A Persuasive Old Bugger, Evidently

Well, the verdict is in, folks. UConn's new football coach, Paul Pasqualoni, is a much better recruiter than his predecessor, Randy Edsall. Not, mind you, that Mr. Pasqualoni is blowing the roof off up here. The really top-notch prospects, regardless of location, are probably never going to pick UConn (for football - basketball is an entirely different story). a) It's colder than hell there. b) It's smack in the middle of cow country. c) It's a basketball school (at least for as long as Auriemma and Calhoun are coaching there). And d) they compete in the mediocre (for football) Big East Conference (a conference that may not even exist five years from now - what, with conference realignment and the possibility of super conferences emerging). But Pasqualoni is in fact doing well.................................................................................................For instance, he recently received a verbal commitment from Monroe CT's Casey Cochran, the top rated player in the state of CT and the 12th best pro-style quarterback in the country (this, according to Rivals). He's also gotten commitments from several other standouts/bell-ringers; Jhavon Williams, a ball-hawking corner out of Florida, defensive tackle, Mikal Myers, the 7th best player from the state of New York, and a couple of kids out of neighboring MA; linebacker, Jason Sylva and safety, Obi Melifonwu, the 6th and 7th best players from that state...................................................................................................In fact, folks, not only is Pasqualoni doing better (recruiting-wise) than Edsall did at UConn, he's arguably doing better than Edsall is presently doing NOW, at Maryland, a school that has a) a much better recruiting base, b) a somewhat better tradition, and c) a significantly more stable conference affiliation; the ACC...................................................................................................Now, obviously, we're going to have to see if any of this pans out on the field. As you may in fact recall, Pasqualoni's teams at Syracuse (especially later in his tenure) had a tendency to underachieve - this, while Mr. Edsall's at UConn almost always OVERachieved. But at least it constitutes an encouraging start for those of us who are following the team.