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[QUOTE="Tornado91, post: 3031, member: 355"]
The football culture in NYS is different than in most states.  For starters, it is the only one of 50 states without a clearly identifiable flagship athletic campus.  Plus, it's a state that still has hundreds and hundreds of tiny one-town high schools, many of which graduate fewer than 100 kids/class.  Those schools, unlike the larger, regional schools down here in Pennsylvania, have a harder time creating excitement around football games.  Kids don't have to work as hard to excell in sports at that level, and recruiters don't waste their time scouring them to watch prospects line up across from kids 75 lbs lighter.  And it's cold.  As a result, most of the kids - in upstate, at least - don't even know kids headed to DI programs, let alone Syracuse.  That has a huge impact on the excitement level, or lack of, around college FB.

It's a tough task, but I think Gross & Marrone are smart to try to develop the state's HS football culture.  If it's ever going to improve, it needs a beacon.  Most states have one by design.  NYS needs to find one.  I think they recognize that and are going after it.  It's not just about finding a few extra recruits, it really is about generating excitement in NYS about more than the NFL teams.
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