Bob Chesney

[TheHaze315]

I’m not dismissing Bob Chesney. I think one day he may make a fine big time coach. I just don’t want to be a part of the experiment. Just like JW said we are on the cusp of potentially being a good ACC team. I don’t want to waste these years on a guy who may or may not be able to recruit D1 athletes.
If he fails we are set back into the Stone Age.

Our recruiting has been consistently at the bottom of the ACC, we’re in the stone ages. I said it earlier we’re never going to be a powerhouse in the recruiting department. We need a coach who can coach up and get the most of the talent we do get.

 

[David321]

Army is a good FCS team.

They admittedly don’t have any impressive wins but they are one win away from being a bowl team. They also give most teams fits, including our own for the first half.

 

[cusefan88]

Seems like Holy Cross can punch above their weight. Exactly what Syracuse needs in their next HC. A guy who can have his program do that.

 

[TheHaze315]

He lost to Lafayette to go to the playoffs this year. Lafayette.

And? Lafayette is 9-2 this year with one of the loses being to Duke.

 

[Acesn8s]

We’re never going to be a big time player in recruiting, our ceiling is a few 4 star players. We need a coach that is fundamentally sound, knows how to build a program, and knows how to do more with less. Holy Cross could be considered harder to win at than Syracuse. The only thing missing from his resume is P5 experience, if we don’t hire him someone else is going to and if he goes elsewhere and on to be successful it’s going to leave a very bad taste in our mouths. He’s a great coach.

Is that not a big piece of the resume?!

 

[IthacaBarrel]

I have been in the boat of trying to make a real upside type hire, take some real risk to try and catch lightning in a bottle. I am still in the boat. However, my concern with Chesney would be on the recruiting front. If he's mining the jesuit/ catholic preps he could run into multiple issues while trying to recruit at Syracuse. #1 the HS coaches being fine sending their FCS type talent to Holy Cross but when it comes to P5 type schools would they feel similar or are they aligned with the BC types. #2 on the same front the parents of said kids would much rather see their kids go to a Boston College type school and to a lesser extent ND which we don't really compete with anyway. He will be recruiting at a different level if he jumps to Syracuse

"Hey Ches, we liked you when you were recruiting our tier 2 kids but not our P5 types we have relationships for that too. I got this kid with offers from Fordham, Cornell, and Toledo, how about this kid?"

Just a thought, I originally was much higher on him and didn't see this as an issue but the more I think about it, I am not so sure. kind of going the other way on him now.

 

[Grbac]

I’m coming around a little more. Looking at Brian Kelly who killed it at Grand Valley State a D2 college. Then excelled at Central Michigan, Cincy, and Notre Dame. He attended Assumption the same school Chesney coached at.
So I guess it can be done.

 

[TheHaze315]

Is that not a big piece of the resume?!

We’re Syracuse football in 2023, almost any candidate we can get is somewhere someway going to have a question mark. We have to look at what each coach brings to the table individually and see if he’s the right man for the job. When you look at Bob Chesney you see a guy that has won everywhere he’s gone, has done more with less at Holy Cross, and build up a program from the moment he got there. He has northeast ties which goes without saying is massive. He checks a lot of the boxes for Syracuse football.

 

[BVille44]

If we hire Chesney maybe we get a D1 QB too?

https://x.com/draftvogel/status/1726634616076071269?s=61

 

[MGDCuse]

If we hire Chesney maybe we get a D1 QB too?

https://x.com/draftvogel/status/1726634616076071269?s=61

View attachment 233471

I think he's gonna be a hot commodity.

 

[David321]

If we hire Chesney maybe we get a D1 QB too?

https://x.com/draftvogel/status/1726634616076071269?s=61

View attachment 233471

Saw some of his highlights today on YouTube, particularly against Army and BC. The man drops dimes.

 

[TheHaze315]

If we hire Chesney maybe we get a D1 QB too?

https://x.com/draftvogel/status/1726634616076071269?s=61

View attachment 233471

Assuming we get Chesney you’d have to guess this is our QB next season, unless he gets pulled away by some bigger programs.

 

[OburgOrange]

 

[syracuse95]

"Hey Ches, we liked you when you were recruiting our tier 2 kids but not our P5 types we have relationships for that too. I got this kid with offers from Fordham, Cornell, and Toledo, how about this kid?"

I'm with you 100% on the recruiting concerns. I guess the potential counter to that is that a lot of our depth right now is guys with mid-major and FCS offers, but the difference with Chesney is he's got a proven ability to develop and coach those type of guys to compete against FBS talent. If he can figure out recruiting, so much the better.

I've actually gone in the other direction. I was lukewarm on him at first, but after thinking about what he's done at HC, I think he's our guy. He gets the private school dynamic, he knows the recruiting limitation of the northeast, he's proven to be able to build a program in spite of significant headwinds, and he has coached up lesser talent to be able to compete above their level. Those last two things were the biggest knocks on Dino over the last few years.

No matter who we hire they'll have some open questions. Recruiting is Chesney's. But let's be honest with ourselves, nobody we hire is going to start bringing Top 20 recruiting classes to Syracuse. If Bob can figure out how to land Top 40 classes and coach them up as well as he has at Holy Cross, we will get where we all want to be.

 

[rocklloyd]

if recruiting is his question, I think we have to ask ourselves if we can really afford to "take chances" in this area. we saw how it hurt with Gerg

 

[Grbac]

if recruiting is his question, I think we have to ask ourselves if we can really afford to "take chances" in this area. we saw how it hurt with Gerg

I think you can potentially solve this problem by keeping a guy like Nunzio on staff. Hiring some NE recruiting aces or best available. Recruiting is about building relationships not just how big your name is.

 

[FAL]

if recruiting is his question, I think we have to ask ourselves if we can really afford to "take chances" in this area. we saw how it hurt with Gerg

Greg was a west coast dude…zilch in NE connections. Unlike Chesney.

 

[rocklloyd]

Greg was a west coast dude…zilch in NE connections. Unlike Chesney.

100%, personally I want zero excuses around recruiting...someone with a binder.

 

[SUFaninNJ]

Are those worried about Chesney concerned that we could drop to being the worst ACC football team instead of just the next to worst? I'm willing to take a shot at a young up and comer. Bring in some solid assistants who have experience and can recruit.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

I'm with you 100% on the recruiting concerns. I guess the potential counter to that is that a lot of our depth right now is guys with mid-major and FCS offers, but the difference with Chesney is he's got a proven ability to develop and coach those type of guys to compete against FBS talent. If he can figure out recruiting, so much the better.

I've actually gone in the other direction. I was lukewarm on him at first, but after thinking about what he's done at HC, I think he's our guy. He gets the private school dynamic, he knows the recruiting limitation of the northeast, he's proven to be able to build a program in spite of significant headwinds, and he has coached up lesser talent to be able to compete above their level. Those last two things were the biggest knocks on Dino over the last few years.

No matter who we hire they'll have some open questions. Recruiting is Chesney's. But let's be honest with ourselves, nobody we hire is going to start bringing Top 20 recruiting classes to Syracuse. If Bob can figure out how to land Top 40 classes and coach them up as well as he has at Holy Cross, we will get where we all want to be.

well said and I tend to agree but just something I was thinking about but it definitely has some risk for sure as they all do.

I could not agree more on your last paragraph, that's the biggest issue the next coach will have to deal with and overcome for sure. There is a definite ceiling on the recruiting here at Syracuse, next coach better realize that quickly and come in prepared to be able to work within those limitations.

 

[Millhouse]

if recruiting is his question, I think we have to ask ourselves if we can really afford to "take chances" in this area. we saw how it hurt with Gerg

anyone is strong in one thing is going be a risk in others. gerg just happened to be weak in multiple areas

 

[Willy75]

Saw some of his highlights today on YouTube, particularly against Army and BC. The man drops dimes.

He also ran for over 300 yards in a game.

 

[elimunelson]

well said and I tend to agree but just something I was thinking about but it definitely has some risk for sure as they all do.

I could not agree more on your last paragraph, that's the biggest issue the next coach will have to deal with and overcome for sure. There is a definite ceiling on the recruiting here at Syracuse, next coach better realize that quickly and come in prepared to be able to work within those limitations.

Can someone give me a TED talk on how Macpherson recruited at Syracuse. To me he's the comparison to a Chesney hire. A dynamic, high energy guy, who knows the back woods of New England/Tri State.

How did Mac build out that first staff, how did the recruiting look out of the gates etc. I know he ran into a rough period early on but did he do something to get recruiting going.

Like I said upthread somewhere, the deconstruction of what we've done wrong and what others have done right in the northeast is paramount to this program. What can we do better with our limitations. What are our assets because they do exist (the 300 miles away from alot of places, etc).

 

[Millhouse]

If we hire Chesney maybe we get a D1 QB too?

https://x.com/draftvogel/status/1726634616076071269?s=61

View attachment 233471

we know nothing about whether coaches are any good, we have a better idea of if the qb is good. i'll take any schmuck with a good qb and hope for the best. hell, if tim lester had a good qb, give him the gig, whatever

 

[richmondcuse03]

We’ve whiffed / missed on plenty of talent in the northeast. Not saying it’s the only area we’ve whiffed but having someone who can recruit in the six hour radius around Syr (plus filling in from Florida / Carolina’s) opens up everything we need.