What’s goin on?
Caught up with offensive coordinator George DeLeone today.
He talks about the Buffalo game in general and then offers some specifics on a few other topics…
“In the Buffalo game I thought we started the game and in some cases, throughout the game, played like we can play,” DeLeone said. “There was a stretch in there, obviously the first three drives we score. There was a stretch in there where we looked like a real offense. The most disappointing thing about the Buffalo game is on the last five drives we came up empty. That was disappointing.
“I told the guys before the game ‘whoever this guy is, that 10 guys do the right thing and the 11th guy screws us up? Leave that guy home and don’t let him dress’. And you know what? for about three quarters of the game that guy didn’t show up. He did not show up and I thought that was positive.
I thought our kids fought hard. There are things we still have to work on. We’re still a work in progress but we’re making progress. The big disappointment is the last five drives. We had the lead. We could have put our foot on their throat and really tried to get out of the one possession game.
I wasn’t at the game but watched it and it looked to me like you got a little conservative with the 17-point lead and nursed it a little bit. Is that right or…
There’s no doubt about it. Why take unnecessary risks. We came off a game with six sacks. Why take that kind of chance. Now, with that said we weren’t just sitting on the ball all the time. At the end of the game we were but we didn’t convert enough third downs so the answer is, at the end of the game, yeah, I was not going to do anything to put our defense in jeopardy.
That may not be fan-friendly but it’s going to be a way to win a game in that situation. For us it’s about winning a game. We know our people better than anybody and we felt like to give our team the best chance to win I wasn’t going to do anything to jeopardize our defense – nothing.
Now on third downs, Coach…
“Yeah, the drives we’ve scored on, if you go to Western Michigan; if you go to the Buffalo game, the drives we score on, we’re converting on third down. That’s the bottom line. When we can’t convert third downs we struggle. And let me say this to you, I said this to the team on Sunday, ‘There’s nobody that works, on any team I’ve ever been involved with that works more on third down. We have three, third down periods on Wednesday. We have another third down period on Thursday. We spend our whole Friday night video trying to get third down reviewed in our meetings. So we spent a lot of time on third down. It hasn’t yielded the production that we’ve need; first game yes, since then, no.
What do you attribute that to (Huskies are 36 percent efficient on third down including 6 of 18 against the Bulls Saturday)?
Well the team we’re playing this week for example they’ve got an unbelievably impressive third down defense. Some of it is going to be the other team. What we have to prevent is we don’t want it to be us as much as it is. Sometimes, as you know, it’s been a protection issue. Sometimes it’s a different route that the quarterback expected the receiver to run or a breakdown at the quarterback. It’s a combination of things.
What do you do against Rutgers (tied for 45th in the nation in third down defense, UConn is 22nd) then?
This is a hard test for us here. They’re a really good defense. The thing that impresses me is that they are a veteran defense. You put on last year’s film and put on this year’s film the same guys are playing. You’re talking about veteran, experienced, talented players. This may be the best defense they’ve shown up with down there. The thing that impresses me is their experience.
Now this No.20 guy (linebacker Khaseem Greene) this guy can get them in and out of the right pressure, the right adjustment. It’s unbelievable and they’re like clockwork. So I’m saying they’re ahead of where they’ve been and we’ve got our work cut out for us, no doubt about it, but let me tell you something. If you get into a game with this bunch that you just have to throw there’s no way you can win.
They are too quick. They have too many blitzes. They’re third down defense is overly impressive. You’ve got to do something to have balance that’s No.1; No.2 you also have to keep their offense off the field. They’ve got NFL receivers over there so it’s a formidable task no doubt about it.
You’ll have to show balance then, obviously and you’re facing the top defense in the country against the run. You know Martin Hyppolite gave you a little something in relief of Lyle McCombs. How’d you like what he did and do we see more of him?
“I was really proud of the kid. He’s hung in there and done the right things and gotten better. I think what you saw, you know, he was in there for about 15-20 plays with all the packages we were in. I think what you saw out of him was, to me, we had some packages for him and he responded tremendously well and like Bill Belichick would say, ‘the more you can do, the more you can do’. That’s the bottom line.”
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24 Responses to From Buffalo To Piscataway: A Few Words From UConn Offensive Coordinator George DeLeone
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Attitude is Everything in football. This guy has the wrong attitude. You can’t achieve greatness without believing.
I’m sure Deleone is a knowledgeable coach as well as a good teacher of the game but…
George D is clearly an incompetent Offensive Coordinator who makes a lot of excuses. The past two years offense’s have been arguably the worst since 2001(2006 was pretty bad too). We sit dead last in the BE Offensively for the second straight year.
George Deleone has meticulously engineered this offense to get to third down on every possession. Great job.
Based on his statements, they have already lost on Saturday. He is defeated before he even calls the games. I feel terrible for the players who work their tails off for these two coaches…and shame on you DeLeone for throwing your players “under the bus” for your own incompetence. Simply stated, this is an offensive team that looks and plays like it is run by two old men. Better offensive football is seen on Friday nights. The game pasted these two up 20 years ago. It deeply saddens me to our program in this dire state. THANK YOU Des for your coverage of our Huskies and for asking the tough questions.
…admittedly scared of Buffalo and projecting completely petrified of Rutgers. Look how far have we fallen…
Is it possible they just don’t have enough talent, enough speed, new QB. Coach always takes the blame, and well they should. BUT, they have away to go before they can step on the field and be a consistent favorite to win. Fans need to also remember that with the reduction in scholarships a few years ago the mid-majors are competitive. Check the upsets in both FB abd BB and you have few automatic wins.
Sorry have to say it again..agree a good position coach…NOT AN OC 5 games later and it’s still “it’s a work in progress” the kids are working hard..it’s the game tactics ‘Ole George’ your play calling ..you are. It giving our players the best opportunities to win games!!! Sorry but reality can hurt ‘Ole George’ …it’s called DEMENTIA ..and you already have earned more then you deserve as an OC…BOW OUT at end of the season!!!
There’s a way to make your point without resorting to name calling and slurs. Try to clean up your act, as well as your grammar, roadrunner
To his credit, there were some run plays that we had not seen before. On one we saw Delahunt actually pull and lead the blocking up the middle. That was interesting. Wonder if we will see some of that?
George is better off running clinics and teaching fundamentals of offensive line play to coaches and players or going back to the NFL as a position coach. He is extremely knowledgeable and a great teacher of football. A lot of coaches across the country use exactly what he teaches. I just feel at this point in his career he shouldn’t be an offensive coordinator at a division 1 school. Not his strength. Again Paul will never fire him.
Nothing about GDL impresses. Last century mind set. Needs to move on.
Thanks for this Dez…illuminating, but not in a good way for DeLeone. It only confirmed what many fans think. Maybe he is OK as a position coach, but he should NOT be the OC. His game day play calling and use of talent is simply awful and has likely cost several games already. He will drag HCPP down with him if this keeps up. If he is a good friend of HCPP, he will step aside as the OC after this season if UConn doesn’t get to 7 wins and a bowl game.
You are correct. The players give their all, but they are hampered by this guy.
Thanks for the coverage DC, it is appreciated. After 17 games under Coaches Pasqualoni and DeLeone, I’ve seen nothing from Mr. DeLeone that has shown the offense getting better. We are getting out-coached consistently on that side of the ball, and our next in-game offensive adjustment will be our first under him. As an alumni, donor, and long time season ticket holder, it is very concerning and disheartening. I support this team, and love the effort the kids are putting out each week. Time for the coaches of the O to step up.
No killer instinct here. Have to put a team out when they are down and it didn’t happen Saturday. Now can tehy get back-to-back wins for the first time under Coach P?
“Stretches where we looked like a real offense.” Why does he sound surprised by that?
Now how are we going to get to the Sugar Bowl against LSU with that attitude???
HeeHee!!
First thought that comes to mind…..start spending more time on first and second downs and try to avoid third downs as much as possible. The play calling that I’ve seen is designed to get us to a 3rd and “manageable” situation. Obviously he isn’t going to give away the gameplan, but I’d have to trust CW in this game a bit. But I’m not making a 6 figure salary to run the offense so…..
exactly!!
If I’m on RU’s D, I’m looking forward to this game. Can’t imagine they are particularly concerned about anything we do on O. w/ exception of Hippolyte’s run and Nick Williams when he does actually get the ball, we just don’t look all that fast.
Also, too often you see most of O linemen standing unengaged from a DL looking at the RB at the end of the play. There just isnt nearly enough push off the ball on a consistent basis like we got used to seeing.
So here’s a question Dez could ask, “what is the biggest change in OLine coaching philosophy or technique since DeLeone took over that responsbility?”
Prediction: we rush for over 100 yds, we win or its close; 130 or more, we win. any less than 100 yds rushing and it could be trouble as Whitmer will have to pass to make up. esp since he seems to give up on protection a bit too early .
Get his butt out of here. And Pasqualoni has to be aware … that this guy is a Program Killer. We cannot sustain advancement of our young Program with this attitude. He is a dinosaur. Yes … we need to win (we have playing a fairly conservative HCRE style); but we need to play in an attractive UConn type manner. This was dreck. Warde Manual? We were outcoached by the guys you hired in Buffalo. Now what?
Great insight, Dez. Thanks. He kind of leaves untouched the reasons leading up to those tough third downs… But insightful none the less.
He was worried about winning the game when he had a 17 point lead??? That is why he ran between the tackles so much?? Sheesh. McCombs up the middle ain’t happening, George. Deal with it. Give it up. You should have been working on the passing game — which still needs a lot of work. Firstly you are going to need it from the get-go this weekend. Second, it is only the passing game that will open up the run. UConn is known as a run first team, so that is what teams will stop first. The Rutgers game will not be close if this continues.
Way too many runs up the middle – it’s too predictable…I get playing conservative when you are up 17 but even when Buffalo started closing the gap we never turned it up and threw the ball. Deleone just kept calling the same old run plays. Gotta say though, when all cylinders were firing we looked pretty good (when was just too few and far between).
Can’t agree more! Mccombs isn’t Jerome Bettis! Almost every first down was a run into the center’s back! Followed by another run into the center’s back. Why would you not get the ball in space to your 170 Lb rb? This guy Deleone is too out dated to run this offense. So bland, spread them out!Doesn’t help the run game when you have 2 TE’s and a fullback on every play. Why wouldn’t the d have 8 in the box too stop the run? An ancient offense, they will get crushed when Big East games start this weekend. The De looks good, I would have liked to see them more aggressive, like the MAryland game tho.