The Coach's Show | Syracusefan.com

The Coach's Show

SWC75

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The show this year will be broadcast on Thursdays at 7PM from TGI Fridays on the third floor of Destiny USA, (just past the theater ticket booth and on the right after you walk down the hallway). I don’t know if they will take questions from the audience there but they say you can watch the show whereas when it was at a restaurant, their table tended to be in a secluded location. (Remember it’s Thursdays at TGI Fridays, not Fridays at TGI Thursdays). The football show is an hour in duration, (Coach Boeheim’s basketball show is usually 2 hours).


Note: because the first game is on a Friday Night, the first show will be on Wednesday, September 2nd. After that it will be on the Thursday before each game until the last game when the show will again be on a Wednesday, (11/25) due to Thanksgiving.


“Fans are invited to attend the show in person or participate via telephone (1-888-7-Go Cuse or 424-8599) or Twitter (@CuseIMG) using the hashtag #AskShafe. You can also listen to the show live each week on the Syracuse IMG Sports Network and Cuse.com. Wednesday's show will be on 99.1 FM and 97.7 FM, as well. The show will regularly air on 99.1 FM and 1200 AM.” You can also get it on: http://tunein.com/radio/WGVA-1240-s29191/

That first phone number is 1-888-746-2873 numerically.


You can also send them in advance at this site:

http://cuse.com/sb_output.aspx?form=4

(I do both so they can be prepared to give me an informed, reasoned answer.)




My Question(s)


“Coach, there are 125 major college teams so the 63rd ranked team is always in the middle of the standings. Last year the 63rd ranked team in scoring was Rice, who averaged 29 points a game. We’re in an era where you typically have to score 30 points to beat an average team. Syracuse has had exactly nine teams in its history that averaged 30 points a game, one in this century. Last year we averaged 17. What can be done to give SU a modern, state of the art 2015 offensive football team?”




The Show


(I sometimes re-arrange the comments so that statements made on the same subject are reported together, even if they came at different points of the show.)


The coach reminisced about his time in Rhode Island and his relationship with Pat Narduzzi who was on the staff there. He told the Kiwi story and said that he’d told it at the ACC Media day, beating Narduzzi to it. He recalled that he‘d lived his entire life in the Midwest and what a pleasure it was to go to the beach and look at the ocean. He also recalled that his son Wolfgang, who will be the starting quarterback at Ithaca Saturday, was born there. Coach is hoping for three victories this weekend: Rhode Island, the Ithaca game and his brother’s team back in Ohio, (high school I assume).


He then addresses this team saying that “We’ve got some new kids in the kicking game, skill positons and defense. We wanted to make sure the kids understood the concept before we went too far.”


I called in my question. The coach invited me to be there Friday night as they unveil their new offense. He cited the achievements of Coach Tim Lester, who “set records as a player and then as a coach everywhere he went”. I looked him up on Wikipedia and other sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Lester_(quarterback)

He passed for 11,299 yards and 87 touchdowns at Western Michigan and then coached another Tim there a decade later, Tim Miller, who broke those record with 11,329 yards passing and 99 touchdowns. At Elmhurst, he coached Scottie Williams, who ran for 2,026 yards and scored 24 touchdowns in winning the Gagliardi Trophy, Division III‘s Heisman. So Lester has certainly been involved in some productive offenses. Shafer said “You’ll see some different, some familiar, young dynamic kids in the mix from the get-go. You’ve seen Ismael and Hunt but you’ll also see Diungy. You’ll see McFarland and Morris but also a lot of Fredericks. Brisley Estime is healthy again. Alvin Cornelius had a good camp, too. “


Matt pointed out that our new tight ends coach, Jake Moreland, was an old Lester associate. Shafer said that Lester “will do anything that fits the personnel and the opponent”. He’s proud of his staff, which “
worked through tough times last year.”


He said that Terrell Hunt had benefited from sitting with the coaching staff while he was out and that his mental ability to analyze a game had grown. He also said that Terrell’s new diet will help him. “Everything has been upgraded”.


Matt noted that all the injuries in the line last year gave a lot of players a chance to play and some of them had “cross-trained”, (played more than one positon).


Coach is excited about the young players in the defensive line, which Coach Daoust has said could become the best he ever coached. Shafer said “They’ve picked things up quickly.” He thought about using Kayton Samuels last year. Chris Slayton is setting records in the weight room. Jake Pickard is “growing into his body”. He also mentioned Steven Clark, Qaadir Sheppard and Amir Ealey as young players to watch. He’s also pleased that Donnie Simmons is getting a chance to start in his senior year. Zaire Franklin said that Rob Thompson is the best player on the defense and Coach agrees with that assessment, (which carries weight ad Franklin would be his leading rival).


Matt said that the depth chart has green boxes for true freshman and blue ones for redshirt freshman. He looks at the chart and sees a lot of green and blue boxes. Coach likes freshmen: “They aren’t going to choke- they don’t know any better.” he pointed out that even Franklin is a true sophomore: he’s been here as long as the guys in blue, no longer. “The quickest way to learn how to play in a game is to play in a game.”


They briefly touched on some NFL new: Art Jones has injured his ankle and will have surgery. Coach remembered how Chandler Jones was supposed be through for a season but came back in four games. “That family heals quickly”. Also “The Rams love Cameron Lynch”.


Coach Mac will be honored at the Wake Forest game. His grandson Mackey is a Graduate Assistant under Skip Holtz at Louisiana Tech, (remember when Holtz was up for the SU job?). Macky’s brother Cam, who transferred from Georgetown, (because they still suck), and was a quarterback there will be a tight end here and “will play a little bit Friday night”. He’s interned at ESPN. Shafer: “He’s the only player who has ever told me he wanted to drop a class because he wasn’t getting an ‘A’. He wants straight A’s or nothing.”


Paul Mroz has won the Rhode Island quarterback job. “He has a good arm with a quick release and escapability. He can buy time….We have to shut down the run, force the throw and get a bead on our coverages. We have to be physical, play good tough hard-nosed error-free football. We want to show off our fun new offense and use our full roster and put a great product on the field for the fans.”


Coach said he likes night games because parents have a chance to “tend to the children in the day, then get a show and come out and see the game.”


(There go my Thursdays for the next six months!)
 
The show this year will be broadcast on Thursdays at 7PM from TGI Fridays on the third floor of Destiny USA, (just past the theater ticket booth and on the right after you walk down the hallway). I don’t know if they will take questions from the audience there but they say you can watch the show whereas when it was at a restaurant, their table tended to be in a secluded location. (Remember it’s Thursdays at TGI Fridays, not Fridays at TGI Thursdays). The football show is an hour in duration, (Coach Boeheim’s basketball show is usually 2 hours).


Note: because the first game is on a Friday Night, the first show will be on Wednesday, September 2nd. After that it will be on the Thursday before each game until the last game when the show will again be on a Wednesday, (11/25) due to Thanksgiving.


“Fans are invited to attend the show in person or participate via telephone (1-888-7-Go Cuse or 424-8599) or Twitter (@CuseIMG) using the hashtag #AskShafe. You can also listen to the show live each week on the Syracuse IMG Sports Network and Cuse.com. Wednesday's show will be on 99.1 FM and 97.7 FM, as well. The show will regularly air on 99.1 FM and 1200 AM.” You can also get it on: http://tunein.com/radio/WGVA-1240-s29191/

That first phone number is 1-888-746-2873 numerically.


You can also send them in advance at this site:

http://cuse.com/sb_output.aspx?form=4

(I do both so they can be prepared to give me an informed, reasoned answer.)




My Question(s)


“Coach, there are 125 major college teams so the 63rd ranked team is always in the middle of the standings. Last year the 63rd ranked team in scoring was Rice, who averaged 29 points a game. We’re in an era where you typically have to score 30 points to beat an average team. Syracuse has had exactly nine teams in its history that averaged 30 points a game, one in this century. Last year we averaged 17. What can be done to give SU a modern, state of the art 2015 offensive football team?”




The Show


(I sometimes re-arrange the comments so that statements made on the same subject are reported together, even if they came at different points of the show.)


The coach reminisced about his time in Rhode Island and his relationship with Pat Narduzzi who was on the staff there. He told the Kiwi story and said that he’d told it at the ACC Media day, beating Narduzzi to it. He recalled that he‘d lived his entire life in the Midwest and what a pleasure it was to go to the beach and look at the ocean. He also recalled that his son Wolfgang, who will be the starting quarterback at Ithaca Saturday, was born there. Coach is hoping for three victories this weekend: Rhode Island, the Ithaca game and his brother’s team back in Ohio, (high school I assume).


He then addresses this team saying that “We’ve got some new kids in the kicking game, skill positons and defense. We wanted to make sure the kids understood the concept before we went too far.”


I called in my question. The coach invited me to be there Friday night as they unveil their new offense. He cited the achievements of Coach Tim Lester, who “set records as a player and then as a coach everywhere he went”. I looked him up on Wikipedia and other sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Lester_(quarterback)

He passed for 11,299 yards and 87 touchdowns at Western Michigan and then coached another Tim there a decade later, Tim Miller, who broke those record with 11,329 yards passing and 99 touchdowns. At Elmhurst, he coached Scottie Williams, who ran for 2,026 yards and scored 24 touchdowns in winning the Gagliardi Trophy, Division III‘s Heisman. So Lester has certainly been involved in some productive offenses. Shafer said “You’ll see some different, some familiar, young dynamic kids in the mix from the get-go. You’ve seen Ismael and Hunt but you’ll also see Diungy. You’ll see McFarland and Morris but also a lot of Fredericks. Brisley Estime is healthy again. Alvin Cornelius had a good camp, too. “


Matt pointed out that our new tight ends coach, Jake Moreland, was an old Lester associate. Shafer said that Lester “will do anything that fits the personnel and the opponent”. He’s proud of his staff, which “
worked through tough times last year.”


He said that Terrell Hunt had benefited from sitting with the coaching staff while he was out and that his mental ability to analyze a game had grown. He also said that Terrell’s new diet will help him. “Everything has been upgraded”.


Matt noted that all the injuries in the line last year gave a lot of players a chance to play and some of them had “cross-trained”, (played more than one positon).


Coach is excited about the young players in the defensive line, which Coach Daoust has said could become the best he ever coached. Shafer said “They’ve picked things up quickly.” He thought about using Kayton Samuels last year. Chris Slayton is setting records in the weight room. Jake Pickard is “growing into his body”. He also mentioned Steven Clark, Qaadir Sheppard and Amir Ealey as young players to watch. He’s also pleased that Donnie Simmons is getting a chance to start in his senior year. Zaire Franklin said that Rob Thompson is the best player on the defense and Coach agrees with that assessment, (which carries weight ad Franklin would be his leading rival).


Matt said that the depth chart has green boxes for true freshman and blue ones for redshirt freshman. He looks at the chart and sees a lot of green and blue boxes. Coach likes freshmen: “They aren’t going to choke- they don’t know any better.” he pointed out that even Franklin is a true sophomore: he’s been here as long as the guys in blue, no longer. “The quickest way to learn how to play in a game is to play in a game.”


They briefly touched on some NFL new: Art Jones has injured his ankle and will have surgery. Coach remembered how Chandler Jones was supposed be through for a season but came back in four games. “That family heals quickly”. Also “The Rams love Cameron Lynch”.


Coach Mac will be honored at the Wake Forest game. His grandson Mackey is a Graduate Assistant under Skip Holtz at Louisiana Tech, (remember when Holtz was up for the SU job?). Macky’s brother Cam, who transferred from Georgetown, (because they still suck), and was a quarterback there will be a tight end here and “will play a little bit Friday night”. He’s interned at ESPN. Shafer: “He’s the only player who has ever told me he wanted to drop a class because he wasn’t getting an ‘A’. He wants straight A’s or nothing.”


Paul Mroz has won the Rhode Island quarterback job. “He has a good arm with a quick release and escapability. He can buy time….We have to shut down the run, force the throw and get a bead on our coverages. We have to be physical, play good tough hard-nosed error-free football. We want to show off our fun new offense and use our full roster and put a great product on the field for the fans.”


Coach said he likes night games because parents have a chance to “tend to the children in the day, then get a show and come out and see the game.”


(There go my Thursdays for the next six months!)
Great report as always. Thank you cant wait to see the newbies
 
Great report as always. Thank you cant wait to see the newbies

Second that--thanks, SWC [on behalf of us out-of-towners].

And I am encouraged by what we're hearing about Lester's offense--I know we aren't going to see the playbook open up, but I can't wait to see how we're able to execute on Friday. We've lacked on offensive identity for far too long.
 
Second that.

And I am encouraged by what we're hearing about Lester's offense--I know we aren't going to see the playbook open up, but I can't wait to see how we're able to execute on Friday. We've lacked on offensive identity for far too long.


I also liked what he said about the defensive line. I've assumed because of the people we've lost that that would be a weakness. It sounds like it could emerge as a strength.
 
I also liked what he said about the defensive line. I've assumed because of the people we've lost that that would be a weakness. It sounds like it could emerge as a strength.

I expect there to be growing pains, and our margin for injury at both DT / DE is low, but I agree that after these guys get a few games under their belt, the defensive line might be a LOT better than what most prognosticators predicted. Daoust is a terrific coach.
 
Now is the time for optimism. Hopefully it sticks around for a few weeks. Faded way too quickly last year.

So he said we'll see Dungey on Friday night? Guess that redshirt question is answered.
 
I expect there to be growing pains, and our margin for injury at both DT / DE is low, but I agree that after these guys get a few games under their belt, the defensive line might be a LOT better than what most prognosticators predicted. Daoust is a terrific coach.
Keeping Daoust was our best recruiting win last year.
 
SWC, any chance you can get in on one of the tickets before the primaries? SWC 2016.
 
SWC, any chance you can get in on one of the tickets before the primaries? SWC 2016.

Here's who I'm voting for:

001_small.jpg
 

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