Frank Verducci named Uconn OC

[the Blades]

Bob Diaco goes back to his Jersey and Iowa ties to name:

Frank Verducci as offensive coordinator per Sports Illustrated
"Besides significant major college experience, the 57-year-old Verducci also spent nearly a decade coaching in the NFL.
Verducci, is a native of Glen Ridge, N.J. and a 1980 graduate of Seton Hall University, "

Year School/Team Assignment
1980 Colorado State Graduate Assistant
1981-83 Maryland Tight Ends
1984 Northern Illinois Running Backs/Strength & Conditioning Coach
1985-86 Iowa Graduate Assistant
1987-88 Northwestern Wide Receivers
1989-91 Iowa Assistant Offensive Line/Recruiting Coordinator
1992-94 Iowa Offensive Line
1995-98 Iowa Offensive Line/Running Game Coordinator
1999-2000 Cincinnati Bengals Tight Ends
2001 Cincinnati Bengals Tight Ends/Assistant Offensive Line
2002 Dallas Cowboys Offensive Line
2004 Buffalo Bills Assistant Offensive Line/Tight Ends
2005 Buffalo Bills Offensive Line
2007-08 Cleveland Browns Offensive Assistant Coach
2009 Notre Dame (Offensive Line/Run Game Coordinator)
2010 St. Louis Rams (Pro Personnel/Advance scout )
2011 Florida Gators (Offensive Line/Running Game Coordinator)
2013 Montreal Alouettes (Offensive Line)
2014 Northern Iowa (Offensive line/ Tight ends)
This post was edited on 2/9 2:45 PM by the Blades

 

[the Blades]

NBC Sports: UConn coaching shuffle adds Frank Verducci at OC

The addition of Verducci is just one part of the offensive coaching staff shuffle in Storrs. Diaco made it a point of emphasis last
month with the dismissal of offensive line coach Mike Foley to increase the toughness of the offense, starting up front. With
Verducci being added to the staff, Football Scoop reports Wayne Lineburg will be the new quarterbacks coach after
coaching receivers and special teams in 2014. Don Patterson will also move from quarterbacks to tight ends. Finally,
per Football Scoop, David Corley will move from coaching running backs in 2014 to receivers and special teams in 2015.

 

[the Blades]

SNY -Diaco speaks about UConn's reshuffle with the offensive coaching staff

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

My only question on Verducci is how can a guy be an offensive position and/or line coach for almost 35 years and never previously get promoted to OC? Is it a lack of opportunity? Or did his former employers simply not think he had the goods to be an OC?

 

[the Blades]

Originally posted by KhalidShockedTheWorld:
My only question on Verducci is how can a guy be an offensive position and/or line coach for almost 35 years and never previously get promoted to OC? Is it a lack of opportunity? Or did his former employers simply not think he had the goods to be an OC?

I thought the same thing, it looks like he jumps around alot, but not at a top spot. Looks like a guy on the move
to much for his own good, sometimes. Read he was looking for an NFL job again even though he had a secure job
with Florida in 2011 so they moved on from him. Also he seems more like a running game specialist, w/ his
background ( like he was at Iowa, Florida and Notre Dame) so he may have gotten the title and money from Diaco,
because of his lengthy NFL and elite level college resume, but it reads like an offense by committee thing. (???)
Two other guys, Lineburg both have a lot
of experience as OC's and are more passing game guys. This Diaco comment reads that way:

"I now have great balance on my offensive staff with three experts in the passing game and two experts
in how to attack a defensive front. I thought it was important to have that balance rather than adding
someone who specifically knows wide receivers or quarterbacks."

Also read Verducci was from the same area in Jersey as Diaco and Frankie V. recruited him to Iowa. An irony in all
this is you have 3 Iowa guys ( Diaco and 2 top assts.) running the Uconn football program while you have a former
Uconn captain and grad ( Kirk Ferentz ) who's been running the Iowa program for 15+ years.
This post was edited on 2/10 8:54 AM by the Blades

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

I think his last job was with the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL as their O-line coach. I look at the Verducci resume and I see the same thing, moving around a lot, always getting jobs somewhere but as a position coach or line coach and nobody ever hired him as an OC before. On the one hand you like his experience which includes college, and pro at the NFL and CFL levels. On the other hand, you wonder about the constant movement and lack of promotion- does this signal he is just an opportunist who goes to the highest bidder, or does it mean nobody trusts the guy to run an offense? A friend of mine commented, when I told him I would have preferred a younger up and coming guy with no OC experience, that sometimes it's good to have a mix of young and old with head coach and OC. We shall see.

One thing I definitely agree on is the firing of the last OC. I was sick when Casey Cochrane had to retire due to repeated concussions which were caused by the OL not protecting him and subjecting him to big hits. The UConn OL was a comedy show last year and if nothing else I hope Verducci, with his extensive OL coaching experience, can rectify that and protect the QBs now on the roster.

 

[the Blades]

Originally posted by KhalidShockedTheWorld:
A friend of mine commented, when I told him I would have preferred a younger up and coming guy with no OC experience, that sometimes it's good to have a mix of young and old with head coach and OC. We shall see.

It's seems like Uconn's got that all mixed up.... the young HC with no HC'ing experience and the older Verducci
as OC, LOL ! ( though Lineburg is another young guy as a quasi-OC)

This post was edited on 2/10 7:24 AM by the Blades