Sometimes we like to do Q&A's with the blog representing our upcoming opponent. With the Syracuse Orange headed to Storrs to take on the Connecticut Huskies this weekend, that would be the appropriately-named The UConn Blog. However, looking around the site, I can see they're slightly more interested with talking about their preseason top five-ranked basketball team these days than focusing on their 3-5 football team. Which, is understood.
So, I chose to ask only one question of Andrew over there. Almost a month ago, one of the site managers wrote a piece advocating the firing of Paul Pasqualoni. I wanted to see if cooler heads have prevailed since then or if the prevailing opinion is that Coach P's days are numbered in Storrs before he's even accumulated enough days to make it feel like a lot of days...if that makes sense.
The Coach P Era. How has it worked out for you so far and how long will it last?
It's a tough situation and no UConn fan is happy to be at 3-5, so it's not working out in any "quality football" sense, but I'm willing to give it time. UConn has five QBs on the roster. Three of them, including the starter, are walk-ons. One is a redshirt freshman who can run, but the whole "passing" thing is a big question mark. The final QB is a true freshman who looked exactly like you'd expect a true freshman to look when he saw the field. Our back is a redshirt freshman whose job description has been "replace the best running back in UConn history, a man that literally made the BCS by himself." Our best defensive player has been injured most of the year, obliterating our ability to stop the pass (though thankfully he should be back for Saturday).
But even with all of those issues, there have been flashes. The new D-Coordinator (Don Brown, stolen from Maryland) runs a really exciting style that is great to watch when it isn't giving up 40-yard TD passes. The offense seems like it could work if our QB wasn't allergic to accuracy. And Paul Pasqualoni has done more recruiting in one year than Edsall did in 12.
This was never going to be a long-term arrangement. Pasqualoni is old. He's a stop-gap until the next coach, who would stay here for about 8 years, max. I could see that happening, I could also see him being gone in two years if the players aren't able to pick up on his system. But it's all for naught anyway, preseason basketball starts in six hours (Ed Note: a.k.a. last night), and, like every year, I'm more excited for the first preseason game than I am for any football game.
Keep an eye over at The UConn Blog for updates on this weekend's game.