How Doug Marrone became 'The Man Who Left Buffalo'

[Millhouse]

I can't remember who it was, it might have been IB, but when Marrone and his staff set up they were supposedly shocked. They knew it was bad, but didn't really know how bad it was from the facilities, to the team conditioning, to the recruiting board.

I really think there was a big element of, "come on how bad can it be" to "holy . . . . !"

Completely gutted.

did he have a phone interview where he answered the phone saying I'LL TAKE IT?

i know the guy was busy but that's basic due diligence

 

[GoSU96]

Then he was stupid as well. He was the guy with the notebook remember? What, did forget to tour the facilities?

I'm pretty sure the only time he was on campus was when he interviewed with Cantor offered and accepted in the same morning.

 

[Millhouse]

I'm pretty sure the only time he was on campus was when he interviewed with Cantor offered and accepted in the same morning.

wow

 

[rrlbees]

I can't remember who it was, it might have been IB, but when Marrone and his staff set up they were supposedly shocked. They knew it was bad, but didn't really know how bad it was from the facilities, to the team conditioning, to the recruiting board. I really think there was a big element of, "come on how bad can it be" to "holy !" Completely gutted.

Your making some of that up. You've liked to use recruiting board as some example. They had one. I knew the guy that maintained it. It was a talking point Marrone wanted out along with many other things. And Marrone didn't change much with the recruiting "board". I'm sure you can find it, but when Eric white came on board in 2013 one thing he said he wanted to accomplish was having a recruiting database. Gee, I thought Marrone was gonna get that done in 2009. Conditioning? Yea, Marrone instituted regular testing. Doesn't mean there wasn't any conditioning. Kids lifted and ran. Just like every D1 program. Don't you remember those pics of 530am runs in the winter? You over state some of this stuff and bought into some of the messages. They were successful in doing some of that messaging just like a coaches kid said.

 

[Crusty]

I'm pretty sure the only time he was on campus was when he interviewed with Cantor offered and accepted in the same morning.

That would make him even dumber. If he took the job without doing his homework he has no one to blame but his self. He is not dumb and I don't believe he didn't know what he was getting himself into.
Face it he just wasn't cut out to be a CFB coach. The best one can say is the the jury is still out about the NFL.

 

[GoSU96]

Your making some of that up. You've liked to use recruiting board as some example. They had one. I knew the guy that maintained it. It was a talking point Marrone wanted out along with many other things. And Marrone didn't change much with the recruiting "board". I'm sure you can find it, but when Eric white came on board in 2013 one thing he said he wanted to accomplish was having a recruiting database. Gee, I thought Marrone was gonna get that done in 2009. Conditioning? Yea, Marrone instituted regular testing. Doesn't mean there wasn't any conditioning. Kids lifted and ran. Just like every D1 program. Don't you remember those pics of 530am runs in the winter? You over state some of this stuff and bought into some of the messages. They were successful in doing some of that messaging just like a coaches kid said.

I'm not making it up, it's what I remember being posted at the time, and I even stated I didn't have direct knowledge.

I didn't mean recruiting board as a physical item, but in the pipeline. Again, unless I'm mistaken, they cut all the commitments loose but four. It's evidence that they didn't like the quality in the pipeline. Are you telling me that all 14 kids in that class were already in the pipeline?

How many kids in the following class were?

Whoever said there wasn't "any" conditioning.

Would that be a parent of one of the kids that left?

 

[OrangePA]

Or, perhaps he might have been unable to achieve success. You can be sure if he had stayed and suffered through 2014 injuries everyone would be saying off with his head he has had 6 years!

You never know of course what would have happened.

But I think he would have continued to advance the program.

 

[Crusty]

You never know of course what would have happened.

But I think he would have continued to advance the program.

So do I, but I also think SU was only a resume builder for the NFL. He was never staying.

 

[HeaterCuse22]

You never know of course what would have happened.

But I think he would have continued to advance the program.

I think its likely, but he would have had to readjust how he recruited personally and as a staff. IMO.

 

[tep624]

I'll say this. If Shafer, or any future Syracuse HC, has an opportunity at a NFL HC job, they should take it and we as fans should applaud them for it.

I don't understand how a coach getting a job at the highest level in the sport is seen as a bad thing, or somehow being less than loyal.

Because he said the words "Dream Job", duh!

 

[OrangePA]

I can't remember who it was, it might have been IB, but when Marrone and his staff set up they were supposedly shocked. They knew it was bad, but didn't really know how bad it was from the facilities, to the team conditioning, to the recruiting board.

I really think there was a big element of, "come on how bad can it be" to "holy . . . . !"

Completely gutted.

I have posted this before.

At a dinner for donors held at Turning Stone in the spring of 2011 - after the first Pinstripe Bowl win - while he was riding high - Marrone made an impassioned plea for improved facilities.

He insisted that we had the worst football infrastructure in the Big East - that we lacked even basic medical/training equipment that was desperately needed.

He said "get me to the middle of the Big East, and I'll win here."

And then he said, "If you don't build there will be another guy standing here in a couple of years making the same pitch."

At the time, I thought he meant, "If you don't build, I'll fail - will get fired and you'll be back to square one"

After he left, I re-thought what he had said that night.

I began to think that what he meant was "If you don't build, I'm leaving."

I do think it's true that Marrone did not know exactly what he was getting when he took the SU job.

 

[Scooch]

I'll say this. If Shafer, or any future Syracuse HC, has an opportunity at a NFL HC job, they should take it and we as fans should applaud them for it.

I don't understand how a coach getting a job at the highest level in the sport is seen as a bad thing, or somehow being less than loyal.

I think most people understand why he left. There are only 32 NFL HC gigs, you don't pass one up or walk away from one (oops).

What annoyed me was the timing, which may have been unavoidable, but it still sucked. Leaving in January made doing anything but hiring from within impossible. And then he took most of the staff with him, so the new HC had to build a staff on the fly while trying to hold together the recruiting class. Everything about that was lousy.

Plus the "dream job" schtick rightfully stuck in people's craws. We were *just* turning the program around when he bailed. Again, I understand why, but I'm not a fan of the Buffalo Bills or Doug Marrone. I'm a fan of Syracuse football, and selfishly him leaving at the time and in the manner he did hurt the program. So I don't think it is at ALL wrong to be a little perturbed by that.

 

[Scooch]

I'm pretty sure the only time he was on campus was when he interviewed with Cantor offered and accepted in the same morning.

If that's true then he's an idiot. End story.

 

[rrlbees]

I'm not making it up, it's what I remember being posted at the time, and I even stated I didn't have direct knowledge. I didn't mean recruiting board as a physical item, but in the pipeline. Again, unless I'm mistaken, they cut all the commitments loose but four. It's evidence that they didn't like the quality in the pipeline. Are you telling me that all 14 kids in that class were already in the pipeline? How many kids in the following class were? Whoever said there wasn't "any" conditioning. Would that be a parent of one of the kids that left?

When you have said recruiting board in the past and now, I've always taken it to mean what it says. A recruiting board. Never thought it meant a pipeline or quality of recruit. I didn't say there was a conditioning issue. You did in your post I responded too.

 

[Bayside44]

If that's true then he's an idiot. End story.

But isn't that common? Gross was never on campus either when he got the gig as legend has it.

 

[rrlbees]

I have posted this before. At a dinner for donors held at Turning Stone in the spring of 2011 - after the first Pinstripe Bowl win - while he was riding high - Marrone made an impassioned plea for improved facilities. He insisted that we had the worst football infrastructure in the Big East - that we lacked even basic medical/training equipment that was desperately needed. He said "get me to the middle of the Big East, and I'll win here." And then he said, "If you don't build there will be another guy standing here in a couple of years making the same pitch." At the time, I thought he meant, "If you don't build, I'll fail - will get fired and you'll be back to square one" After he left, I re-thought what he had said that night. I began to think that what he meant was "If you don't build, I'm leaving." I do think it's true that Marrone did not know exactly what he was getting when he took the SU job.

Didn't he get those facility upgrades before he left? The lockers, showers, offices, medical, etc? Wasn't that the $5m effort? Or are my years off?

 

[Scooch]

But isn't that common? Gross was never on campus either when he got the gig as legend has it.

I have no idea. If it's common it seems thoroughly bizarre. How on earth can a coach or AD assess the state of a program if they don't actually take some time to see facilities first hand. Do they also buy houses direct off Realtor.com?! Blows my mind.

 

[Chip]

But isn't that common? Gross was never on campus either when he got the gig as legend has it.

Seems like it would be different for a coach though. You would think Gross wanted an AD job that needed some work, at a name brand school. He knew about the Dome, he probably figured the rest would be his cosmetic job.

With Marrone, it's almost as if he didn't know facilities were part of the story until he got the job. Otherwise, why wouldn't you see what we had? I'm sure he knew about our record the past 4 years as well. Which should tell you that there was a lot of work to do. I would also think he knew about the financial challenges of our conference situation.

All very strange.

But I guess that's the leap of faith you take when you worked all your life for that one dream job that you want to have for 4 years.

 

[Bayside44]

Seems like it would be different for a coach though. You would think Gross wanted an AD job that needed some work, at a name brand school. He knew about the Dome, he probably figured the rest would be his cosmetic job.

With Marrone, it's almost as if he didn't know facilities were part of the story until he got the job. Otherwise, why wouldn't you see what we had? I'm sure he knew about our record the past 4 years as well. Which should tell you that there was a lot of work to do. I would also think he knew about the financial challenges of our conference situation.

All very strange.

But I guess that's the leap of faith you take when you worked all your life for that one dream job that you want to have for 4 years.

Didn't he train in our facilities and had the Tim Green's of the world in his ear to tell him not much changed?

Whatever, it's over now. You'd just think there would be some of that in the binders.

 

[Full_Rebar]

I think most people understand why he left. There are only 32 NFL HC gigs, you don't pass one up or walk away from one (oops).

What annoyed me was the timing, which may have been unavoidable, but it still sucked. Leaving in January made doing anything but hiring from within impossible. And then he took most of the staff with him, so the new HC had to build a staff on the fly while trying to hold together the recruiting class. Everything about that was lousy.

Plus the "dream job" schtick rightfully stuck in people's craws. We were *just* turning the program around when he bailed. Again, I understand why, but I'm not a fan of the Buffalo Bills or Doug Marrone. I'm a fan of Syracuse football, and selfishly him leaving at the time and in the manner he did hurt the program. So I don't think it is at ALL wrong to be a little perturbed by that.

That's a very fair perspective. I just don't think it should impact the thought process in future hirings. Syracuse cannot worry about passing on candidates because they might leave for better jobs.

We could argue about the staff "raiding" and neither one gets anywhere. I can say that Marrone wasn't the only person looking for new jobs that season and he wasn't the only one planning to build a staff with existing Syracuse coaches. If Hackett had been named HC, I think we would have faced the same coaching and recruiting dilemma, with the exception of keeping Zach Allen's commitment.

 

[OrangePA]

If that's true then he's an idiot. End story.

In all fairness, he was pretty busy at the time - OC for the Saints during the season.

I recall that Doug had to fly from Chicago - where the Saints were going to play the Bears - on the Congel Family's private jet to interview and then immediately return to Chicago.

 

[OrangePA]

Didn't he get those facility upgrades before he left? The lockers, showers, offices, medical, etc? Wasn't that the $5m effort? Or are my years off?

That may be.

But one of the items that was being presented very prominently at the Turning Stone event I attended was the IPF.

The artists sketches were all lined up in the front of the room. They depicted what we now have.

The facility had not been built or even approved by the end of the 2012 season.

 

[OrangePA]

So do I, but I also think SU was only a resume builder for the NFL. He was never staying.

Maybe.

 

[Scooch]

In all fairness, he was pretty busy at the time - OC for the Saints during the season.

I recall that Doug had to fly from Chicago - where the Saints were going to play the Bears - on the Congel Family's private jet to interview and then immediately return to Chicago.

Yeah, I may have been a little harsh!

But schedule aside, it still strikes me as odd. Or at least I put a lot less stock in hearing about his frustration with facilities. If he didn't find the time to assess them that's on him. Promises being broken is another story, and I'm sympathetic to that. Other stuff about attendance and being a hoops school cannot possibly be a serious excuse.

 

[007]

I have no idea. If it's common it seems thoroughly bizarre. How on earth can a coach or AD assess the state of a program if they don't actually take some time to see facilities first hand. Do they also buy houses direct off Realtor.com?! Blows my mind.

Or...he took the job regardless, thinking that he would be the difference maker on the field and in bringing facilities to the middle of the pack. Who knows what Gross did or did not promise in terms of facilities. If you buy the "control freak" personality, I seriously doubt Marrone walked into the HC's office on day 1 and was blindsided by the state of the state. It seems more reasonable to assume that he became increasingly frustrated with the university's commitment, or lack thereof, to improving the infrastructure. Take my word for this, he was not shy about telling even casual acquaintances that he would win and win big with upgrades to the facilities (see OPA post above).