I'm starting to feel ... optimistic again ?!?!

[IthacaMatt]

I was one of the few people who were not "Bowl Or Bust" regarding Dino last year.

I always felt that because of the contract situation, he would get another year.

And, OH BOY, is he taking advantage of the reboot!

I am super excited at 2 years in a row of what appear to be really excellent coaching hires.

Our staff IS hitting the portal this year, much better than they did last year, in my humble uninformed opinion (i.e., I haven't really "analyzed it" like Tomcat or SWC could do.). We have about 5 really promising players already. There are more spots left on the roster, and the caliber of people they are talking to is very hopeful. No guarantees, of course, but some really promising kids - and coaches! And an immediate uptick in recruiting.

We went from 1 win to 5 last year. I said 4 would have been the bare minimum last year. He beat that by a bit by taking a big gamble on personnel, and enduring a dozen defections during the year (or at least it seemed).

If we can continue to fill out the roster with a nice mix of kids from HS / Prep, and the right handful of Portal Guys like we've been doing, this looks more and more like a bowl team.

We still need depth on the lines and a few more play-makers, but it's looking to me like we're starting to look close to a bowl team this year. Please everyone stay healthy! How much do you think it would cost to wrap them all in bubble wrap?

 

[SUFan44]

Careful now!

Me too. More optimistic for FB than BB at this point.

 

[cusefan88]

I'm optimistic but the schedule is brutal. 6-6 and make a bowl. Once they can get that down I will revise my expectations.

 

[Finwad32]

Definitely some optimism. Off-season has been really strong, players returning, home run hires and some new bodies. We need to win football games though.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I'm optimistic but the schedule is brutal. 6-6 and make a bowl. Once they can get that down I will revise my expectations.

"The hottest fire makes the strongest steel."

 

[IthacaMatt]

Careful now!

Me too. More optimistic for FB than BB at this point.

I share your feeling. As a basketball fan, this announcement that Jimmy's hoping to come back has me feeling like a hostage.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I'm optimistic but the schedule is brutal. 6-6 and make a bowl. Once they can get that down I will revise my expectations.

Do we know our ACC cross-over games yet?

All I see so far is Notre Dame, who will have a new coach, and Purdue, who put up an impressive record, but played against the far weaker side of the Big 10.

UConn is just a punching bag.

 

[SWC75]

It's about our perception of the leadership, especially new leadership. I'm an SU and Mets fan. In football, lacrosse and baseball, my team has had recent significant changes in leadership, and it leaves me optimistic that things will improve. In basketball, we have the same old leadership, and many people are tired of it, (I'm not one of them - yet). Of course, those leaders don't actually play the games and new leadership doesn't necessarily turn out to be better leadership.

But it makes for a nice offseason. You are undefeated until the season starts.

 

[Alsacs]

I wanted change as well with no bowl but have to give credit to the AD for what has transpired.
We definitely have to go bowling this year though.

Football has more reasons to be optimistic than basketball even though we can compete more in basketball.

 

[cusefan88]

Do we know our ACC cross-over games yet?

All I see so far is Notre Dame, who will have a new coach, and Purdue, who put up an impressive record, but played against the far weaker side of the Big 10.

UConn is just a punching bag.

UVA at the dome.

 

[OrangePA]

Very optimistic!

 

[tep624]

I’m optimistic heading into most seasons, but we have a tougher schedule this year and our lines in particular still have a lot of question marks. Additionally, I expect this new OC/QB coach to want to exploit the passing game and still a lot of question marks there. Will be very interested to see how they close out recruiting. I like what’s been done so far in the portal.

 

[Acesn8s]

I’m excited for some additions, I always hope for the best, I thought Dino should have been fired, I still believe he should have been fired, he is a proven losing coach, that being said I hope they go undefeated next year, since he got this year I believe if they make a bowl game he should stay and once again anything less then that he should be fired. I do not see 6 wins but I will be great full to be proven wrong.

 

[Nahson]

HAHAHA you poor, stupid, fool! But also, same...

 

[Atlcuse44]

I just want to see Syracuse play competent and competitive football. No ugly blowouts. Be respected and not a laughingstock.

 

[IthacaMatt]

UVA at the dome.

That will be tasty! Mmmm, tastes like ... REVENGE! (Evil laugh, bwha hahahaha)

 

[ORRange]

I haven't been this excited since I walked out of the Camping World Bowl. But until we win 2 games against L'ville, NC St, and Pitt in the same year, I won't make bowl plans. Those teams are supposedly our peers. Well, we've only beat them 4 times out of the last 26 times we've played them. This year when had those 3 left on the schedule after blowing a few games earlier in the season. I knew we were doomed.
I am totally excited about the Lacrosse team, and envision a return to the style of play and Memorial Day plans that I was accustomed to.

 

[Chris02M]

Do we know our ACC cross-over games yet?

All I see so far is Notre Dame, who will have a new coach, and Purdue, who put up an impressive record, but played against the far weaker side of the Big 10.

UConn is just a punching bag.

pitt like always and virginia at home

 

[Cuse12]

this is what I like to see, an off season where progress is clearly a priority. Past two off-seasons we have made significant changes. But, we kept the same CEO. A CEO is only as good as his team beneath him. We are addressing the team beneath the CEO and I think for our situation this was the best way to go about improving. Next years schedule is tough, but we need to be competent. If we are competent and compete we should be close to bowl status. If we make the bowl or just miss it I don’t care for being year 1 of new OC coaches. As long as we are competent they deserve one more year to be bowl or bust. Just my thoughts with bringing on new good proven coaches - we shouldn’t ditch them all after one year.

 

[Stevenson]

SU still has a huge talent discrepancy and will finish in the bottom quartile of the ACC. 6 wins with that schedule will not happen.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I just want to see Syracuse play competent and competitive football. No ugly blowouts. Be respected and not a laughingstock.

Well said! Right to the point. Be competitive. Make it fun again.
We were almost there a couple times in the last 10-15 years.

 

[AngryOtto]

SU still has a huge talent discrepancy and will finish in the bottom quartile of the ACC. 6 wins with that schedule will not happen.

Even with talent discrepancy we still play teams tough in conference.
I’m encouraged with a new oc and qb coach. New special teams coach. Transfer qb. Electric running back. Loose one player on OL with a good OL coach and an OC that is a former OL coach. Young big wrs. Back 7 on D should be strong.
We still need a TE, DL and C. Hopefully we can fill those needs.
Encouraged but after the long stretch of loosing seasons we will not know for sure until September.

 

[CuseMan4]

SU still has a huge talent discrepancy and will finish in the bottom quartile of the ACC. 6 wins with that schedule will not happen.

Is it really that crazy of a gap right now though? I think some of our big problems last year were coaching. Obviously we are behind in talent to some teams but we might have the best corner duo in the ACC, the best linebacker corp in the ACC, the best running back in the ACC. Obviously our passing offense needs help but that’s why we brought in the new OC and QB coach. I really don’t think we are that far off.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Even with talent discrepancy we still play teams tough in conference.
I’m encouraged with a new oc and qb coach. New special teams coach. Transfer qb. Electric running back. Loose one player on OL with a good OL coach and an OC that is a former OL coach. Young big wrs. Back 7 on D should be strong.
We still need a TE, DL and C. Hopefully we can fill those needs.
Encouraged but after the long stretch of loosing seasons we will not know for sure until September.

Year 2 with offensive line coach Mike Schmidt, who made huge strides last year, especially in the run game. Year 2 with Tony White and his 3-3-5 as defensive coordinator. Both look like excellent hires so far.

 

[IthacaMatt]

SU still has a huge talent discrepancy and will finish in the bottom quartile of the ACC. 6 wins with that schedule will not happen.

Mostly it's just a couple things - real depth on the lines, and game breakers at WR.

We're going to have competent QBs this year, we have at least 2 or 3 quality RBs, depending on Hough's recovery.