James Vollono (ST coordinator) | Page 11 | Syracusefan.com

James Vollono (ST coordinator)

Jake said:
We attempted 37 punts this year. Only successfully kicked 33 of them.

That means 11% of them got blocked or worse. I’m not going to do the research, but I’ll assume that’s the highest pct in FBS football.

Also had at least one FG blocked. And nobody kicking the ball was reliable.

It was a disaster, and unsurvivable for the ST coach.
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Bright side. We had 82 punts in 2005
 
Jake said:
If you really watch Fran when he speaks…he is very self aware about his coaching inexperience…and understands he’s on a learning curve.

First game of the year he tells the opposing coach “you out coached me, but I’ve got better players”. He was just being honest.

He’s borderline reverential about Kirby and other coaches he’s coached under.

He also said in another interview “I’m not worried about recruiting, nah nah, it’s the other stuff I gotta learn.”

In a profession full of gigantic egos, he’s a bit of an outlier in that regard.
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It's probably why he's such a good recruiter
 
PhatOrange said:
Just scanning the special teams comments …no mention that our first drive in the bowl game was a punt and we had a delay of game lining up to punt because we were shifting and confused. After the delay, that punt was almost blocked.

The whole personnel grouping here seems odd. Meeks is lined up 1 player off the center so he’s technically the OT. Gadsden is on the line blocking to with Barron, freshman LB Goddard and walkon Josh Kabula. Gunner’s look like Gill and Martin?

2 guys deep are Clements and McDonald.

It’s a bizarre personnel grouping, the splits are huge and only two guys back deep with the punter; doesn’t seem the norm.
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Gadsden and Gill were in the punting formation? - seems very, very odd, unless we are in fake punt territory.
 
This is my guy-Coach Fran, if you're reading:
"Under Smith's guidance, Rutgers became one of the best special teams units in college football. The Scarlet Knights ranked in the top 10 in blocked punts each of his three years coordinating the unit. Rutgers led the country in 2010 with nine blocked punts, tied for second in 2011 with nine and ranked eighth in 2009 with five. While Smith was at Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights led the nation with 31 blocked kicks. They were also one of the best in the nation in punt and kick returns for touchdowns, tying for fifth with five punt return touchdowns and tying for ninth with four kickoff return touchdowns. Their nine combined special teams touchdowns tied for the fifth-highest total in the NCAA during that time".

Robb Smith - Football Coach - Rutgers University Athletics

Robb Smith is in his second season back as defensive coordinator in 2021. A native of Leechburg, Pennsylvania, Smith previously spent four seasons on the Scarlet
scarletknights.com scarletknights.com
 
Jake said:
In a profession full of gigantic egos, he’s a bit of an outlier in that regard.
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It's a great sign of his intelligence that he can recognize his strengths and weaknesses accurately, and of his emotional intelligence to be able to admit that.

And the intelligence itself is a great sign that he'll get really good at the stuff he needs to.
 
swish7 said:
Don't want to start an argument with anyone, or change the topic, but I have seen DART posted here a few times. It is only DART to me, if changes also happen to the DC or defensive side of the game.

The STs Coordinator was awful.

The DC was better than the STC, but was not good enough.

I doubt Fran does anything bc Robinson is legit his family, but for this to be DART, some things need to change on the defensive side.

I expect the DC & OC to he executing at equivalent levels. EDIT: when they have equivalent talent.
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At the very least ditch the 3 man pass rush.
 
orangepassion said:
This is my guy-Coach Fran, if you're reading:
"Under Smith's guidance, Rutgers became one of the best special teams units in college football. The Scarlet Knights ranked in the top 10 in blocked punts each of his three years coordinating the unit. Rutgers led the country in 2010 with nine blocked punts, tied for second in 2011 with nine and ranked eighth in 2009 with five. While Smith was at Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights led the nation with 31 blocked kicks. They were also one of the best in the nation in punt and kick returns for touchdowns, tying for fifth with five punt return touchdowns and tying for ninth with four kickoff return touchdowns. Their nine combined special teams touchdowns tied for the fifth-highest total in the NCAA during that time".

Robb Smith - Football Coach - Rutgers University Athletics

Robb Smith is in his second season back as defensive coordinator in 2021. A native of Leechburg, Pennsylvania, Smith previously spent four seasons on the Scarlet
scarletknights.com scarletknights.com
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So, you want him to take a demotion back to ST coordinator to come to SU?
 
City of Cuse said:

Robb Smith - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org
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I would guess Robb is probably on Fran's short list of possible DCs to replace Coach Robinson if he leaves.

Would Robb prefer to take a position as full time special teams coach at Syracuse over his analyst position at Penn State?

Not sure. But Coach Brown might be able to sell him on the move as it would put him in a good position to become the Syracuse DC if Coach Robinson leaves.

I checked to see who Rutgers has as their special teams coach now and I don't think they have had a full time guy there since Adam Scheier, the guy I mentioned as a possible fit, left Rutgers for Temple. It should be noted that Scheier was not renewed by Rutgers after the 2021 season, which led him to Temple. Not sure what the scoop was there...the RU special teams were excellent when Adam was there.

Anyway, it occurs to me that Rutgers has an opening at DC with their guy leaving to become the HC at UMass. Robb has worked under Schiano a lot, more I think that anyone else in his career. I could see him getting hired by Schiano as the new RU DC and also taking over special teams. Assuming he is willing to work for Schiano, who has a reputation as being difficult to work for.
 
orangepassion said:
This is my guy-Coach Fran, if you're reading:
"Under Smith's guidance, Rutgers became one of the best special teams units in college football. The Scarlet Knights ranked in the top 10 in blocked punts each of his three years coordinating the unit. Rutgers led the country in 2010 with nine blocked punts, tied for second in 2011 with nine and ranked eighth in 2009 with five. While Smith was at Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights led the nation with 31 blocked kicks. They were also one of the best in the nation in punt and kick returns for touchdowns, tying for fifth with five punt return touchdowns and tying for ninth with four kickoff return touchdowns. Their nine combined special teams touchdowns tied for the fifth-highest total in the NCAA during that time".

Robb Smith - Football Coach - Rutgers University Athletics

Robb Smith is in his second season back as defensive coordinator in 2021. A native of Leechburg, Pennsylvania, Smith previously spent four seasons on the Scarlet
scarletknights.com scarletknights.com
Expand...
Fran and Smith were at Rutgers together for two years, so Fran obviously knows him well.
 
I bet that we go with a young gun on the special teams hire that can relate to the kids maybe another good recruiter.
 
ECE '76 said:
Bob Ligashesky was not let go. Fran's plan was to retain him. Ligashesky was involved in all of the transition activities, the recruiting events w/ the new staff, and the bowl game. Shockingly, he suddenly left for a Big 10 offer in January.

It seems to me, Fran had the whole crew in mind to be on his staff before he got the SU job, except the ST position was just not something he had all lined up. When Lig quit, the entire staff was set, but he had to find a ST coach kind of late in the game for anyone in D1. I also don't think STs is/was really in Fran's wheelhouse, as you could see problems with the unit not getting resolved.

He gets a second chance at this, and hopefully they do a really good job finding someone qualified. Historically, SU is practically punter/kicker U.
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Two thoughts on this and the thread:

1. Vollono was a late hire. I wonder if it was a 1-year "prove it" deal, as opposed to most assistant coaches, who received multi-year deals. I think the verbiage I read was he was leaving the program or won't return. Not fired. Semantics yes, but potentially worth noting.

2. This is not Vollono specific, but Specials is a tough, tough gig, for both players and coaches. Most staffs don't give them much time during practice. Sometimes as little as 10 minutes a day for kickoffs, punts, FG, etc. Sure, the kicker, punter, snapper can work on their crafts off to the side, but you cannot have Specials working at the same time as the offense or defense because players cannot be in two places at once. Even their meetings have to be at a separate/stand-alone time, because O/D and position meetings also litter a busy schedule. This is even more challenging at the college level, as the players have to attend class, etc. Fran's really smart it seems, as he is telling some of his starters that one of the best ways to bolster a player's draft prospects is to play Specials at a high level (and I am not talking about the kick returners only). The NFL really, really emphasizes Specials in the middle to late rounds of the Draft. They don't try to get 7-8 starters in every draft. They most often need depth and new blood for Special Teams. Kids/parents don't see that. I sense that Fran will get the right fit and this can become a unit of strength.
 
rangers1994 said:
All I will say is that Fran has talked to some out of the box hires ie. Head Coaches at lower level schools with no special teams experience.
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So thanks for sharing your info. Besides the benefits in other areas you get with someone with HC experience, I find it hard after this past season thinking HC benefits are better than specific Special teams expertise. Interesting approach if he goes that route.
 
Cusefan69 said:
So thanks for sharing your info. Besides the benefits in other areas you get with someone with HC experience, I find it hard after this past season thinking HC benefits are better than specific Special teams expertise. Interesting approach if he goes that route.
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Agree. We'll see what happens, but I'd feel more comfortable with a subject matter expert.
 
MSOrange said:
Agree. We'll see what happens, but I'd feel more comfortable with a subject matter expert.
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Isnt is possible that guys he’s targeting are both?

I mean - everybody does some other job(s) before working their way up to HC.

It could end up being a dude who was a ST’s ace and then moved up the ladder.

Which brings me back to….

Would be nice to hire Paul Pasqualoni for a season or 2 as an analyst or something.
He could advise soooo many of our young coaches on pretty much everything.

His teams had some killer ST units.
 
721Comstock said:
Isnt is possible that guys he’s targeting are both?

I mean - everybody does some other job(s) before working their way up to HC.

It could end up being a dude who was a ST’s ace and then moved up the ladder.

Which brings me back to….

Would be nice to hire Paul Pasqualoni for a season or 2 as an analyst or something.
He could advise soooo many of our young coaches on pretty much everything.

His teams had some killer ST units.
Expand...

Agree but Comstock, I also remember when SU had 3 guys block total vs GT in the 2004 bowl. Please let me know if I misremembered that.
 
721Comstock said:
Isnt is possible that guys he’s targeting are both?

I mean - everybody does some other job(s) before working their way up to HC.

It could end up being a dude who was a ST’s ace and then moved up the ladder.

Which brings me back to….

Would be nice to hire Paul Pasqualoni for a season or 2 as an analyst or something.
He could advise soooo many of our young coaches on pretty much everything.

His teams had some killer ST units.
Expand...
Yep. Good call out. I was mostly looking through lens of HC.
 
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