upperdeck put together a team and I was honored to be part of it. We played well and ended up at nine under, which we thought was good for us.
The course was pretty wet (we have had a lot of rain recently in CNY) but in good shape overall.
If you ever play in this tournament, I think a big highlight is the food and drink on the course. They serve lunch pretty much the whole time we played at a central location on the course. There was a keg, water and some soda. And steak sandwiches, sliders and Hoffman hot dogs. The steak sandwiches are really good. The secret? Good quality steak and Montreal steak seasoning.
I saw Dino, Tony White and Swag D out there playing but that was it for the coaching staff. Others probably played but I didn't see them on the course.
That said, almost the whole staff was there for the dinner afterwards. The only person missing was Jason Beck. He stayed in Syracuse to help get CDR get checked in and situated on campus. Though I should say that Coach Schmidt was there for the cocktail hour before dinner but was gone by the time dinner started.
Before dinner was served, Dino said a few words. Pointed out he was wearing a hat inside, which he has NEVER done. Explained he had recently had a procedure done on his scalp to remove some lesions. The cap was protecting his head. Mentioned he got word while playing that none of the lesions were cancerous so he was going to be around to coach for a while longer.
He briefly mentioned the vast changes that had occurred since the last time he spoke at this tournament.
Said that now, if you are a brick and mortar person, you can get donate to the athletic department and help get the new facilities to get built.
Or if you want to help a specific player, you can go the NIL route and help that way. He said he isn't sure what is allowed and what isn't allowed and wondered if anything was not allowed any longer. But he hoped people would support the program in both ways.
Talked a bit about his staff and how happy he was with it. Focused on the new hires.
Mentioned he and Robert Anae both come from the same coaching tree (Dick Tomey), how much they share the same philosophies, how he has known Robert for a long time and how much respect he has for him.
Noted the NFL backgrounds of some of his staff (Coach Liggy, Coach Johnson and Coach Achuff) and how they had coached some of the best players ever (Mike Vick, Chandler Jones, etc.).
He then asked the staff to gather up front and had them introduce themselves. Most were very brief. Just said their name, their position and how happy they were to be there.
Swag Daddy did all that, pointed out he was in his 7th year (since the beginning with Dino), loved the event and advised all present to get some popcorn for football season because the team is going to put on a show this season.
Michael Johnson is a really good speaker and seemed very much at ease talking to the group.
Coach White is also a natural in front of a mic. Expressed quiet confidence about his unit. Also, when he got up he fist bumped everyone he played with (3 normal fans) and he was joking around with them the whole dinner. Seems like a great guy; easy to like.
Coach Anae was then asked to take the mic and talk about his take on things. He has a folksy way of talking and was pretty entertaining but he has been a coach a long time and while he said a lot, he really didn't say anything of interest.
He did say after coming on board, he was really struck by a couple of things regarding what he had to work with. We have a fantastic running back and the best full back in the country. And that is a great place to start from.
He asked who in the group went to the spring game. About 5 people raised their hands. He was not impressed.
He took a number of questions/comments from the group.
How are the quarterbacks looking? He mentioned Shrader had a hamstring pull that prevented him from playing in the spring game but that he played well before that. Said there was good competition and noted that the QB room had just gotten better. Said we have a great QB coach to help them improve and we will get better. A lot of coach speak.
Someone asked about the OL. What about it? People told him 'they are weak'. 'They stink'. Coach Anae noted that they did a great job blocking for the running game. Agreed they need to improve pass blocking to be complete players and they were working hard on that now.
Someone asked about the tight ends. He said right now we don't have the depth at this position we need. We have one complete tight end on the roster. That is it. (Not sure if that is Mang or Maher. Guessing Mang and that until Maher's blocking improves, he is not complete).
He said he thinks we are going to need to fill in here with an interior WR for the TE some. Thought there was some talk about Alford playing some TE some in the spring but he has always been an outside WR. Maybe he is going to bounce back and forth? Or maybe he is talking about someone else.
No one asked about WRs. He asked himself about them. Asked 'are they going to get open and catch the ball'? Replied 'this is a good question. We aren't sure yet. Need to wait and see. We are working very hard on this'.
Dinner was a smallish piece of chicken breast with a sauce on it, some green beans, mashed potatoes, a salad and a roll. I think Will Hicks noted that the lunch was better than the dinner and that was true again last night. Dinner wasn't bad but I think they were trying to make some money or at least break even so it wasn't really fancy.
Don't care about that. It was a fun event. Good job by the people at Seneca Falls Country Club to pull this off.
Matt Park also spoke briefly. Gave a brief overview of the year for SU athletics (it was not good) and expressed optimism for improvement in 2022.
If you like Syracuse football, please consider attending next year.