Coyne vs Wildhack...and Gross too

[Cusefan95]

I thought Marcocci was appointed CFO in 2006. Was Jake reporting to a different person prior to that, Marcocci when he was a a lower level than CFO, or is my recollection wrong?

Not that it’s particularly relevant, the AD was treated like a cash cow and the investments needed to keep up with the rest of college athletics at the time weren’t made.

 

[cto]

I thought Marcocci was appointed CFO in 2006. Was Jake reporting to a different person prior to that, Marcocci when he was a a lower level than CFO, or is my recollection wrong?

Not that it’s particularly relevant, the AD was treated like a cash cow and the investments needed to keep up with the rest of college athletics at the time weren’t made.

Whatever Maricoia's title was, he was the CFO and Jake was reporting to him. Maybe his title was changed to CFO (from whatever it was) after the AD was taken away from him

 

[SU68]

How soon they forget ...

Given the hand he was dealt, Jake Crouthamel did an outstanding job here.

He was instrumental in the formation of the Big East Conference (which put SU basketball on the map). And he got SU its first invitation to the ACC (which was withdrawn thanks to Virginia politics).

Proof of the respect he earned from his peers, he is the only SU person to have served on the NCAA Basketball Committee. SU teams won 10 national championships during his tenure here -- in spite of serious budget constraints on the department

Due to internal SU politics, Jake reported to chief financial officer Lou Maracocia, rather than reporting directly to the chancellor. Maracocia used the Athletic Department as his little cash cow, strangling it financially (no investment) so that it would help his bottom line.

In one of her first acts as chancellor, Nancy Cantor forced Jake to retire because she wanted her own person in the job. Then she immediately hired Daryl Gross and had him report directly to her, thereby eliminating Lou Maracocia's ability to control the Athletic Department budget. Gross immediately hired lots of people (both staff and coaches) at salaries way above those in the Crouthamel era and vastly increased spending in other areas (such as marketing). And as a condition of his employment, he insisted on putting his wife on the AD payroll, an absolute management no-no, which Canter agreed to.

I could go on and on, but I won't. My point is that Jake Crouthamel operated under chancellors (and a chief financial officer) who wanted to minimize athletic spending. Then, his successor was essentially given a blank check.

Great post, but I thought that Jake and Buzz Shaw were lukewarm at best when the 2003 ACC expansion occurred. At that time, I got the impression that the ACC committee that visited SU didn't feel entirely welcome and that Jake and Buzz basically wanted to stay in the Big East. Am I right or wrong on this?

 

[cto]

Great post, but I thought that Jake and Buzz Shaw were lukewarm at best when the 2003 ACC expansion occurred. At that time, I got the impression that the ACC committee that visited SU didn't feel entirely welcome and that Jake and Buzz basically wanted to stay in the Big East. Am I right or wrong on this?

Wrong. We really wanted it. We knew the Big East was gonna die because it was clear that football was gonna drive the bus.

 

[HOFCeluck]

Wrong. We really wanted it. We knew the Big East was gonna die because it was clear that football was gonna drive the bus.

Yeah that’s how I remember it. We wanted it and it was going to happen. Until it didn’t.

 

[NJCuse97]

Gross was a good AD but he was the fall guy for the Fab Melo affair. Gross screwed up Marrone. Marrone wasn't given the support he deserved. He told Gross he was going to look at the NFL. Gross giving the job to Shafer was financially motivated and screwed the program at the worst time.

Coyle was a good AD. He worked to get the Ensley Center donation and worked to get bigger donors more involved.

Gross got the IPF done. Coyle got a naming donor (about 10% of the construction cost). Gross was too late to save Marone, and in my opinion, he thought he could keep Nate Hackett by hiring Shafer.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

Minny had a ridiculously easy schedule let’s see if they follow up on that season.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

Jake screwed up our first invite. Yeah I know the story of the VA Gov but outside of that, they still wanted us a year later, Jake let his ego get in the way and let BC snap up the invite. So in my eye, Gross got done what needed to and what others before him had failed to do.

They wanted Miami 1 BC 2 us 3. I’m not sure why BC played that extra lame duck season probably something on the ACC end but they were chosen with VT and Miami it was a 3 team deal to get to 12 from 9.

Our Natty carried hoops and FB went in the gutter. If we got into the ACC over VT we might not have had BC Matt Ryan type immediate success but the G rob era never happens.

Hoops could have used another decade in the ACC but oh well.

Zero chance we don’t get invited under any scenario on the expansion to 14.

It sucks that Louisville got in. Should have been WVU or Maryland not leaving. Louisville is having the success in this league we should be having. They should be competing with Memphis and Cinci in the Aack.

 

[GreekFreak]

Minny had a ridiculously easy schedule let’s see if they follow up on that season.

So did we. Plus we got totally manhandled by some mediocre to bad teams.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

So did we. Plus we got totally manhandled by some mediocre to bad teams.

OK well we had a bad year. Everything that could go wrong did.

I was at the Louisville game still furious Riley killed any chance of it being a fun one with a muffed punt that deflated us he doesn’t do that we’re likely 6-6 and have the same season as everyone other than Clemson.

Our 10 win team lost a tough road game to Pitt and lost to 2 playoff teams taking a lead on the road against the national champs into the fourth quarter. Minnys first tough game was the pedo st game they won and that was super late in the season and they still found a way to lose 3 times after that.

 

[baggerbob]

They wanted Miami 1 BC 2 us 3. I’m not sure why BC played that extra lame duck season probably something on the ACC end but they were chosen with VT and Miami it was a 3 team deal to get to 12 from 9.

Our Natty carried hoops and FB went in the gutter. If we got into the ACC over VT we might not have had BC Matt Ryan type immediate success but the G rob era never happens.

Hoops could have used another decade in the ACC but oh well.

Zero chance we don’t get invited under any scenario on the expansion to 14.

It sucks that Louisville got in. Should have been WVU or Maryland not leaving. Louisville is having the success in this league we should be having. They should be competing with Memphis and Cinci in the Aack.

The only 2 the ACC wanted back then we're Miami and SU. Virginia Tech got an invite, because of the Virginia Governor. Jake told BC we would stay with them in the Big East. They in turn called the ACC and got the 3rd spot which should have been ours.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

The only 2 the ACC wanted back then we're Miami and SU. Virginia Tech got an invite, because of the Virginia Governor. Jake told BC we would stay with them in the Big East. They in turn called the ACC and got the 3rd spot which should have been ours.

We got in eventually.

Had we gotten the ACC call back in 2004, we would have been deprived of four of the greatest sports moments in SU history:

The GMac Show in 2006...

The 6 OT Game in 2009...

CJ Fair putting Otto Porter on a poster in 2013...

and this...

 

[FloridaFan]

We got in eventually.

Had we gotten the ACC call back in 2004, we would have been deprived of four of the greatest sports moments in SU history:

The GMac Show in 2006...

The 6 OT Game in 2009...

CJ Fair putting Otto Porter on a poster in 2013...

and this...

View attachment 175239

What game is that from? Pinstrip bowl?

 

[OrangeXtreme]

What game is that from? Pinstrip bowl?

2011

Orange Crush: SU Defeats #11/14 WVU - Syracuse University Athletics

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Three touchdown passes from Ryan Nassib to Nick Provo led the Syracuse University football team (5-2, 1-1) to a 49-23 vi...

cuse.com

 

[Alsacs]

What game is that from? Pinstrip bowl?

2011 Friday night beatdown of WVU at the Dome.
Jeremiah Kobena has a KO return to set the tempo.
Defense put a beatdown on Geno.

 

[FloridaFan]

2011 Friday night beatdown of WVU at the Dome.
Jeremiah Kobena has a KO return to set the tempo.
Defense put a beatdown on Geno.

If only I cared about sports back then I could have been there. I think that was the one year I was living in CNY actually.

 

[elimunelson]

Yeah that’s how I remember it. We wanted it and it was going to happen. Until it didn’t.

I think the school wasn’t gonna openly campaign for a spot in the ACC since they knew leaving was gonna destroy the BE. It was less “help me get me outta here!” In 2004. Also the invitations and site visits usually were formalities. It was a done deal.

until VA politics got in the way.

 

[W'boro'Cuse315]

2011 Friday night beatdown of WVU at the Dome.
Jeremiah Kobena has a KO return to set the tempo.
Defense put a beatdown on Geno.

It was actually Dorian Graham with the KOR TD, though Kobena was quite the return man himself.

 

[kirbivore]

I think the school wasn’t gonna openly campaign for a spot in the ACC since they knew leaving was gonna destroy the BE. It was less “help me get me outta here!” In 2004. Also the invitations and site visits usually were formalities. It was a done deal.

until VA politics got in the way.

Jake's attitude back then was "If Miami is going I guess we HAVE to go"

 

[Shark58]

which AD is most responsible for the LAX fall off?

 

[kirbivore]

which AD is most responsible for the LAX fall off?

Desko did that on his own by alienating the 6 nations

 

[OrangePA]

Coyle left in part because he thought our Athletic Department was dysfunctional.

He also knew transitioning from JB to Hop was going to be a helluva lift.

I think it was that combo that ultimately motivated him to leave.

He left because he wanted the Minnesota job.

 

[OrangePA]

How soon they forget ...

Given the hand he was dealt, Jake Crouthamel did an outstanding job here.

He was instrumental in the formation of the Big East Conference (which put SU basketball on the map). And he got SU its first invitation to the ACC (which was withdrawn thanks to Virginia politics that had nothing to do with SU).

Proof of the respect he earned from his peers, he is the only SU person to have served on the NCAA Basketball Committee. SU teams won 10 national championships during his tenure here -- in spite of serious budget constraints on the department

Due to internal SU politics, Jake reported to chief financial officer Lou Maracocia, rather than reporting directly to the chancellor. Maracocia used the Athletic Department as his little cash cow, strangling it financially (no investment) so that it would help his bottom line.

In one of her first acts as chancellor, Nancy Cantor forced Jake to retire because she wanted her own person in the job. Then she immediately hired Daryl Gross and had him report directly to her, thereby eliminating Lou Maracocia's ability to control the Athletic Department budget. Gross immediately hired lots of people (both staff and coaches) at salaries way above those in the Crouthamel era and vastly increased spending in other areas (such as marketing). And as a condition of his employment, he insisted on putting his wife on the AD payroll, an absolute management no-no, which Canter agreed to.

I could go on and on, but I won't. My point is that Jake Crouthamel operated under chancellors (and a chief financial officer) who wanted to minimize athletic spending. Then, his successor was essentially given a blank check.

Jake was a great AD at Syracuse University - the most important, influential and consequential in the history of the school.

 

[OttoMets]

...

In one of her first acts as chancellor, Nancy Cantor forced Jake to retire because she wanted her own person in the job. Then she immediately hired Daryl Gross and had him report directly to her, thereby eliminating Lou Maracocia's ability to control the Athletic Department budget. Gross immediately hired lots of people (both staff and coaches) at salaries way above those in the Crouthamel era and vastly increased spending in other areas (such as marketing). And as a condition of his employment, he insisted on putting his wife on the AD payroll, an absolute management no-no, which Canter agreed to.
...

I think this was disgraceful; the nepotism and hiring of unqualified administrators (and too many administrators in general) is the first thing I criticize about Gross.

But while this is unusual (or should be) in corporate management, let's not pretend it stands out in academia, where (checks notes) every president or chancellor gets a deal to bring along his or her spouse for a faculty appointment.

 

[Chip]

Jake's attitude back then was "If Miami is going I guess we HAVE to go"

I think that's how he sold it to Boeheim and the segment of the fanbase that wouldn't want to leave Big East hoops.

Jake was a football guy, who wanted Penn State in the league back in the day. He knew what was going on.

Those talking about his ego never met him. He was the most unassuming down to earth guy you'd ever meet. I think where he probably became wrong for the job was when the AD needed to shift most of their focus to fundraising. I don't think that was his thing. And so we way overshot on his replacement.

As for BC, my recollection is that the ACC wanted, in order, 1. Miami, 2. the city of Boston, 3. Syracuse. They had a perfect scenario. Except Duke and UNC didn't want any of it. No one wanted Blacksburg, but it was forced upon them when Duke and UNC wouldn't budge. Either could have shut that down.

They stopped at 11 that night and regrouped, and eventually went after their #2 target.