Flacusian
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- Aug 26, 2011
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Any hope I'd clung to regarding this version of Orange Football was extinguished sometime during today's game. Shafer is not up to the task of resurrecting this program. At the end of the day... or season, as the case may be, the HC is responsible for the state of the program. This program is NOT moving in the right direction. I feel for some of the kids who made the choice to wear the once proud Orange football uniform of Syracuse University. I'm sure some of you also saw the excitement and enthusiasm which was exuded by some of the defensive players at the start of the game when they were making some outstanding defensive plays. Many of the defensive players deserve kudos for their efforts. Unfortunately a Football program needs to have leadership upon which players can rely on and believe in when adversity is encountered. It also needs skilled players who are well coached and given schemes and discipline which enable them to be in a position to have success.
Perhaps Syracuse Football will never again be a program which is elite Nationally and competes for National Championships. I can accept that. But I cannot accept that it has to be a program which is completely irrelevant and does not step on to the field and play the game in a fashion which we all can be proud of, win or lose. Those who are in a position to make changes to get the program vectored in that direction need to do so. The illustrious history of the program and the individuals who contributed to that history are owed that.
I don't buy into the notion that we simply cannot attract the caliber of players which it takes to have a winning program. If you have a program which is run by winners, leaders, and people who will not settle for less than 100% commitment to re establishing a winning tradition, you will always be able to attract kids who will buy into that philosophy.
Jim Boeheim has built a program which is elite and he has done it by being smart and making his program with his own particular unique brand / zone defense and recruiting the type of players who fit into his vision of how he can build a winning team taking into consideration all the circumstances and realities of what is available to him as resources to get the job done. He doesn't get boatloads of the top 25 players every season but he does find a blend of the under the radar talents and mixes them with the occasional top 25 kid. We can do the same with the football program. We just can't do it with the people calling the shots for the program right now.
Perhaps Syracuse Football will never again be a program which is elite Nationally and competes for National Championships. I can accept that. But I cannot accept that it has to be a program which is completely irrelevant and does not step on to the field and play the game in a fashion which we all can be proud of, win or lose. Those who are in a position to make changes to get the program vectored in that direction need to do so. The illustrious history of the program and the individuals who contributed to that history are owed that.
I don't buy into the notion that we simply cannot attract the caliber of players which it takes to have a winning program. If you have a program which is run by winners, leaders, and people who will not settle for less than 100% commitment to re establishing a winning tradition, you will always be able to attract kids who will buy into that philosophy.
Jim Boeheim has built a program which is elite and he has done it by being smart and making his program with his own particular unique brand / zone defense and recruiting the type of players who fit into his vision of how he can build a winning team taking into consideration all the circumstances and realities of what is available to him as resources to get the job done. He doesn't get boatloads of the top 25 players every season but he does find a blend of the under the radar talents and mixes them with the occasional top 25 kid. We can do the same with the football program. We just can't do it with the people calling the shots for the program right now.
