Thoughts

[CuseLegacy]

We have won three games.
Liberty, Western Michigan, Holy Cross. We have one injury on the offensive line. ONE. We have Dinos top Recruit at QB. We have the best trio of running backs on the Hill in years. We have arguably as good a special teams group in the country.
What we lack are good assistant coaches. Its obvious the Oline coach needs to go. As to the others i would take a hard look at our WR coach and Martin.
As to Dino there is zero chance he fires his Daughters Father in law. Maybe he can coach a different position. On D leave it alone. Ward has done a good job this year and should have a solid D next year.

I think you will be sadly disappointed.

 

[kcsu]

the team was 90% his recruits last year, Tommy has show that he can play at this level already, the talent near everywhere is up

I don’t think this theory holds much water

the OL is the glaring exception.

The leadership and guys who got it done last year were mostly guys he inherited. Dont get me wrong i hope Dino ends his coaching career here. My point is simple. He hasnt been a head coach for more than 2 years anyplace other than SU so by default he hasn't won with his guys. Take ED, Conway, Strick, Custis away from last years team and we dont win 10 games. Add those players to this years team and we probably have 3 more wins.

 

[JeremyCuse]

I think you will be sadly disappointed.

It's hard to imagine there being zero changes if this team finishes 3-9 or 4-8 again. Changes will almost have to be made assuming Dino doesn't leave on his own for another job which based on some of his bizarre behavior this year I'm thinking is definitely possible.

 

[orangeinohio]

It's going to cost Wildhack a lot of money if Dino really commits to replacing poor performing coaches on his staff. Syracuse is already a hard enough sell. Combine that with SU football coming off a down year. And interviewing in Syracuse in January.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

You are overrating the D. The MD game was all time bad. WMU we got TOS, a few lucky ones, and let up a ton of points and yards. NC State and Pitt were bad first halves and then with the game out of hand good second halves. They aren’t a major issue but have played a part in our record.

 

[OrangeinBoston]

It's going to cost Wildhack a lot of money if Dino really commits to replacing poor performing coaches on his staff. Syracuse is already a hard enough sell. Combine that with SU football coming off a down year. And interviewing in Syracuse in January.

More weather nonsense. If weather was such a factor, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, etc. wouldn't have any coaches at all.

 

[OrangeinBoston]

It's hard to imagine there being zero changes if this team finishes 3-9 or 4-8 again. Changes will almost have to be made assuming Dino doesn't leave on his own for another job which based on some of his bizarre behavior this year I'm thinking is definitely possible.

Nonsense. Nobody is going to come calling now. They will wait to see if 2020 represents real progress.

Bizarre behavior? I imagine he is genuinely perplexed that his OL is arguably the worst in D1 football, especially as it is made up of his recruits.

 

[Crusty]

I think Ward is a good judge of talent and has done s good but not great job.

 

[UelSU]

We will need a bunch of GT olinemen next year. For a plan B, if for nothing else. TD has never looked confident to me all year. I mentioned in a game thread early in the season how much HCDB has to talk to him...every series...and was quickly chastised. Something isn't right there. Maybe the expectations are too high.

 

[orangecuse]

More weather nonsense. If weather was such a factor, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, etc. wouldn't have any coaches at all.

Indeed. If weather was this X type factor as another poster mentioned in a different thread, then San Diego State would be a perennial top team, etc.

 

[orangeinohio]

More weather nonsense. If weather was such a factor, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, etc. wouldn't have any coaches at all.

You're absolutely right.
Mentioning that the weather in Syracuse in January is bad was my whole argument.

 

[TheCusian]

The leadership and guys who got it done last year were mostly guys he inherited. Dont get me wrong i hope Dino ends his coaching career here. My point is simple. He hasnt been a head coach for more than 2 years anyplace other than SU so by default he hasn't won with his guys. Take ED, Conway, Strick, Custis away from last years team and we dont win 10 games. Add those players to this years team and we probably have 3 more wins.

It doesn’t seem that crazy that the seniors were the leaders and best players. That is pretty typical. Coleman is the leader of the D, a senior, one of the best players - and a Dino recruit.

You're making this point but forgetting that Dino *has* recruited better players at most positions and the seniors last year don’t win 10 games without them either.

The truth is *all* coaches spend the first bunch of years with a mix of another staffs kids and their own. That Dino hasn’t had a team of all of his own kids isn’t that rare. And I think we can say that the young guys who are contributing now will be better as JR/SRs in both play and leadership.

 

[TheCusian]

Nonsense. Nobody is going to come calling now. They will wait to see if 2020 represents real progress.

Bizarre behavior? I imagine he is genuinely perplexed that his OL is arguably the worst in D1 football, especially as it is made up of his recruits.

There’s no doubt that his star lost a little shine. But among AD’s, I think you’d find a consensus that he’s a good hire. The problem is selling his accomplishments to some fan base based on this year. There’s enough real progress in the first three to be enticing.

 

[jr4750]

There’s no doubt that his star lost a little shine. But among AD’s, I think you’d find a consensus that he’s a good hire. The problem is selling his accomplishments to some fan base based on this year. There’s enough real progress in the first three to be enticing.

The problem for those ADs is Dino’s buyout is high enough that fans will look at his record and think we can do better for that price. If he could walk free, I would be way more concerned, but at this point who even knows. I want to puke looking at the standings and seeing us dead last. I thought we were past that for a while. Ugh

 

[OburgOrange]

We will need a bunch of GT olinemen next year. For a plan B, if for nothing else. TD has never looked confident to me all year. I mentioned in a game thread early in the season how much HCDB has to talk to him...every series...and was quickly chastised. Something isn't right there. Maybe the expectations are too high.

I noticed that too. Barbers talks to Devito after every series. Is this just much ado about nothing?

 

[JeremyCuse]

Nonsense. Nobody is going to come calling now. They will wait to see if 2020 represents real progress.

Bizarre behavior? I imagine he is genuinely perplexed that his OL is arguably the worst in D1 football, especially as it is made up of his recruits.

He won 10 games at SU, trust me he can get another D1 job without a problem regardless of how bad this year has gone.

 

[Cusefan0307]

He won 10 games at SU, trust me he can get another D1 job without a problem regardless of how bad this year has gone.

Not at a factory and definitely not for more money. Those fans would revolt.

 

[GoSU96]

I noticed that too. Barbers talks to Devito after every series. Is this just much ado about nothing?

Yes

 

[Chip]

You are overrating the D. The MD game was all time bad. WMU we got TOS, a few lucky ones, and let up a ton of points and yards. NC State and Pitt were bad first halves and then with the game out of hand good second halves. They aren’t a major issue but have played a part in our record.

Other than the Maryland game, the D has been good enough to win the other games if we had the offense we're supposed to have. Heck, even if we had 75% of the offense we're supposed to have.

Maybe not Clemson either, but it's a much closer game.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Other than the Maryland game, the D has been good enough to win the other games if we had the offense we're supposed to have. Heck, even if we had 75% of the offense we're supposed to have.

Maybe not Clemson either, but it's a much closer game.

They are serviceable outside of the MD game. Although that first half vs Pitt was MDesque. The D is no where near being good this year which is what my point was.

In conference play we are 7th in ppg and 13th in ypp. Being that we have played the 1st, 10th, and 13th Os in ypp that is pretty darn bad.

 

[CanadianSU]

Exactly. Look at Purdue. At TCU. At Michigan State. At Kentucky. At Stanford. At Colorado.

All won 10+ in the last 3 years. All are struggling right now, just as we are.

This season has not gone as hoped, but let’s not act like SU football is Notre Dame. Oh wait, ND went 4-8 in 2016.

Welcome to sport. Now buckle up.

Agree but a negative factor is we can’t recruit like those (maybe Kentucky) but certainly not ND.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Other than the Maryland game, the D has been good enough to win the other games if we had the offense we're supposed to have. Heck, even if we had 75% of the offense we're supposed to have.

Maybe not Clemson either, but it's a much closer game.

Ward has been good this year, not in love with rushing 3 or 4 on 3rd an long nearly everytime but the D has certainly done its part.

 

[shu 49]

The d has been better than previous years but we should be even better than we are. As someone just said on another thread, we are not good in 3 rd and long situations cause they always have someone or many really wide open and the only times we get a stop is when they drop the ball. Why do we not play tighter.

 

[SWC75]

I find it strange that anyone would think we haven't had injuries on offense this season.

 

[OrangeDW]

Indeed. If weather was this X type factor as another poster mentioned in a different thread, then San Diego State would be a perennial top team, etc.

Some of my favorite posts are when posters judge schools by the areas they are located in based on the same standards they care about as a 40 year old when looking for a home/job.

“Great weather, the economy is booming, the schools are fantastic, there’s a dog park down the street, gorgeous hiking trails nearby, and there’s a great youth soccer program!”