Take a Side: To Fire or Not to Fire? (Poll)

[OrangeBlood]

Board seems relatively split on whether to fire our embattled Head Coach. I think it'd be good to see where the board stands as it is a good representative for the fanbase as a whole. Choose based on whether in your opinion he deserves another a year and what is best for the SU football program, not on what you think will happen.

Explanations in the comments would be great.

For me: Fire him. As I have said in past threads. Shafer is a good man, good coordinator, very bad head coach. There is a clear lack of organization, direction, creativeness and on field discipline in this program. Cannot see him turning it around. He has made some questionable hires and they have backfired. He is maybe the worst in game coach I have ever seen and the disaster which is the offense ultimately is his fault. The program has regressed and the talent has stayed the same. Marrone went 5-7 with bad injuries and a much less talented squad in 2011.

Most importantly, we can upgrade. There is a better coach out there that we can hire. That is what make this decision so important. Do it now, rather than delay the inevitable. There are good young offensive minds that can turn this thing around and build on a foundation which is better than what Marrone inherited.

 

[texascpa]

What makes you think we can upgrade? With what money?

 

[OrangeBlood]

What makes you think we can upgrade? With what money?

ACC conference, facilities upgrade, ACC $$, decent talent on current roster, recent success.

 

[boog7]

Fire him. There's no need delaying the inevitable. Nice guy, solid DC, lousy head coach. Sound familiar? We've all seen this movie before. It doesn't end well. SU can do much better.

The next guy inherits a P5 program, a decent roster w/ some young talent on it, and a brand new IPF. There are plenty of talented coaches out there who would relish the opportunity to right the ship at a big name school like Syracuse.

Clear Shafer out asap and go find that guy.

 

[TheCusian]

Board seems relatively split on whether to fire our embattled Head Coach. I think it'd be good to see where the board stands as it is a good representative for the fanbase as a whole. Choose based on whether in your opinion he deserves another a year and what is best for the SU football program, not on what you think will happen. Explanations in the comments would be great. For me: Fire him. As I have said in past threads. Shafer is a good man, good coordinator, very bad head coach. There is a clear lack of organization, direction, creativeness and on field discipline in this program. Cannot see him turning it around. He has made some questionable hires and they have backfired. He is maybe the worst in game coach I have ever seen and the disaster which is the offense ultimately is his fault. The program has regressed and the talent has stayed the same. Marrone went 5-7 with bad injuries and a much less talented squad in 2011. Most importantly, we can upgrade. There is a better coach out there that we can hire. That is what make this decision so important. Do it now, rather than delay the inevitable. There are good young offensive minds that can turn this thing around and build on a foundation which is better than what Marrone inherited.

Talent in this freshman class is better than any we've had for 6-7 seasons.

 

[OrangeBlood]

Talent in this freshman class is better than any we've had for 6-7 seasons.

Recruiting is better due to staff or new facilities, recent success and ACC? I'm thinking a new staff could atleast recruit at this level if not better and certainly be better coaches.

 

[Crusty]

Recruiting is better due to staff or new facilities, recent success and ACC? I'm thinking a new staff could atleast recruit at this level if not better and certainly be better coaches.

Being in the ACC has more to do with it than anything else IMO. Satff has done well but we will never know how they would have done in the old BE. Quite frankly, Saint Doug would have done better in the ACC.

 

[texascpa]

ACC conference, facilities upgrade, ACC $$, decent talent on current roster, recent success.

Sorry, but this ACC $$ has not been the savior as we all had hoped. Otherwise, you wouldn't have the new President hammering away at costs so hard.

 

[CU44SE]

I'll be honest, and this will probably surprise some people but I was all for keeping Shafer another year up until this Pitt game. Iv been very critical of him and don't think he is a very good head coach but I think it's unfair to fire someone without allowing them time to make corrections and get their players involved and established in the program.

With that said, this Pitt game was the nail in the coffin for me. The team has 2 weeks to prepare for Pitt and are coming out of the bye relatively healthy, at least healthier then we have been since the lousiville game or so and we lay a complete egg and get run off the field by a team that was 4-6 with wins against Delaware, Florida international, BC, and VT (who just lost to WAKE!!). Florida international even made it a closer game then we did. PITT was giving up 49 pts per game in the 3 games leading up to us and we scored 7 fricken points; on par with Delawares zero points. The only other team to score under 20 points on them this year was VT who again scored 0 points in regulation against wake. Then, the staff decided to bench Long for Kimble after he drives the team down the field on his second drive; no offense to Kimble but everyone could tell against Duke that he doesn't have the throwing ability to play Div 1 QB. And then we decide to go back to long after halftime and he immediately drives us down for a TD. Thought for sure Kimble would come out the next series with this staff. And then, to top it all off, we punt on fourth and inches at the 50 yard line with 8 mins left when we're down 23 points. Just a disgusting effort all around.

 

[OrangeBlood]

Sorry, but this ACC $$ has not been the savior as we all had hoped. Otherwise, you wouldn't have the new President hammering away at costs so hard.

May not be a savior, but it certainly is more money than before. New chancellor seems to be more frugile with Athletics. New philosophy more than less money.

 

[OrangeBlood]

Being in the ACC has more to do with it than anything else IMO. Satff has done well but we will never know how they would have done in the old BE. Quite frankly, Saint Doug would have done better in the ACC.

Exactly. Shafer has much more ammunition to recruit with than Marrone did. New staff IMO would be able to recruit at that level.

 

[nzm136]

I firmly think that the administration should commit to keeping HCSS for two more years and should increase his budget for assistants. That would put him in a position where he could credibly go out and hire quality guys this off season. I think that judging HCSS before he has had a chance to show what he can do with the right guys around him isn't the right course of action.

Failure to commit to at least 2 more years of HCSS will scare away good assistants because they will fear for job security, and failure to open up the bank will not attract high quality assistants because they won't have any incentive to leave their current job.

Before anyone in the "HCSS needs to be fired now" crowd jumps on me, the fact of the matter is that fHCDM's departure made it extremely difficult for HCSS to bring in assistant coaches (especially on SU's stingy budget), and last season's ending made it extremely difficult for HCSS to fire those assistant coaches that he was able to bring in. Even many coaches won't look shine if they are surrounded by MAC/D3-level assistants. Therefore, we can't fairly (or accurately) judge HCSS until he has had a chance to assemble his group. And, if we aren't fair to the guy who dramatically improved SU's defense (DC Scott Shafer), who are we going to be fair to? And, why would any future high quality coach come here if he thinks that there is a good chance that we would be fair to him?

 

[Bayside44]

If Gross is doing the firing / hiring no.

If it's a new AD yes.

 

[zjscuse]

EVERYONE seems to be forgetting marrones second year, give the guy a chance to figure it out our defense has been fer the most part great all year if we had even a good not great offense we'd be bowl eligible this year

 

[texascpa]

May not be a savior, but it certainly is more money than before. New chancellor seems to be more frugile with Athletics. New philosophy more than less money.

Exactly my point. We're not going to be able to upgrade our coaching staff, if we can't pay them. And right now, there doesn't seem to be a willingness on using the new ACC money on upgrading salaries. Hell, word is they are looking at reducing salaries in the non-revenue generating sports. If you're looking that deep, then it will be a while before football salaries go up significantly enough to move the coaching dial.

 

[weedsportwarriors]

There is no way he should be fired. As many injuries as we have had on the offensive side of the ball this year there aren't many coaches who could have done much better with what he had to work with. I got one thing to say about the new chancellor and what I think of him, Georgetown Grad, enough said!

 

[CusefanATL]

consistency is key for a program like cuse. rash decisions to fire on a season based on injuries and the ball bouncing the other way are not good decisions.

he is here. and i think he is going to be successful here.

 

[Moontan]

he is here. and i think he is going to be successful here.

hopefully he knows that the offensive side of the ball has serious issues. he needs to fix those... probably with outside help. if he does not, then he will not be here long.

 

[CuseOnly]

Being in the ACC has more to do with it than anything else IMO. Satff has done well but we will never know how they would have done in the old BE. Quite frankly, Saint Doug would have done better in the ACC.

Being in the ACC hasn't helped Wake too much has it? IMO, recruiting isn't about the conference, it's about the school and the coaching staff. Right now our school doesn't have a great name for itself in football to the younger generation not familiar with the history. So relying on the staff is imperative.

Don't think for a second that without Saban and his staff that Bama would recruit as well as they have. Remember how great Bama recruited before Saban got there? Their recruiting was average and they were still Alablama and still in the SEC. Kids want to win and will follow coaches who win regardless of how big an a$$hole they are.

 

[CusefanATL]

hopefully he knows that the offensive side of the ball has serious issues. he needs to fix those... probably with outside help. if he does not, then he will not be here long.

I def agree with that. lester is not the solution.

I just dont see this season being nearly as bad as any of the GROB years. We have talent accross the board to compete in the ACC. A lot of bad luck this year. I don't think coaching has really cost us a game yet (compare that to the falcons).

Toss this year away and find a QB.

 

[KaiserUEO]

EVERYONE seems to be forgetting marrones second year, give the guy a chance to figure it out our defense has been fer the most part great all year if we had even a good not great offense we'd be bowl eligible this year

marrone inherited an absolute disaster of a program and had to be given the chance to get it going.

SS inherited marrones team and was told to keep it going, he drove it into the ground.

the resume difference between the 2 is astronomical as well.

 

[Chip]

In my opinion, the only way this is going to work out, is to put a top shelf offensive staff in place who gets autonomy in all offensive decisions, including when to punt.

But at that point, what do you really need Shafer for?

Nothing is going to happen though. Only staff change will be McDonald. Next year is a high side 4 win season, 5 if we pull an upset. Someone will decide whether or not that is "fake" progress from this 3 win fiasco. He'll probably get a 4th year, and then we'll move on.

Finally watched the 2nd half last night. That punt was really bad. Can't believe Cusian saying it was irrelevant. We had to go a foot at the 50 yard line and there were over 7 minutes left. It was a disgraceful and early give up. Hard nosed, ha.

 

[OrangeBlood]

marrone inherited an absolute disaster of a program and had to be given the chance to get it going.

SS inherited marrones team and was told to keep it going, he drove it into the ground.

the resume difference between the 2 is astronomical as well.

Exactly. The purpose of hiring Shafer who was a MAC HC candidate was to keep continuity and success of Marrone. He did ok last year, but was awful this year. All momentum is gone. I am sure we could find a better coach with a much more impressive resume that is deserving of HC at SU.

 

[orange_in_VA]

It would be an injustice if Shafer didn't get 4 years. Good luck finding another coach that knows he has two years to compete. It's just not appealing, and the school will not fund a sure thing. They should be allocating more money for proven assistants at the very least.

 

[Millhouse]

if I were gross (Statler and Waldorf LOOK IN THE MIRROR BAHAHAHA save your breath losers)... i would ask him about punting and the OC next year and I wouldn't tell him what answer I wanted. then I would can him if he didn't see the light - which i expect he wouldn't