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Message: [QUOTE="Scooch, post: 1561132, member: 628"] There has been so much to like about Scott Shafer. I loved the stories of his time working in inner cities and on reservations. It revealed him to be a thoughtful, curious, empathetic person. He truly cares deeply about his players, staff, program, school and community. He seemed to have a great mix of both substance and sizzle. From a personality standpoint he's exactly the kind of guy you want leading your favorite team. But college football is, first and foremost, a business. A [U][I]huge[/I][/U] business. And none of what I mentioned above matters if a coach doesn't win. Honestly, I'm not sure that's entirely healthy. I worry about the priorities of the P5 schools and their fans who funnel hundreds of millions of dollars into facilities to pamper boosters and attract 18 year olds to play a game. I worry about administrators and coaches who pay lip service to "student athletes" and "building the character of young men" but then race to the next higher-paying job with callous disregard of those very same people who they begged to come play for them. But whether I like that or not, it certainly is reality. It's a disappointing day. I really wish things worked out with Shafer. But it hasn't, and although there are lots of events beyond his control that adversely impacted his team's performance, there were also lots of things within his control that just weren't done well enough. It happens. I have no doubt Shafer will end up in a DC job at a P5 school in short order. He's a very good coach and he'll have well-paying options. The disruption for his family sucks, but that is the life he has chosen, and 7 years in one place is a good run in his line of work. So I'll say thanks to Scott Shafer. You may not have had the success you, or we, wanted, but it certainly wasn't due to a lack of effort, or a lack of caring. It just didn't work out. I hope the team is able to send him off with a win on Saturday. And I look forward to the next chapter of SU football. I hope better times are ahead. [/QUOTE]

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