Bear Down Wildcats

CT football is mostly a D2 and D3 feeder. Occasionally a few diamonds in the rough but certainly not a lot of D 1 talent and competition.

He played at a prep school. Long story short, he's a talented dude with academic issues, which is reason of the lack of offers. Obviously someone on this staff knew about him and the academics side think they can get him in.

Best player to come out of Connecticut is probably Aaron Hernandez.

Chicat wrote: ↑Sun Jan 10, 2021 11:44 am Best player to come out of Connecticut is probably Aaron Hernandez.

Nope. Steve Young from Greenwich.

Dwight Freeney also played HS football in Connecticut. I'd slot him above the murderer and below Steve Young.

If you want to go old school - Floyd Little from New Haven who just passed away and real old school HOFmer Andy Robustelli from Stamford.

They say the best athlete ever from CT was Bobby Valentine from Stamford.

I believe Jason taylor’s Sister, Joy, is Colin Cowherds sidekick.
Aren’t cowherd and Fisch buddies.

Postmaster wrote: ↑Sun Jan 10, 2021 11:25 pm I believe Jason taylor’s Sister, Joy, is Colin Cowherds sidekick.
Aren’t cowherd and Fisch buddies.

Yes.

I get the whole argument on whether he was the most qualified choice but I have to say I like the things Fisch is doing so far.

It’s not rocket science. Unfortunately, building relationships at the HS level takes time & effort. Pure laziness on the part of our previous coaches.

I really like what I’m seeing thus far!

EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Thu Jan 14, 2021 8:55 am I get the whole argument on whether he was the most qualified choice but I have to say I like the things Fisch is doing so far.

I've never witnessed a swing of support change so quickly from negative to positive. It's nothing short of miraculous and its obvious Fisch is willing to put in the work.

I don't know how you can't be impressed so far.

Agreed. I have changed my tune the last week from absolutely despising the hire to cautiously neutral support teetering on optimism. There's a fuck ton of work to do but he seems willing.

Alieberman wrote: ↑Thu Jan 14, 2021 9:48 am

EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Thu Jan 14, 2021 8:55 am I get the whole argument on whether he was the most qualified choice but I have to say I like the things Fisch is doing so far.

I've never witnessed a swing of support change so quickly from negative to positive. It's nothing short of miraculous and its obvious Fisch is willing to put in the work.

I don't know how you can't be impressed so far.

Agree with this. I know we haven't had a practice or a game. By all means grade that when it happens as strict as you want to. However, if I was to give him a grade on what's been ion his control I'd say it's an A-. My only item is a couple of coaches don't have recruiting experience but there's no doubt on their position knowledge.

Yea I'm tentatively on board after what's happened so far. He just has an incredibly short leash.

Alieberman wrote: ↑Thu Jan 14, 2021 9:48 am

EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Thu Jan 14, 2021 8:55 am I get the whole argument on whether he was the most qualified choice but I have to say I like the things Fisch is doing so far.

I've never witnessed a swing of support change so quickly from negative to positive. It's nothing short of miraculous and its obvious Fisch is willing to put in the work.

I don't know how you can't be impressed so far.

Maybe I'm an a-hole, but I feel like the optimism on Fisch is a little much. Putting in work and developing recruiting connections is nice, but it's not anything unusual for a college coach. Just because we came from someone who wasn't putting in the base required effort...

His staff, I see it as solid but I'm not convinced it separates from the pack. There's potential, but I can list positives and negatives for everyone.

It's good he hasn't lost all the potential transfers and has gotten a few incoming guys, but as of yet, I don't see much talent above what RR or Sumlin scored. Now, that isn't necessarily a criticism of Fisch, because doing better takes time. Just that the guys so far aren't difference makers.

Look, it's certainly better than if he wasn't trying or had hired a bunch of incompetent boobs. I'm just not of the mind this is anything above what normal programs do. Some of that can change and may change as time passes, but...well, all coaches look better before it's time to deliver results.

I’m sorry but If you are anything but impressed so far you are deliberately trying really hard to stay on the “Fisch is a terrible hire” train

I agree... he should be ultimately judged by what this team looks like on game days but until then if you can’t see that Fisch is doing everything that fans have been begging their head coaches to do - exciting community, reaching out to instate kids and high schools, engaging alumni ... something our past Head Coaches have epically failed to do... you are trying too hard

Alieberman wrote: ↑Thu Jan 14, 2021 11:14 am I’m sorry but If you are anything but impressed so far you are deliberately trying really hard to stay on the “Fisch is a terrible hire” train

I agree... he should be ultimately judged by what this team looks like on game days but until then if you can’t see that Fisch is doing everything that fans have been begging their head coaches to do - exciting community, reaching out to instate kids and high schools, engaging alumni ... something our past Head Coaches have epically failed to do... you are trying too hard

It's not a biggie if you think I'm trying too hard, I just legitimately see those as run of the mill things expected from a P5 coach.

Engaging alum support and building recruiting connections just don't strike me as anything unusual or revolutionary. Look, the fact he's trying in those areas is better than not trying. It's certainly better than Sumlin and better than the end of RR's tenure (although I do think RR did those things at the beginning).

I'm sorry, maybe I'm just a hater, but I just see it as hitting what's needed for a P5 coach to be effective. Whether he winds up being effective is going to be about taking this basic foundation and transferring it into better recruiting, better attendance and more wins.

Just because Sumlin failed at basic effort stuff...I just think what Fisch has done is the basic effort necessary to have a chance at success, not anything particularly unusual vs our competition.

I get it. We are getting out of a couple of abusive relationships and just want to be loved.

But just because it’s been a few dates and he hasn’t hit us or called us a stupid bitch in public doesn’t mean we should be making wedding plans.

Jedd Fisch so far is really just doing a few things that he was hired and paid millions of dollars a year to do. Good for him. He takes his job seriously. Now he needs to do everything else he was hired to do with the same enthusiasm.

I’ve learned my lesson when it comes to Arizona football and I’ll get my hopes up after Year Two. Until then I will be a neutral observer and be patient. If you want me to put on a cheerleader outfit and do some kinky shit there’s gonna have to be some mutual trust first.

After what we've been through, a healthy dose of skepticism is reasonable. There was a lot of vitriol when Fisch was hired, and his social media stuff, the staff hires, and the community outreach seem to have turned that around, which is fine. One classic mistake when hiring a coach is to just get the opposite of the last guy, so there's a laundry list of things people complained about, and you win people over initially by going down that list and doing the opposite. That said, he seems to be fairly sharp in terms of organization and approach, and he also seems to be willing to put in the extraordinary amount of work this job requires. If he can manage a turnaround in a relative short time and hand things over in halfway decent shape to somebody decent, I'm not sure if we can ask for much more. That's certainly a way to make a name for yourself and get ahead, which may be what attracted him to Arizona. It would be great if he turns out to be one of our better coaches and also decides to stay for 15 years. But, that might involve more of a personal decision, like a Tomey or Whittingham, as we're probably not in a position to match what the market would offer under those circumstances or to be able to reasonably demand or expect that.

Chicat wrote: ↑Thu Jan 14, 2021 12:12 pm I get it. We are getting out of a couple of abusive relationships and just want to be loved.

But just because it’s been a few dates and he hasn’t hit us or called us a stupid bitch in public doesn’t mean we should be making wedding plans.

Jedd Fisch so far is really just doing a few things that he was hired and paid millions of dollars a year to do. Good for him. He takes his job seriously. Now he needs to do everything else he was hired to do with the same enthusiasm.

I’ve learned my lesson when it comes to Arizona football and I’ll get my hopes up after Year Two. Until then I will be a neutral observer and be patient. If you want me to put on a cheerleader outfit and do some kinky shit there’s gonna have to be some mutual trust first.

Lol perfect

Chicat wrote: ↑Thu Jan 14, 2021 12:12 pm I get it. We are getting out of a couple of abusive relationships and just want to be loved.

But just because it’s been a few dates and he hasn’t hit us or called us a stupid bitch in public doesn’t mean we should be making wedding plans.

Jedd Fisch so far is really just doing a few things that he was hired and paid millions of dollars a year to do. Good for him. He takes his job seriously. Now he needs to do everything else he was hired to do with the same enthusiasm.

I’ve learned my lesson when it comes to Arizona football and I’ll get my hopes up after Year Two. Until then I will be a neutral observer and be patient. If you want me to put on a cheerleader outfit and do some kinky shit there’s gonna have to be some mutual trust first.

Well said.

I feel like it's Chris Rock's famous line "what, you want a cookie?" It doesn't mean he's doing bad, but working to engage alums and build recruiting ties, but that's not some crazy, futuristic next-level stuff. It's basic HC stuff.

It's good he seems to be working hard, but he's been here less than a month. With any job, the expectation should be putting in the work, and it is a major problem if you stop putting in work less than a month in.

Yeah, it's better than being a dumpster fire from day 1 like Sumlin. But Pat Riley has a great quote, "hard work doesn't guarantee a thing, but without it, you don't stand a chance." I feel like Fisch has put in the work and if he continues, we will stand a chance. It does not guarantee a thing, though.

Geez, all I said was I like to see some of the things he was doing.

As Harvey Keitel said as Winston Wolf - "Well, let's not start sucking each other's dicks just yet". But also can't we be a tad happy to see he's doing the things he's supposed to do given others in the past haven't?

I have basically lost interest in AZ football and I have no idea if this will prove to be a good hire or not.

And maybe what he is currently doing things that should be expected... but I'm not sure the last couple coaches even realized high school football was being played in this state

EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Thu Jan 14, 2021 12:47 pm Geez, all I said was I like to see some of the things he was doing.

As Harvey Keitel said as Winston Wolf - "Well, let's not start sucking each other's dicks just yet". But also can't we be a tad happy to see he's doing the things he's supposed to do given others in the past haven't?

I'm not against people being happy. Shoot, the world is better if you have a positive outlook.

I may not meet you there, at least not yet, but I'm not against being happy.

My response was more tailored at how I don't necessarily find it impressive as much as I think he's doing the things that meet the standard we should have for a coach. I don't disagree at all that I'd rather have him meeting the standard than Sumlin failing to meet it.

I want people to be happy. I truly do. Especially if you live in Arizona or California. Our football program suffers from a lack of enthusiasm and it's one of the things holding us back. Other programs with huge and active fan, booster, and alumni bases do much better in recruiting. No kid wants to play in front of half empty stadiums for fans who don't give a fuck.

So along with reaching out to local high school programs and engaging football alumni, you can add "marginally increasing fan enthusiasm" to his roster of accomplishments.

Now, this isn't at all Jedd's fault, but that slight increase in fan engagement could have been achieved by other coaches that were on our radar. And in fact, the increase might have been even greater. For instance, getting a Tomey guy with Poly connections who also makes a real effort to reach out to alums and local programs might have a whole bunch of people really excited to see where this program goes.

As I said, not Jedd's fault, and not within his control. He is who he is, and apparently in these first few weeks he's giving it his all. I appreciate that. But with how he was hired, and his resume, I'm much more in "prove it" mode than I would have probably been with Brennan.

Chicat wrote: ↑Thu Jan 14, 2021 1:50 pm that slight increase in fan engagement could have been achieved by other coaches that were on our radar. And in fact, the increase might have been even greater.

TBH, I feel like an increase in fan engagement would have been achieved by default. After Sumlin's disastrous reign, a winless season and the 70-7 beatdown, I'm pretty sure fan engagement was at zero and any engagement is more than zero.

I don't know if Ken N or Brennan would have gotten greater engagement, but I certainly don't think they would have lagged. Both guys demonstrated at their current jobs that they can get buy in.

Look, it's vastly better Fisch is trying as opposed to Sumlin's early retirement. Good for him with that, but this is just pass/fail at this point and I totally think Ken N or Brennan would also have passed.

I am very impressed with Fisch,

I’m coming around. Not that I think he is a great coach, I have no idea. But he has a good to great staff for the money, is building relationships within the state and is engaging on social media. Those are the only things he can do for now. The previous regimes didn’t seem to have any excitement at all.

If we can establish a local pipeline and some support, we’ll be in a great position. Let’s hope Fisch gets results on the field.

It is very strange hearing that everyone on here loved Coach "3 yards and a cloud of dust" Tomey or Ken "wishbone" N. The same people that are nominating them for sainthood where the ones calling for Tomey to be fired or no one will come if Ken N is hired. Folks are saying what he is doing by reaching out to HS coaches and alumni are normal for head coaches. Don't disagree but it hasn't been done here in 8 fuckin years. Maybe we actually have a coach that understands this is a requirement. I understand the skeptics but he has done what is required and done it quickly. I appreciate he is working hard to fix what is broken. I don't expect miracles so reaching .500 by year three would be a huge success in my eyes. Hiring the SJST coach would have been a mistake in my opinion. Time will tell if this is one too.

TheCat wrote: ↑Sat Jan 16, 2021 2:41 am It is very strange hearing that everyone on here loved Coach "3 yards and a cloud of dust" Tomey or Ken "wishbone" N. The same people that are nominating them for sainthood where the ones calling for Tomey to be fired or no one will come if Ken N is hired.

Dude, that’s just way too many strawmen to throw up in the first two sentences of a post.

If I recall correctly you wanted Tomey gone. Many folks wanted a more modern offense. Nothing wrong with that. Not sure why you are calling those strawmen. A simple statement of fact.

That was over 20 fucking years ago. I call bullshit that you remember what Chi posted at some other site.

I don’t even remember what I thought all those years ago. Although I was probably on the ditch Tomey bandwagon.

TheCat wrote: ↑Sat Jan 16, 2021 3:56 pm If I recall correctly you wanted Tomey gone. Many folks wanted a more modern offense. Nothing wrong with that. Not sure why you are calling those strawmen. A simple statement of fact.

Because people who think it would be smart to align with the alumni and traditions from the most sustained successful era of the last 35 years aren’t anointing anyone for sainthood.

Chi nailed it. To continue the romantic parallels, this is the early stage when it's easy to make lots of quality effort. Let's see what happens when time sets in, do we still get both the effort AND the quality?

And pivoting, everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Let's see how this goes when we actually have to play football.

He is doing all the right things and more. Sure, other coaches might too, but none that we have had lately. There is something about the staff he has put together that makes me feel like this could be something special.

I feel like we are on the verge of not totally sucking.

Im saying that Fisch is trending in the right direction at the moment and leave it at that.

Playing revisionist history with Tomey is idiotic because fan expectations at that point in time was night and day. We wanted to get from a very good team to an elite level like Bball was trending under Lute. I was at the Penn State game so I remember.

Well, you get spoiled. When you get to 7-4 with an occasional 9-2, but still occasionally get blown out with a defense-oriented team, human nature dictates that you now want 8-3 with an occasional 10-1 and no blow-outs with a little more offense. Making a horrific hire at that point is a different issue entirely. But, making a guaranteed hire when you're not swimming in money and aren't in a recruiting hotbed isn't so easy. In retrospect, we probably should have hung on to Tomey for dear life for another ten years, although you have to take into account the 6-6 and 5-6 seasons and declining attendance. Still, It was all about the wrong people getting pressure from the wrong people and making the wrong decisions, which is problematic in many university environments.

prh wrote: ↑Sat Jan 16, 2021 8:12 pm Chi nailed it. To continue the romantic parallels, this is the early stage when it's easy to make lots of quality effort. Let's see what happens when time sets in, do we still get both the effort AND the quality?

And pivoting, everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Let's see how this goes when we actually have to play football.

One thing I’m not worried about with Fisch is effort and motivation. The dude wants to succeed. I’ve pleaded and begged the U of A to always hire non-retreads and guys who are on the upswing of their career and are motivated. I wasn’t in love with the Fisch hire for numerous reasons (99% of it having to do with how Robbins handled this shit), but it was always obvious that Fisch would put in a lot of work. I don’t know if that’ll be enough, but if he fails it won’t be for a lack of trying (Sumlin) or a superiority complex (Rich Rod).

I was against hiring Jedd mainly because of Robbins' heavy handed personal involvement. He failed to do his due diligence when hiring Sumlin and Jedd just felt like a similar impulsive decision. His resume didn't look like HC material...but I will say, so far, Jedd has been a very pleasant surprise. I completely underestimated his passion, desire, connections, and organizational skills. I really like his emphasis on developing young men into "PROs" beyond football. We want to be proud of those that represent the university. What remains is Jedd's ability to recruit and develop talent plus his ability to be a "war-time" general both in prep and on the field. There's still a lot of unknowns whether Jedd will be considered a great hire but at least we're moving in the right direction. Bear Down.

UAEebs86 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 16, 2021 4:06 pm That was over 20 fucking years ago. I call bullshit that you remember what Chi posted at some other site.

He can deny it if he wants. I wanted Tomey gone because of the offense. Go look at the scores during the golden years of the Desert Storm. Had we had ANY offense those teams would have been undefeated. I believe we gave up more rushing yards in a game last year than a season during their best year.

I just miss teams that didn't get it pushed in when they lost. I started my relationship with Arizona as a freshman in the dorms in 05. No bowls until my 4th year in school (I call it my redshirt junior year), but the team seemed to play it close, or at least was physically up to the fight aside from the bleedout that was playing LSU.

Starting in about 2011 Arizona started losing games 56-28 with 3-4 late touchdowns that made a more flattering scoreline. Games that made you need a 45 minute shower after. Hopefully this staff has an emphasis on not caught with its pants down which, with the exception of Kadeems sophomore season (Oregon & UCLA excepted) and 2014 has been the case going on a decade.

Jedd wants Gronk to be a head coach for one of the teams in the Spring game.

You can’t make this shit up, what a fucking great idea!

Sid wrote: ↑Sun Jan 17, 2021 12:12 pm Jedd wants Gronk to be a head coach for one of the teams in the Spring game.

You can’t make this shit up, what a fucking great idea!

Team name: Tucson 69ers

Oh and I forgot to add this is going to be an entertaining ride under Fisch. Lol.

UAEebs86 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 17, 2021 12:37 pm

Sid wrote: ↑Sun Jan 17, 2021 12:12 pm Jedd wants Gronk to be a head coach for one of the teams in the Spring game.

You can’t make this shit up, what a fucking great idea!

Team name: Tucson 69ers