SWC75
Bored Historian
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The show this year will be broadcast from the Canyons at Destiny USA in front of Cantina Laredo. 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. You can call in questions at 1-888-7-Go Cuse (746-2873) or, locally 424-8599. 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.) You can also contact them via Twitter (@SUSportsNetwork) using #AskShafe. The football show is an hour in duration, (Coach Boeheim’s basketball show is usually 2 hours).
They’ve actually been kind enough to post a schedule in advance:
The show will air at 7 pm on the following dates:
Wednesday, Aug. 27
Thursday, Sept. 11
Thursday, Sept. 18
Thursday, Sept. 25
Wednesday, Oct. 1
Thursday, Oct. 9
Thursday, Oct. 16
Thursday, Oct. 23
Thursday, Oct. 30
Thursday, Nov. 6
Thursday, Nov. 13
Wednesday, Nov. 26
The show can be heard in Syracuse on FM 99.5. It’s sometime simulcast on AM 1260 or FM 97.7. You can also get it on: http://tunein.com/radio/WGVA-1240-s29191/
My Question(s)
“Coach, when the Carrier Dome opened, it seemed like an ideal place for offensive football and we thought there’d be a constant stream of top offensive talent coming to play here because of it. We did have a lot of good offensive players for about a decade from the late 80’s to the late 90’s. But since then, we’ve had only one good offensive team: the one two years ago. We’ve had several good defensive teams since then, including this one. Is there simply more good defensive talent available than good offensive talent? What do top offensive recruits say to you about the Dome and coming to Syracuse?”
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.)
Brian Higgins did the show without explaining Matt Park’s absence, (of course, we already know the reason), or saying when he would be back. When I called in my question, I expressed my wish that Matt would be back soon and got no response at all.
Coach, who loves to make war references, (he ought to see “Fury”, which I saw today), said “We are fighting through injuries in our eighth straight week without a bye.” Brian noted that North Carolina State was coming off a bye week, their first, after playing eight straight weeks themselves. It’s also the third opponent we’ve faced coming off a bye. He asked what kind of an advantage that is. Coach: “It’s an advantage. You slow down in the middle of the rat race. You get guys healthy. You can self-scout, investigate you own team before moving on to the opponent. That’s huge. It’s a mental break for the coaches. You get to spend some time with your family, get some balance back in your life. The ACC makes the schedule. Hopefully things will fall our way next year. You’ve got to control the controllables. I tell kids they’ll remember the games that are toughest to win the longest. If we’ve got no bye week advantage, nobody we play cares.”
He described the team’s practice routine this time of year. “It’s more mental reps than physical reps. We cut practice from 2 hours, 10 minutes to 90 minutes.. We do video work and walk through situations rather than bang into each other.”
He felt that the Clemson defense was the best he’d seen, even better than Notre Dame, Louisville, or Florida State. “They are #3 in total defense and #1 in tackles for a loss. In terms of personnel, scheme, adjustments, hanging on to match-ups you can win, they were the best. They are coached by Brent Venables, who was trained by Bob Stoops, for whom he played at Kansas State. They play man for man with a middle safety consistently. That’s hard to do. “
Brian asked how Sean Hickey had done against Vic Beasley. “He helped himself. NFL teams will look at that tape and see how he played. The only defensive end I’ve seen who was better than Beasley was Chandler Jones. On a couple of Beasley plays we didn’t block him. We were trying to option him. He did both jobs at once.” Higgins said “Sean told me that his big problem was when Beasley wasn’t on the field – and the guys they sent in in his place were just as good.”
I called in my question and the coach didn’t exactly take the ball and run with it. “We do a good job going out and getting those guys. Erv Phillips and Steve Ismael are playing well this year and we have some other guys who will create excitement as we go along here. The Dome is a great selling point. It’s about going head to head with other programs. You can’t go head to head with Dabo Sweeney or you’re going to lose most of the time. You’ve got to find the kids who aren’t heavily recruited. That’s the whole key… You’ve got to get the under-the-radar kids with tremendous upside. The great frustration is that they only play 7-8 games in New York State. It’s a damn shame. In Ohio they play 10-12 games before the playoffs. In Florida they play 12 games and have spring practice. Of course some of those Ohio kids may be tapped out by their senior year because they’ve played so many games whereas New York kids might not have reached their peak.
Joe called in from Rochester asking for an evaluation of the talent there. Coach said that there were talented players there and said he “wanted to cross that field against Notre Dame and shake hands with (Jarron Jones, who we recruited from Rochester)…We’d like to keep the New York talent home. We fall in love with a kid as a sophomore but then here comes Notre Dame, Penn State, Florida State or Clemson and we’re like an old girl friend who’s not as cute as she used to be. Anybody who has an idea on how to keep these kids home, let us know!”
Brian mentioned the new practice facility. Coach: “You’ve got to find out what your formula is when you step into a job and stick with it. (He didn’t explain what that meant.)It’s “keep up with the Joneses” recruiting. Kids can take advantage of it year around. I was at Western Michigan which had an indoor practice facility, which gave them an advantage over Northern Illinois, where I had been. Our passing game and timing were much advanced going into spring ball. At NIU a kid broke his hand practicing over the winter on a basketball court.”
Another caller from Rochester, Billy, said that “We keep getting stymied on third and 20. Why not just have the quarterback step back and throw it as far as he can? It’s just as good as punt and you might get an interference call.” Coach said he’d consider that at the end of a half. “It’s a low percentage play. I like to keep the Hail Marys in church and off the football field.”
They discussed the NC State coaching staff, which is full of guys Coach Shafer knows from his days in the MAC, which Brian called “a breeding ground for coaches”, (It’s not just Miami of Ohio any more.) When Coach was on the staff of Bill Mallory at Indiana, (“The last time they won consistently”), he was a graduate assistant who was asked to interview three guys for jobs. The three men were Matt Canada, who is now the Wolfpack’s offensive coordinator, Mike Uremovich, who is the Pack’s offensive line coach and Frisman Jackson, with wide receiver’s coach. He also hired Clayton Whitehead at Western Michigan and took him to Stanford to be part of Jim Harbaugh’s staff. He’s now coaching the Pack’s safeties and special teams.
Pat in Ithaca noted that the coach’s son, Wolfgang, was now playing for Ithaca and wondered what coach thought of the season so far. Shafe summarized the Bomber’s season so far. “They were kicking butt and on the verge of the Top Ten but got a couple of losses. They are fighting the good fight to get into the playoffs. They traditionally do a great job getting into the playoffs and play well there, so that’s in their favor.” Coach said that he and his ‘girlfriend’, (his wife) Missy would be there for the Cortica Jug game this year, (that’s November 15th- our bye week). “I’ve been to Sanford-California and I’ve seen Syracuse kick West Virginia’s butt- Sorry I shouldn’t have said that- Paulie fix it, (Paulie is their producer- sorry, Coach, it’s live), so I’m anxious to see how the Cortica Jug game compares to that. We hjope to get out before they start burning mattresses.”
In honor of the Bombers I'll post a clip of them winning their first of three DIII national championships back in 1979:
(Yes, that's Vern Lundquist at age 39)
They talked about the injuries, (in general- no specific info on who’s out or what they’ve got). Higgins praised Michael Lasker for playing both guard positons and left tackle. Coahc compared it to a catcher also playing first and third base. “That’s not easy to do. We haven’t had the same offensive line for seven straight games. We’d only given up 3 sacks before Clemson got four of them. We still don’t have some of the interior line back. I don’t care how we do it. We just need a win.”
They talked about NC State quarterback Jacoby Brissett, whom Coach compared to Ben Rothlesberger, who Coach had faced when he was at Miami of Ohio. “They’ve got a gem. He’s 6-4 231. He has a big arm and can move with his feet. He doesn’t look like he’s moving fast but he gets there. He broke three tackles against Florida State, crossed the field and threw a touchdown pass. I always want a guy with feet to have to beat us within the cage. We still have to pressure him but keep him in the case. We have to get after them, be physical and put some physical football play on the Dome turf.” (Hopefully the NC State players will be the ones on the turf.)
“There will be lots of new faces to enjoy the experience of playing in the Dome.”
http://cuse.com/sb_output.aspx?form=4
(I do both so they can be prepared to give me an informed, reasoned answer.) You can also contact them via Twitter (@SUSportsNetwork) using #AskShafe. The football show is an hour in duration, (Coach Boeheim’s basketball show is usually 2 hours).
They’ve actually been kind enough to post a schedule in advance:
The show will air at 7 pm on the following dates:
Wednesday, Aug. 27
Thursday, Sept. 11
Thursday, Sept. 18
Thursday, Sept. 25
Wednesday, Oct. 1
Thursday, Oct. 9
Thursday, Oct. 16
Thursday, Oct. 23
Thursday, Oct. 30
Thursday, Nov. 6
Thursday, Nov. 13
Wednesday, Nov. 26
The show can be heard in Syracuse on FM 99.5. It’s sometime simulcast on AM 1260 or FM 97.7. You can also get it on: http://tunein.com/radio/WGVA-1240-s29191/
My Question(s)
“Coach, when the Carrier Dome opened, it seemed like an ideal place for offensive football and we thought there’d be a constant stream of top offensive talent coming to play here because of it. We did have a lot of good offensive players for about a decade from the late 80’s to the late 90’s. But since then, we’ve had only one good offensive team: the one two years ago. We’ve had several good defensive teams since then, including this one. Is there simply more good defensive talent available than good offensive talent? What do top offensive recruits say to you about the Dome and coming to Syracuse?”
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.)
Brian Higgins did the show without explaining Matt Park’s absence, (of course, we already know the reason), or saying when he would be back. When I called in my question, I expressed my wish that Matt would be back soon and got no response at all.
Coach, who loves to make war references, (he ought to see “Fury”, which I saw today), said “We are fighting through injuries in our eighth straight week without a bye.” Brian noted that North Carolina State was coming off a bye week, their first, after playing eight straight weeks themselves. It’s also the third opponent we’ve faced coming off a bye. He asked what kind of an advantage that is. Coach: “It’s an advantage. You slow down in the middle of the rat race. You get guys healthy. You can self-scout, investigate you own team before moving on to the opponent. That’s huge. It’s a mental break for the coaches. You get to spend some time with your family, get some balance back in your life. The ACC makes the schedule. Hopefully things will fall our way next year. You’ve got to control the controllables. I tell kids they’ll remember the games that are toughest to win the longest. If we’ve got no bye week advantage, nobody we play cares.”
He described the team’s practice routine this time of year. “It’s more mental reps than physical reps. We cut practice from 2 hours, 10 minutes to 90 minutes.. We do video work and walk through situations rather than bang into each other.”
He felt that the Clemson defense was the best he’d seen, even better than Notre Dame, Louisville, or Florida State. “They are #3 in total defense and #1 in tackles for a loss. In terms of personnel, scheme, adjustments, hanging on to match-ups you can win, they were the best. They are coached by Brent Venables, who was trained by Bob Stoops, for whom he played at Kansas State. They play man for man with a middle safety consistently. That’s hard to do. “
Brian asked how Sean Hickey had done against Vic Beasley. “He helped himself. NFL teams will look at that tape and see how he played. The only defensive end I’ve seen who was better than Beasley was Chandler Jones. On a couple of Beasley plays we didn’t block him. We were trying to option him. He did both jobs at once.” Higgins said “Sean told me that his big problem was when Beasley wasn’t on the field – and the guys they sent in in his place were just as good.”
I called in my question and the coach didn’t exactly take the ball and run with it. “We do a good job going out and getting those guys. Erv Phillips and Steve Ismael are playing well this year and we have some other guys who will create excitement as we go along here. The Dome is a great selling point. It’s about going head to head with other programs. You can’t go head to head with Dabo Sweeney or you’re going to lose most of the time. You’ve got to find the kids who aren’t heavily recruited. That’s the whole key… You’ve got to get the under-the-radar kids with tremendous upside. The great frustration is that they only play 7-8 games in New York State. It’s a damn shame. In Ohio they play 10-12 games before the playoffs. In Florida they play 12 games and have spring practice. Of course some of those Ohio kids may be tapped out by their senior year because they’ve played so many games whereas New York kids might not have reached their peak.
Joe called in from Rochester asking for an evaluation of the talent there. Coach said that there were talented players there and said he “wanted to cross that field against Notre Dame and shake hands with (Jarron Jones, who we recruited from Rochester)…We’d like to keep the New York talent home. We fall in love with a kid as a sophomore but then here comes Notre Dame, Penn State, Florida State or Clemson and we’re like an old girl friend who’s not as cute as she used to be. Anybody who has an idea on how to keep these kids home, let us know!”
Brian mentioned the new practice facility. Coach: “You’ve got to find out what your formula is when you step into a job and stick with it. (He didn’t explain what that meant.)It’s “keep up with the Joneses” recruiting. Kids can take advantage of it year around. I was at Western Michigan which had an indoor practice facility, which gave them an advantage over Northern Illinois, where I had been. Our passing game and timing were much advanced going into spring ball. At NIU a kid broke his hand practicing over the winter on a basketball court.”
Another caller from Rochester, Billy, said that “We keep getting stymied on third and 20. Why not just have the quarterback step back and throw it as far as he can? It’s just as good as punt and you might get an interference call.” Coach said he’d consider that at the end of a half. “It’s a low percentage play. I like to keep the Hail Marys in church and off the football field.”
They discussed the NC State coaching staff, which is full of guys Coach Shafer knows from his days in the MAC, which Brian called “a breeding ground for coaches”, (It’s not just Miami of Ohio any more.) When Coach was on the staff of Bill Mallory at Indiana, (“The last time they won consistently”), he was a graduate assistant who was asked to interview three guys for jobs. The three men were Matt Canada, who is now the Wolfpack’s offensive coordinator, Mike Uremovich, who is the Pack’s offensive line coach and Frisman Jackson, with wide receiver’s coach. He also hired Clayton Whitehead at Western Michigan and took him to Stanford to be part of Jim Harbaugh’s staff. He’s now coaching the Pack’s safeties and special teams.
Pat in Ithaca noted that the coach’s son, Wolfgang, was now playing for Ithaca and wondered what coach thought of the season so far. Shafe summarized the Bomber’s season so far. “They were kicking butt and on the verge of the Top Ten but got a couple of losses. They are fighting the good fight to get into the playoffs. They traditionally do a great job getting into the playoffs and play well there, so that’s in their favor.” Coach said that he and his ‘girlfriend’, (his wife) Missy would be there for the Cortica Jug game this year, (that’s November 15th- our bye week). “I’ve been to Sanford-California and I’ve seen Syracuse kick West Virginia’s butt- Sorry I shouldn’t have said that- Paulie fix it, (Paulie is their producer- sorry, Coach, it’s live), so I’m anxious to see how the Cortica Jug game compares to that. We hjope to get out before they start burning mattresses.”
In honor of the Bombers I'll post a clip of them winning their first of three DIII national championships back in 1979:
(Yes, that's Vern Lundquist at age 39)
They talked about the injuries, (in general- no specific info on who’s out or what they’ve got). Higgins praised Michael Lasker for playing both guard positons and left tackle. Coahc compared it to a catcher also playing first and third base. “That’s not easy to do. We haven’t had the same offensive line for seven straight games. We’d only given up 3 sacks before Clemson got four of them. We still don’t have some of the interior line back. I don’t care how we do it. We just need a win.”
They talked about NC State quarterback Jacoby Brissett, whom Coach compared to Ben Rothlesberger, who Coach had faced when he was at Miami of Ohio. “They’ve got a gem. He’s 6-4 231. He has a big arm and can move with his feet. He doesn’t look like he’s moving fast but he gets there. He broke three tackles against Florida State, crossed the field and threw a touchdown pass. I always want a guy with feet to have to beat us within the cage. We still have to pressure him but keep him in the case. We have to get after them, be physical and put some physical football play on the Dome turf.” (Hopefully the NC State players will be the ones on the turf.)
“There will be lots of new faces to enjoy the experience of playing in the Dome.”
