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Coach Babers’s show this year show will be Thursday nights at 7PM except when the game is not on a Saturday. The show is two days before the game, except for Thanksgiving week. Here is the schedule:
Thursday, Aug. 29 – 7 pm; Thursday, Sept. 5 – 7 pm; Thursday, Sept. 12 – 7 pm
Thursday, Sept. 19 – 7 pm; Thursday, Sept. 26 – 7 pm; Tuesday, Oct. 8 – 7 pm
Wednesday, Oct. 16 – 7 pm; Thursday, Oct. 24 – 6 pm; Thursday, Oct. 31 – 6 pm
Thursday, Nov. 14 – 6 pm; Thursday, Nov. 21 – 6 pm; Tuesday, Nov. 26 – 6 pm
They are now adding the “Gomez Hour” that they do from 8-9PM for the Jim Boeheim basketball shows to the Dino Babers football show. I’ll be summarizing the comments directly related to the team and the next game (late) on the night of the broadcast and anything else interesting the next day, (if there is anything else that seems interesting). I’ll have a “first hour” and a “second hour” question.
The show will originate from PressRoom Pub, located at 220 Herald Place in Syracuse's historic Herald Square, each week this season.
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 99.5FM (Syracuse) 99.1 FM (Utica) and 1200 AM.”
You can also get it on: Home | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn
There hasn’t been any change in the phone numbers, which last year were 315-424-8599 (local) or 1-888-746-2873. You can call to ask questions or submit them via Twitter at: https://twitter.com/CuseIMG
#AskDino or through Cuse.com, (the SU Athletic website):
Submit a Question! - Syracuse University Athletics
You can (or could last year, anyway), listen to a podcast of the show, probably the next day, at: Search results for babers | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn
I’ve been asked to continue doing the summaries, even by people who listen to the podcasts. I may focus on the major points, rather than trying to record everything.
My Question(s) or Comments
First Hour:
“Coach, we all know the 2019 team is not the 2018 team. It’s been suggested that a big difference lies in the “intangibles”. That word is a jambalaya of a lot of other words: leadership, character, toughness, focus, confidence, belief. How would you compare the intangibles of this team to last year’s team and are the deficits something the team can grow out of or will it take a different mix of personalities to do that?”
Second Hour:
“Coach, the glory of Syracuse football lies in three eras: after Archbold Stadium was built we had a stretch from 1914-1935 of 22 straight winning season. When Ben Schwartzwalder arrived we had a stretch from 1950-1971 of 22 straight years without a losing season. When we built the carrier Dome we had a stretch from 1987-2001 of fifteen straight winning seasons. People assumed last year heralded the beginning of another glory era. But those other teams never had to compete in the ACC Atlantic division, with multiple national championship-caliber programs and no really bad teams. Should we adjust our expectations to realize that we are now capable of having a year like last year but that it’s going to take a couple of year to build up to it and that runs of winning seasons are not going to happen anymore?”
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.)
(Program notes: the Dino Babers Show will be from 6PM-8PM the rest of the season. The Jim Boeheim Show, which begins on Tuesday, 11/12, will still be from 7PM-9PM. The Boeheim Show will be on Tuesday for the first two weeks, (11/12-11/19), then move to Thursdays. They didn’t say what the plan is for Thanksgiving week, when the Babers show will be on Tuesday the 26th)
Again in the new, introverted format, the first hour was with Gomez, although this time they eliminated the musical interludes that have interrupted his part of the show for the last couple of years.
Gomez asked how the players have responded to the coaching change. Dino: “Our young people have handled it well it was like in the great Santini when the father tells his kids that they are moving.
We’ve had good practices. Antwan Cordy ahs bene here 5-6 years. He’s played under a lot of coaches. I want to see some change in the way we play. I want to see some life out there. I want the kids to enjoy what they are doing. If you don’t get results, you have to work harder. Not more practice- more detail. Teams change as the months change. The leaves come down. The snow falls. That was long winded but it is gospel.“
John from Baltimore wanted to know Dino’s philosophy. “You’re patient with the offensive linemen and receivers. Some coaches would bench them. I’d like to see guys like Cam Jordan get more playing time.” DB: “We’re going to see the underbelly of the roster more and more so we can make evaluations and jump start the 2020 season.” (Are we giving up on the 2019 season?) “It’s a time when actions play louder than words if you can’t listen to us, then you’re out of the game.”
Gomez asked about Matthew Bergeron. DB: “He’s playing at a higher level than he realizes. At such a young age, it indicates a high ceiling he gets more positive reinforcement from me than any other player.” Wayne called in to say that he’s heard that Bergeron had a twin brother on the team but he couldn’t find him on the rosters. Coach said that’s incorrect: he has two younger brothers who are twins. “If we do a good job with Matthew we’ll have a chance to get them – if I get a long term contract”. (I guess they are much younger brothers.)
Gomez noted that Tommy DeVito hadn’t thrown an interception since September. (Ugh – shut up!) DB: “He hadn’t had much contact before this year. Now he’s got more than he can handle. Tommy has checked some boxes for us. He has played through the injury. Some of the shots he has taken are Dungey-ish.“ (Is that a new word?)
Bob from Chicago asked Dino to compare himself to Coach Ditka. Dino: “There’s only one Ditka. But let me tell you a story. I was part of a group of guest coaches when he was at New Orleans. He gave a dinner for us after it was over and handed out Cuban cigars, which I don’t think he was supposed to have at that time. I’d never smoked a cigar and wondered which end you light up. Coach Ditka asked me what the problem was. I told him and he yanked away the Cuban and gave me an Ashton, which is clipped off at the end.” Bob said he was never more jealous. (I wonder if Dino still has it.)
I called in my first question about the “intangibles”. Coach said that he didn’t see a big difference in intangibles between this year’s team and last year’s. “It’s more about personnel. We are two experienced tackles, one more explosive wide receiver and a dominant defensive tackle away from being the same team as last year. To do battle in the ACC you need an experienced offensive line and defensive line that can hold their own. Football comes down to the big guys who do big things. Look at who the NFL spends its money on: quarterbacks, wide receivers, offensive tackles, lock down cornerbacks and dominant defensive tackles. We can’t just put in another player like some programs can.” I said “So it’s all about the tangibles?” Coach laughed and agreed.
Gomez noted that Triston Jackson was nominated for the Biletnikoff award for the nation’s best receiver. Dino: “there are so many people doing well, I hate to single out one individual. But he’s had a good year.” Alton Robinson will be in the senior bowl while Kendall Coleman will be in the east-West game. I thought all college all-star games were equal but Dino said that if you do well in the eats-west game, you can get a spot in the Senior Bowl, which is where the ‘big scouts’ are. He said Jimmy Garoppalo had taken that route, (from the East-West game to the Senior Bowl) and look at him now.
Pete called in to say that he’s tired of seeing use be “overpowered. Speed and stamina don’t seem to be enough. Have you thought about strength and conditioning for 2020?” DB: You are seeing things that are really happening. We need to stay on the field and run more plays than they do, as we did last year. We have to string first downs together. We like our style. It’s different, like (Coach Boeheim’s) 2-3 zone is different. We teach our young players two things in weight lifting: firstly the correct procedure so they won’t injure themselves, secondly we make it a mental test of will, like that scene in Conan the barbarian with the wheel.
Conan The Barbarian - The Wheel of Pain (1982 HD)
When they pass and become part of the family, then hard things are not so hard.”
Doug also wanted to know about the O-line. But he wanted to know if it mattered whether the quarterback was right or left handed- would it make a difference as to who was playing at right and left tackle? DB: That was a hot discussion in our recruiting room today. A lot of people prefer a right handed center with a right handed quarterback because the laces come back in the right positon. I think that’s a bunch of baloney. Bring in the best quarterback possible and we will adjust to them. Most left handed quarterbacks have right handed centers. They are used to making adjustments. They will look at it and fix it in their heads.”
Tom wanted to know about ‘innovations in coaching technique’: “Where do you get your ideas?” Dino: “I got introduced to the RPO offense at Baylor in 2008. When I became a head coach I won the 2012 coach of the year award in our division and was walking through a bar where several coaches saw me and said “There goes Dino Babers- Do you believe he’s been around so many great offenses and he’s running that RPO ____.” Now the Niners and the Seahawks are running the RPO. You have to get on the cutting edge if you want to be innovative. Don’t just copy people. If’ it’s been around, they are already adjusting to it. It’s like in Apollo 13 when they decided to get rid of the C)2 so the astronauts could breathe.
Apollo 13 (1995) - Square Peg in a Round Hole Scene (7/11) | Movieclips
Joe called in to tell Dino “You look lovely”. You seem so calm out there. I’m 35 and I never went to a game until you became coach. Now I’m in it for the long haul.” Dino: “I’m in it for the long hall, too. I’m a volcano. People build houses on the sides of volcanos – until they erupt. But it’s better to make decisions at an even, calm rate.”
Samantha called in with a similar statement: she’d never watched college football much but started watching it again because of Dino and she hopes he stays with us. DB: “I enjoy being in this community. I love small cities and big towns. My family has bene all over the state to various places and there’s a dozen of them I’d like to visit but I haven’t had time yet. I just look at pictures of them on the internet.”
Gomez asked if Coach had ever tripped coming out of the tunnel. DB: “No. But the players know rule #1: don’t knock down the coach.”
Duke: “Their offense is ranked behind ours. It is a good match up with our defense. Their defense is ranked 4th in the conference. BC was ranked last and they still are. I’m looking for a greater effort out there. Coach Cutcliffe is one of the sharpest cats in the ACC. Duke has lost three in a row so both teams will be hungry. They have quarterback troubles but a good defense.
Matt Park came on and repeated the question about the players reacting to the coaching change. DB: Our young men handled it maturely. There is no gray in why we did it. It all comes down to Saturday results.”
On the BC game: “It was man-to-man coverage with eyes in the wrong place. Mental mistakes…Every team is a little different from BC. Can we shore up the run defense? I don’t know. When you get punched that hard, sometimes you get punch-drunk. We have good players, some NFL players. We have to be better. Even the freshmen are sophomores by now. Clemson has played the most freshmen in the conference. That’s understandable. They win by big margins and get to play a lot of people. NC State was second. The whole league is re-loading. Every team is getting into positon to make another run. The league will be outstanding in two years….There are certain things we won’t do, (to get players). People say that means we aren’t trying but we are teaching doing it the right way.”
I called in my second question about what we can expect in this era as opposed to prior eras. Dino: “the biggest thing is to continually go to the well with the hippos and the elephants so that there isn’t a huge gap between those who are playing and those who are not. The ACC is so difficult that there are few blow-outs. We can’t get our young players onto the field. The four game rule is fantastic but where do you play them? We’re just one of those teams trying to build the depth we need to be consistent. That’s what I want and I won’t settle for anything less.”
Matt expounded on the importance of strong lines. “The skill positons are flashy but to build a dynasty (Let’s not go through that again!) You need folks in the trenches. Clemson has breathing room.” DB: Our gap is greater. Matthew Bergeron has never played before. But there’s no crying in football. We need to do a better job of solidifying things.”
Wayne in the truck asked if the offensive line reserves will be re-evaluated. Dino said they would. “Which one has ‘it’? If I could pick all the ‘its’, we’d be fine. They don’t know their own names. When they do something right, they don’t know what they did. They need to be able to talk the game. Matthew Bergeron has done well but he’s not a guaranteed Godfather.”
The Godfather I (1972)- Baptism Scene, Michael Kills all the heads of the other families
“I tell them to calm down. You’re going to be OK.”
Today’s trivia Question was who was the Duke head coach when Syracuse las played Duke in Durham? I’ll add one of my own: Who was our quarterback?
Patrick, who is 8 years old, asked what’s the best way for him to start playing football. Coach said that he wasn’t allowed to play contact football until he was in the 8th grade. No Pee Wee or Pop Warner. Before that he played only street and park ball, which did not really allow him to work on his skills as there was no coaching. He advised Patrick to play flag football, which involved getting within a step or two of making contact or running through contact. He prefers that to 7 on 7. Then play with equipment in the 7th and 8th grade and move on to high school ball in the 9th grade. “Young kids playing tackle have more wear and tear and it could impact their recruiting.” (Also the rest of their lives.)
Kim from the U.K. was in the restaurant. She cited “one of the best football, (soccer), coaches is Alex Ferguson of Manchester United. His players are allowed to make mistakes. There is no pressure to be perfect.” Dino: “I pride myself on my patience. One way to teach is to have a player stand next to you and watch someone doing it right.” Matt Park noted that soccer has 11 players like American football but they only use 2-3 reserves. American football uses much more, (52 in an average college game). DB: “Certain positons can go longer than others. A guy playing at 60% getting a 100% hit is not a good thing.
On Duke: center Jack Wohlabaugh, son of SU’s Dave, is out. “The injury bug has hit everybody. You can’t cry about it. Just grab a piece here or there.” On QB Quentin Harris: “He’s Dungeyish. (That word again: How about Dungeyesque?) Right now he’s more dangerous with his legs than his arm so we want to keep him in the pocket. Their offense has some Georgia Tech principles They run a double wing with a mid-line trap option, much like a Paul Johnson offense. (Ut-Oh!) It’s hard for an offensive line to be equally good at blocking for the run and the pass. The first coach to figure out how to do that will really have something….Duke’s front seven is really good. Their defensive end, (Victor Demukeke). We were talking about a particular play the staff wanted to run. We ran film of Duke against that play and in 7 attempts the opposition gained 6 yards. You’re not going to trick them. You have to go Neanderthal and see if you can win.”
The Flintstones Opening and Closing Theme 1960 1966
Matt asked if Dino would have a player get on his knees and bark like a dog to win.
Barking Dog Basketball Play
“if I knew it was going to work it would be me barking.”
Matt interviewed beleaguered offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh to end the show. In introducing him, Dino said “At Nebraska and Oregon State he was part of the biggest rushing totals ever and was a guy who could do more with less. He’s gotten a bad rap. There is no way in heck that it’s all his fault.”
Cavanaugh himself said “We’ve had a great two weeks of practice. The guys are focused and working together to win the next game. Every game is a new experience. We are working on fundamentals and details. It’s a process. You’re going to get players who buy in. I’ve seen growth in some of them. We are trying to get others to learn. I’m really excited about Matthew Bergeron. French is his main language, which was a problem.” Matt said that the fundamentals are the same in either language and Cavanaugh laughed at that.
Thursday, Aug. 29 – 7 pm; Thursday, Sept. 5 – 7 pm; Thursday, Sept. 12 – 7 pm
Thursday, Sept. 19 – 7 pm; Thursday, Sept. 26 – 7 pm; Tuesday, Oct. 8 – 7 pm
Wednesday, Oct. 16 – 7 pm; Thursday, Oct. 24 – 6 pm; Thursday, Oct. 31 – 6 pm
Thursday, Nov. 14 – 6 pm; Thursday, Nov. 21 – 6 pm; Tuesday, Nov. 26 – 6 pm
They are now adding the “Gomez Hour” that they do from 8-9PM for the Jim Boeheim basketball shows to the Dino Babers football show. I’ll be summarizing the comments directly related to the team and the next game (late) on the night of the broadcast and anything else interesting the next day, (if there is anything else that seems interesting). I’ll have a “first hour” and a “second hour” question.
The show will originate from PressRoom Pub, located at 220 Herald Place in Syracuse's historic Herald Square, each week this season.
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 99.5FM (Syracuse) 99.1 FM (Utica) and 1200 AM.”
You can also get it on: Home | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn
There hasn’t been any change in the phone numbers, which last year were 315-424-8599 (local) or 1-888-746-2873. You can call to ask questions or submit them via Twitter at: https://twitter.com/CuseIMG
#AskDino or through Cuse.com, (the SU Athletic website):
Submit a Question! - Syracuse University Athletics
You can (or could last year, anyway), listen to a podcast of the show, probably the next day, at: Search results for babers | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn
I’ve been asked to continue doing the summaries, even by people who listen to the podcasts. I may focus on the major points, rather than trying to record everything.
My Question(s) or Comments
First Hour:
“Coach, we all know the 2019 team is not the 2018 team. It’s been suggested that a big difference lies in the “intangibles”. That word is a jambalaya of a lot of other words: leadership, character, toughness, focus, confidence, belief. How would you compare the intangibles of this team to last year’s team and are the deficits something the team can grow out of or will it take a different mix of personalities to do that?”
Second Hour:
“Coach, the glory of Syracuse football lies in three eras: after Archbold Stadium was built we had a stretch from 1914-1935 of 22 straight winning season. When Ben Schwartzwalder arrived we had a stretch from 1950-1971 of 22 straight years without a losing season. When we built the carrier Dome we had a stretch from 1987-2001 of fifteen straight winning seasons. People assumed last year heralded the beginning of another glory era. But those other teams never had to compete in the ACC Atlantic division, with multiple national championship-caliber programs and no really bad teams. Should we adjust our expectations to realize that we are now capable of having a year like last year but that it’s going to take a couple of year to build up to it and that runs of winning seasons are not going to happen anymore?”
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.)
(Program notes: the Dino Babers Show will be from 6PM-8PM the rest of the season. The Jim Boeheim Show, which begins on Tuesday, 11/12, will still be from 7PM-9PM. The Boeheim Show will be on Tuesday for the first two weeks, (11/12-11/19), then move to Thursdays. They didn’t say what the plan is for Thanksgiving week, when the Babers show will be on Tuesday the 26th)
Again in the new, introverted format, the first hour was with Gomez, although this time they eliminated the musical interludes that have interrupted his part of the show for the last couple of years.
Gomez asked how the players have responded to the coaching change. Dino: “Our young people have handled it well it was like in the great Santini when the father tells his kids that they are moving.
We’ve had good practices. Antwan Cordy ahs bene here 5-6 years. He’s played under a lot of coaches. I want to see some change in the way we play. I want to see some life out there. I want the kids to enjoy what they are doing. If you don’t get results, you have to work harder. Not more practice- more detail. Teams change as the months change. The leaves come down. The snow falls. That was long winded but it is gospel.“
John from Baltimore wanted to know Dino’s philosophy. “You’re patient with the offensive linemen and receivers. Some coaches would bench them. I’d like to see guys like Cam Jordan get more playing time.” DB: “We’re going to see the underbelly of the roster more and more so we can make evaluations and jump start the 2020 season.” (Are we giving up on the 2019 season?) “It’s a time when actions play louder than words if you can’t listen to us, then you’re out of the game.”
Gomez asked about Matthew Bergeron. DB: “He’s playing at a higher level than he realizes. At such a young age, it indicates a high ceiling he gets more positive reinforcement from me than any other player.” Wayne called in to say that he’s heard that Bergeron had a twin brother on the team but he couldn’t find him on the rosters. Coach said that’s incorrect: he has two younger brothers who are twins. “If we do a good job with Matthew we’ll have a chance to get them – if I get a long term contract”. (I guess they are much younger brothers.)
Gomez noted that Tommy DeVito hadn’t thrown an interception since September. (Ugh – shut up!) DB: “He hadn’t had much contact before this year. Now he’s got more than he can handle. Tommy has checked some boxes for us. He has played through the injury. Some of the shots he has taken are Dungey-ish.“ (Is that a new word?)
Bob from Chicago asked Dino to compare himself to Coach Ditka. Dino: “There’s only one Ditka. But let me tell you a story. I was part of a group of guest coaches when he was at New Orleans. He gave a dinner for us after it was over and handed out Cuban cigars, which I don’t think he was supposed to have at that time. I’d never smoked a cigar and wondered which end you light up. Coach Ditka asked me what the problem was. I told him and he yanked away the Cuban and gave me an Ashton, which is clipped off at the end.” Bob said he was never more jealous. (I wonder if Dino still has it.)
I called in my first question about the “intangibles”. Coach said that he didn’t see a big difference in intangibles between this year’s team and last year’s. “It’s more about personnel. We are two experienced tackles, one more explosive wide receiver and a dominant defensive tackle away from being the same team as last year. To do battle in the ACC you need an experienced offensive line and defensive line that can hold their own. Football comes down to the big guys who do big things. Look at who the NFL spends its money on: quarterbacks, wide receivers, offensive tackles, lock down cornerbacks and dominant defensive tackles. We can’t just put in another player like some programs can.” I said “So it’s all about the tangibles?” Coach laughed and agreed.
Gomez noted that Triston Jackson was nominated for the Biletnikoff award for the nation’s best receiver. Dino: “there are so many people doing well, I hate to single out one individual. But he’s had a good year.” Alton Robinson will be in the senior bowl while Kendall Coleman will be in the east-West game. I thought all college all-star games were equal but Dino said that if you do well in the eats-west game, you can get a spot in the Senior Bowl, which is where the ‘big scouts’ are. He said Jimmy Garoppalo had taken that route, (from the East-West game to the Senior Bowl) and look at him now.
Pete called in to say that he’s tired of seeing use be “overpowered. Speed and stamina don’t seem to be enough. Have you thought about strength and conditioning for 2020?” DB: You are seeing things that are really happening. We need to stay on the field and run more plays than they do, as we did last year. We have to string first downs together. We like our style. It’s different, like (Coach Boeheim’s) 2-3 zone is different. We teach our young players two things in weight lifting: firstly the correct procedure so they won’t injure themselves, secondly we make it a mental test of will, like that scene in Conan the barbarian with the wheel.
Conan The Barbarian - The Wheel of Pain (1982 HD)
When they pass and become part of the family, then hard things are not so hard.”
Doug also wanted to know about the O-line. But he wanted to know if it mattered whether the quarterback was right or left handed- would it make a difference as to who was playing at right and left tackle? DB: That was a hot discussion in our recruiting room today. A lot of people prefer a right handed center with a right handed quarterback because the laces come back in the right positon. I think that’s a bunch of baloney. Bring in the best quarterback possible and we will adjust to them. Most left handed quarterbacks have right handed centers. They are used to making adjustments. They will look at it and fix it in their heads.”
Tom wanted to know about ‘innovations in coaching technique’: “Where do you get your ideas?” Dino: “I got introduced to the RPO offense at Baylor in 2008. When I became a head coach I won the 2012 coach of the year award in our division and was walking through a bar where several coaches saw me and said “There goes Dino Babers- Do you believe he’s been around so many great offenses and he’s running that RPO ____.” Now the Niners and the Seahawks are running the RPO. You have to get on the cutting edge if you want to be innovative. Don’t just copy people. If’ it’s been around, they are already adjusting to it. It’s like in Apollo 13 when they decided to get rid of the C)2 so the astronauts could breathe.
Apollo 13 (1995) - Square Peg in a Round Hole Scene (7/11) | Movieclips
Joe called in to tell Dino “You look lovely”. You seem so calm out there. I’m 35 and I never went to a game until you became coach. Now I’m in it for the long haul.” Dino: “I’m in it for the long hall, too. I’m a volcano. People build houses on the sides of volcanos – until they erupt. But it’s better to make decisions at an even, calm rate.”
Samantha called in with a similar statement: she’d never watched college football much but started watching it again because of Dino and she hopes he stays with us. DB: “I enjoy being in this community. I love small cities and big towns. My family has bene all over the state to various places and there’s a dozen of them I’d like to visit but I haven’t had time yet. I just look at pictures of them on the internet.”
Gomez asked if Coach had ever tripped coming out of the tunnel. DB: “No. But the players know rule #1: don’t knock down the coach.”
Duke: “Their offense is ranked behind ours. It is a good match up with our defense. Their defense is ranked 4th in the conference. BC was ranked last and they still are. I’m looking for a greater effort out there. Coach Cutcliffe is one of the sharpest cats in the ACC. Duke has lost three in a row so both teams will be hungry. They have quarterback troubles but a good defense.
Matt Park came on and repeated the question about the players reacting to the coaching change. DB: Our young men handled it maturely. There is no gray in why we did it. It all comes down to Saturday results.”
On the BC game: “It was man-to-man coverage with eyes in the wrong place. Mental mistakes…Every team is a little different from BC. Can we shore up the run defense? I don’t know. When you get punched that hard, sometimes you get punch-drunk. We have good players, some NFL players. We have to be better. Even the freshmen are sophomores by now. Clemson has played the most freshmen in the conference. That’s understandable. They win by big margins and get to play a lot of people. NC State was second. The whole league is re-loading. Every team is getting into positon to make another run. The league will be outstanding in two years….There are certain things we won’t do, (to get players). People say that means we aren’t trying but we are teaching doing it the right way.”
I called in my second question about what we can expect in this era as opposed to prior eras. Dino: “the biggest thing is to continually go to the well with the hippos and the elephants so that there isn’t a huge gap between those who are playing and those who are not. The ACC is so difficult that there are few blow-outs. We can’t get our young players onto the field. The four game rule is fantastic but where do you play them? We’re just one of those teams trying to build the depth we need to be consistent. That’s what I want and I won’t settle for anything less.”
Matt expounded on the importance of strong lines. “The skill positons are flashy but to build a dynasty (Let’s not go through that again!) You need folks in the trenches. Clemson has breathing room.” DB: Our gap is greater. Matthew Bergeron has never played before. But there’s no crying in football. We need to do a better job of solidifying things.”
Wayne in the truck asked if the offensive line reserves will be re-evaluated. Dino said they would. “Which one has ‘it’? If I could pick all the ‘its’, we’d be fine. They don’t know their own names. When they do something right, they don’t know what they did. They need to be able to talk the game. Matthew Bergeron has done well but he’s not a guaranteed Godfather.”
The Godfather I (1972)- Baptism Scene, Michael Kills all the heads of the other families
“I tell them to calm down. You’re going to be OK.”
Today’s trivia Question was who was the Duke head coach when Syracuse las played Duke in Durham? I’ll add one of my own: Who was our quarterback?
Patrick, who is 8 years old, asked what’s the best way for him to start playing football. Coach said that he wasn’t allowed to play contact football until he was in the 8th grade. No Pee Wee or Pop Warner. Before that he played only street and park ball, which did not really allow him to work on his skills as there was no coaching. He advised Patrick to play flag football, which involved getting within a step or two of making contact or running through contact. He prefers that to 7 on 7. Then play with equipment in the 7th and 8th grade and move on to high school ball in the 9th grade. “Young kids playing tackle have more wear and tear and it could impact their recruiting.” (Also the rest of their lives.)
Kim from the U.K. was in the restaurant. She cited “one of the best football, (soccer), coaches is Alex Ferguson of Manchester United. His players are allowed to make mistakes. There is no pressure to be perfect.” Dino: “I pride myself on my patience. One way to teach is to have a player stand next to you and watch someone doing it right.” Matt Park noted that soccer has 11 players like American football but they only use 2-3 reserves. American football uses much more, (52 in an average college game). DB: “Certain positons can go longer than others. A guy playing at 60% getting a 100% hit is not a good thing.
On Duke: center Jack Wohlabaugh, son of SU’s Dave, is out. “The injury bug has hit everybody. You can’t cry about it. Just grab a piece here or there.” On QB Quentin Harris: “He’s Dungeyish. (That word again: How about Dungeyesque?) Right now he’s more dangerous with his legs than his arm so we want to keep him in the pocket. Their offense has some Georgia Tech principles They run a double wing with a mid-line trap option, much like a Paul Johnson offense. (Ut-Oh!) It’s hard for an offensive line to be equally good at blocking for the run and the pass. The first coach to figure out how to do that will really have something….Duke’s front seven is really good. Their defensive end, (Victor Demukeke). We were talking about a particular play the staff wanted to run. We ran film of Duke against that play and in 7 attempts the opposition gained 6 yards. You’re not going to trick them. You have to go Neanderthal and see if you can win.”
The Flintstones Opening and Closing Theme 1960 1966
Matt asked if Dino would have a player get on his knees and bark like a dog to win.
Barking Dog Basketball Play
“if I knew it was going to work it would be me barking.”
Matt interviewed beleaguered offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh to end the show. In introducing him, Dino said “At Nebraska and Oregon State he was part of the biggest rushing totals ever and was a guy who could do more with less. He’s gotten a bad rap. There is no way in heck that it’s all his fault.”
Cavanaugh himself said “We’ve had a great two weeks of practice. The guys are focused and working together to win the next game. Every game is a new experience. We are working on fundamentals and details. It’s a process. You’re going to get players who buy in. I’ve seen growth in some of them. We are trying to get others to learn. I’m really excited about Matthew Bergeron. French is his main language, which was a problem.” Matt said that the fundamentals are the same in either language and Cavanaugh laughed at that.
