javadoc
All American
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- Aug 26, 2011
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There may be some profanity in this.
In part one of Will Durant's landmark "Story of Civilization" series, in Chapter One, he remarks,
"... For civilization is not something inborn or imperishable; it must be acquired anew by every generation, and any serious interruption in its financing or its transmission may bring it to an end." This follows a litany of causes that brought down notable civilizations.
The game has changed in college athletics. A round of musical chairs is underway, and if you don't get a chair, you are done. Football revenue drives the bus. Title IX binds you to financial commitments. If you don't get a chair, through football, you are done. Basketball is an irrelevant distraction, a "nice to have."
As a program, we are not in a strong fundamental position. We are a private school. We are fighting an uphill - but regrettably necessary - battle to claim our rightful spot as New York's representative to major college athletics. We are like a civilization without a solid foundation, lacking some essentials that others have. Cheap tuition, state-granted cache as an official, legal representative of said state, a local HS football base from which to draw the majority of a program. We are especially vulnerable to disruptions in the "financing" of our football civilization. We are a net importer of food and energy. Our value proposition has to be highly talented and productive people. We have done surprisingly well in that regard since the mid-80's.
Look at how fast it can decline. Shaw et. al.'s decisions in the 90's to raid the revenues from athletics would find a nice place in a summary of how civilizations fail. And look at the proximate conditions staring at us now.
No doubt P should have been given an ultimatum before he was finally fired. Instead, Dr. Gross is hired, and without any time to assess his new surroundings, P's firing is foisted upon him, and he needs to make a hire on instantaneous notice. Our program had been in constant and steady decline since McNabb left - I have the chart to prove it, simply in terms of win % vs. number of games played, it's actually scary - yet none of our "leaders" acted. Tack onto that a disastrous forced hire, when you don't have any leeway to buy your way out, and you see how quickly a civilization can collapse. We descended to a bottom-10 program in all of D-1A.
Marrone really has saved this program from death - but he hasn't saved the program in an absolute sense. We are still a fragile civilization on the edge of ruin. We have some depth, but not enough that we can replace anyone on the roster. We couldn't even field a competent replacement for Pugh at the start of this season. For how many positions on the team do you think we have real redundancy?
In year 2, the staff made chicken salad out of chicken . This year, they made chicken salad out of chicken salad. People say that Marrone hasn't really proven anything yet, and doesn't deserve an NFL job. HORSE . The job that he has done with an underpaid staff, recruiting at a disadvantage to every program he faces, is miraculous. "He's not a big name hire, who is going to be excited about him?" All the guy did is field the best freaking team in the Big East in year 4, after inheriting one of the worst 10 programs in D-1A college football. Walking uphill both ways.
So where are we now? In year 4 of churning the deadwood out of one of the worst 10 rosters in all of D-1A football, we finally reached a more-or-less full roster. Huge dividends in ways that don't manifest in terms of starters and minutes played. We have a staff with recruiting inroads and players that they have been tracking for multiple years. We have two good QB prospects verbally committed. We have a focus on NYC, and NYS, recruiting with guys who can walk the walk. We have buzz. The team looks damn good. We are about to join the ACC, with a HUGE infusion of annual revenue and better competition.
So, I ask, what the hell is the point of ponying up millions of dollars to get into the ACC early, if you are going to let your football program tumble into limbo by not locking up the god damned guy who made it respectable again, from the brink of collapse?
What's likely to happen now? Take a hard look at Marrone and see the writing. If you scare HIM off, who else is walking through that door? Look at our roster and depth. Decimate this recruiting class through uncertainty and change, and we are getting back into the depleted roster situation that plagued us from 2009 until this year. What happens to the NYC pipeline? What happens if Allen and Wilson decide to go elsewhere?
If Marrone decides to leave this weekend - a best case scenario should he get an offer he accepts - we have one month to hire a new coach and secure our recruiting class. Who are your candidates to come in on such terms? Seriously. Who is going to grin and sign when Marrone decided his dream job really wasn't his dream job anymore, because his dream no longer reflected reality?
We should be joyously celebrating our position now, and instead we are faced with disaster. Someone somewhere has failed failed failed. If you think otherwise, I want names and reasons. Not, "we'll be fine someone else will come in no prob." I want names of people who will come in now, in these circumstances, and succeed. Taking into account where we are as a program, in the context of what is happening around us.
I am generally a glass-more-than-half-full guy, but I think if Marrone bails now, in these circumstances, we are in the shitter. Our administration is at a -or-get-off-the-pot moment.
In part one of Will Durant's landmark "Story of Civilization" series, in Chapter One, he remarks,
"... For civilization is not something inborn or imperishable; it must be acquired anew by every generation, and any serious interruption in its financing or its transmission may bring it to an end." This follows a litany of causes that brought down notable civilizations.
The game has changed in college athletics. A round of musical chairs is underway, and if you don't get a chair, you are done. Football revenue drives the bus. Title IX binds you to financial commitments. If you don't get a chair, through football, you are done. Basketball is an irrelevant distraction, a "nice to have."
As a program, we are not in a strong fundamental position. We are a private school. We are fighting an uphill - but regrettably necessary - battle to claim our rightful spot as New York's representative to major college athletics. We are like a civilization without a solid foundation, lacking some essentials that others have. Cheap tuition, state-granted cache as an official, legal representative of said state, a local HS football base from which to draw the majority of a program. We are especially vulnerable to disruptions in the "financing" of our football civilization. We are a net importer of food and energy. Our value proposition has to be highly talented and productive people. We have done surprisingly well in that regard since the mid-80's.
Look at how fast it can decline. Shaw et. al.'s decisions in the 90's to raid the revenues from athletics would find a nice place in a summary of how civilizations fail. And look at the proximate conditions staring at us now.
No doubt P should have been given an ultimatum before he was finally fired. Instead, Dr. Gross is hired, and without any time to assess his new surroundings, P's firing is foisted upon him, and he needs to make a hire on instantaneous notice. Our program had been in constant and steady decline since McNabb left - I have the chart to prove it, simply in terms of win % vs. number of games played, it's actually scary - yet none of our "leaders" acted. Tack onto that a disastrous forced hire, when you don't have any leeway to buy your way out, and you see how quickly a civilization can collapse. We descended to a bottom-10 program in all of D-1A.
Marrone really has saved this program from death - but he hasn't saved the program in an absolute sense. We are still a fragile civilization on the edge of ruin. We have some depth, but not enough that we can replace anyone on the roster. We couldn't even field a competent replacement for Pugh at the start of this season. For how many positions on the team do you think we have real redundancy?
In year 2, the staff made chicken salad out of chicken . This year, they made chicken salad out of chicken salad. People say that Marrone hasn't really proven anything yet, and doesn't deserve an NFL job. HORSE . The job that he has done with an underpaid staff, recruiting at a disadvantage to every program he faces, is miraculous. "He's not a big name hire, who is going to be excited about him?" All the guy did is field the best freaking team in the Big East in year 4, after inheriting one of the worst 10 programs in D-1A college football. Walking uphill both ways.
So where are we now? In year 4 of churning the deadwood out of one of the worst 10 rosters in all of D-1A football, we finally reached a more-or-less full roster. Huge dividends in ways that don't manifest in terms of starters and minutes played. We have a staff with recruiting inroads and players that they have been tracking for multiple years. We have two good QB prospects verbally committed. We have a focus on NYC, and NYS, recruiting with guys who can walk the walk. We have buzz. The team looks damn good. We are about to join the ACC, with a HUGE infusion of annual revenue and better competition.
So, I ask, what the hell is the point of ponying up millions of dollars to get into the ACC early, if you are going to let your football program tumble into limbo by not locking up the god damned guy who made it respectable again, from the brink of collapse?
What's likely to happen now? Take a hard look at Marrone and see the writing. If you scare HIM off, who else is walking through that door? Look at our roster and depth. Decimate this recruiting class through uncertainty and change, and we are getting back into the depleted roster situation that plagued us from 2009 until this year. What happens to the NYC pipeline? What happens if Allen and Wilson decide to go elsewhere?
If Marrone decides to leave this weekend - a best case scenario should he get an offer he accepts - we have one month to hire a new coach and secure our recruiting class. Who are your candidates to come in on such terms? Seriously. Who is going to grin and sign when Marrone decided his dream job really wasn't his dream job anymore, because his dream no longer reflected reality?
We should be joyously celebrating our position now, and instead we are faced with disaster. Someone somewhere has failed failed failed. If you think otherwise, I want names and reasons. Not, "we'll be fine someone else will come in no prob." I want names of people who will come in now, in these circumstances, and succeed. Taking into account where we are as a program, in the context of what is happening around us.
I am generally a glass-more-than-half-full guy, but I think if Marrone bails now, in these circumstances, we are in the shitter. Our administration is at a -or-get-off-the-pot moment.
