SWC75
Bored Historian
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- Aug 26, 2011
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We are a power-5 bottom feeder whose teams have not been better than a mid-major for years. "Mid-major" and "Power-5" are about who you play, not who you are. We are trying to get up off the canvas so we can compete in a power five conference. And we are doing it in a loaded division that badly needs to be adjusted. The hardest steel may be forged in the hottest flame but if it stays in the flame, it's never going to get hard.
That's why I'd like to see them adjust the divisions each year based on the previous year's results. Rank the teams 1-14 and have an "odd" division with #1-3-5-7-9-11-13 and an even division with #2-4-6-8-10-12-14. You play everybody in your division and two teams form the other division, one of mutual choice and the other the team that you haven't played in the longest time.
I think the level Syracuse is at is the hardest job for a coach. in high school it's about building up youth programs and teaching the game. In Division III it's about teaching the game and developing a winning reputations so that the real student-athletes who want to play football will choose your school rather than that of a rival. In DII, FCS and the non-Power 5 FBS teams, (mid-majors), it's about looking for late bloomers and under-the radar types with an occasional FBS refugee, "coaching them up", developing innovative schemes to maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses, earning that winning reputation and dominating your conference. The mid-majors schools also want to play 1-2 Power 5 schools and pull off the occasional upset to put themselves on the map. If they can do that over a period of years, they will be a regular in the rankings and move up to contend for major bowls and even the playoffs. But they've always got their weak conference to make sure they stay afloat, record wise.
For the true powerhouses, they are on the short list of any recruit they contact and can choose from the cream of the crop. they will win most of their games just on talent. Strategically, they are often uncomplicated, just relying on their superior talent to win most of their games. In the NFL, the franchise acquires the talent and the players they acquire are elite, self-motivated athletes, (if they aren't they will be replaced by someone who is). The coach's job is to game-plan and make good in-game decisions.
At Syracuse's level, which I would call Power-5 non-powerhouse, you have to get the B listers and C listers, the under-the-radar types and the late bloomers, coach them up, motive them, condition them, come up with innovative game plans that maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses and hopefully attract better recruits than you would normally get and do a great job of managing games. You pull off some upsets, earn respect and entertain people. You don't become Florida State or Alabama but maybe you can become Baylor or Oregon.
That's why I think a coach like Dino Babers, who comes from the Baylor system and has had success at FCS and in the MAC is perfect for Syracuse. A guy like Greg Robinson, who has been coaching in the NFL at at powerhouse schools, is not.
That's why I'd like to see them adjust the divisions each year based on the previous year's results. Rank the teams 1-14 and have an "odd" division with #1-3-5-7-9-11-13 and an even division with #2-4-6-8-10-12-14. You play everybody in your division and two teams form the other division, one of mutual choice and the other the team that you haven't played in the longest time.
I think the level Syracuse is at is the hardest job for a coach. in high school it's about building up youth programs and teaching the game. In Division III it's about teaching the game and developing a winning reputations so that the real student-athletes who want to play football will choose your school rather than that of a rival. In DII, FCS and the non-Power 5 FBS teams, (mid-majors), it's about looking for late bloomers and under-the radar types with an occasional FBS refugee, "coaching them up", developing innovative schemes to maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses, earning that winning reputation and dominating your conference. The mid-majors schools also want to play 1-2 Power 5 schools and pull off the occasional upset to put themselves on the map. If they can do that over a period of years, they will be a regular in the rankings and move up to contend for major bowls and even the playoffs. But they've always got their weak conference to make sure they stay afloat, record wise.
For the true powerhouses, they are on the short list of any recruit they contact and can choose from the cream of the crop. they will win most of their games just on talent. Strategically, they are often uncomplicated, just relying on their superior talent to win most of their games. In the NFL, the franchise acquires the talent and the players they acquire are elite, self-motivated athletes, (if they aren't they will be replaced by someone who is). The coach's job is to game-plan and make good in-game decisions.
At Syracuse's level, which I would call Power-5 non-powerhouse, you have to get the B listers and C listers, the under-the-radar types and the late bloomers, coach them up, motive them, condition them, come up with innovative game plans that maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses and hopefully attract better recruits than you would normally get and do a great job of managing games. You pull off some upsets, earn respect and entertain people. You don't become Florida State or Alabama but maybe you can become Baylor or Oregon.
That's why I think a coach like Dino Babers, who comes from the Baylor system and has had success at FCS and in the MAC is perfect for Syracuse. A guy like Greg Robinson, who has been coaching in the NFL at at powerhouse schools, is not.
(yes, I know it was about talent, but we already have that thread)
