowing comeback at the Rent. Pyrrhic victories would be fair to describe the two FCS wins.
Edsall's insistence of burning every roster to the ground has done him no favors. He goes into the season with 77 scholarship players because the annual caps can't overcome the mass exodus. A young paper thin roster that hasn't even started to pile up injuries - not that we'll know who is hurt, because Randy Edsall believes he should collect his paycheck under the cover of dark.
Returning to our thesis, I agree with the move to leave the AAC - but clearly it puts the football program on life support:
First you hire Randy Edsall - a coach who burned you worse than a nasty case of chlamydia. What's his selling point? He'll work for less than half the average AAC coach.
Second, after Edsall and Benedict combine to put together a horrible staff, the coaching exodus looks as bad as the player exodus. Much like the players, many of the coaches end up in.... better places.
Then you drop a bomb on the program, dropping it into independence - with everything from bowl tie-ins to scheduling immediately falling into chaos.
Which leads us to today: Edsall continuing to flounder on the recruiting trail and reduced to D-II transfers from schools that sound like they were created for an unlicensed Nintendo game. Multiple classes that wouldn't rate as acceptable for an average MAC team. I'm sure we are supposed to believe in the magic powers of Randy Edsall... but his lifetime head coaching record is 100-124. I haven't had the time not desire to confirm this - but I'm fairly certain that no head coach in major college football history will end up with more career losses and a career record under .500.
Only the most blind optimist can still think that the football program has any institutional support. Even if you believe the move to independence could be a positive - every other signal out of Storrs is that the football program is an annoyance that they would rather not deal with. Edsall treats the media and fans like annoyances that stand in the way of his 7 figure annual retirement program. Certainly when he spends the season jamming the ball into the line he is trying to bore us all to death.
Anyway - as far as how the season will go. The defense will be a bit better. The offense is going to be terrible. The offensive line is wildly overrated. The tight ends and receivers are totally undermanned. Beaudry was talking about the trouble Coyle has given him in practice - that's legitimately frightening. Maybe next year they will hire a qualified offensive coordinator (lol).
Prediction: If Beaudry is servicable the 2.5 win total is a coinflip. The schedule is sneaky soft. Wagner is a glorified high school program. Navy stinks. UMass blows. Temple blew their hire finally. Houston is overrated. ECU certainly aren't world beaters and come north in November. USF still employs Charlie Strong.
If Beaudry can't play - cover the children's eyes. If they have to play SJ, then back to back 1-11 seasons are in play.
If Beaudry stays healthy I'll take 3. If he doesn't make it through the season, gimme 2.
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