SWC75
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The coach’s show is on TK99, (FM 99.5) in the Syracuse area and can also be heard through Orange All-Access on the SU Athletic website. It’s 8PM Thursdays- or two days before each game, when they are not on Saturday. They have a link to their “Radio Mailbox” for submitting E-Mail questions on the SU Athletic website. You also can call in questions at 1-888-740-2873 or locally at 315-424-8599.
In past years it took sometimes weeks for a podcast to turn up on the SU athletics website, so I tried to do a virtual transcript of the show. This year I missed the first show and the pod cast was available the next day at this site:
http://www.suathletics.com/podcasts.aspx
This year I’ll start out by just summarizing the main points and referring people to the pod cast to listen to the whole thing. If the pod cast starts appearing later- such as after the next game, I’ll go back to doing more of a transcript.
My Questions/Comments
“Coach there is much speculation that you’ve ‘held back’ things strategically in these first two games so USC won’t have film on all that we can do and that may be a reason why the first two games were closer than expected. Without giving us any specifics, is that true? Do coaches- especially ones who are trying to rebuild programs after a bad stretch- “hold anything back” in any game?“
Coach Marrone
Coach mentioned the game would be FX. He’s told the team that he was on the team that beat Nebraska in ‘84 and therefore he knows what it takes to win a big game. (Of course Nebraska was #1- USC is #27).
They talked about Michael Acchione and also Don Anene and what a great story that these two walk-ons could play a big role in getting SU a win. “We treat all players the same. We don’t do “favors”. If the player has (A) the trust of the coaches and (B) he can give us the ability to win the game, he’ll be out there. They have to be ready. They have to have availability and coach-ability. Both players have earned more time. “
They talked about the trip west. Coach noted that 38-40% of our players have never been on an “away trip”. (40% ?) They don’t allow players to sleep on the plane, (I didn’t get why), but they tend to get dehydrated “under pressure” and they need to be dehydrated with water or Gatorade once they get there. The second largest SU alumni club is out there so that he expects considerable support, including some from the entertainment industry. They will be having a lunch at SONY pictures. Coach expressed concern that Gus Johnson, who keeps ending our basketball seasons, (Vermont, Butler, Marquette), will do the game. (Don’t worry coach, our season won’t end.)
I called in my question about whether we held anything back in the first two games so USC wouldn’t have any film on some of the available strategies. Coach said he didn’t do that but they have some plays that might work against USC’s defense but would not have worked against Wake Forest’s or Rhode Island’s defensive schemes so, yes, we will see some plays we didn’t see in the first tow games but it’s not because something was being “held back”.
He said Wake was a better team than people perceived. The players assumed that we were going to play a soft team but “I knew they were going to be a dangerous team. They didn’t do 95% of what they showed in 12 games last year. We had to rip up the game plan at half time. They used a 3-4 with 95% pressure.”
“Rhode Island used a Virginia Tech 4-4 defense, basically an eight man front with pressure but not the same athletes. We really lost moment on that 4th and 1 and it’s hard to get momentum back in a game.”
“USC uses an over-quarter coverage with Tampa 2 on 2nd and third and long with some pressure. Monte Kiffin invented the Tampa 2, which makes it hard to go vertical. People think it’s a two man coverage deep but the middle linebacker runs to the middle of the field so I attack it as a three deep coverage.”
“We will use plays you haven’t necessarily seen in the first two games because we believe with these plays that we have a better chance to attack their coverage. It’s not that we were ‘holding back‘”.
“When I was at Tennessee in some games we didn’t worry about coverages because we simply had better players. I remember once I told Coach Fullmer that if we used a certain play against their coverage, the running back would get tackled after getting three yards. He agreed but said that in the second quarter he’d get 6 yards and in the third quarter, he’d get 9 yards and in the fourth quarter… Of course when we played Florida or Georgia or someone like that we couldn’t assume that.” (Apparently SU isn’t ready yet to not worry about coverages against anybody, including Rhode Island.)
“At Georgia Tech under Ralph Friedgen, we were 1st in the country in offense and 2nd against scoring. Wake went into a “Cover 2” and we had no “cover 2 beaters” and couldn’t score against them. Against Wake this year we had to come up with some plays we’d run during camp.” (I assume a “Cover 2 beater” is a play designed to beat a Cover 2, not a player who has certain talents that would beat a Cover 2).
Matt Park asked for a comparison of Ryan Nassib and Matt Barkley. Coach credited Ryan with improving his completion percentage to an astounding 75%, but also said the receivers had to share in that credit. He said Barkley was rated the #3 quarterback in the next NFL draft, so he’s got to be a good player.
A caller asked for Coach’s philosophy on scheduling, noting that next year there will be only 4 non-conference games with TCU being added to the Big East. The caller had mentioned that we don’t get too many players from California. Coach said that he “has a say” in scheduling and works with Dr, Gross, who makes the final decisions. He’d prefer to play teams like Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan because we recruit in those areas. He’d also like to play an ACC team, “a mid-level team with comparable academics and enrollment” and, “if we have to play an FCS team, let’s play a New York team “to generate some excitement about New York football”. He also likes to play in places where we have a lot of alumni. (I note that the only specific teams he mentioned were all in the Big Ten.)
Coach Marrone said that Coach Mac had always asked his teams what legacy they would leave behind. “The people who came before you left you what you have now. What are you going to leave the ones who follow?” This will be a chance to build that legacy.
In past years it took sometimes weeks for a podcast to turn up on the SU athletics website, so I tried to do a virtual transcript of the show. This year I missed the first show and the pod cast was available the next day at this site:
http://www.suathletics.com/podcasts.aspx
This year I’ll start out by just summarizing the main points and referring people to the pod cast to listen to the whole thing. If the pod cast starts appearing later- such as after the next game, I’ll go back to doing more of a transcript.
My Questions/Comments
“Coach there is much speculation that you’ve ‘held back’ things strategically in these first two games so USC won’t have film on all that we can do and that may be a reason why the first two games were closer than expected. Without giving us any specifics, is that true? Do coaches- especially ones who are trying to rebuild programs after a bad stretch- “hold anything back” in any game?“
Coach Marrone
Coach mentioned the game would be FX. He’s told the team that he was on the team that beat Nebraska in ‘84 and therefore he knows what it takes to win a big game. (Of course Nebraska was #1- USC is #27).
They talked about Michael Acchione and also Don Anene and what a great story that these two walk-ons could play a big role in getting SU a win. “We treat all players the same. We don’t do “favors”. If the player has (A) the trust of the coaches and (B) he can give us the ability to win the game, he’ll be out there. They have to be ready. They have to have availability and coach-ability. Both players have earned more time. “
They talked about the trip west. Coach noted that 38-40% of our players have never been on an “away trip”. (40% ?) They don’t allow players to sleep on the plane, (I didn’t get why), but they tend to get dehydrated “under pressure” and they need to be dehydrated with water or Gatorade once they get there. The second largest SU alumni club is out there so that he expects considerable support, including some from the entertainment industry. They will be having a lunch at SONY pictures. Coach expressed concern that Gus Johnson, who keeps ending our basketball seasons, (Vermont, Butler, Marquette), will do the game. (Don’t worry coach, our season won’t end.)
I called in my question about whether we held anything back in the first two games so USC wouldn’t have any film on some of the available strategies. Coach said he didn’t do that but they have some plays that might work against USC’s defense but would not have worked against Wake Forest’s or Rhode Island’s defensive schemes so, yes, we will see some plays we didn’t see in the first tow games but it’s not because something was being “held back”.
He said Wake was a better team than people perceived. The players assumed that we were going to play a soft team but “I knew they were going to be a dangerous team. They didn’t do 95% of what they showed in 12 games last year. We had to rip up the game plan at half time. They used a 3-4 with 95% pressure.”
“Rhode Island used a Virginia Tech 4-4 defense, basically an eight man front with pressure but not the same athletes. We really lost moment on that 4th and 1 and it’s hard to get momentum back in a game.”
“USC uses an over-quarter coverage with Tampa 2 on 2nd and third and long with some pressure. Monte Kiffin invented the Tampa 2, which makes it hard to go vertical. People think it’s a two man coverage deep but the middle linebacker runs to the middle of the field so I attack it as a three deep coverage.”
“We will use plays you haven’t necessarily seen in the first two games because we believe with these plays that we have a better chance to attack their coverage. It’s not that we were ‘holding back‘”.
“When I was at Tennessee in some games we didn’t worry about coverages because we simply had better players. I remember once I told Coach Fullmer that if we used a certain play against their coverage, the running back would get tackled after getting three yards. He agreed but said that in the second quarter he’d get 6 yards and in the third quarter, he’d get 9 yards and in the fourth quarter… Of course when we played Florida or Georgia or someone like that we couldn’t assume that.” (Apparently SU isn’t ready yet to not worry about coverages against anybody, including Rhode Island.)
“At Georgia Tech under Ralph Friedgen, we were 1st in the country in offense and 2nd against scoring. Wake went into a “Cover 2” and we had no “cover 2 beaters” and couldn’t score against them. Against Wake this year we had to come up with some plays we’d run during camp.” (I assume a “Cover 2 beater” is a play designed to beat a Cover 2, not a player who has certain talents that would beat a Cover 2).
Matt Park asked for a comparison of Ryan Nassib and Matt Barkley. Coach credited Ryan with improving his completion percentage to an astounding 75%, but also said the receivers had to share in that credit. He said Barkley was rated the #3 quarterback in the next NFL draft, so he’s got to be a good player.
A caller asked for Coach’s philosophy on scheduling, noting that next year there will be only 4 non-conference games with TCU being added to the Big East. The caller had mentioned that we don’t get too many players from California. Coach said that he “has a say” in scheduling and works with Dr, Gross, who makes the final decisions. He’d prefer to play teams like Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan because we recruit in those areas. He’d also like to play an ACC team, “a mid-level team with comparable academics and enrollment” and, “if we have to play an FCS team, let’s play a New York team “to generate some excitement about New York football”. He also likes to play in places where we have a lot of alumni. (I note that the only specific teams he mentioned were all in the Big Ten.)
Coach Marrone said that Coach Mac had always asked his teams what legacy they would leave behind. “The people who came before you left you what you have now. What are you going to leave the ones who follow?” This will be a chance to build that legacy.
