McDonald demoted

[SUbear]

i thought deleone was a problem, i think mcdonald is a horrendous embarrassment

I have said this before, Shafer made a huge mistake not hiring an experienced OC, instead he went for a recruiter that he hoped could be adequate as an OC. It has not turned out well. It may eventually end in a total staff change, that is yet to be determined. I believe Shafer had to do this if he had any hope of staying head coach for the long term.

 

[Full_Rebar]

I guess it depends on if he gets an offer to leave. This may cement his position as a Position Coach/Recruiting dude unless he's willing to go backwards in competition.

I thought Shafer said McD took a pay cut to leave Arkansas for SU. Someone will pay him to recruit. I don't think it's a recruiting killer for SU- they just need to make sure when he leaves he's not taking all the guys they want as well.

 

[Ozcuse]

who on earth would offer him an OC position? He has shown nothing.

An FAU/FIU/Sunbelt type of school who wants his recruiting contacts and is willing/desperate enough to absorb the losses.

 

[Doctor44]

I have said this before, Shafer made a huge mistake not hiring an experienced OC, instead he went for a recruiter that he hoped could be adequate as an OC. It has not turned out well. It may eventually end in a total staff change, that is yet to be determined. I believe Shafer had to do this if he had any hope of staying head coach for the long term.

I agree. Talent follows results.

 

[Doctor44]

I thought Shafer said McD took a pay cut to leave Arkansas for SU. Someone will pay him to recruit. I don't think it's a recruiting killer for SU- they just need to make sure when he leaves he's not taking all the guys they want as well.

That may be true, but I think in career advancement a coordinator job at a P5 school is a step forward from position coach.

 

[TheCusian]

I've always had that feeling about Edouard. Marrone and his staff did a poor job finding a replacement for Nassib. The current staff hasn't done much better recruiting quarterbacks. I feel as if we're back to square one. Hunt (injury aside) still gives us the best hope of winning. I'm not hopeful of our current group of QBs.

Edourd's recruiter was Lester, according to some recruiting sites.

 

[Ozcuse]

I thought Shafer said McD took a pay cut to leave Arkansas for SU. Someone will pay him to recruit. I don't think it's a recruiting killer for SU- they just need to make sure when he leaves he's not taking all the guys they want as well.

That would be pretty pathetic if we can't pay our OC more than Arkansas pays their WR coach.

That would explain a lot actually.

 

[orangedave]

Yes, Hunt has been awful. But part of the reason is he has been put in positions to fail by his coaching staff.

Anyone with half a brain knows Hunt isn't the most accurate QB in the world. But he does have the ability to do some things on certain types of routes, and isn't a terrible deep ball thrower. Couple that with our good running game (against defenses that are comparable to what our program level is - or what I thought it was), and you should be able to have an offense that can at the very least score some amount of points.

As I said before in a prior thread - the sideways pitch in our own end zone to a 250 yard RB will go down as the dumbest single play call I have ever witnessed live. It was so shockingly bad I could not believe what I was seeing.

Also - for anyone that goes to the games, did you see McDonald coming out of the box at halftime? He was shaking his head like it wasn't his fault. Or that we shouldn't have been booing. His immaturity continues to show.

I'm not sure how accurately you can interpret head shaking. Might just have been shaking his head because he knew that he just committed the "dumbest single play call ever" and it was going to cost him his job.

 

[TBCuse11]

An FAU/FIU/Sunbelt type of school who wants his recruiting contacts and is willing/desperate enough to absorb the losses.

Ok, if he wants to go be the OC at SW Arkansas St then i guess u are right.

 

[Jeepers]

Real talk: If McD leaves, does he take White with him?

 

[Ernj]

Question: Who brought Eric White to SU? Was it GMC?

IMO - he is more important as a recruiting tool. Wonder who his loyalties are tied more to?

 

[llandz]

Weighing in from the west coast. Gee it is good to wake up after all of the speculation!!!

One Hunt is out because he broke his leg, so it is fruitless to discuss what may have happened if he could play still or how good he is or could be. The bottom line right now is hoping he gets better. He is after all part of our football family, and his health is all that we should care about right now as far as he is concerned.

What just happened with the OC is great news in my mind, and if I were a recruit I would take it is a very strong sign of the commitment that Syracuse University is making to the football program. We didn't just lose the last 2 games, it was the manner in which we lost them. Our defense is freaking good, so lets work on the other side of the ball. We all screamed for 2 weeks about the play calling, so here is what happens when the fan base is not happy and the OC is not performing. And guess what???? The fan base was also important to Syracuse football. They heard the screaming and they reacted to the fans. So when you also scream on here about the athletic department not caring about the fans, who do you think this was done to appease?

 

[RF2044]

Real talk: If McD leaves, does he take White with him?

Question: Who brought Eric White to SU? Was it GMC?

IMO - he is more important as a recruiting tool. Wonder who his loyalties are tied more to?

Recruiting is an important factor here being overlooked by many. I hope this doesn't stymie the limited progress we'd made on the recruiting trail, as we were trending in the right direction.

 

[SUFan44]

Recruiting is an important factor here being overlooked by many. I hope this doesn't stymie the limited progress we'd made on the recruiting trail, as we were trending in the right direction.

No matter which way we were trending in recruiting, the product on the field was trending in the opposite direction.

If we go 2-10 this season with McDonald as coordinator, are you convinced that all of our recruits stay? Are you convinced that we are heading in the right direction as a program?

Both are important to the success of a program - but at this stage in the game, we need to start seeing much better production on the field.

 

[OttoMets]

should have been handled quietly, leave him as oc in name only and have lester "advise"him. after signing day announce that mcd has been re- assigned full time head of recruiting and player evaluation---unfortunately this will be a severe negative impact in the incoming class ---i await the defections

I think this is reasonable (and I wonder how McDonald is going to work beneath his former subordinate). No need to publicly switch their titles in October.

That said, Lester's a good one. Glad Shafer was eager to act on the concerns that some here shared.

 

[Millhouse]

No matter which way we were trending in recruiting, the product on the field was trending in the opposite direction.

If we go 2-10 this season with McDonald as coordinator, are you convinced that all of our recruits stay? Are you convinced that we are heading in the right direction as a program?

Both are important to the success of a program - but at this stage in the game, we need to start seeing much better production on the field.

If I were going head to head with McDonald in recruiting, I would make sure every parent got a copy of that PS interview. i'm not that worried about the hit to recruiting because doing nothing exposes him as a fraud anyway

 

[Czar]

Serious opinion: Give McDonald the WR position exclusively, offer him recruiting coordinator, and DON'T CUT HIS PAY. I don't care if he's not OC don't cut his pay. That's the only shot of keeping him around. I think he realizes that he's not getting an OC call again from the type of schools he'd want. He's officially on the Trooper Taylor career trajectory.

 

[storange]

I believe there is more to this then meets the eye. It happened too soon.

 

[Finwad32]

That would be pretty pathetic if we can't pay our OC more than Arkansas pays their WR coach.

That would explain a lot actually.

Arkansas currently pays their WR Coach $275,000... $3M is budgeted for the nine paid staff members there. With a title of recruiting coordinator, plus the cache he came in with, it's a safe bet that his salary there was more than their current guy.

I've listened to Shafer tell the story of how he called these guys to come up to Syracuse with him when he got the job and he articulated that he told GM he couldn't pay him as much.

I highly doubt our OC is making more than $400,000, especially coming into the role unproven. I believe our position coaches make roughly $150,000. Let's say our staff salary budget is 2M. Well 6 position guys averaging 150 = $900,000. Then three coordinators would split 1.1M for roughly $366,000 a piece.

This is all obviously very basic, uneducated and rough estimation.

 

[TheCusian]

I believe there is more to this then meets the eye. It happened too soon.

Pure conjecture: Lester has been helping more and more since late last season. This makes it official.

 

[AZOrange]

This had to happen sooner than later. Faith partially restored. I think you OC should almost always be a qb guy..,

 

[OttoMets]

its time, was a decisive move that you have to love. Keeps people paying attention and maybe even going to the games by being proactive like this. Myself for example. I committed a while ago to being the chef at the FINE MESS tailgate but was ready to leave right after the tailgate and not even go in. I can't handle this anymore the feeling of complete and utter helplessness of something I care(d) passionately about watching the definition of insanity start to play out again and again.

These bits of news changes my head quite a bit and can't imagine I'm the only one, it fires me up to be supportive of all things orange again when my enthusiasm/hope had been completely shot. Theres a reason to go in the game now and start that likely delusional hope that (once again) things can get righted. Wow never expected something like this here. Love it.

Right there with you - when the schedule came out, I was crushed to learn that I'd be in Chicago at a rehearsal dinner the night of the Louisville game; last week, I didn't feel like I'd miss anything; as I got texts like "Louisville safety after Hunt hands off five yards deep in endzone" during the dinner on Friday, I was flat-out thrilled not to be there and not at all looking forward to Saturday.

Now I'm excited for Saturday. Not like I was in August, but this is reason for optimism.

 

[RF2044]

No matter which way we were trending in recruiting, the product on the field was trending in the opposite direction.

If we go 2-10 this season with McDonald as coordinator, are you convinced that all of our recruits stay? Are you convinced that we are heading in the right direction as a program?

Both are important to the success of a program - but at this stage in the game, we need to start seeing much better production on the field.

The product on the field coming off of last season was headed the right direction, but that has not been the case so far this year. Agreed.

Part of the way we are going to climb out of this hole was to recruit better prospects. Our last two classes--under this coaching staff--has been a step in the right direction. And the only way to sustain that momentum is to continue to go to bowls, and to win games. Which then hopefully would become a self-fulfilling prophecy in terms of landing better talent... which in turn leads to more consistent winning... which in turn leads to better recruits... etc. McDonald is the first stud recruiting AC we've ever had here. Period. So yes, despite the on-field debacle this year, I'm concerned about what losing him might mean on the recruiting trail.

If we go 2-10, then Shafer should be fired.

 

[SUFan44]

I believe there is more to this then meets the eye. It happened too soon.

What does this even mean?

 

[Millhouse]

I believe there is more to this then meets the eye. It happened too soon.

i can't be the only one that hears transformers music when reading that