That's an understatement. We looked downright sloppy at times. I would also go a step further and say that we had too many off the field issues as well. That said, discipline comes in many forms, and I think that it is undeniable that the Syracuse team of 2013 thinks that it can win against anyone going into the season, which counts for something. Sure they won't be favorite for some games, but I think that there is an institutional memory of holding our own against #2 USC (early in the season before USC's lack of depth mattered), NW (who was under 5:30 away from being undefeated), UL (who beat #3 UF in the Sugar Bowl), and WVU (who was top 5 for much of the year). I also get the impression that the players of today take games seriously and don't get drunk before games. I can't say the same about the Syracuse team of 2009 heading into the season. Sure there were many very motivated players who were serious about winning, but there were a ton who weren't, and that was reflected in the team's attitude. We didn't think that we could win, so we didn't try like we should have. IMO, HCDM's greatest accomplishment was removing that mindset and instilling enough discipline to focus the team on winning. We now play complete game son both sides of the ball, and we play complete seasons. We do not give up or clown around. That is HUGE.
I think that the penalties and the off the field issues were more a product of the talent of the players that he recruited. If you're not in a position where you can pick the players you want, you have to get creative and compromise to make the most of what you can get. That means taking risk on talent players who might also have baggage in the form of character issues. It also means taking a risk on a player with raw talent but little polish. Obviously players with questionably character traits are more likely to get in trouble with the school/law than upstanding citizens, and unpolished players are more likely to commit penalties or run plays in a sloppy fashion than polished players. Unfortunately, HCDM was not a smooth talker, so the only way he was ever going to be an elite recruiter was by having a name that he could leverage, either in the form of his own name, or his institution's name. Since a combination of a lack of facilities and GRob's tenure annihilated SU's good name, the school wasn't selling itself, and since HCDM was new, his name wasn't a selling point either. That means that HCDM was forced to take recruiting risks, which would explain the sloppy play, penalties, and off field issues.
However, in HCDM's defense, he was an excellent coach and an elite evaluator of talent, so his teams always over-performed and his reputation steadily improved, along with the school's. He just wasn't at Syracuse long enough to cash in on it. Had he been able to build a mystique around him, a la Joe Paterno, I think that he could have delegated the recruiting leg work to Atkins and Schaffer with great success, especially given SU's recent facilities push. It would have been interesting to see what HCDM would have done with 4 more years.
