For Chic John: SU vs UCONN game thread

[Guest mz.]

Enjoy a steady diet of Curtis Brinkley (if we're smart)

[Guest mz.]

PS Edsall is not worth backing up the Brinks truck for.

[Guest mz.]

Well, that was fun.

 

Enjoy!

[Chicopee John]

Well, that was fun.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Hey, Mike!

 

I worried about a 'trap game' and have learned that it can be treacherous when going against a wounded dog - especially on the road.

 

Looking at the game stats, you'd never know that UCONN scored so many points.

 

I hope this one put the last nail in Greg Robinson's coffin.

 

 

PS Drop a post once in a while

[Guest mz.]

The stats didn't really tell the tale of the game, as SU had so many f-ups UConn didn't even need to do that much on offrense. A couple of big runs and a plethora of SU miscues were all you needed tonight.

 

That was definitely Robinson's last game in the Dome. At this point, I have no guess as to who the next coach is going to be, but anything short of Romeo Crennel himself couldn't help but be a vast improvement.

[Chicopee John]

The stats didn't really tell the tale of the game, as SU had so many f-ups UConn didn't even need to do that much on offrense. A couple of big runs and a plethora of SU miscues were all you needed tonight.

 

That was definitely Robinson's last game in the Dome. At this point, I have no guess as to who the next coach is going to be, but anything short of Romeo Crennel himself couldn't help but be a vast improvement.

 

Yesterday was our son's 15th birthday so we went out to dinner and I missed the game.

 

Yea, I noticed the runs by Todman and Brown. Brown might be a Round 1-2 draft pick after next season and Todman shows a lot of promise as a 'true' freshman.

[Guest mz.]

Greg Robinson FIRED!

[Chicopee John]

End Doesn't Justify Means

 

Jeff Jacobs November 16, 2008

 

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — He plays the state media like some bumbling high school defense and makes no apologies for it. Randy Edsall uses deception, misdirection and, if all else fails, lies.

 

He has done it for years. He has gotten away with it for years. It is a game for him. It is a game he always wins, because he holds all the cards and the easiest thing to do in this world is to dupe people when you have all the information.

 

It doesn't make him a genius.

 

It only makes him manipulative.

 

Jeff Jacobs Jeff Jacobs E-mail | Recent columns

 

It only makes him Coach Pinocchio.

 

On Tuesday Edsall said, as of right now, Cody Endres or Zach Frazer would start at quarterback against Syracuse.

 

On Thursday, he repeated, "I would say that it's still Cody and Zach or Zach and Cody, however you want to put it."

 

On Saturday Tyler Lorenzen, who broke his foot seven weeks ago at Louisville, started and played nearly the entire game in a 39-14 rout of Syracuse at the Carrier Dome.

 

And if you think this is something entirely new, well, you just haven't been paying attention. It is a weekly feature. He doesn't have the fortitude to address Larry Taylor faking a fair catch, but he does have the wherewithal to lie about Lorenzen.

 

"I guess I can apologize, but I'm not going to apologize," Edsall said. "I knew when he was going to play, but I just didn't want it out there. Sorry, but it's a competitive game and we're judged on wins and losses."

 

We've said it before and we'll say it again.

 

Fool me once, shame on you.

 

Fool me twice, shame on me.

 

Fool me a million times, welcome to UConn football.

 

This past week, under repeated questioning, Coach Pinocchio pushed it as close as one can get to a barefaced lie. And because he did, I cannot in good conscience quote Edsall until he makes good on forcing a Big East rule that he proposed after the game.

 

If you are a UConn football fan, this morning, chances are you are so happy with the victory that it doesn't bother you who played quarterback or when it was decided he'd play. Lighten up, you'll probably say. It's only football.

 

To be honest, I agree with much of that reasoning.

 

Edsall sure seemed to be enjoying the ruse. He went so far as to have Frazer run the first-team offense in pregame drills.

 

The problem is we are in the truth-telling business. We are in the information-distribution business, and Lorenzen said he knew by Thursday he'd start. And the truth is many of you who are doing the laughing are laughing because the Huskies won. If UConn was 3-7 instead of 7-3, chances are it wouldn't be half as funny to you. I feel sorry for reporters who regularly cover the UConn football team or fans who want to keep up. Reporters deserve extra pay as assistant coaches. They have the temerity to ask questions and then print answers in the days leading up to the game that as often as not prove to be unadulterated bull. They are being used in clumsy attempts to mislead opponents.

 

If you plunk down your hard-earned money to buy a newspaper and you want to buy what Randy Edsall is selling, that's your business. But Coach Pinocchio's words come wrapped with the following disclaimer: caveat emptor. Let the buyer beware.

 

Only a liar would insist Edsall is a truth-teller.

 

"We don't have any rules in the Big East," he said. "Maybe that's something we can do next year like the ACC where you have to put out an injury report. Until we have to put out an injury report, I'm not going to change. I think that's our prerogative as a coach."

 

Folks in upstate New York, of course, would take Coach Pinocchio in a heartbeat this morning. Heck, it's a wonder they even let Edsall out of the building Saturday night. Greg Robinson, 9-36, is begging to be fired. Half the Carrier Dome was empty for this game and by the midway point of the fourth quarter, nearly all of it was.

 

Syracuse is 56-81 since its last winning season in 2001, and since Edsall is a Syracuse alum there is not an insignificant chunk of the Orange's fan base that would like to see Edsall on their sideline. The whispers are that Syracuse would pay him $16 million over eight years. Bud Poliquin, the columnist at the Syracuse Post-Standard, wrote that Jim Brown and Floyd Little apparently have called Edsall to make recruiting pitches for the job.

 

Edsall went out of his way a few weeks ago to start a teleconference by announcing he had never had any contact with anybody about any job. If you can't get a coach not to lie about injuries, you can forget the truth about changing jobs. We're not that naive. We're just asking for a non-committal truth on personnel. Questionable. Maybe. Something along that line. Don't go over the line like this past week and lie. Desmond Conner asked Edsall if he could understand how reporters would be ticked off.

 

"I know you don't like it, but if you were on my side you'd do the same darn thing," Edsall said. "If I was on your side, I'd do the same thing you're doing. I would look at it as a coach trying to do his job. We're going to agree to disagree."

 

Go to the Big East, Randy.

 

Put some truth to your words.

 

Then we'll talk.

[Chicopee John]

Edsall Won't Discuss Now-Vacant Syracuse Job

 

By DESMOND CONNER | The Hartford Courant November 16, 2008

 

UConn coach Randy Edsall stuck to his guns about him filling the Syracuse head coaching vacancy, which became official today when Greg Robinson was fired after an overall record of 9-36, 3-24 in the Big East.

 

The kicker was the 39-14 loss to UConn at the Carrier Dome Saturday night where rumors ran rampant before the game that if the Orange lost badly it could come rather quickly.

 

It did.

 

"I didn't even know that," Edsall said today during his press conference with local media. "I've been watching film and everything I haven't heard that. Is that what happened? Oh. Greg's a good guy, he's a good coach, things like that happen in our profession."

 

 

 

 

The Post-Standard, listed Edsall as one of three candidates for the job along with former UConn and current East Carolina coach Skip Holtz and recently canned Oakland Raiders coach Lane Kiffin.

 

The paper also listed Edsall, a Syracuse alumnus, as the front-runner.

 

"I don't talk about personnel issues and never will," Edsall said. "I'm just concerned about coaching this football team here and making them better and just getting focused for South Florida [sunday night] and that's it."

 

When it was mentioned to Edsall that the paper quoted sources saying Edsall was "very interested" in the job, he said. "I don't talk about personnel issues as I've just said . I'm just focused with this team, trying to make us better and do the things that I can to make our team the best we can and I'm just focused on South Florida."

[Guest mz.]

Man, John, that Jeff Jacobs piece was UGLY. Is that the feeling RE: Edsall up there?

 

I realize, according to the Post-SubStandard, are Edsall, Skip Holtz, and Lane Kiffin, but I cannot see SU not interviewing Turner Gill. I'd send the University a check for $1000 right now if they hired USF's Jim Leavitt.

[Chicopee John]

Man, John, that Jeff Jacobs piece was UGLY. Is that the feeling RE: Edsall up there?

 

I realize, according to the Post-SubStandard, are Edsall, Skip Holtz, and Lane Kiffin, but I cannot see SU not interviewing Turner Gill. I'd send the University a check for $1000 right now if they hired USF's Jim Leavitt.

 

The media here does not like Jim Calhoun or Randy Edsall.

 

Calhoun is at the point - a danger point, perhaps - where he gets insulted if somebody questions his tactics, etc. Like a lot of older coaches who have tasted success over a long period of time - Paterno comes to mind - Calhoun tells the media to F* off, using those types of words. He is also accused of being soft on discipline.

 

Edsall, while not being construed as abusive or above questioning, does not give the media what they want / need. He plays EVERYTHING close to the vest, using Lorenzen only the latest of such activities. He gives the media non-answers and continues to repeat those answers as the same questions, albeit using different words or another format, are being asked. He is accused of being too strict a disciplinarian.

 

I really don't think Edsall will lose any sleep over this article. Like he said, fans love Edsall because he has had success on the field.

 

Jacobs is also a second-rate columnist working for a third-rate newspaper - the only paper in CT for all intents. The Courant is a perfect example of why newspapers are a dying business so, maybe the paper and Jacobs will be out of work soon.

 

Any way, it looks like SU is pulling in the big guns - Jim Brown and Floyd Little - and are willing to pay Edsall about $2M per season.

 

I believe he is at about $1.4M here - Calhoun makes about $1.5M+ and Auriemma about $1.2M. Not chump change with, arguably, the nicest indoor facility in the country. This being said, I'm not sure how long UCONN can keep him. Just not sure that SU is a 'step up' for him, regardless of pay, etc.

 

Maybe a SEC or PAC 10 position could be in his future. Maybe the NFL - I wouldn't mind seeing him in Cleveland.

[Guest mz.]

Try reading Bud Poliquin sometime. Redefines the phrase "hack."

 

Just not sure that SU is a 'step up' for him, regardless of pay, etc.

 

Not to play homer here (but it shall come off as such ), but I do think, recent performance notwithstanding, SU is a step up from UConn, if only for the reason you have listed; Jim Brown and Floyd Little etc. (Joe Morris, Csonka, Monk, McNabb, Harrison, Freeney...there is a history of success here). SU has a pretty rich history, and in college football, that still means something. Those are some big guns to bring out, in decision-making, recruiting, anything really. A prospective coach could have all of these things at his disposal, and when utilized correctly (or, at all, Greg Robinson), could definitely make an impact who's ceiling is way higher that it could ever be at a place like Uconn where there is no football history whatsoever.

[Chicopee John]

Now.........can you believe him?

 

Edsall 'Not Interested' In Syracuse Job

 

By DESMOND CONNER | The Hartford Courant November 17, 2008

 

 

UConn football coach Randy Edsall told the New London Day today he's not a candidate for the vacant Syracuse head coaching job that opened up Sunday night after Greg Robinson was fired.

 

"There has been speculation in various media outlets that I am a candidate for the job," Edsall told the newspaper. "But with all due respect to my alma mater and the people at Syracuse, I am not interested in being a candidate.

 

"I just want to continue to coach at the University of Connecticut and prepare my team for this week's game against South Florida and the rest of our 2008 schedule. I don't want this to become a distraction to my players or coaching staff as we move forward."

 

Syracuse is 2-8, 1-5 in the Big East after a 39-14 loss to Edsall and UConn on Saturday night. UConn is 7-3, 3-2.