OT: Paul Pasqualoni fired

Submitted by dnak438 on

Interesting. Did anyone see this coming? Or was Michigan's defeat of UConn so absolute and decisive that UConn felt they had to axe him?

Paul Pasqualoni has been fired as #UConnFootball coach.

— Desmond Conner (@desmondconner) September 30, 2013

EDIT: Uconn fans seem to be taking it well:

YES. YES. LET THE HEALING BEGIN.

— TheUConnBlog (@TheUConnBlog) September 30, 2013

 

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tbeindit

September 30th, 2013 at 10:59 AM ^

Why would Texas ever hire an unproven head coach.  I don't know if this is just me, but if you are one of the biggest and most elite programs in the country, taking a coordinator who hasn't head coached seems to be a pretty big risk.  Even taking a guy from Alabama or something that has been a coordinator isn't necessarily a great idea.  Head coaching is a lot different from coordinating and some guys just don't have it.  

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I Like Burgers

September 30th, 2013 at 10:18 AM ^

Narduzzi would have been a more likely choice right after Edsall left.  But I think Narduzzi's stock is too high for UConn these days.  

Or who knows...maybe there's a knock on Narduzzi that's prevented him from being offer HC jobs before, and UConn is his best bet.  Gotta start somewhere as a HC.

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Mr Miggle

September 30th, 2013 at 10:40 AM ^

but are any big time programs calling? I think Texas and USC are extreme longshots. Hiring him as their DC would be a step up for him, maybe that could happen. The next time a big time school hires a lesser program's coordinator with no ties to them will be the first afaik. It will be interesting to see what happens after this season. If he wants to be a HC, it should be a good time to go.

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Leaders And Best

September 30th, 2013 at 10:58 AM ^

Narduzzi is a great defensive coordinator but has never been a head coach before. And there will always be some questions about how much of the credit he deserves for the defense when Mark Dantonio probably has a hand in the defensive gameplan/development/recruiting.

There is no way a perennial top 20 program would take a risk on hiring Narduzzi when there are so many other candidates out there. He will probably have to prove himself as a head coach first before those opportunities come. Very few college coordinators get offered top 20 jobs, and the ones who do usually come from teams that are in the top 5 and winning national championships. I think he would have to go the route of mid major/BCS bottom feeder like Dave Doeren (Northern Illinois), Jim McElwain (Colorado St.), Kevin Sumlin (Houston), Larry Fedora (Southern Miss), Charlie Strong (Louisville), Steve Addazio (BC & Temple), Al Golden (Temple), Paul Chryst (Pitt), Kevin Wilson (Indiana), Bobby Petrino (Louisville), Mark Dantonio (Cincinnati), Brian Kelly (CMU & Cincinnati). Guys like Bob Stoops, Will Muschamp, Bo Pelini, and Steve Sarkisian are rare and usually are much higher profile than Narduzzi when they get top 20 coaching jobs.

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MI Expat NY

September 30th, 2013 at 11:06 AM ^

Exactly.  Narduzzi may be an excellent DC, but he isn't going to excite the fan bases of any top-20 programs looking for a coach.  I actually think UConn is an excellent opportunity for Narduzzi.  They're essentially dropping into a lesser conference that will put his shcool on the high end of school resources compared to his conference-mates.  Wins there for a couple years and he'd be an excellent candidate for a top-20 job.  It would be much better than going to a traditional bottom dweller in a power conference.  

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NOLA Wolverine

September 30th, 2013 at 1:11 PM ^

I'm not even convinced he's the big reason why MSU's defense is so successful. Mark Dantonio won a national championship as a DC at Ohio State and Narduzzi's entire career as a DC has been under Dantonio. Not saying he hasn't had a role, but it isn't obvious that he's the big reason. 

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LSAClassOf2000

September 30th, 2013 at 10:10 AM ^

According to SBNation - HERE  - they canned George DeLeone, the associate head coach, as well. Minor house cleaning going on at Connecticut apparently. The interim coach will be named at a 4 PM press conference supposedly. 

 

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clown91

September 30th, 2013 at 10:52 AM ^

You could at least do your due diligence, come up with a list of candidates, and put out feelers during the season.

Thinking about our odds with JuJu, I would have preferred that USC prolonged the turmoil by sticking with Kiffin until December. That's only my short-sighted view from afar. USC may have a plan in mind. I'm with some others thinking Kiffin was a short term stop-gap to get through the sanctions. Had he maintained USC as a power without embarrassing them off the field maybe they would have stood pat.

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DonAZ

September 30th, 2013 at 11:40 AM ^

But that only works if your new head coach is currently out of coaching.

Agree ... but I wonder if that too is about to change?

I wonder if we're going to start seeing either (a) secret backdoor deals with existing coaches who remain in their current role until the end of the year, or (b) in-the-open arrangements with existing coaches who remain in their current role until the end of the year.  Or perhaps existing coaches just leave their current programs and begin building their new program parallel to some interim coach?

It's an upside-down world ... who the heck knows what conventions will be thrown out the window next?

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I Like Burgers

September 30th, 2013 at 11:48 AM ^

Something like back door deals could be next, but that's a risky route to go. I mean if news of that comes out after you get the job, that's gonna blow up in your face as having hired a coach that mailed it in the last X weeks with his old job. And quitting on your current school and leaving them hanging mid season isn't a much better move.

But college sports is in a weird place now, so who knows.

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Space Coyote

September 30th, 2013 at 10:39 AM ^

Because that was a program that had a lot of potentially that really needed a quick clean up of their image to try to get recruits (leaving it in limbo until the season was over would hurt recruiting and moving on). I don't understand it from UConn's perspective. Seems like you're giving up on the kids more than anything else. I'd be pissed if I was a senior.

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MGlobules

September 30th, 2013 at 10:43 AM ^

the happier I will be; Dantonio by himself is just a few bad losses from the pavement. But I'm not so sure the rest of the country thinks Narduzzi is all that; could be CT is the kind of place where he'll have to start proving himself. 

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john22

September 30th, 2013 at 10:56 AM ^

my NFL team,which is Tampa Bay,also makes a move soon. We have to much talent to have another bad season next year. We need to draft a QB,Johnny FOOTBALL PLEASE!!!

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Space Coyote

September 30th, 2013 at 11:00 AM ^

And outside of the Hamster there isn't a ton of greatness leaping at the other skill positions (lots of good, but no one I'd consider top 10 type). On the flip side, isn't your defensive backfield getting a bit old?

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My name ... is Tim

September 30th, 2013 at 11:11 AM ^

I can't say I'm surprised. Sure, UConn played us close, but have we all forgotten the absurdity that was blowing your final two timeouts consecutively before a 4th and 30 attempt instead of keeping both timeouts and trying for a stop on defense (either after a 4th down conversion try or a punt)? I was flabberghasted when that happened. That was some serious Andy Reid game management ish right there.

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Don

September 30th, 2013 at 11:29 AM ^

UConn booster Robert Burton demanded his $3 million back after UConn hired Pasqualoni; Burton reportedly wanted CT native (and former ND and FL assistant) Steve Addazio, who was hired as Temple's HC after Golden left for Miami. Might be too late now to bring him to Storrs, though.

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