Diaco Hired as Purdue DC
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ulukinatme
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Halfway through the year and UConn already has one more win than last year. They probably won't be bowl eligible, but they're improving. Not saying I think Diaco is a great HC (Don't want him at ND for sure), but he has them moving in the right direction I think. They stayed within 3 points of Missouri, and their only blowout was to BYU. ECU, USF, and Tulane are all winnable games for them, they could end up being bowl eligible.
NDgradstudent
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UConn fans really dislike BC for keeping them out of the ACC. Apparently BC wanted to be "the New England school," which is laughable, as this map shows. UConn is in a small state, but it dominates the state in a way that no school in New England does. This is probably because there are no Big Four pro teams in CT, and the state is otherwise divided between Boston and New York loyalties.
This could become a solid rivalry.
MNIrishman
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I thought the fact that UConn has had no success outside of basketball, where they are known for breaking the rules, had more to do with it. Further, I'm not sure how well a 2nd-tier land-grant school fits in the ACC anyway. I think only VT fits in that category, and they're both higher-ranked and better at football.
NDgradstudent
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C'mon now...UConn is ranked ahead of Syracuse, Pitt, and Louisville in the US News rankings and dominates its state fanbase in a way that none of them do. Nor are they huge football schools (certainly not Syracuse). Nor do they run "clean" programs. UConn is also pretty strong in field hockey and soccer, both sports where the ACC is strong, too.
According to the Boston Globe:
irishfanjho15
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Too bad for them that Mizzou didn't go on strike earlier in the year.
They lost two games by one score. Sucks for him and those kids.
Cogs
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Their defense is good enough to make either of these a game but without a couple turnovers it won't happen.
ulukinatme
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I think it would be hilarious if Temple got upset by the Fighting Diacos, although it's probably not likely unless them come in unprepared or overlook them. UConn really needed to beat USF to get bowl eligible this year, I don't see them picking up a win against Houston or Temple. Next year they may pull it off, and their team is improving, so I don't see them booting Diaco.
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We need Temple to win for our own good. Hope for the upset over Houston instead.
johnnycando
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Do you get the concept of Strength of Schedule my man!?
NDgradstudent
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A win over Houston for the Fighting Diacos...bowl eligible for the first time in awhile. First win over an undefeated ranked team ever.
Rizzophil
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irishfanjho15
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Good for them.
loomis41973
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Congats to Bob.
zelezo vlk
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Sherm Sticky
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Don't think a big program would take him yet. He now needs to prove he can field a consistent winner. Also being a UCONN grad I don't want him to leave!
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ulukinatme
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Great win for the Fighting Diacos. I didn't think they could pull it off, now they're bowl eligible. They can go ahead and drop that next one to Temple now 
Has he?
He went from 2-10 last year to 6-5 with one to go. Beating Temple after Houston would strengthen his case but he has to show the program has reached the summit. So far he's more like CT former head coaches Skip Holtz or Randy Edsall than Spurrier at Duke or Meyer at Bowling Green.
Skip won 8 in year two, going from 4-7 in year one to 8-3. Then he slipped back to 4 wins before winning 7 and then 10 of 13 in his 5th and last year.
Edsall started out slower winning 4, 2, 3, before winning 9 of 13 in year 4. Then he rollercoasted to successive 4 and 5 wins seasons before climbing the hill again with 4 years of 9,8,8, and 8 wins.
Holtz won almost 59% of his games. Edsall 51%. Diaco is 8-15 or slightly under 35%. He's gone more work to show before he moves to the Power 5.
CanadalovesND
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UCONN will play Marshall in the St. Petersburg Bowl on December 26.
dublinirish
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Veritate Duce Progredi
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Just imagine having a Diaco defense this past year. We all complained and groaned but we would likely be undefeated right now (of course that is terribly revisionistic).
ndfi78
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Would almost assuredly be undefeated and in the playoffs.
zelezo vlk
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Bogtrotter07
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Sorry guys!
But there is nothing but nostalgia to back that up :
- The '13 defense was getting hammered by folks because Alabama drew a blueprint of how to disassemble that defense the previous January;
- The '14 defense would have been worse under Diaco, because they had no talent left to run that defensive scheme. Period;*
- Last year and this year we would have lost to Navy, (undoubtedly) and probably Georgia Tech as well, had Diaco been at the helm!
* See recruiting acumen.
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Bogtrotter07
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Or Jarron Jones?
This is a pretty nostalgic view of Diaco's Notre Dame defenses. His defenses gave up plenty of yardage, including 2012. In 2012 the defense toughened up once the opponent reached the red zone, but in other years we had trouble keeping anybody out of the end zone. And we should remember that Van Gorder's defenses were manned by Diaco's recruits. Diaco's defenses kept our offense off the field as our opponents had long drive after long drive. With Diaco's bend-don't break philosophy we were constantly behind in field position.
Van Gorder will be judged over the next two years (if he remains) based upon his ability to recruit players that can help our defense improve.