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Message: [QUOTE="Orangepace, post: 1396948, member: 322"] I'm going to have to disagree with this emphatically. While our offense is still trying to figure out its identity, our defense has been VERY good. Consider the ineptness of the offense and SU has rarely been blown out. That is 100% because of the defense and its ability to keep the team in games. FOCGM and his high flying offense didn't get off the ground fast enough, nor did it fit the personnel he inherited. Couple that with the fact that the guys recruited to fit that attack did not mature into the roles as fast as he needed. In steps Lester and hopefully he's able to mold the offense to the talent he has. But to broadly say there is no identity is far from the truth. SU football's identity as a whole is actually quite clear at the moment and actually fits that of the greater Syracuse community as a whole very well... True family atmosphere, Strong leadership, and Hard--nosed. Family atmosphere - The greater Syracuse area is known for having large Irish and Italian contingents. Last season, given the turmoil and injuries, the team never gave up and quit on each other. The team also congregated a lot at the summer and fall at the Shafer family BBQs. As bad as last season was, the players fought hard and stuck together. They never (except FOCGM) pointed fingers at each other. I've seen the opposite happen and it gets really ugly. I think the Fort Drum experience really helped there. Strong Leadership - It's widely documented that they have targeted the recruiting efforts on high school team captains. For those that aren't, they are usually coming from a background where they have fought through tough upbringings. While I thought that leadership at the top during the whole Cool Kid saga was extremely lacking at that time, Shafer stood behind FOCGM instead of firing him mid-season. With doing so, he practiced what he preached and the team followed suit. They stuck together through the season and never mailed it in. Hard--Nosed - It's apparent that SU battled an unusual amount of injuries last season. It was also the staff's second full season. The last few games, our defense didn't hit anyone any lighter than the first 4 games. Our coaches closed strong on the recruiting trail and started even stronger this offseason. Every week, they prepared for battle short handed and inexperienced. Yet, Until last week, I don't recall Shafer or the staff publicly making any excuses about the way the season unfolded. That's as Hard--Nosed as it gets my friend. [/QUOTE]

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