If you seek anything more than negligible insight into Bob Diaco's hiring at UConn, stop reading. Or prepare for disappointment. I know what you do. Won't pretend otherwise. Notre Dame pedigree, Jersey background, good reputation as a recruiter, young guy.

I could tell you that at least one coach who has worked with Diaco in the past called him "tireless" on Thursday, predicting "he's the right guy in the right place in the right time at UConn."

It's still window dressing. So was Thursday's introductory news conference. They're all the same, really. Say the right things, flash the pearly whites. Interpret what you'd like. Make bold predictions. You are guessing.

You know how we'll know if this is the right guy? When the games begin. So we wait, we watch, we hope.

Besides, last time they hired a football coach at UConn, many of us were suckered by a breathless gaggle of state high school football coaches who sang hosannas to Paul Pasqualoni, hail the conquering hero, who will unearth and cultivate all the "talent" Randy Edsall ignored in Connecticut.

Diaco's future here hinges on his ability to improve the talent in the program. (This just in). But it would be helpful, too, if Diaco, with his background, could chip away at the alarming levels of obliviousness off the field that are imperiling the program's perception.

To wit:

Lou Marinelli, the coach at New Canaan, provided Jim Fuller of the New Haven Register this gem the other day about the UConn coaching search. (Kudos to Jim for being enterprising enough to ask):

"I am the wrong person. I am still upset about how they treated Paul (Pasqualoni) and George (DeLeone). I don't care what they do. I am sorry to say that. It is a great institution but what they did to those two, two of the finest men that I know, I have nothing to say.

"I have a kid who is starting at Notre Dame (Conor Hanratty) who didn't get a look from UConn so hopefully the guy who comes in will start anew and look closer at the kids in Connecticut. I think the last two games were won by a Connecticut quarterback and that is the way it should be. If the new coach would look closer at the state, I think he would be surprised at the talent."

Dear Lou: You're serious?

I mean, what was UConn supposed to do with DeLeone and Pasqualoni? Hold a testimonial for two guys who lost more than they won? And poor Paul got a $750,000 settlement check (that might even resonate in New Canaan) for setting the program back five years.

And one more thing, coach: Do you really, truly think Connecticut is some haven for high school football players?

Maybe someone should, you know, let Nick Saban know?

I'm afraid, though, such blindness is pervasive here. It contributes to some of the apathy in the state right now that Diaco must conquer. If the state's football pied pipers are killing the program this way - Marinelli isn't alone - how many fans are they influencing?

Are we to believe Marinelli, wrapped in the gold-plated cocoon of New Canaan, or Edsall, who once told The Day's Chuck Banning there's more talent within a nominal radius of Maryland's campus than our entire state?

Or there's ESPN's Tom Luginbill, who follows recruiting extensively, who said recently that the biggest obstacle for UConn's new coach is a "small player pool."

Seriously, folks. Don't mistake our occasional Dwight Freeney with thinking we've morphed into southern Florida. I know some of you realized this long ago. Clearly, though, you are in the minority, amid all this Creeping Bumpkinism.

Can we emerge from all our little fiefdoms and understand the breadth of the recruiting job Diaco has in front of him? Diaco's background suggests he has the single biggest attribute the new UConn coach needs: He knows where the bodies are buried. Translation: He is familiar enough with fertile recruiting areas to find the hidden guys, the overlooked guys and turn them into players here.

But if Marinelli and any of his other comrades think UConn will be delivered from the morass with Conor Hanratty, they should cancel the program now. Note to coach Marinelli: You coach in New Canaan. That's next to Darien, not De La Salle. Connecticut has the occasional big time prospect, but mostly FCS, Division II and Division III guys. There's no shame in that.

Maybe Diaco could begin an educational tour soon.

He could start in New Canaan.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.