Shafer quotes

[PhatOrange]

I love Shafer and his candid stories like this. Great story. (anyone want to speculate on who the one "early guy couldn't do it")

On how he's assembled his coaching staff:

"It was easy. I just waited for them to call. We all played together or most of us coached together in the past. So if you look at our staff, we have George McDonald and I have coached, this is our third job together. We were at Northern Illinois, Western Michigan and here. Chuck Bullough and I were together at Western Michigan. Timmy Daoust and I were together at Northern Illinois, Western Michigan and here. Tim Lester and I were together at Western Michigan and here. Joe Adam and I were together here and Western Michigan. DeAndre Smith and I coached together at Northern Illinois. Bobby's one of the newbies, Bobby Acosta doing a great job. Clark Lea, that was Chuck said, 'You've got to hire Clark.' I said, 'OK, I trust you.' So I hired him.

"This is the truth, we used to go to the (American Football Coaches Association) convention (in Indianapolis) every year. I was a career assistant coach and we all sat around and said, 'Are any of us gonna get a shot to be a head coach?' It would be just like us sitting around having a couple beers, and I'd be like, 'Hey, Nate, if you get the job, you've got to call.' And then we all jumped in and were like, 'Yeah. Everybody agree? And if we say, 'No, we won't be offended, but we have to promise each other that whoever gets the head job will call.'

"So I got the job and I called. One early guy couldn't do it. Called George McDonald, he goes, 'Hell yeah, I'm in.' I go, 'You're in? I don't know if I can pay you as much as Arkansas.' He said, 'Shaf, I'm in.' He said, 'By the way, 'Call D(eAndre Smith). Call D, now.' I called Bullough. Bullough goes, 'What the hell took you so long to call?' I go, 'It's been a day, man. You know?' Daoust was already on staff. Fred Reed, when I found out Fred was from the south side of Chicago, I said, 'Hire him.' He played at Thornton High School. I never met a guy that wasn't tough from Thorton. So Fred was an easy hire.

"It's like just getting the guys together. I feel really lucky and blessed. I know some day they'll all move on and become head coaches and coordinators. That'll be a good thing for all those guys, but for right now let's enjoy it. We've been talking about doing this for years at all these conventions and now we get a chance to live it."

http://www.syracuse.com/orangefootb...tt_shafer_best_quotes.html#incart_more_sports

The rest of the quotes are great to particularly his philosophy on the emotional state of the kids, and what he's doing. This guy just gets it imho and it's easy to root for him.

 

[Rocco]

Hate this staff.

 

[kcsu]

He is our next Ben

 

[BORZAK]

Love HCSS and his coaching staff

 

[texascpa]

I LOOOOOOVVVVVVEEEEEE McDonald's response when discussing money. For those that think McDonald will jump at the first school that waves more cash in his face, I think this says a little about his motivation. Now, if they waved that cash and a head coaching gig, i wouldn't blame him for leaving.

 

[Full_Rebar]

Best part is taking the blame for Penn St and Northwestern. So many "leaders" are not willing to make mistakes or change their process and it's refreshing that Shafer is not only accepting responsibility, but willing to adapt.

 

[Finwad32]

Spent 15 or 20 with Shaf at the end of June... He's so appreciative of the opportunity, the community and everything else he has right now. I won't give up alot of the details of our discussion but I'll drop a few.

I was talking to him, literally, 15 minutes after Daiquan Kelly committed. There was a big play on the field and I was all fired up standing behind the defense, he comes over and says, "No matter how old we get, the game never gets old does it?" And, after a couple minutes of talking football, I asked him how he thought recruiting was going. He said (paraphrased) "Great, we just got a kid out of New Jersey, been after him a long time, I mean a long time. And I was in the bathroom, he was with Coach Acosta and I was getting ready to do my sit down with him and his mother. Acosta texts me and says, we got him coach he just committed. I didn't even want to do the G*D D**N meeting because I thought I was gonna *** it up! We've never been able to get this many kids to commit this early, it's crazy. Now the trick is to hang on to 'em."

I then asked him, how'd you feel about your first season as head man, honestly? He said, "Overall you know, we got to a bowl game and won, and you have to do that. But we let a couple get away, we should've had Penn State and Pitt, but we let em get away. (You could tell it irritated him)." He said something along the lines of how excited they are and he really feels like they can do some special things here. And anticipates them staying together for awhile. More than one coach said they hoped to be here for a long time.

We went on to talk about guys on the roster, some of the former players, fan attendance, the carrier dome's future, the new chancellor, the IPF, the IPF hold-up, my Syracuse fandom, My Syracuse history and a bunch of other small talk.

When I finally had to leave him, which I didn't want to, I shook his hand and said Coach thank you so much for a couple minutes of your time, I greatly appreciate it. He looked back at me, kept shaking my hand and said, "No, Brett, I appreciate your time and talking SU Football with you." I know it's a small thing, but, it amazed me that he said that. I've been blessed to meet alot of coaches, and he's honestly one of my favorites, rapidly moving up the list as well.

 

[City of Cuse]

Spent 15 or 20 with Shaf at the end of June... He's so appreciative of the opportunity, the community and everything else he has right now. I won't give up alot of the details of our discussion but I'll drop a few.

I was talking to him, literally, 15 minutes after Daiquan Kelly committed. There was a big play on the field and I was all fired up standing behind the defense, he comes over and says, "No matter how old we get, the game never gets old does it?" And, after a couple minutes of talking football, I asked him how he thought recruiting was going. He said (paraphrased) "Great, we just got a kid out of New Jersey, been after him a long time, I mean a long time. And I was in the bathroom, he was with Coach Acosta and I was getting ready to do my sit down with him and his mother. Acosta texts me and says, we got him coach he just committed. I didn't even want to do the G*D D**N meeting because I thought I was gonna *** it up! We've never been able to get this many kids to commit this early, it's crazy. Now the trick is to hang on to 'em."

I then asked him, how'd you feel about your first season as head man, honestly? He said, "Overall you know, we got to a bowl game and won, and you have to do that. But we let a couple get away, we should've had Penn State and Pitt, but we let em get away. (You could tell it irritated him)." He said something along the lines of how excited they are and he really feels like they can do some special things here. And anticipates them staying together for awhile. More than one coach said they hoped to be here for a long time.

We went on to talk about guys on the roster, some of the former players, fan attendance, the carrier dome's future, the new chancellor, the IPF, the IPF hold-up, my Syracuse fandom, My Syracuse history and a bunch of other small talk.

When I finally had to leave him, which I didn't want to, I shook his hand and said Coach thank you so much for a couple minutes of your time, I greatly appreciate it. He looked back at me, kept shaking my hand and said, "No, Brett, I appreciate your time and talking SU Football with you." I know it's a small thing, but, it amazed me that he said that. I've been blessed to meet alot of coaches, and he's honestly one of my favorites, rapidly moving up the list as well.

That is awesome, it gives me chills. Coach Shafer and his family are just high character people!

 

[Trueblue25]

Hardnosed is the greateat thing to happen to us

 

[DoubleDee]

I heart Scott Shafer.

 

[Scooch]

I so hope we win a bunch of games, because Shafer seems fantastic in every other aspect.

Loved his comments about focusing on the the emotional adjustment of players.

And this quote made me smile...

"Simplicity leads to complexity. I've always said that on defense, but now I believe that as a team. You keep the number of plays that go into a game plan down to the point where it doesn't slow the kids down."

I know many of you guys hate Bill Belichick, but his players say one of the reasons they are so successful in his system (besides the cheating, right Kaiser?!?!) is that he makes things extremely simple for them. And that allows them to just go out and play hard, without overthinking things. Great to see Shafer embrace that philosophy.

 

[Faegan]

 

[jr4750]

Spent 15 or 20 with Shaf at the end of June... He's so appreciative of the opportunity, the community and everything else he has right now. I won't give up alot of the details of our discussion but I'll drop a few.

I was talking to him, literally, 15 minutes after Daiquan Kelly committed. There was a big play on the field and I was all fired up standing behind the defense, he comes over and says, "No matter how old we get, the game never gets old does it?" And, after a couple minutes of talking football, I asked him how he thought recruiting was going. He said (paraphrased) "Great, we just got a kid out of New Jersey, been after him a long time, I mean a long time. And I was in the bathroom, he was with Coach Acosta and I was getting ready to do my sit down with him and his mother. Acosta texts me and says, we got him coach he just committed. I didn't even want to do the G*D D**N meeting because I thought I was gonna *** it up! We've never been able to get this many kids to commit this early, it's crazy. Now the trick is to hang on to 'em."

I then asked him, how'd you feel about your first season as head man, honestly? He said, "Overall you know, we got to a bowl game and won, and you have to do that. But we let a couple get away, we should've had Penn State and Pitt, but we let em get away. (You could tell it irritated him)." He said something along the lines of how excited they are and he really feels like they can do some special things here. And anticipates them staying together for awhile. More than one coach said they hoped to be here for a long time.

We went on to talk about guys on the roster, some of the former players, fan attendance, the carrier dome's future, the new chancellor, the IPF, the IPF hold-up, my Syracuse fandom, My Syracuse history and a bunch of other small talk.

When I finally had to leave him, which I didn't want to, I shook his hand and said Coach thank you so much for a couple minutes of your time, I greatly appreciate it. He looked back at me, kept shaking my hand and said, "No, Brett, I appreciate your time and talking SU Football with you." I know it's a small thing, but, it amazed me that he said that. I've been blessed to meet alot of coaches, and he's honestly one of my favorites, rapidly moving up the list as well.

Thanks for this. I am interested to hear what Shaf thought about the future of the Dome? Any insider tidbits?

 

[007]

I love Shafer and his candid stories like this. Great story. (anyone want to speculate on who the one "early guy couldn't do it")

On how he's assembled his coaching staff:

"It was easy. I just waited for them to call. We all played together or most of us coached together in the past. So if you look at our staff, we have George McDonald and I have coached, this is our third job together. We were at Northern Illinois, Western Michigan and here. Chuck Bullough and I were together at Western Michigan. Timmy Daoust and I were together at Northern Illinois, Western Michigan and here. Tim Lester and I were together at Western Michigan and here. Joe Adam and I were together here and Western Michigan. DeAndre Smith and I coached together at Northern Illinois. Bobby's one of the newbies, Bobby Acosta doing a great job. Clark Lea, that was Chuck said, 'You've got to hire Clark.' I said, 'OK, I trust you.' So I hired him.

"This is the truth, we used to go to the (American Football Coaches Association) convention (in Indianapolis) every year. I was a career assistant coach and we all sat around and said, 'Are any of us gonna get a shot to be a head coach?' It would be just like us sitting around having a couple beers, and I'd be like, 'Hey, Nate, if you get the job, you've got to call.' And then we all jumped in and were like, 'Yeah. Everybody agree? And if we say, 'No, we won't be offended, but we have to promise each other that whoever gets the head job will call.'

"So I got the job and I called. One early guy couldn't do it. Called George McDonald, he goes, 'Hell yeah, I'm in.' I go, 'You're in? I don't know if I can pay you as much as Arkansas.' He said, 'Shaf, I'm in.' He said, 'By the way, 'Call D(eAndre Smith). Call D, now.' I called Bullough. Bullough goes, 'What the hell took you so long to call?' I go, 'It's been a day, man. You know?' Daoust was already on staff. Fred Reed, when I found out Fred was from the south side of Chicago, I said, 'Hire him.' He played at Thornton High School. I never met a guy that wasn't tough from Thorton. So Fred was an easy hire.

"It's like just getting the guys together. I feel really lucky and blessed. I know some day they'll all move on and become head coaches and coordinators. That'll be a good thing for all those guys, but for right now let's enjoy it. We've been talking about doing this for years at all these conventions and now we get a chance to live it."

http://www.syracuse.com/orangefootb...tt_shafer_best_quotes.html#incart_more_sports

The rest of the quotes are great to particularly his philosophy on the emotional state of the kids, and what he's doing. This guy just gets it imho and it's easy to root for him.

Thanks Phat, interesting read.

I am not the type to think that SS is the best thing since sliced bread, especially after one year of results on the field. He did manage to get this team to a bowl his first time as a HC, with a new staff, new system, new league, and new QB. Very successful first year.

But one thing for certain, it is very rare to find a HC from a power conference with his ego in check as much as SS's seems to be. Keep winning brother!

 

[ImperialOrange]

Not hard to figure out why we have so many players committing to play for SS and his staff.

 

[Finwad32]

Thanks for this. I am interested to hear what Shaf thought about the future of the Dome? Any insider tidbits?

He basically said this about the Dome, "I really have no input into this and the decision is way over my head, I'm just a football coach... But, I'd like to see them gut it, put individual seating in like a basketball stadium and then put a retractable roof on it." He thinks the Dome is a valuable asset with a rich history. Understanding that they'll lose seating capacity by putting in individual seats he'd like to know what the feasibility of expansion is. It's going to be here well into the future.

 

[SUfanNC]

Thanks Phat and Finwad. I usually don't watch presser's that much but I find myself really interested in listening to Coach Schafer. He is refreshing and you can tell he really just loves his job. He seems so appreciative of everything. I hope that this staff can win a bunch of games and be successful in the ACC.

I have to thank the Coach and his staff for giving me a reason to be ecited about Syracuse football again!

 

[javadoc]

"So I got the job and I called. One early guy couldn't do it. Called George McDonald, he goes, 'Hell yeah, I'm in.' I go, 'You're in? I don't know if I can pay you as much as Arkansas.' He said, 'Shaf, I'm in.'

Great story. The bolded part scares me, though. We can't pay our OC as much as Arkansas pays their WR coach?

 

[Jeepers]

"I really have no input into this and the decision is way over my head, I'm just a football coach."

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I so hope we win a bunch of games, because Shafer seems fantastic in every other aspect.

Yeah, I think he has a chance to be a popular community figure for a long time if he can build the program in to being just a little bit more successful.

 

[jekelish]

Lawrinson14 I feel like we need a photoshop of the staff as the guys from Reservoir Dogs walking down the alley in their matching black suits.

 

[Scooch]

Yeah, I think he has a chance to be a popular community figure for a long time if he can build the program in to being just a little bit more successful.

Because we're talking about Syracuse fans, he'll both need to build the program back up and have at least one uniquely great season to get the full on embrace of the community, a la Coach Mac post 1987. We're a fanbase where a coach tends to be a victim of their own success.

Despite winning a ton, we all know that there was a minority but vociferous faction that was always down on Boeheim because he "didn't win the big one".

Coach P was unlucky in some regards because his two best seasons were his first two at the helm. And after 1992 he never had a 10+ win, top 10 team again. That hurt him, fair or not.

Shafer can become very popular by getting us to winning 9+ consistently again...and then some people will turn on him until he wins 11 or 12. Way of the world, and certainly our fanbase.

 

[capeorange]

I was thinking the same thing when I read the story.

 

[SUfanNC]

Great story. The bolded part scares me, though. We can't pay our OC as much as Arkansas pays their WR coach?

I wonder if they aren't willing to pay much because it is an unproven product. Just my take but I would have to believe they would be willing to pay more once the staff has established it's worth it. In the same breath I our history at paying coach is not a lot compared to the market either.

 

[Full_Rebar]

Great story. The bolded part scares me, though. We can't pay our OC as much as Arkansas pays their WR coach?

Need that money for W. Lax