I’ve been away from these boards for a number of years. Not to get too detailed, but I got tired of the negativity on the basketball board.
The reason I was drawn back is because of my excitement for Syracuse football. I'm a high school coach in NYS so I have had the opportunity to hear previous Syracuse coaches speak. I'm sure some of these things have been mentioned during my hiatus, but wanted to share some of my excitement for our new coaching staff.
I had quite a few interactions with Coach Babers, both one to one and when he was speaking at coaching clinics. Coach Babers' personality was unmatched. He is an excellent speaker and whenever he spoke had the full attention of his audience. With that being said, I was shocked at some of his lack of football knowledge. I don't say this lightly, one of the times I heard him speak he was using the last second drive against Purdue as an example of not giving up. Several times during the speech he mentioned not knowing timing or other rules that I would think a head coach should know.
A few weeks back Coach Brown spoke at the NYSHSFCA Clinic as the keynote speaker.
- Coach Brown has a plan!
- Coach Brown pays attention to details.
- He talked a ton about Football 101. From the markings on the field, to the reason certain positions are named.
- Coach Brown cares about his coaches and players.
- He personally reached out to every player on the team and their parents who he thought were no longer a fit for Syracuse. From his own mouth, these conversations were not always pleasant, but he felt he owed it to the players and their families.
- Quite a few members of his staff, he has known for years. They worked together during his time coming up through the ranks and at least one he has known since he was a kid.
- He mentioned that his job is to help his assistant coaches progress in their careers. Which means some of these guys may not be at Syracuse for the long term, but if our coaches are moving on because they are getting better jobs I don't see that as a bad thing.
- Coach Brown takes a great deal of pride in being the number one recruiter in the country.
- When he recruits a player he doesn't end the relationship when the kid gets on campus. He sets up times throughout the season to meet with the players.
- He made the statement that the reason so many kids are in the transfer portal is because coaches are "pussies." They recruit a kid and tell them one thing and then once they are on campus they don't talk to the kid again.
- Coach Brown wants develop his players into fathers, husbands, leaders not just football players. I've heard a number of coaches say this over the years, but Coach Brown is one of the first ones who backs it up with everything he says.
- Coach Brown is asking that all high school coaches in NY let him know about their best kids. Even if they think the kid is "too good" for Syracuse, Coach Brown just wants a chance to talk to them.
- He is not content recruiting against the Colgates and Albanys of the football world. He wants to recruit against the big guys; the Georgias and Floridas.
- Coach Brown has a connection to Syracuse history and NY state in general. He knows of the past players and knows some of them personally. He knows about our past coaches. His connection and admiration for Coach P and Coach DeLeone can only help with his recruiting in NY. Those guys still are held in high esteem among NYS HS coaches.
I had guarded excitement when we hired Coach Babers. He did some really good things with the program and missed the boat in other ways. I didn't know much about Coach Brown until we hired him, but I can tell if he and his staff can coach half as well as he can talk and plan then we are going to be very competitive.
I've heard a ton of coaches speak over the years and he was easily near the top of the ones I have heard.
