I'm slowly warming up to Edsall

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Bayfieldgopher

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After snooping around to satisfy my curiousity, it appears that Randy Edsall "could" be a good hire.

From what I gather, he has built his teams on defense and a strong running game. He has noticed what Wisky and Nebraska have done and decided to hoard OL and has done alot of redshirting which has paid off. UConn has enjoyed 1000 yard rushers the past couple of seasons and do a great job of protecting the QB. Run first and pass second seems to be his style. I am not familiar with his offense schemes but I did read where, like most programs, they do employ the Wildcat.

His D has allowed the following ppg the past four seasons: 19.8, 23.6, 19.7 and 19.0 which is a whole lot better than what we are used to around these parts.

Now if he can duplicate that, maybe, just maybe, he will fit in nicely here.
 




Like I said on another thread, last night they said Uconn's facilities have not been much better than a high school's. And, the guys on College Football Final praised Edsall and said probably no one in the country can do more with less. We could do much worse.
 


He runs a style of offense that is similar to what Wisconsin runs and namely during the Alvarez era. Also puts a major emphasis on defense and special teams. So basically you will get a hard nosed mentality that is built from the both sides of the line out.
 

Count me in the camp that would be happy with Edsall. Petersen would be a home run hire, but in some ways I feel like he'd be more hit-or-miss with Edsall with the conference being more different from the Big Ten than the Big East.
 

Edsall is fine. Especially like his emphasis on defense. Any word on how he does recruiting wise?
 

I know a lot of people have said the UConn winning the Big East twice under Edsall isnt that big of a deal since the conference is not very strong, but I dont think any gopher team could have won the Big East. I think Edsall would be a solid hire
 



GRGOPHER said:
Edsall is fine. Especially like his emphasis on defense. Any word on how he does recruiting wise?
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From what I can tell, his recruiting resume is filled with "coach 'em up" type players. You're not gonna get 5 and 4 star players through Storrs unless they play hoops.
 

GRGOPHER said:
Any word on how he does recruiting wise?
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Considering the football talent in the region, Uconn's facilities, lack of history, etc. he does quite respectably.

If this was golf, he would be scoring a few over par, but he did so with only a putter.
 

Duluthguy said:
Like I said on another thread, last night they said Uconn's facilities have not been much better than a high school's. And, the guys on College Football Final praised Edsall and said probably no one in the country can do more with less. We could do much worse.
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http://admissions.uconn.edu/virtualtour/map/athletics_bscomplex.php

This place looks pretty nice...better than any HS, I would guess.

By facilities, do you mean stadium etc? I really don't know how UConn compares, I just remember seeing this place and thinking it didn't look so bad.
 






In looking at Edsall's UConn record, it looks a lot like what we had here a few years back (perhaps plus one win annually). When I see consistently 8-9 wins, it looks great, but also makes me think of the pre-Brew coach who brought us to the middle of the Big 10, but never better.

The Big East has been weak for many recent years, and yet his record is good but not great. That is what concerns me the most.

So, I guess I am not totally against hiring him, but I hope we do better.
 


The point is that it is a new facility. It wouldn't have helped recruiting during much of Edsall's time there.
 


If it opened in 2006 . . .

Duluthguy said:
The point is that it is a new facility. It wouldn't have helped recruiting during much of Edsall's time there.
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he should have had it available for at least 5 classes. Maybe he just isn't that good at recruiting. The more that I look at this situation, the more that I have to take my hat off to his agents.
 

i think edsell is the safer of the 2.... but petersens celling is so much higher
 

since 2006 Uconn is 37-26 overall (2-1) in bowls and 17-18 in the Big East. Two Big East titles and an upcoming big bowl game. Not bad for the "baby brother" of Big East football.
 

Brewster took us . . .

MrGopher said:
since 2006 Uconn is 37-26 overall (2-1) in bowls and 17-18 in the Big East. Two Big East titles and an upcoming big bowl game. Not bad for the "baby brother" of Big East football.
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to bowl games. A losing record in the Big Least during should be a big red flag.
 

Brewster didn't take us anywhere. Guys like Decker and vandeSteeg brought us there.

Never once did I think we won because we outcoached the other team. Read the Uconn boards: that is the opposite of how they feel about Edsall. They recognize that he gets the most out of his players.
 

He will not have to recruit at the top of the Big Ten to be successful , but he will still have to improve his recruiting.
 

Johnny Olson said:
He will not have to recruit at the top of the Big Ten to be successful , but he will still have to improve his recruiting.
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That's true. He reminds me way more of Dantonio than Brewster. Dantonio also successfully transitioned a team (Cincy) to the Big East.
 

I think it is really easy to underestimate just what Edsall has accomplished with UConn. From DII to BCS conference champs in this short of time is a Herculean effort. He's done so with huge recruiting obstacles that have been outlined by others. If we get him he will be presented with probably more talent than he ever had at UConn. Brewster did recruit well for us, he just either couldn't coach or find assistant coaches who could.

I am truly looking forward to see what this team can do with some first class teaching and strategy.
 

Johnny Olson said:
UCon has a very nice football complex which opened in 2006
I would take it over the Bierman complex which i toured last year.

http://portfolio.populous.com/projects/uniconnecticuttf.html
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I have been in both. There is more polish in the UConn facility because it is so new, but the available space is comparable.

The stadiums are also comparable, but TCF is about 30 miles closer to campus than Rentschler Field.

The biggest difference is local talent. Eden Prairie, Cretin, Wayzata, etc. would easily beat the best CT teams. Throw in that the surrounding area is New England rather than the football-rich midwest, and there is no comparison.
 

How far from Minnesota will his staff be able to recruit?
He will need some skill players.
 

Johnny Olson said:
How far of a reach from Minnesota will his staff be able to recruit?
He will need some skill players.
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Apparently he likes to recruit Canada. Or at least he felt the need while at Uconn.
 

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