For Tomcat - The Trifecta

[orangechef]

Stop it already. Please.

It was a great run period.

If it had been funded properly it would have continued.

Pasqualoni did a great job and was undercut by a naïve and financially strained Administration.

And stop it with the losses that should never have occurred.

Don Shula should never has lost to the NY Jets in the Super Bowl.

Pete Carroll should never have lost to Stanford when the Cardinal I believe was dead last in the Pac 12.

Va Tech should never have lost to Temple back in the early 2000s.

Clemson should never have given up 70 points to West Va in the Orange Bowl.

Nebraska should never have been down 34-0 in the NC Game against Miami.

And on and on.

It is silly to try to challenge the success of a coach or a program by isolating a handful of games.

The facts are the facts - we had a great time under Pasqualoni - I went to AZ three times in the winter and Florida a few times over New Years and saw lots of great and exciting games in the Dome while he was coach. I was even in Orlando for his last game - a bowl game - and had plenty of fun that weekend.

He was not a PR guy - he was not glib or flamboyant.

But he was solid as a rock and with him you always thought that you had a chance to win the game.

He had a great career at SU.

So enough already with this issue.

It's simply not tenable.

I was also at all of those bowl games. Could not agree with you more. Great post!

 

[cuseguy]

The inability to recruit a suitable replacement for McNabb was a chief reason, as we all know, for the drop off. P acknowledged that in response to a letter I wrote him after he was dismissed. Not maintaining and improving our facilities was another major factor. We built the Dome and upgraded Manley but then we rested on our laurels during the 90s while our competitors were making huge improvements. You could argue that P and D were getting a little stale near the end. It happens. But a few key recruits and an investment by the university probably would have altered the course of things.

 

[Millhouse]

What BS. That program went to nine bowl games 13 years, including its final season. Fiesta twice, Orange, Gator, Liberty and on and on. Stop the nonsense and ackowledge the facts.

How many wins does the ncaa think we have in 2004 now?

Serious question, I don't know

 

[Cusester]

The contempt that some here feel for PP is misguided.

 

[Scooch]

The inability to recruit a suitable replacement for McNabb was a chief reason, as we all know, for the drop off. P acknowledged that in response to a letter I wrote him after he was dismissed. Not maintaining and improving our facilities was another major factor. We built the Dome and upgraded Manley but then we rested on our laurels during the 90s while our competitors were making huge improvements. You could argue that P and D were getting a little stale near the end. It happens. But a few key recruits and an investment by the university probably would have altered the course of things.

Agree with that.

One thing is that I do have a problem with is the portrayal of P as an innocent bystander to the lack of facilities investment that occurred in the 90s.

P was the steward of the program. If he felt that SU was not supporting its advancement via improved facilities then he had an obligation to aggressively pursue a remedy to that.

I have never heard anyone recount that he did such a thing. Maybe that silence was/is taken as being a good soldier, but to me it's also a failing of his responsibility to the program. I hold Jake C to the same standard.

People here applaud Marrone for pushing for the IPF among other things. Where was that push in the 90s? If it happened I've never heard about it. Being HC involves obligations beyond what goes on in the film room and the recruiting tail.

 

[Scooch]

You may be right. But making the change on that basis was misguided.

We all know that the change was made because of 39-33, 16-20, 62-0/59-0/59-14, and dwindling attendance.

Most also agree that the timing was idiotic and P should have either been fired after Temple/BC, or retained through 2005.

But when you can't figure out how to beat a dreadful 10-loss team who had exactly one offensive weapon you're walking a razor thin line.

 

[cuseguy]

Agree with that. One thing is that I do have a problem with is the portrayal of P as an innocent bystander to the lack of facilities investment that occurred in the 90s. P was the steward of the program. If he felt that SU was not supporting its advancement via improved facilities then he had an obligation to aggressively pursue a remedy to that. I have never heard anyone recount that he did such a thing. Maybe that silence was/is taken as being a good soldier, but to me it's also a failing of his responsibility to the program. I hold Jake C to the same standard. People here applaud Marrone for pushing for the IPF among other things. Where was that push in the 90s? If it happened I've never heard about it. Being HC involves obligations beyond what goes on in the film room and the recruiting tail.

Don't tell JB that.

Ha.

 

[Scooch]

Don't tell JB that.

Ha.

We all know JB doesn't watch film.

 

[kirbivore]

"The decay started"

The decay started in the mid-1990s when the program was deprived of the funding it needed to compete.

The blow-out loss to Purdue - a favorite that year to win the Big Ten - was a blood money game. The University took the early game for a paycheck. With no experience at QB, the team was simply not ready for that game.

Blow out losses in bowl games mean very little. They happen all the time.

Didn't Clemson lose to WVU two years ago by close to 70 points in the Orange Bowl?

And the Temple game was a very good QB having a great game - the following week was utterly glorious in Boston.

The fact is that even with the issues that the program was having , the team beat Pitt, BC, Rutgers, UConn - gave FSU all it could handle, won the BE Championship and went bowling.

A lot needed to be done - clearly.

But I would have taken six wins and a bowl last year - even a blow out loss.

no matter what Purdue's preseason expectations were they finished 7-5. The great Walter Washington who never played in the NFL was made to look great because Temple ran the same play over and over and SU couldn't stop it.

 

[longtimefan]

You may be right.

But making the change on that basis was misguided.

Don't tell JB that.

Ha.

JB was the driving force in getting the Melo Center built. So I guess his definition of head coach was a bit more expansive.

Marrone didn't think he should have to take the lead in fund-raising for the IPF.