SWC75
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Every Thursday night of the football season at 7PM, Head Coach Scott Shafer does a call0in show with Matt Park on TK99, (99.5 FM) in Syracuse. To submit a question during the show, you can call 1-888-746-2873 or, locally 315-424-8599. You can send a question to Matt Park via Twitter at Matt Park 1. You can also send one in ahead of time with this link:
http://suathletics.syr.edu/sb_output.aspx?form=4
Eventually, (use a broad definition), the show gets podcasted on this site:
http://suathletics.syr.edu/podcasts.aspx
Please note that my summary is not verbatim and I will combine statements made from different parts of the show that were on the same or similar subjects.
MY QUESTION
“Coach, it’s obvious that to compete for a title in the ACC, we will have to upgrade our recruiting. Fans argue about what is most important in recruiting: the type of school, academics, location, the high school ball in the state, facilities, a recent history of winning and putting players into the pros: the relationships coaches develop with recruits, their parents and high school coaches. Obviously, all those things matter. But what is most important to a recruit?”
COACH SHAFER
(Note: I may combine statements that were made during different parts of the show if they are on the same subject.)
Matt Park said that there were “two great games remaining, both in the Dome.” Coach said that the team was happy to be home after having 4 of 5 games on the road. Pitt and SU are both 5-5 and searching for bowl eligibility. Both lost last week and both are 3-1 after losses. “Two 5-5 teams with injuries that will fight like dogs to win.” Both teams have several injured players, as most teams do this time of year. Matt described injuries as “the cost of doing business at this level.” Coach said ““We’ve got to concentrate on ourselves and who is playing, not who isn’t playing. Nobody cares if you had more injured players than the other guy. That’s why our philosophy has to be “next guy up! If he has a different skill set, we won’t ask him to do the same things.”
They discussed Julian Whigham who is not only back in Syracuse but also back in class. “He had a hiccup in one class and had to be excused early. We’ll hold him back until he’s healthy enough to go and we don’t have any worries.” I amazed they expect him to play again.
Matt’s opinion is that this is a series more than a rivalry. Unlike the West Virginia series, it doesn’t have something like the Schwartzwalder Trophy, the moments like Michael Owens’ two point conversion or controversies like Marvin Graves getting into a fight. Coach agreed, saying that, “instead there’s an atmosphere of mutual respect. The programs are run the same way, with the same ideals. I like Coach Paul Chryst. He comes from a similar background. He was a quarterback at Wisconsin. He does things right.
I called in my question, the same one I asked Jim Boeheim last night, (except I used the phrase “continue our strong recruiting”). HCSS: It’s a combination of things. We want the type of kid that fits. He has to be academically inclined to a school in the East.” (Are schools outside the east academically declined?). “It’s a holistic approach. We feel his values away from the football field will go a long way to determining how he does on the football field.
Matt asked if the coach uses a basic pitch for SU when talking to recruits or does he evaluate them as individuals? “It’s unique to each situation. We research his background and try to find out who he is. I last person I talk to is his coach. I hit the office. Security guards are a good source of information, with their powers of observation. They’ve been around the block and seen the best of the best and the worst of the worst. “ He said he recruited Shamarko Thomas in part based on what a security guard told him. Garrett Wolfe, a star he had at Northern Illinois he recruited after a guidance counselor grabbed his arm and pulled him into her office and told him why we should be recruiting him. Matt suggested that it’s revealing how players treat non-coaches and Coach agreed with that.
“Jimmy Johnson said that you can’t coach everyone the same because they come from all kinds of different places and backgrounds. Some come from the classic nuclear family. Others have never had a father figure in their lives.” John Wooden told his players each year not to expect him to treat them all the same: it’s the most unfair thing he could do.
Mike in Central Square said we’ve been getting mostly 3 star recruits. How do we get the 5 star guys? People say you have to get 5 star recruits. We look at the best players that have come from this program. Many of them have not been 4 or 5 star players. Rob Moore, Daryl Johnston, the Jones brothers, Dwight Freeney, etc. didn’t get a lot of offers. It’s not about the 5 star recruits. The star system is over-rated. We have to do our own homework, believe what our own eyes tell us and not use other people’s judgments. I’m reluctant to chase stars. It’s a slippery slope. I’ve had as many 2-3 star stars and I’ve had 4-5 star duds. If a 4 star wants to come here, we’ve got to make sure he’s the right fit.
Later Susan Rosenthal submitted a question asking if the switch from the Big east to the ACC increased the southern focus of our recruiting. “Some things change and others don’t. We still want to do a good job in the Northeast. Kids from the south are less reluctant to take a good look at you. They are watching you more on TV. The demographics are perfect. We are extremely welcome in those states.”
Matt said that basically everybody in the ACC, including Syracuse is chasing Florida State and Clemson, both of whom beat us badly. Scott said that “now we know where the bar is. It’s a high bar. It’s amazing the number of kids who want to play, rather than wait in line at Florida State. We have good kids that we are looking forward to get here to help the team, although I can’t talk about them yet. “
They talked about Pittsburgh’s weapons. Devin Street is a big threat, of course. Tyler Boyd is “dynamic- they are using him on things like jet sweeps. He’s threatening some of Larry Fitzgerald’s records.” Tom Savage “was young when he was in the Dome with Rutgers and we had a good group of kids coming at him.
We have a couple of weapons named George Morris and Devante McFarland. Matt noted that they gained 148 yards between them on Florida State. It was against the reserves long after the game had been decided but “that’s a pretty good group of guys” to gain such yardage against. SS: “They are inseparable. They love the game, talk about it all the time. They are always coming up to the office to talk about it. Both took big hits in the Florida State game and got back up. Morris can cut on a dime and take it all the way. McFarland has very good vision and can hit the hole and take it back all the way. Still, we need to get better timing in in the running game. I know I say it all the time but we’ve got to control the controlables. Sometimes redundancy is a good thing.” You can say that again!
They took a lot of questions from the patrons at the restaurant. Abby wanted to know if Shaf likes living in Syracuse. “We love it in Fayetteville. Our children love it in the -M school district. I’ve been the Johnny Cash of college football- We’ve been everywhere, man. Education in New York is good and in certain pockets, it’s great. We like the four seasons. When we were in California, the kids hated it being 73 on Christmas day, with no snow. I didn’t hate it but they did. I grew up in Cleveland so this feels like home. “
Lydia wondered how long he has been coaching. “23 years but it feels like more. My father was a coach. I’ve gone coast to coast, starting in the middle. Indiana, Rhode Island, Illinois, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, Stanford, Michigan and now I’m in the right place, right here in Syracuse.
Stefan in Utica wondered how you move on after a bad game at Florida State and get the kids motivated for the next game. “You make corrections as quickly as possible and then flush it down the toilet.” (Or the pee trough.) You grade tape, watch it and move forward. Focus on the positives, even if there are only a handful of them.” We are getting really good at recovering from bad losses. “I talk about the six inch war- can you block your man another 6 inches. Can you get 6 inches closer to that pass? It’s a cliché but you go back to fundamentals. We didn’t tackle as well as we need to. If you can’t make the play, miss to your help.”
Andrew and his father wanted to know which was Scott’s favorite NFL team. “I’m a Cleveland Browns fan.” Someone who had taken a souvenir hat said he was a Bengals fan and Shaf told him “Give that hat back!” in jest. He grew up in the Bernie Kosar era and mentioned several players from that time, including “the original Clay Matthews”. The Browns used to practice near his house and Matthews would show up in an old beat-up pickup truck. He noted that Jim Brown is on the ticket for the Pitt game, sort of glowering out form it. Matt asked “How’d you like to tackle that guy? SS: “Jim Brown was my Dad’s favorite player. He told me that nobody will ever be better than Jimmy Brown- ever.”
Matt asked for Shaf’s memories of “The Drive”, the 15 play 5 minute drive that John Elway led down the field in Municipal Stadium in 1986 to tie the Browns so the Broncos could beat them in overtime. “Depressing. I was in the basement of a friend’s house. I did like Elway growing up. I met him and his family when they visited Stanford while I was working there. A couple of weeks later I also met Joe Montana.”
Dave wanted to know how often he talks to Coach Marrone. “He’s busy. I exchange texts with the staff. I love how they got after Geno last week.” Matt noted that Doug Marrone’s teams have given Geno Smith nightmares over the last few years.
Matt also noted that northern Illinois had won last night to go 11-0 and 7-0 in the MAC. In fact they’ve won 32 of their last 34 games. That must be nice. “Rod Carey, their coach, played at Indian when I was a graduate assistant there. It was another great win for my guys. “
Matt said he’ll be thinking of Scott when he’s on the beach at Maui. Coach: “Don’t come back soft!” Matt: “I’m cheese as it is.”
Next week’s show will be on Wednesday night. There will be no Jim Boeheim Show as the basketball team will be in Maui. So will Matt so someone will be filling in for Matt. That will be the last call-in show this year for the football show. They will do a regular season wrap-up show after that but that will be taped, (I may E-mail in a question anyway.)
http://suathletics.syr.edu/sb_output.aspx?form=4
Eventually, (use a broad definition), the show gets podcasted on this site:
http://suathletics.syr.edu/podcasts.aspx
Please note that my summary is not verbatim and I will combine statements made from different parts of the show that were on the same or similar subjects.
MY QUESTION
“Coach, it’s obvious that to compete for a title in the ACC, we will have to upgrade our recruiting. Fans argue about what is most important in recruiting: the type of school, academics, location, the high school ball in the state, facilities, a recent history of winning and putting players into the pros: the relationships coaches develop with recruits, their parents and high school coaches. Obviously, all those things matter. But what is most important to a recruit?”
COACH SHAFER
(Note: I may combine statements that were made during different parts of the show if they are on the same subject.)
Matt Park said that there were “two great games remaining, both in the Dome.” Coach said that the team was happy to be home after having 4 of 5 games on the road. Pitt and SU are both 5-5 and searching for bowl eligibility. Both lost last week and both are 3-1 after losses. “Two 5-5 teams with injuries that will fight like dogs to win.” Both teams have several injured players, as most teams do this time of year. Matt described injuries as “the cost of doing business at this level.” Coach said ““We’ve got to concentrate on ourselves and who is playing, not who isn’t playing. Nobody cares if you had more injured players than the other guy. That’s why our philosophy has to be “next guy up! If he has a different skill set, we won’t ask him to do the same things.”
They discussed Julian Whigham who is not only back in Syracuse but also back in class. “He had a hiccup in one class and had to be excused early. We’ll hold him back until he’s healthy enough to go and we don’t have any worries.” I amazed they expect him to play again.
Matt’s opinion is that this is a series more than a rivalry. Unlike the West Virginia series, it doesn’t have something like the Schwartzwalder Trophy, the moments like Michael Owens’ two point conversion or controversies like Marvin Graves getting into a fight. Coach agreed, saying that, “instead there’s an atmosphere of mutual respect. The programs are run the same way, with the same ideals. I like Coach Paul Chryst. He comes from a similar background. He was a quarterback at Wisconsin. He does things right.
I called in my question, the same one I asked Jim Boeheim last night, (except I used the phrase “continue our strong recruiting”). HCSS: It’s a combination of things. We want the type of kid that fits. He has to be academically inclined to a school in the East.” (Are schools outside the east academically declined?). “It’s a holistic approach. We feel his values away from the football field will go a long way to determining how he does on the football field.
Matt asked if the coach uses a basic pitch for SU when talking to recruits or does he evaluate them as individuals? “It’s unique to each situation. We research his background and try to find out who he is. I last person I talk to is his coach. I hit the office. Security guards are a good source of information, with their powers of observation. They’ve been around the block and seen the best of the best and the worst of the worst. “ He said he recruited Shamarko Thomas in part based on what a security guard told him. Garrett Wolfe, a star he had at Northern Illinois he recruited after a guidance counselor grabbed his arm and pulled him into her office and told him why we should be recruiting him. Matt suggested that it’s revealing how players treat non-coaches and Coach agreed with that.
“Jimmy Johnson said that you can’t coach everyone the same because they come from all kinds of different places and backgrounds. Some come from the classic nuclear family. Others have never had a father figure in their lives.” John Wooden told his players each year not to expect him to treat them all the same: it’s the most unfair thing he could do.
Mike in Central Square said we’ve been getting mostly 3 star recruits. How do we get the 5 star guys? People say you have to get 5 star recruits. We look at the best players that have come from this program. Many of them have not been 4 or 5 star players. Rob Moore, Daryl Johnston, the Jones brothers, Dwight Freeney, etc. didn’t get a lot of offers. It’s not about the 5 star recruits. The star system is over-rated. We have to do our own homework, believe what our own eyes tell us and not use other people’s judgments. I’m reluctant to chase stars. It’s a slippery slope. I’ve had as many 2-3 star stars and I’ve had 4-5 star duds. If a 4 star wants to come here, we’ve got to make sure he’s the right fit.
Later Susan Rosenthal submitted a question asking if the switch from the Big east to the ACC increased the southern focus of our recruiting. “Some things change and others don’t. We still want to do a good job in the Northeast. Kids from the south are less reluctant to take a good look at you. They are watching you more on TV. The demographics are perfect. We are extremely welcome in those states.”
Matt said that basically everybody in the ACC, including Syracuse is chasing Florida State and Clemson, both of whom beat us badly. Scott said that “now we know where the bar is. It’s a high bar. It’s amazing the number of kids who want to play, rather than wait in line at Florida State. We have good kids that we are looking forward to get here to help the team, although I can’t talk about them yet. “
They talked about Pittsburgh’s weapons. Devin Street is a big threat, of course. Tyler Boyd is “dynamic- they are using him on things like jet sweeps. He’s threatening some of Larry Fitzgerald’s records.” Tom Savage “was young when he was in the Dome with Rutgers and we had a good group of kids coming at him.
We have a couple of weapons named George Morris and Devante McFarland. Matt noted that they gained 148 yards between them on Florida State. It was against the reserves long after the game had been decided but “that’s a pretty good group of guys” to gain such yardage against. SS: “They are inseparable. They love the game, talk about it all the time. They are always coming up to the office to talk about it. Both took big hits in the Florida State game and got back up. Morris can cut on a dime and take it all the way. McFarland has very good vision and can hit the hole and take it back all the way. Still, we need to get better timing in in the running game. I know I say it all the time but we’ve got to control the controlables. Sometimes redundancy is a good thing.” You can say that again!
They took a lot of questions from the patrons at the restaurant. Abby wanted to know if Shaf likes living in Syracuse. “We love it in Fayetteville. Our children love it in the -M school district. I’ve been the Johnny Cash of college football- We’ve been everywhere, man. Education in New York is good and in certain pockets, it’s great. We like the four seasons. When we were in California, the kids hated it being 73 on Christmas day, with no snow. I didn’t hate it but they did. I grew up in Cleveland so this feels like home. “
Lydia wondered how long he has been coaching. “23 years but it feels like more. My father was a coach. I’ve gone coast to coast, starting in the middle. Indiana, Rhode Island, Illinois, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, Stanford, Michigan and now I’m in the right place, right here in Syracuse.
Stefan in Utica wondered how you move on after a bad game at Florida State and get the kids motivated for the next game. “You make corrections as quickly as possible and then flush it down the toilet.” (Or the pee trough.) You grade tape, watch it and move forward. Focus on the positives, even if there are only a handful of them.” We are getting really good at recovering from bad losses. “I talk about the six inch war- can you block your man another 6 inches. Can you get 6 inches closer to that pass? It’s a cliché but you go back to fundamentals. We didn’t tackle as well as we need to. If you can’t make the play, miss to your help.”
Andrew and his father wanted to know which was Scott’s favorite NFL team. “I’m a Cleveland Browns fan.” Someone who had taken a souvenir hat said he was a Bengals fan and Shaf told him “Give that hat back!” in jest. He grew up in the Bernie Kosar era and mentioned several players from that time, including “the original Clay Matthews”. The Browns used to practice near his house and Matthews would show up in an old beat-up pickup truck. He noted that Jim Brown is on the ticket for the Pitt game, sort of glowering out form it. Matt asked “How’d you like to tackle that guy? SS: “Jim Brown was my Dad’s favorite player. He told me that nobody will ever be better than Jimmy Brown- ever.”
Matt asked for Shaf’s memories of “The Drive”, the 15 play 5 minute drive that John Elway led down the field in Municipal Stadium in 1986 to tie the Browns so the Broncos could beat them in overtime. “Depressing. I was in the basement of a friend’s house. I did like Elway growing up. I met him and his family when they visited Stanford while I was working there. A couple of weeks later I also met Joe Montana.”
Dave wanted to know how often he talks to Coach Marrone. “He’s busy. I exchange texts with the staff. I love how they got after Geno last week.” Matt noted that Doug Marrone’s teams have given Geno Smith nightmares over the last few years.
Matt also noted that northern Illinois had won last night to go 11-0 and 7-0 in the MAC. In fact they’ve won 32 of their last 34 games. That must be nice. “Rod Carey, their coach, played at Indian when I was a graduate assistant there. It was another great win for my guys. “
Matt said he’ll be thinking of Scott when he’s on the beach at Maui. Coach: “Don’t come back soft!” Matt: “I’m cheese as it is.”
Next week’s show will be on Wednesday night. There will be no Jim Boeheim Show as the basketball team will be in Maui. So will Matt so someone will be filling in for Matt. That will be the last call-in show this year for the football show. They will do a regular season wrap-up show after that but that will be taped, (I may E-mail in a question anyway.)
