cuseclappy
Winner 2016 SU Football Season Prediction Contest
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Back in August, barely two weeks before the start of the 2011 college football season, I spent the afternoon on the Syracuse campus and on the fields behind Manley Field House with the Orange at practice.
Right around the time it dawned on me, "Holy cow, these guys are young," I was invited to have a chat with Floyd Little, Syracuse's only three-time All-American at a single position. He rejoined his alma mater in spring 2011 as a special assistant to the athletic director.
I told him how much I had enjoyed his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction speech. An assistant coach overheard me and said, "You should have heard the one he gave us yesterday." Then I asked Little what he thought of the team in front of him.
"We're two years away," said the 69-year-old, looking at least 20 years younger. "We won eight games last year. Won a bowl game. Because of that, people are going to have maybe too-high expectations for 2011. But this year, we'll struggle a bit."
He talked about the youth on the field, the lack of depth and the uphill climb coach Doug Marrone, whom Little helped hire, faced in 2011, the third year of his program reconstruction project.
"I don't think people outside the program realized how much of a hole he was given to dig out of. Yeah, we'll struggle a bit this year. Not early, but likely in the second half of the season. Next year, though, next year we're finally going to start getting around that corner we've been trying to turn for so long."
Just as Little predicted, the Orange won five of their first seven, including a huge upset of 11th-ranked West Virginia. Then they lost five straight to end the year 5-7 and tied for last in the Big East. But all I heard as I watched them was "Next year, though, next year ..."
Throughout the nation, there are programs that enter a season knowing any short-term success is merely a bonus. Their fan bases might expect more, but, inside the coach's office, people know the Orange are going to have to take it on the chin for a season as they build toward the next. Last year, Syracuse knew it was one of those teams. This year, it will join its fans in believing the results should start coming now.
What teams do I foresee finally turning the proverbial corner? So glad you asked …
Syracuse Orange
2011: 5-7
Past five years: 22-28
Strengths: Quarterback, offensive and defensive lines
Weaknesses: Receiving corps, linebackers
Far be it from me to disagree with a Hall of Famer, right?
To fully appreciate what Marrone has done at his alma mater, look no further than the record. He has won 17 games -- including a bowl game -- over three seasons. That's seven more than predecessor Greg Robinson won in the four years before Marrone arrived. Robinson's teams never made it to a bowl.
Now Marrone is entering the final season of what he calls the four-year cycle, when the shortcomings of the past should finally be purged. That cycle started in 2009 with the overhauling of everything from the offense to how practices are run. Now it should be coming to a close thanks to the first signs of actual roster depth, which will allow Marrone to finally start redshirting incoming freshmen, a crucial step toward looking and feeling like a real football program.
Nearly 30 Syracuse players on the current roster had to play as true freshman or first-year arrivals. This season, it should finally be able to start sitting guys and start stocking up on invaluable five-year players down the road.
And oh, by the way, that Big East schedule doesn't hurt, either.
Right around the time it dawned on me, "Holy cow, these guys are young," I was invited to have a chat with Floyd Little, Syracuse's only three-time All-American at a single position. He rejoined his alma mater in spring 2011 as a special assistant to the athletic director.
I told him how much I had enjoyed his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction speech. An assistant coach overheard me and said, "You should have heard the one he gave us yesterday." Then I asked Little what he thought of the team in front of him.
"We're two years away," said the 69-year-old, looking at least 20 years younger. "We won eight games last year. Won a bowl game. Because of that, people are going to have maybe too-high expectations for 2011. But this year, we'll struggle a bit."
He talked about the youth on the field, the lack of depth and the uphill climb coach Doug Marrone, whom Little helped hire, faced in 2011, the third year of his program reconstruction project.
"I don't think people outside the program realized how much of a hole he was given to dig out of. Yeah, we'll struggle a bit this year. Not early, but likely in the second half of the season. Next year, though, next year we're finally going to start getting around that corner we've been trying to turn for so long."
Just as Little predicted, the Orange won five of their first seven, including a huge upset of 11th-ranked West Virginia. Then they lost five straight to end the year 5-7 and tied for last in the Big East. But all I heard as I watched them was "Next year, though, next year ..."
Throughout the nation, there are programs that enter a season knowing any short-term success is merely a bonus. Their fan bases might expect more, but, inside the coach's office, people know the Orange are going to have to take it on the chin for a season as they build toward the next. Last year, Syracuse knew it was one of those teams. This year, it will join its fans in believing the results should start coming now.
What teams do I foresee finally turning the proverbial corner? So glad you asked …
Syracuse Orange
2011: 5-7
Past five years: 22-28
Strengths: Quarterback, offensive and defensive lines
Weaknesses: Receiving corps, linebackers
Far be it from me to disagree with a Hall of Famer, right?
To fully appreciate what Marrone has done at his alma mater, look no further than the record. He has won 17 games -- including a bowl game -- over three seasons. That's seven more than predecessor Greg Robinson won in the four years before Marrone arrived. Robinson's teams never made it to a bowl.
Now Marrone is entering the final season of what he calls the four-year cycle, when the shortcomings of the past should finally be purged. That cycle started in 2009 with the overhauling of everything from the offense to how practices are run. Now it should be coming to a close thanks to the first signs of actual roster depth, which will allow Marrone to finally start redshirting incoming freshmen, a crucial step toward looking and feeling like a real football program.
Nearly 30 Syracuse players on the current roster had to play as true freshman or first-year arrivals. This season, it should finally be able to start sitting guys and start stocking up on invaluable five-year players down the road.
And oh, by the way, that Big East schedule doesn't hurt, either.
