"I was ice climbing when I fell into a crevasse
and hurt my leg. There was only one way out, so fighting every natural instinct
I have, I did the thing I hated the most. I climbed down into the
darkness." - Jack Donaghy
There are many
reasons why college football coaches get fired and none of them are good.
In some cases,
coaches only have to fix one or two problems. Charlie Strong needs to change
the culture at Texas, but the talent is still there. Brian Kelly needed to
upgrade Notre Dame's defense, but the fans never stopped showing up.
From the moment
he was introduced through this past Friday at 7:59 p.m., Bob Diaco seemed to be
doing everything right. He was in full salesman mode all offseason. He got a
victory in September. His team outplayed a very good Boise State team for three
quarters. There were positives
to be gleaned from the performances and it felt like hope
had returned to the UConn program.
Then Friday night
happened. There is no way to sugarcoat how UConn played. They put forth a
pitiful performance on national television. They lost to a team that was non-competitive
the week before against North Carolina State.
UConn committed too
many penalties. They fumbled on their first drive for the fourth game in a row.
They abandoned the passing game. They threw the ball one time to an NFL talent
in Geremy Davis. They couldn't block a soul. It was a brutal, horrible, painful
game to watch.
It felt like
there were six wins on the UConn schedule in August, but South Florida probably
needed to be one. A more realistic view now reveals UConn is not playing in a
bowl game this year.
There were many
UConn fans – and I'm as guilty
as anyone – that put too much stock into UConn winning their final three
games of 2013. Fans like to focus on the good and pushed aside the nine
terrible losses that preceded it, blaming it on poor coaching and
circumstances.
Following Friday
night's debacle, there are those who are angry at Bob Diaco and that is
warranted. The bigger problem is that we did not realize the full extent of how
far the UConn program had fallen.
On Friday
morning, ESPN Classic aired UConn/USF from 2009, as UConn
was en route to a four-game winning streak to finish that season. It was an
entirely different team, from the uniforms to the nearly packed house in a
snowstorm. UConn had upperclassmen with talent that would play on Sundays and
get drafted. They had confidence and swagger. They were a good football team.
UConn in 2014 is
not a good football team. How can it? The roster has been absolutely gutted,
with Paul Pasqualoni delivering three of the school's worst recruiting
classes. Randy Edsall was routinely criticized for his recruiting but year
after year, his recruits were drafted and successful on Sundays.
To make the poor
recruiting classes even worse, the upperclassmen ranks are thin to non-existent.
The depth chart is littered with freshmen and sophomores. It is tough for any
college team to rely on young kids to win games, especially so when it's a
rebuilding team void of superstars.
There have been
flashes and glimpses of potential. Alas, that is all we have right now –
flashes and glimpses. Even if the defense has been good to stellar for four
games, it is impossible to win any football game with the quality of offensive
line play UConn has put forth so far.
The damage from
the Pasqualoni era will take several years to recover from. The on-field
problems for 3 years have been compounded the peripheral issues, such as the
fan apathy from losing and the demotion from a power conference to a mid-major.
This isn't basketball, where conference affiliation essentially means nothing.
Conference affiliation means everything and the American is not
a strong brand right now.
I don't know yet
if Bob Diaco is the answer. I know that it will be impossible to figure it out
this year – first years for college coaches give almost no indication of future
success. Charlie Weis and Brady Hoke, respectively, returned Notre Dame and Michigan
to BCS bowls in year 1. Nick Saban lost at home to Louisiana-Monroe in his
first year at Alabama. Brian Kelly piloted Notre Dame to a home loss against
Tulsa.
If you're a UConn
fan, all you can hope for from this season is improvement. You can hope that
the coaching staff identifies the talent that can grow, mature and lead the
team in 2015 and beyond. You can hope the defense remains stout. You can hope
the effort level stays where it's been. You can hope that wins do eventually
come. You can hope that when the calendar changes to November that the season
is totally lost. You can hope they beat Temple on Saturday.
Hey, maybe hope
has returned to UConn football after all?
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