Poll Question

[OHIORANGES]

At the game yesterday the lack of execution (esp. Special Teams) was very obvious. While the officiating was poor, it is easy to blame them when Syracuse had ample opportunity to win this game. They seemed especially flat in the second half. (it seemed like a different team showed up after the half.) Is the lack of execution: 1) lack of talent; 2) poor coaching & decision making; 3) lack of motivation; or 4) all of the above? I think it is 4 without a doubt.

 

[Pyle]

Lack of motivation isn't the problem. These kids want to win, to think otherwise is silly.

Lack of talent is really not the case either. We've played solid all year. We just make bad mistakes.

Poor coaching? It's on DM to get the team to cut down on unforced mistakes. Drops are unforced mistakes, jumping offsides is an unforced mistakes. Those are the things we need to cut down on. Also I think Schafers schemes aren't well suited to spread teams. They seem to cause us fits since the Grob years.

 

[SaltineWarrior]

I am a huge Marrone supporter but I think its clear it is the coaching. As said before, the motivation is clearly there and the kids are more talented than they have been and really match up well against all opponents this year. While we might not be as deep with talent as some of these teams, the first team units are basically there.

So far during his tenure, he has actually improved both his staff and his job as the head coach. And while I maintain he is an upgrade from Robinson and the last part of Pasqualoni's tenure here, he is not where he expects to be and he is not where we expect him to be. I believe Boeheim went through this during his early years and I believe Marrone still has some growing to do as a coach. Whether he can get it done or not, that's another question. I believe Gross will give him at least 2 more years before he opens up any sort of job review.

If we had an experienced head coach who came in and had these issues, then I'd be worried. I do believe we are moving in the right direction, just not as fast as we want. If we played the perfect game and couldn't compete, then I'd say we have an even longer way to go. If Marrone and his staff can tighten up things like penalties, holding onto the ball and some of the other mental mistakes we saw, this team will have a chance against anyone. Right now, they only thing that is consistent is inconsistency.

 

[690West]

I am a huge Marrone supporter but I think its clear it is the coaching. As said before, the motivation is clearly there and the kids are more talented than they have been and really match up well against all opponents this year. While we might not be as deep with talent as some of these teams, the first team units are basically there.

So far during his tenure, he has actually improved both his staff and his job as the head coach. And while I maintain he is an upgrade from Robinson and the last part of Pasqualoni's tenure here, he is not where he expects to be and he is not where we expect him to be. I believe Boeheim went through this during his early years and I believe Marrone still has some growing to do as a coach. Whether he can get it done or not, that's another question. I believe Gross will give him at least 2 more years before he opens up any sort of job review.

If we had an experienced head coach who came in and had these issues, then I'd be worried. I do believe we are moving in the right direction, just not as fast as we want. If we played the perfect game and couldn't compete, then I'd say we have an even longer way to go. If Marrone and his staff can tighten up things like penalties, holding onto the ball and some of the other mental mistakes we saw, this team will have a chance against anyone. Right now, they only thing that is consistent is inconsistency.

Very good post.

 

[Crusty]

Sometimes there are games that are hard go explain but this is not one of them. ST lost this one.
Fumbling the opening ko, blocked G, missed FG cost us 13 pts. We played them to a standstill in all other areas. They were coached on CU's rush and the kids blew it.

 

[bevosu]

So far during his tenure, he has actually improved both his staff and his job as the head coach. And while I maintain he is an upgrade from Robinson and the last part of Pasqualoni's tenure here, he is not where he expects to be and he is not where we expect him to be. .

I agree with your post, but the "he is not where we expect him to be" part I'm not totally on board. At least the 'we' part.

I think his second year was a huge surprise (for me). I never had any expectations that we would be any better than we've been since he took the coaching job. I've always thought that given the hole that was dug by the previous coach and some others, it would be a slow evolutionary process.

I do think he's learning on the job, but as much as I hate losing more games than we win, I suspected that it would take time and patience to get to the point where we have consistently winning seasons.

 

[SaltineWarrior]

I agree with your post, but the "he is not where we expect him to be" part I'm not totally on board. At least the 'we' part.

I think his second year was a huge surprise (for me). I never had any expectations that we would be any better than we've been since he took the coaching job. I've always thought that given the hole that was dug by the previous coach and some others, it would be a slow evolutionary process.

I do think he's learning on the job, but as much as I hate losing more games than we win, I suspected that it would take time and patience to get to the point where we have consistently winning seasons.

Fair enough. I guess my thought was that given the strength we've seen on both sides of the ball and the general upgrade in talent, perhaps I should have said "most" fans believe the results would be better than what we've seen so far this year. I can understand people who believe this is basically where we would be after 4 years. Perhaps what he has done so far is close to the best we could have hoped for given the slide of the program prior to his coming back to SU.

Last 3 games are critical this season and I really like the number of athletes we have coming back. We should have an interesting competition at QB and there is some talent at WR after Lemon and Sales leave. Getting a full roster of 85 scholarship players will make this easier too.

 

[SWC75]

I am a huge Marrone supporter but I think its clear it is the coaching. As said before, the motivation is clearly there and the kids are more talented than they have been and really match up well against all opponents this year. While we might not be as deep with talent as some of these teams, the first team units are basically there.

So far during his tenure, he has actually improved both his staff and his job as the head coach. And while I maintain he is an upgrade from Robinson and the last part of Pasqualoni's tenure here, he is not where he expects to be and he is not where we expect him to be. I believe Boeheim went through this during his early years and I believe Marrone still has some growing to do as a coach. Whether he can get it done or not, that's another question. I believe Gross will give him at least 2 more years before he opens up any sort of job review.

If we had an experienced head coach who came in and had these issues, then I'd be worried. I do believe we are moving in the right direction, just not as fast as we want. If we played the perfect game and couldn't compete, then I'd say we have an even longer way to go. If Marrone and his staff can tighten up things like penalties, holding onto the ball and some of the other mental mistakes we saw, this team will have a chance against anyone. Right now, they only thing that is consistent is inconsistency.

Boeheim was 100-18 in his first four seasons.

 

[sufandu]

At the game yesterday the lack of execution (esp. Special Teams) was very obvious. While the officiating was poor, it is easy to blame them when Syracuse had ample opportunity to win this game. They seemed especially flat in the second half. (it seemed like a different team showed up after the half.) Is the lack of execution: 1) lack of talent; 2) poor coaching & decision making; 3) lack of motivation; or 4) all of the above? I think it is 4 without a doubt.

1) The talent part contributes in a couple of ways. Less talented players may try too hard and make mistakes instead of playing within themselves or they get too excited when they see an opportunity to make a play. More frequent big plays that more talented players provide cut down on the number of long drives and, therefore, the opportunities to make mistakes.

2) I think our coach is learning on the job, but the good part is I see him trying to learn from past failures. I don't know if we would have said that about the previous couple of staffs.

3) NO

4) No, because of my answer to #3.

 

[SaltineWarrior]

Boeheim was 100-18 in his first four seasons.

Yes, I know. I also remember a lot of his critics claimed it was Louie and Bouie, as well as a schedule that did not include the Big East until that 4th season, that created such a great record. The 5th and 6th year's were terrible disappointments as we missed (or got screwed in 1981) the NCAAs. In some ways it wasn't until 1987, or even the 1996 run, where people gave the guy credit as a coach.

With experience came credibility and often a refined approach to coaching. I don't think Boeheim would disagree he learned over the years; probably something he tells recruits when he is up against a younger coach.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I am a huge Marrone supporter but I think its clear it is the coaching. As said before, the motivation is clearly there and the kids are more talented than they have been and really match up well against all opponents this year. While we might not be as deep with talent as some of these teams, the first team units are basically there.

So far during his tenure, he has actually improved both his staff and his job as the head coach. And while I maintain he is an upgrade from Robinson and the last part of Pasqualoni's tenure here, he is not where he expects to be and he is not where we expect him to be. I believe Boeheim went through this during his early years and I believe Marrone still has some growing to do as a coach. Whether he can get it done or not, that's another question. I believe Gross will give him at least 2 more years before he opens up any sort of job review.

If we had an experienced head coach who came in and had these issues, then I'd be worried. I do believe we are moving in the right direction, just not as fast as we want. If we played the perfect game and couldn't compete, then I'd say we have an even longer way to go. If Marrone and his staff can tighten up things like penalties, holding onto the ball and some of the other mental mistakes we saw, this team will have a chance against anyone. Right now, they only thing that is consistent is inconsistency.

This has been my line for the last few weeks now. Our only consistency is how inconsistent we are. Bingo.