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BillSU
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If everyone knows this, apologies.
Two reasons we haven't won much and been the prominent team we were when Ben was coaching ahs been coaching turnover and recruiting. One of the seminal moments in Syracuse recruiting occurred back in 1999.
Donovan McNabb was on a recruiting trip with his father to Florida. There he met Bobby Bowden who asked if he was the next Charlie Ward.
“In the immediacy of the moment, McNabb seriously considered Florida State, but Tallahassee was just too far away from Chicago. Instead he choose to play both football and, for a time, basketball at Syracuse.
Ironically, “distance” would also come into play a few years later when McNabb himself was a recruiter at Syracuse and hosting Vick, who Syracuse hoped would be his heir-apparent at quarterback.
Like McNabb’s run-in with Ward, Vick grew up idolizing McNabb, and like Bowden in Tallahassee, the Syracuse coaching staff made no secret about wanting him. Scouts had Ronald Curry as the top player in Virginia that year. Syracuse’s coaching staff thought otherwise.
“Our coordinator told me personally, ‘He’s the best quarterback in Virginia,” McNabb explained. “This is the guy. We’ve got to have him. I’m like, ‘All right coach, I’ve got this.’”
For most of the weekend, McNabb did have it. Right before Vick was set to head home, he was ready to commit to the Orange.
McNabb just had to convince one more person.
“He’s like ‘Man, I want to come here,” McNabb said, describing a starry-eyed Vick. “But you’ve got to talk to my mom.’”
No problem, right?
“I get on the phone with his mom,” McNabb said. “She says, ‘You know, he talks about you all the time. I’m glad you guys got together. I really want him to make the best decision.’”
The problem: She didn’t make it clear whose decision it ultimately was.
“I really want him to stay in Virginia,” Vick’s mother, Brenda, said.
Unperturbed, McNabb went into sales mode.
“If he comes here, he’ll get a great education, we’ll win and it’s not far from you guys,” McNabb told her. “We’re like a family.”
Vick’s mother didn’t budge.
“We’ll see,” she told McNabb. “But I really want him to stay in Virginia.”
And it was at that point McNabb realized sometimes mama really does know best — even if her son hoped for something different.
“He was right next to me,” McNabb said of an eager Vick. “He’s asking me, ‘What’s she saying? What’s she saying?’”
She was saying her boy was staying close to home, a decision that obviously worked out fine for Vick. He went to Virginia Tech, where the school went 22-2 in his two years as a starter, and played for the 1999 BCS title.
But what if McNabb could have convinced Vick’s mother to let him play at Syracuse? Or what if Bobby Bowden had done the same with McNabb a few years earlier?
Those stand among the fascinating “what if” scenarios from Signing Days past.”
Aaron Torres is a show writer for Fox Sports Live and a contributor to FoxSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Aaron_Torres or e-mail at ATorres00@gmail.com.
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We were spoiled with a succession of quarterbacks in Don McPherson, Marvin Graves and McNabb. When McNabb left, and we didn’t bring in anyone who dazzled like McNabb, who created a vibrancy around town that elicited hope against even the strongest of opponents.
A very critical point in Syracuse Football History. Mom made the decision and SU FB was never quite the same.
Now we are getting to the point where recruits are looking at us differently without all the brilliant coaching turnover, a great coach in Dino Babers changing things in a positive way and a decision “finally” coming this summer about the future of the DOME, turning it into a great facility.
I wonder who Vick could have recruited, and on and on?
Two reasons we haven't won much and been the prominent team we were when Ben was coaching ahs been coaching turnover and recruiting. One of the seminal moments in Syracuse recruiting occurred back in 1999.
Donovan McNabb was on a recruiting trip with his father to Florida. There he met Bobby Bowden who asked if he was the next Charlie Ward.
“In the immediacy of the moment, McNabb seriously considered Florida State, but Tallahassee was just too far away from Chicago. Instead he choose to play both football and, for a time, basketball at Syracuse.
Ironically, “distance” would also come into play a few years later when McNabb himself was a recruiter at Syracuse and hosting Vick, who Syracuse hoped would be his heir-apparent at quarterback.
Like McNabb’s run-in with Ward, Vick grew up idolizing McNabb, and like Bowden in Tallahassee, the Syracuse coaching staff made no secret about wanting him. Scouts had Ronald Curry as the top player in Virginia that year. Syracuse’s coaching staff thought otherwise.
“Our coordinator told me personally, ‘He’s the best quarterback in Virginia,” McNabb explained. “This is the guy. We’ve got to have him. I’m like, ‘All right coach, I’ve got this.’”
For most of the weekend, McNabb did have it. Right before Vick was set to head home, he was ready to commit to the Orange.
McNabb just had to convince one more person.
“He’s like ‘Man, I want to come here,” McNabb said, describing a starry-eyed Vick. “But you’ve got to talk to my mom.’”
No problem, right?
“I get on the phone with his mom,” McNabb said. “She says, ‘You know, he talks about you all the time. I’m glad you guys got together. I really want him to make the best decision.’”
The problem: She didn’t make it clear whose decision it ultimately was.
“I really want him to stay in Virginia,” Vick’s mother, Brenda, said.
Unperturbed, McNabb went into sales mode.
“If he comes here, he’ll get a great education, we’ll win and it’s not far from you guys,” McNabb told her. “We’re like a family.”
Vick’s mother didn’t budge.
“We’ll see,” she told McNabb. “But I really want him to stay in Virginia.”
And it was at that point McNabb realized sometimes mama really does know best — even if her son hoped for something different.
“He was right next to me,” McNabb said of an eager Vick. “He’s asking me, ‘What’s she saying? What’s she saying?’”
She was saying her boy was staying close to home, a decision that obviously worked out fine for Vick. He went to Virginia Tech, where the school went 22-2 in his two years as a starter, and played for the 1999 BCS title.
But what if McNabb could have convinced Vick’s mother to let him play at Syracuse? Or what if Bobby Bowden had done the same with McNabb a few years earlier?
Those stand among the fascinating “what if” scenarios from Signing Days past.”
Aaron Torres is a show writer for Fox Sports Live and a contributor to FoxSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Aaron_Torres or e-mail at ATorres00@gmail.com.
//
We were spoiled with a succession of quarterbacks in Don McPherson, Marvin Graves and McNabb. When McNabb left, and we didn’t bring in anyone who dazzled like McNabb, who created a vibrancy around town that elicited hope against even the strongest of opponents.
A very critical point in Syracuse Football History. Mom made the decision and SU FB was never quite the same.
Now we are getting to the point where recruits are looking at us differently without all the brilliant coaching turnover, a great coach in Dino Babers changing things in a positive way and a decision “finally” coming this summer about the future of the DOME, turning it into a great facility.
I wonder who Vick could have recruited, and on and on?