New DC: Rocky Long (now official)

[sufandu]

There’s also this pesky little thing called a contract. They may have agreed in principal but they and the lawyers could still be reviewing it and/or negotiating dollars, length and other details such as title etc. If he is our next DC or Co-DC, I would expect it to be announced by the end of the week. I have no insight into this but just trying to make sense of what may be happening.

Watch him get hired by Arnett for the Miss St. DC job right after he's announced. *covers head to protect against the inevitable beating coming my way*

 

[OrangeDW]

Watch him get hired by Arnett for the Miss St. DC job right after he's announced. *covers head to protect against the inevitable beating coming my way*

 

[llandz]

Watch him get hired by Arnett for the Miss St. DC job right after he's announced. *covers head to protect against the inevitable beating coming my way*

Oh, co with Monroe. I like that...

 

[kcsu]

AOL Grandstand days.

Dial up days.

 

[rrlbees]

Dial up days.

 

[IthacaMatt]

SU has shown when the offense has issues the D tends to suffer as well.

When you are one of the worst 20 offenses in the NCAA you tend to make the D work overtime.

And yet they still did pretty well. Good signs.

 

[GoSU96]

Shudder

 

[Orangezoo]

I hear you but you have to take context into consideration.

New Mexico is not a football power.

In 2019, they finished 129th in the country in total defense. 129th out of 130 schools at the FBS level.

Rocky was hired as the NM DC in January of 2020. With almost no opportunity to get his type of players on the roster, they finished 104th in total defense in 2021.

In 2021, they moved up to 44th in total defense.

And in 2022, they finished 46th in total defense.

They went from second worst to well above average very quickly.

Rocky is the guy who invented this version of the 3-3-5. We really want to stay with this scheme. We have a roster of players recruited to play it and they have been learning it for a couple of years now. Replacing Tony White with a guy who created the defense is a great way to backfill for Tony.

If Dino is able to pull this off, I think it is a great recovery from losing Tony. Much along the lines of reacting to the loss of Coach Anae by promoting Coach Beck to the Syracuse OC position.

That is how I see things.

And BTW, welcome back to the board old friend!

NCAA Statistics

stats.ncaa.org

Appreciate all the context. When I asked the original question about NM's record I wasn't placing doubt just generally curious. Certainly ample precedent of coaches at losing teams or programs that got lumped into failure unfairly which showed clearly when they went elsewhere.

 

[Orangezoo]

Shudder

Lol. Like the Netscape Navigator days you hit connect, made and ate dinner and then came back for the final few minutes it took to connect. Then we enjoyed as ESPN loaded 2 cm of the screen at a time.

 

[SmilinBob]

I wonder how many of those free AOL discs are still in peoples houses? 25 free hours!

 

[rrlbees]

I hear you but you have to take context into consideration.

New Mexico is not a football power.

In 2019, they finished 129th in the country in total defense. 129th out of 130 schools at the FBS level.

Rocky was hired as the NM DC in January of 2020. With almost no opportunity to get his type of players on the roster, they finished 104th in total defense in 2021.

In 2021, they moved up to 44th in total defense.

And in 2022, they finished 46th in total defense.

They went from second worst to well above average very quickly.

Rocky is the guy who invented this version of the 3-3-5. We really want to stay with this scheme. We have a roster of players recruited to play it and they have been learning it for a couple of years now. Replacing Tony White with a guy who created the defense is a great way to backfill for Tony.

If Dino is able to pull this off, I think it is a great recovery from losing Tony. Much along the lines of reacting to the loss of Coach Anae by promoting Coach Beck to the Syracuse OC position.

That is how I see things.

And BTW, welcome back to the board old friend!

NCAA Statistics

stats.ncaa.org

Didn’t they also have the worst offense which was the reason for their record?

 

[CuseLegacy]

I wonder how many of those free AOL discs are still in peoples houses? 25 free hours!

How about a CD for 45 hours free.

 

[djorange1989]

Didn’t they also have the worst offense which was the reason for their record?

yep, 131st out of 131 in total offense

if you look at what Rocky has done with their defense, it is very similar to what Tony did here. 2019 defense was awful, 2020 with basically no chance to implement his scheme due to Covid and with a ton of young players, we took our lumps. then in 2021 and 2022 we finished top 30 each year, pretty damn close to what Rocky has done at NM. the dude would be a great hire, we aren't looking for some young hotshot, we need continuity and we need a great teacher for Nick and the rest of the staff. he is our guy, I hope we get him

 

[kcsu]

Rocky in combo with Nick would be a homerun for Syracuse. In my opinion we come out equal possibly ahead. Nick is a seasoned coach and has proven he can identify, land, and coach up kids. His energy is second to none and he has been beyond loyal. Give him a couple of years under Rocky and i believe he would end up being a great DC if that is what he wants. I'm just glad that we have coaches like Nick and Beck who are ready to take the next step. Hats off to Dino and JW for managing a very difficult situation well.

 

[SUFan44]

Wonder when an official announcement could be made with the DC hire? I would hope soon.

 

[sutomcat]

Wonder when an official announcement could be made with the DC hire? I would hope soon.

SUAD John Wildhack has been very careful about doing due diligence and ensuring background checks, drug tests and all the other things that need to be done before a hire came be made are fully complete before any announcements are made.

I expect this to be the case with whoever the new DC is and whoever the new offensive coach is as well.

 

[djorange1989]

SUAD John Wildhack has been very careful about doing due diligence and ensuring background checks, drug tests and all the other things that need to be done before a hire came be made are fully complete before any announcements are made.

I expect this to be the case with whoever the new DC is and whoever the new offensive coach is as well.

uh oh, Rocky is out, dude is a major meth head

 

[Lax2020]

SUAD John Wildhack has been very careful about doing due diligence and ensuring background checks, drug tests and all the other things that need to be done before a hire came be made are fully complete before any announcements are made.

I expect this to be the case with whoever the new DC is and whoever the new offensive coach is as well.

New OC already set - J Beck. Defensive Guru. Guitar Virtuoso.

'Freeway Jam'​

J Beck
From: 'Blow by Blow' (1975)



Read More: Top 10 J Beck Songs | Top 10 J Beck Songs

 

[Franz69]

uh oh, Rocky is out, dude is a major meth head

Probably addicted to Metamucil.

 

[swish7]

I hear you but you have to take context into consideration.

New Mexico is not a football power.

In 2019, they finished 129th in the country in total defense. 129th out of 130 schools at the FBS level.

Rocky was hired as the NM DC in January of 2020. With almost no opportunity to get his type of players on the roster, they finished 104th in total defense in 2021.

In 2021, they moved up to 44th in total defense.

And in 2022, they finished 46th in total defense.

They went from second worst to well above average very quickly.

Rocky is the guy who invented this version of the 3-3-5. We really want to stay with this scheme. We have a roster of players recruited to play it and they have been learning it for a couple of years now. Replacing Tony White with a guy who created the defense is a great way to backfill for Tony.

If Dino is able to pull this off, I think it is a great recovery from losing Tony. Much along the lines of reacting to the loss of Coach Anae by promoting Coach Beck to the Syracuse OC position.

That is how I see things.

And BTW, welcome back to the board old friend!

NCAA Statistics

stats.ncaa.org

That all makes sense and is good insight Tom!

I hope if we get him that he is the right pick.

I got a little excited when I saw the Navy HC was available, and thought it would be cool to have a young, former HC from such an amazing institution.

Anyhow, lets see!

 

[swish7]

You joined this board when it started in August of 2011...

I have been on this board since the AOL / syracuse dot com days. 1997ish, dialup stuff.
I am as OG as anyone.
I just took a 12 - 15 year hiatus.

 

[CarolinaCuse]

uh oh, Rocky is out, dude is a major meth head

Photo of our new DC from New Mexico

 

[IthacaBarrel]

View attachment 223240

Photo of our new DC from New Mexico

I want Tucoat/ Great recruiter

 

[orangepassion]

When is it safe to panic about this?

 

[SuFTW]

That all makes sense and is good insight Tom!

I hope if we get him that he is the right pick.

I got a little excited when I saw the Navy HC was available, and thought it would be cool to have a young, former HC from such an amazing institution.

Anyhow, lets see!

Niumatalolo, the former Navy HC is 57, certainly younger than Rocky Long and younger than Dino, but well older than Tony White.