Dino is my coach

[Nicknack]

That said, the job isn't done. We need to get bowl eligible. Especially now that we just need one more win to get there. It'll be very disappointing if we can't lock a bowl appearance in. They aren't easy games but it doesn't matter. Gotta get there.

Agree 100%. It would be massively disappointing not to go bowling at this point. I say we get there, and probably with 7 wins. I just don't see this team losing 3 in a row again. There's just too much fight in them.

 

[baggerbob]

Obviously feeling a lot better about Dino now than I did when it felt like he was giving up on the Rutgers game. It's been a fantastic turnaround. We're competing.

That said, the job isn't done. We need to get bowl eligible. Especially now that we just need one more win to get there. It'll be very disappointing if we can't lock a bowl appearance in. They aren't easy games but it doesn't matter. Gotta get there.

And the 15 practices give Shrader, and the receivers time to get used to each other. TD got most of the reps, because he was the 1st team. Harris being the best receiver, and TD's favorite target.
That actually set this team back until they both were out of the lineup. Also gives Gilbert an opportunity to try to use the TE for something besides blocking.

 

[DoctorBombay]

i said before this season 5-7 would be what he needed for me to feel good about one more year.

He got it. And maybe more.

I still will criticize bad playcalling and bad time management. I still will criticize when we play not to lose rather than to win.

BUT...he's our guy, and I stand by my position.

Like everyone else I still have my issues w/ HCDB, but there’s no doubt he’s turned things to the positive this season.
Also like everyone else, i wanna see some consistency in the program. To go from 10 wins and then crater at 3 & 1 wins is not good, obviously. But overall, I’m glad he’ll continue building this thing on a long-term basis. I’m hoping we can build momentum and start another Coach Mac-type turnaround. We did it before, we can do it again.

 

[Dick_in_MI]

Here's the thing - some coaches can build a good team but few can build a good program. Dino has now built 2 good teams, counting this one. Now, he needs to build a good program. He has a chance to do this with this young team.

Right on (a phrase that we used every other sentence during my SU days along with “the cheese jaws from The Dingleman are especially greasy tonight!”)

I have said a version of this for awhile. It is the key to Dino’s “consistently good instead of occasionally great” mantra.

You don’t get to “consistently good” without having built a good program. A single team can get you an occasionally great year but it won’t keep your head above water over the long haul. In his previous head coaching jobs at lower levels, Dino didn’t stick around long enough to build a program so to a degree he is learning on the job with that.

I fell off the Dino wagon after Rutgers but I have also been vocal in saying that mid-year was not a time to give him the boot. We needed to let the entire season play out to make a full assessment on this year’s performance. It is valid to say “I have lost faith in you so is time for you to prove yourself and try to re-earn that faith”. I know that I am not the only one to have taken that position. Belief without evidence is a great phrase, but at some point the evidence becomes primary. We are 75% there on this season‘s eventual story but with some real roadblocks left to plow through. There is now hope that we can at least handle one or more of them.

The key is that we have some excellent young talent and that is the foundation of a program. Dino deserves a ton of credit for identifying and developing them. There was some serendipity involved in Howard and Adams being gone and allowing Tucker to emerge but life is full of serendipity.

Now it is time to continue the job of building the program and achieving his goal of consistently good. That is yet to be written but at least we can close our eyes and see a potential image that can be based upon evidence and not merely faith.

 

[kcsu]

I like it when Dino keeps his eyes and mind open.

 

[Chip]

And this wasn’t a backdoor cover 5 win season like 2019. 3 really good wins, and 3 really tough close losses. Outgaining every opponent. We’re a much better football team.

No matter what happens these last 3 tough games, he deserves to see this through with how he’s rebuilt the team.

 

[kuethstheman]

Right on (a phrase that we used every other sentence during my SU days along with “the cheese jaws from The Dingleman are especially greasy tonight!”)

I have said a version of this for awhile. It is the key to Dino’s “consistently good instead of occasionally great” mantra.

You don’t get to “consistently good” without having built a good program. A single team can get you an occasionally great year but it won’t keep your head above water over the long haul. In his previous head coaching jobs at lower levels, Dino didn’t stick around long enough to build a program so to a degree he is learning on the job with that.

I fell off the Dino wagon after Rutgers but I have also been vocal in saying that mid-year was not a time to give him the boot. We needed to let the entire season play out to make a full assessment on this year’s performance. It is valid to say “I have lost faith in you so is time for you to prove yourself and try to re-earn that faith”. I know that I am not the only one to have taken that position. Belief without evidence is a great phrase, but at some point the evidence becomes primary. We are 75% there on this season‘s eventual story but with some real roadblocks left to plow through. There is now hope that we can at least handle one or more of them.

The key is that we have some excellent young talent and that is the foundation of a program. Dino deserves a ton of credit for identifying and developing them. There was some serendipity involved in Howard and Adams being gone and allowing Tucker to emerge but life is full of serendipity.

Now it is time to continue the job of building the program and achieving his goal of consistently good. That is yet to be written but at least we can close our eyes and see a potential image that can be based upon evidence and not merely faith.

Right on!

And what I wouldn't give for a good cheese jaw!

 

[GoSU96]

We’re gonna have to hit the portal for some DL help… that’s the biggest reload imo.

Add that Albany kid to Lockett and Caleb and that’s a good front three. Linton makes plays, Harper solid backup.

 

[Trueblue25]

Get us to a bowl

 

[gmoney44]

We need to see *a* Syracuse coach get a top 40 class as proof of concept before we can demand it

I think we have been recruiting exactly where we can expect for the foreseeable future. We need to continue to find undervalued talent, develop players and hit on a couple big transfers a year. We also need to stay clear of the me first guys and weed them out if they make it through the initial filtering process. This team must be a lunch pale team that is more physical and outworks their opponents. I think Dino finally found a sustainable model for his Syracuse teams.

 

[tep624]

Like everyone else I still have my issues w/ HCDB, but there’s no doubt he’s turned things to the positive this season.
Also like everyone else, i wanna see some consistency in the program. To go from 10 wins and then crater at 3 & 1 wins is not good, obviously. But overall, I’m glad he’ll continue building this thing on a long-term basis. I’m hoping we can build momentum and start another Coach Mac-type turnaround. We did it before, we can do it again.

This is basically where I'm at as well. The criticism didn't exist in a vacuum, it was warranted and still is. 6 weeks ago, we were 2-1 coming off a loss to Rutgers where we looked like we had no offensive identity whatsoever and a win against Albany where we put up a ton of points, but watching the game still looked pretty disjointed against a highly inferior opponent. Couple that with a recruiting class that stalled at about the same time, with the last couple of recruits being guys that really weren't recruited by anyone else.

As far as on the field, Dino made the hardest/most important decision - the move to Shrader - and I commend him for that otherwise this season would have been lost. You have to play to what offensive pieces you have, not play to the offense you want to be. That's the most important lesson here, offensive identity needs to be be created out of the materials you have on hand and not some ideal.

There are still issues though - game management, clock management, TO management, procedural penalties, special teams inconsistencies - those things need to be worked on and cleaned up. If they were humming this year we'd probably have another 2-3 wins.

The important thing to me now, taking for granted we win 6+ games and get to a bowl, is that this isn't another one hit wonder, and in addition, that the recruiting class is finished out strong. We desperately need upperclassman DL and DL in general. We've hardly recruited any skill position offensive talent. Those are the next indicators I want to see. I want to see Dino string back to back winning seasons together, and I want to see a top 25-40 recruiting class at some point in the near future as well.

 

[3rdRecon]

Tony White may well be the hire that saved the ship and ultimately Dino's job. Love the scheme! Also, it was nice to finally see some half time adjustments. Agree with earlier poster - DL recruiting will be crucial. Amazing how a change in QB results in improved OL execution. Let's go bowling and roll that into recruiting.

 

[DoctorBombay]

This is basically where I'm at as well. The criticism didn't exist in a vacuum, it was warranted and still is. 6 weeks ago, we were 2-1 coming off a loss to Rutgers where we looked like we had no offensive identity whatsoever and a win against Albany where we put up a ton of points, but watching the game still looked pretty disjointed against a highly inferior opponent. Couple that with a recruiting class that stalled at about the same time, with the last couple of recruits being guys that really weren't recruited by anyone else.

As far as on the field, Dino made the hardest/most important decision - the move to Shrader - and I commend him for that otherwise this season would have been lost. You have to play to what offensive pieces you have, not play to the offense you want to be. That's the most important lesson here, offensive identity needs to be be created out of the materials you have on hand and not some ideal.

There are still issues though - game management, clock management, TO management, procedural penalties, special teams inconsistencies - those things need to be worked on and cleaned up. If they were humming this year we'd probably have another 2-3 wins.

The important thing to me now, taking for granted we win 6+ games and get to a bowl, is that this isn't another one hit wonder, and in addition, that the recruiting class is finished out strong. We desperately need upperclassman DL and DL in general. We've hardly recruited any skill position offensive talent. Those are the next indicators I want to see. I want to see Dino string back to back winning seasons together, and I want to see a top 25-40 recruiting class at some point in the near future as well.

Spot on.

 

[tbonezone]

And this wasn’t a backdoor cover 5 win season like 2019.

rankings of teams we/ve defeated. BC (50) LIBERTY (51) VT (68) OHIO (125) and ALBANY . ranked 64th ourselves it's a long road to relevance. is that better than 1 win yes. is that great ? no way.

 

[Chip]

rankings of teams we/ve defeated. BC (50) LIBERTY (51) VT (68) OHIO (125) and ALBANY . ranked 64th ourselves it's a long road to relevance. is that better than 1 win yes. is that great ? no way.

Compare it to the last 2 years instead of the idea of excellence that you carry in your head.

 

[DoctorBombay]

rankings of teams we/ve defeated. BC (50) LIBERTY (51) VT (68) OHIO (125) and ALBANY . ranked 64th ourselves it's a long road to relevance. is that better than 1 win yes. is that great ? no way.

“Relevance” = becoming bowl eligible…especially after 2 disastrous seasons. Even if we beat the Blind Sisters of the Poor to get there, at this point, who cares? I’ll take it!

 

[tbonezone]

i suppose when you've been living under a bridge in a box a shower feels good even if the water is ice cold.

 

[OburgOrange]

 

[crales44]

That guy is an idiot. Not just about this topic, about everything.

 

[storange]

Never left the Dino camp, good things are coming.

 

[SyraGus]

We’re gonna have to hit the portal for some DL help… that’s the biggest reload imo.

Agree wholeheartedly. One of the things I have loved seeing this year is the steady rotation of players on the DL. Would love to see that continue.

 

[storange]

Stupidest tweet in history. The Orange Empire tweet.

 

[Trueblue25]

Ive had my criticism with the staff but good lord this guy needs to shut up. We have the nation’s leading rusher, a top 25 defense and just broke a student attendance record. A bowl’s a bowl and 6+ wins is 6+ wins. This team’s the best 6-6 (if we’re fortunate enough to get to 6-6) team i’ll have seen and I’ve only seen 7 or 8 since 2000.

 

[Nick44]

We need to see *a* Syracuse coach get a top 40 class as proof of concept before we can demand it

I agree. A top 40 class, while it hasn’t been done in 20+ years has to be reachable for this staff and the next staff and the staff after that to have any type of sustained success here.

Last point, Syracuse survived these last 20+ years on finding the undervalued recruits like Chandler Jones, Eric Dungey, Sean Tucker etc. The NCAA had continued to help the factory schools recruit talent by creating the 1x transfer rule. Now these schools can indirectly go after players like these that they missed on coming out of high school. It’s more important than ever that Syracuse improves its recruiting because it is at risk of losing these other players that they have been successful in getting.

 

[hoopsupstate]

This is basically where I'm at as well. The criticism didn't exist in a vacuum, it was warranted and still is. 6 weeks ago, we were 2-1 coming off a loss to Rutgers where we looked like we had no offensive identity whatsoever and a win against Albany where we put up a ton of points, but watching the game still looked pretty disjointed against a highly inferior opponent. Couple that with a recruiting class that stalled at about the same time, with the last couple of recruits being guys that really weren't recruited by anyone else.

As far as on the field, Dino made the hardest/most important decision - the move to Shrader - and I commend him for that otherwise this season would have been lost. You have to play to what offensive pieces you have, not play to the offense you want to be. That's the most important lesson here, offensive identity needs to be be created out of the materials you have on hand and not some ideal.

There are still issues though - game management, clock management, TO management, procedural penalties, special teams inconsistencies - those things need to be worked on and cleaned up. If they were humming this year we'd probably have another 2-3 wins.

The important thing to me now, taking for granted we win 6+ games and get to a bowl, is that this isn't another one hit wonder, and in addition, that the recruiting class is finished out strong. We desperately need upperclassman DL and DL in general. We've hardly recruited any skill position offensive talent. Those are the next indicators I want to see. I want to see Dino string back to back winning seasons together, and I want to see a top 25-40 recruiting class at some point in the near future as well.

If you watch college football you see all of these concerns in every game.