The Cuse have a coach

Doug Marrone.  That name ring any bells?  Yeah, me neither before today.  And considering the “short list” included Lane Kiffin and Skip Holtz I was not exactly thrilled that Marrone ended up being the guy in Syracuse.

That is, until I read about him and watched the press conference.

Marrone is a former player at SU.  Normally, that’s not something that is important to me.  But SU is a tradition-laden school that was broken down by Greg Robinson.  The uniforms, the empty dome, the lack of committment to the SU legacy all ruined whatever SU had going for it in terms of spirity.  It’s hard to build that back up unless you have someone who gets it.  Tressel isn’t an OSU alum, but he got the joke when he started.  He knew the number of days before the Michigan game at his first press conference.  He brought a focus back to the traditions and priorities of Woody Hayes and others and that is one of the many reasons he’s been successful.  I think having a former player as a coach can start that process for Syracuse.

Here’s hoping he can do it.  There’s got to be an answer in the Big East besides Pitt, Cincy and WVU… Good grief, it’s not the Big Midwest Conference.

What… There was a head coach at Syracuse?

Who knew?

Turns out Greg Robinson was fired today.

buh-bye.

I don’t miss him already.

Heck, based on the team’s play, I assumed that they had brought back the Saltine Warrior long ago – only as coach this time.

Here’s my short list for coaches at Syracuse.

1. Dick MacPherson. The Patriots experiment didn’t work out all that well, but his teams were solid back in the day. I think he’s still alive, which would indicate that he’s already ahead of the pace set by Greg Robinson pulse-less tenure.

2. Lane Kiffin. If Al Davis doesn’t want him there must be something right about him. Plus, He looks better in Orange than he does Black and gray. (That’s an inside joke, because guess who’s a Syracuse graduate? Al Freaking Davis.)

3. Jim Boeheim. We’ve seen players become two sport stars and I think Boeheim might be perfect to give it a go from the coaching ranks.

4. Qadry Ismail. Just kidding, I’m just popping off Syracuse alumni at this point. But, this is probably the first time in about 15 years that an Ismail besides The Rocket has ever made a football-related list.

5. Marv Albert. An alum and if he’s coaching we don’t have to listen to his annoying voice anymore. (This choice could have also gone to Bob Costas, Dick Stockton, Mike Tirico, and Sean McDonough).

6. Actually, I mean this one: Norm Chow. And he needs to do two things immediately: A. Stop the ridiculous uniform game that Syracuse has practiced lately. The numbers on the helmets work at Alabama. And only Alabama. It doesn’t work at Syracuse and it doesn’t work at Marietta College. B. No more option or option-like offense. Run a real offense. I think the only teams in America who should be allowed to run the option are the service academies and Duke

Look at Otto doing the “Greg’s Gone” dance. He looks so happy…