Diaco hands offensive keys to Cochran

STORRS – With 11 days remaining before the University of Connecticut football team opens the season against BYU, first-year coach Bob Diaco declared competition for the starting quarterback position officially closed.

Sophomore Casey Cochran will be UConn’s starter, Diaco announced at press conference. Senior Chandler Whitmer, who came close to leaving UConn after the program’s coaching change last year, was designated the “key backup.”

Diaco’s view of the situation requires some patience along with understanding of his terminology. But he wants UConn fans to know he has seen all the pros and cons “in his own head.” He can “see how the games are going to operate” and Diaco wants it understood this is not a flexible situation left open for weekly change – even though it is possible he could use both Cochran and Whitmer in every game this season.

“That’s not to imply the competition is still open,” Diaco said Monday. “We’re not going to roll like that. It’s not to imply we’re a two-platoon, two-headed quarterback monster. We’re not. Casey is the starting quarterback for the Huskies. Chandler is coming in off the sideline to play his role.”

Diaco had said since April that he wanted the quarterback puzzle solved within two weeks of the opener against BYU on Aug. 29. He didn’t quite make that deadline, but he came close. Diaco made his decision Monday morning, before the Huskies hit the practice field to officially begin preparation for BYU.

“Turn the lights on,” Diaco yelled out in a team huddle that opened practice. “Now we narrow our focus to the season opener and BYU.”

Diaco converted the defensive meeting room into a panel discussion with quarterbacks Cochran, Whitmer, Tim Boyle and Bryant Shirreffs joining him to answer questions from the media.

“It was a long, hard choice; an incredible battle,” Diaco said in his opening statement. He called it a battle “dating back to winter conditioning, spring football, summer conditioning and camp.” He said Whitmer, a red-shirt senior who already has his degree, remains the better “player.” He said the statistical difference between Whitmer and Cochran during preseason camp was “negligible in all categories.” He said the Huskies can play winning football with either one.

But . . .

“Casey has improved his physical traits to try to catch up with Chandler Whitmer,” Diaco said. “In the intangible areas – leading, communicating, mobilizing energy, creating unit power and team power – Casey Cochran has edged out Chandler in that area.”

So, there is your starter. Whitmer, Cochran and Boyle each started four game last season. Cochran, 6-1 and 224 pounds,  directed the Huskies to their only three victories in the final three games of the season. He completed 111 of 175 passes for 1,293 yards and 11 touchdowns with four interceptions.

“It’s great news,” said Cochran, who found out about the decision early Monday.

Diaco has bragged repeatedly about Cochran’s ability to lose 30 pounds. “It’s been an unbelievable eight months since Coach got here. I have transformed by body.”

After a decent performance in the spring game, Whitmer told reporters how he was ready to move on past UConn and start his new life. A conversation with Diaco convinced him to return and help the Huskies in any way that he could.

“Me? I’m just going out and having fun,” Whitmer said then. “No pressure or anything like that. I’m just going out and playing ball like I’ve always known. I’m just having fun, trying to help the team the best I can. Whatever happens, happens.”

Whitmer reiterated that Monday, saying he wants to be a better teammate, do whatever it takes to move the offense, win and go to a bowl game.

“I was happy with whatever I could get,” Whitmer said. “I wanted to come back, set the record straight and not leave UConn the way things ended last year. I wanted to change my attitude. I grew as a man.”

Boyle, a 6-3 sophomore from Middlefield, Conn., will red-shirt this season – if at all possible. He can keep learning, maturing and help by watching game films. Diaco said Boyle had some nagging injuries in camp and Boyle was held out of much of Monday’s workout.

The fact is that this works best for UConn’s future plans.

“He’s going to prepare for the games,” Diaco said. “He’s going to prepare the team to win. We will not hesitate to go with Tim and expect him to go in and perform at a winning level. If we can we’re going to protect him. That will give us an opportunity to create separation as it relates to years. If it’s possible, we will make that every effort.”

Said Boyle: “I’m extremely happy with the decision. I appreciate Coach Diaco and the coaches trying to protect me. My role this year is to help Chandler and Casey get ready for the games. I have my role and I’m 100 percent willing to do it.”

Shirreffs, a transfer from North Carolina State who must sit out this season under NCAA rules, will run the scout offense and be involved in quarterback meetings.

Diaco explained the coaching staff’s evaluation levels include “key starters, starters, key backups and squad men.”

“We do not have a key starter at the quarterback position,”  he said. “We have a starter and a key backup.”

Time will tell if Diaco made the right decision. But for now, the key players in this quarterback drama all seemed content Monday. Perhaps that is because the week-to-week plot changes over the past two season simply was more pressure than they could stand.

Whitmer said he is simply willing to do whatever is needed – week to week.

“Coach Diaco is very high on making sure everybody knows their role going into the game,” Whitmer said. “He said as a player he didn’t like not knowing what was going on. I think for both us, knowing our role, we can not only compare with each other, bounce ideas off each other, but also be ready for the situations we know we’re going to be in.”

NOTES: Scouts from three NFL teams watched the Huskies workout Monday. The Browns and Texans were in attendance and the Vikings were represented by two scouts. . . .  Offensive lineman Andreas Knappe was not involved in the early part of Monday’s practice. No word on his status. . . . UConn will hold media day Thursday. . . . The UConn team went to Six Flags Over New England Saturday. Diaco called it a “team building exercise.” That prompted Phil Nolan of the men’s basketball team to tweet: “The football team went to Six Flags instead of having practice? Dang @CoachKO_UConn idk how you’re going to beat that!” . . . Former UConn RB Lyle McCombs has surfaced as a transfer at Rhode Island.