UConn Huskies head football coach Bob Diaco held his weekly pregame press conference on Tuesday afternoon in anticipation of Saturday’s game against the Tulane Green Wave (8 p.m. kickoff in New Orleans, LA) and talked about a myriad of things.
Diaco got things kicked off by talking about the wonderful atmosphere at the Rent for the Temple game and once again thanked the fans and everyone who came out.
He stated it was a productive bye week, a positive one. He said being able to focus and sequester everyone helped with allowing the team to get better and how that was good for them.
He said now it’s time to get ready for Tulane. They are visiting an exciting city, a great state to play in and it’s an exciting game for the program.
He talked about how the team continues to grow in areas of production. They continue to do so on special teams in areas where they can. Offensively, he has scaled back things. They looked at what they do know and what they don’t. They are being disciplined in not adding things. He said they need to be good to great. Right now they are average to good.
He talked about the change in depth chart where the four running backs (Max DeLorenzo, Joshua Marriner, Arkeel Newsome and Ron Johnson) are all doing well, trying hard and have had great attitudes. He said to expect to see more of Newsome and Johnson going forward. He said that pair doesn’t know all of the pass protections but are getting better at it.
In talking about eliminating the mistakes that cause losing, he believes that scaling back it will help in a myriad of different areas. It should bring a better crispness to plays. He said every player and coach is improving. He said the team has the talent to block better.
He stated the coaches and players not immersed on external stuff that’s talked about the program.
He talked about Newsome in how he’s a contact, fast player. He described it as his playing speed is different or faster than actual speed.
He said the offensive line has shown growth in pass protection, their fundamentals of their jobs are getting better and they are proficient blockers.
He said they aren’t a team that necessarily forces turnovers. But to change the turnover margin, they need to protect the ball better. His goal is to be one of the top takeaway teams in the league.
He stated that if they eliminated the negative plays, the conversations about the team would be different.
He talked about Cole Ormsby and how he is aggressively fast, has great change of direction and how he plays longer than his frame.
He finally was asked about Tulane and how they’ve scored points offensively through explosive plays. He said they have three talented wide receivers.
He was asked about the similarities in the programs playing younger guys but he responded by saying Tulane is three years in while he hasn’t even reached a year yet.
He stated the defensive line is getting better and coming along great.
He said one way to stop a spread offense is to not convolute the eyes and eye progressions of the defensive players.
I asked about what he expects to see from the Tulane defense. He said they are an aggressive, pack the box, over the top type of defense. Said they have a great player in Nico Marley.
He said he’d like to get Tim Boyle in meaningful situations but he has ailments that aren’t considered injuries.
He said that Deshon Foxx is a live package and not a wildcat type of one. Foxx can make all the throws.
He finished up by saying the team was very upset after the Temple loss and how he talked to them about and pointed out the positive things to prevent the losing mentality from coming back.
We’ll have more as the week goes on including some stuff from Foxx, Andreas Knappe and Chandler Whitmer.
