WF Game Will Tell a Lot About Shafer as HC

[OrangeinBoston]

WF is improving under a solid coach. They are coming into the Dome thinking they can play with anybody. SU has two weeks to right the ship after one of the worst losses in program history in part due to an inexplicable choice of defensive strategy. Shafter has to compensate for a DC who appears inept while getting an inexperienced OC to cobble together some sort of an effective offense. This is a tall order. If he pulls it off, there is real reason to believe he's the right guy.

 

[Stern]

He has had 2 weeks to prepare for WF...if SU doesn't win or at least play a tough fought game its a major red flag for me when it comes to Shafer. Not like WF has elite talent here. I got no problem with SU losing to WF if it happens, but at least be competitive, play them tough, and be in the game the entire way.

 

[rosconey]

lets hope wake prepares for us to use the 3-4 again-:crazy:

 

[Crusty]

He has had 2 weeks to prepare for WF...if SU doesn't win or at least play a tough fought game its a major red flag for me when it comes to Shafer. Not like WF has elite talent here. I got no problem with SU losing to WF if it happens, but at least be competitive, play them tough, and be in the game the entire way.

While I agree we have to be competitive WF does have some elite talent. Michael Campanaro is the leading receiver in th ACC with 113.1 YDG and 65 receptions. Tanner Price is 4th in passing. This is a good offensive team.

 

[Doctor44]

We had two weeks for clemson . . . that didnt help.

I hope we look like a functional team - A defense that wants to play and an O that can run the ball for 3 yards and can complete a pass for 5 yards.

I wonder a little about the psyche of the wake team. This loss is going to be tough, but a good coach like Grobe will rally the players and have them ready to go. If they won, I wonder if we could have caught them in a let down week.

 

[Doctor44]

By the transitive property - La Monroe beats WF, Tulane beats La Monroe, We beat Tulane . . . so we have a chance

 

[orangepassion]

While I agree we have to be competitive WF does have some elite talent. Michael Campanaro is the leading receiver in th ACC with 113.1 YDG and 65 receptions. Tanner Price is 4th in passing. This is a good offensive team.

Really? Wake? So we have Jerome Smith and Jay Bromley. If we can't beat Wake at Home after a bye week when they just had to play at Miami, this is going to be a long season.

 

[Crusty]

Really? Wake? So we have Jerome Smith and Jay Bromley. If we can't beat Wake at Home after a bye week when they just had to play at Miami, this is going to be a long season.

I think it is the toughest game we have left save FSU.

 

[Crusty]

By the transitive property - La Monroe beats WF, Tulane beats La Monroe, We beat Tulane . . . so we have a chance

The dreaded transitive property!

 

[Doctor44]

The dreaded transitive property!

Never quite seems to work out the way it should

 

[orangepassion]

I think it is the toughest game we have left save FSU.

With the way we've played, nothing is a gimme, but I think all the games outside of FSU are very winnable. We have some talent, too. We just need to play better

 

[Doctor44]

With the way we've played, nothing is a gimme, but I think all the games outside of FSU are very winnable. We have some talent, too. We just need to play better

I dont know that we do have talent. I cant think of too many guys who be definitive starters on other teams in the ACC maybe a handful - Macky, broyld may get some snaps, bromley would be in rotation, spruill depending on the team.

I think that the big disappointment is that shafer came in touting his ability to win without talented players - at N. illinois and western michigan. We have not seen a consistent and competent team.

 

[orangepassion]

I dont know that we do have talent. I cant think of too many guys who be definitive starters on other teams in the ACC maybe a handful - Macky, broyld may get some snaps, bromley would be in rotation, spruill depending on the team.

I think that the big disappointment is that shafer came in touting his ability to win without talented players - at N. illinois and western michigan. We have not seen a consistent and competent team.

We don't have FSU talent, but I believe we do have Wake Forest and BC talent.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

In all seriousness, I have no idea how you can deal in such absolutes when it comes to a head coach 7 games in. You have to give the head coach 2-3 seasons to establish his players and to tweak his staff appropriately. It's one thing to bitch but I actually think that many of you think that this Wake Forest is some type of line in the sand for Shafer. They essentially beat us 2 years ago in the Dome, we had a better team then and they have a better team now with a solid staff. Im not saying we should get ruined or should not win but ignoring all the indicators is a bit crazy. I'm also not saying they should blow us out but they have shown to be a pretty good team. I mean even a proven hc like Randy Edsdall looked horrible two years in at Maryland

I would agree that Bullough has been terrible but what do you want at Syracuse with regard to a HC, I mean for Christ sake Skip Holtz makes over a million a year!!! They have to take their chances

It's not like we haven't been through this before... We are 3-4 not 1-5. Could be much worse, again we are a small small Bcs program, I bet financially we are still bottom 5 in the big 5 conferences easily... Tough to get blood out of a rock or catch lightning in a bottle. We are 3-4, 5-7 through 7-5 is a very reasonable expectation


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[SUFan44]

If the margin is three TDs I'll be extremely disappointed.

IthacaBarrel, while what you say is partially true - Marrone took a team of misfits and made it competitive against teams better than Wake. I'm not saying we should win, but if we have another performance like we saw at Ga. Tech it won't be pretty here.

 

[TheCusian]

If the margin is three TDs I'll be extremely disappointed.

IthacaBarrel, while what you say is partially true - Marrone took a team of misfits and made it competitive against teams better than Wake. I'm not saying we should win, but if we have another performance like we saw at Ga. Tech it won't be pretty here.

We could def win by three touchdowns .

 

[rrlbees]

In all seriousness, I have no idea how you can deal in such absolutes when it comes to a head coach 7 games in. You have to give the head coach 2-3 seasons to establish his players and to tweak his staff appropriately. It's one thing to bitch but I actually think that many of you think that this Wake Forest is some type of line in the sand for Shafer. They essentially beat us 2 years ago in the Dome, we had a better team then and they have a better team now with a solid staff. Im not saying we should get ruined or should not win but ignoring all the indicators is a bit crazy. I'm also not saying they should blow us out but they have shown to be a pretty good team. I mean even a proven hc like Randy Edsdall looked horrible two years in at Maryland

I would agree that Bullough has been terrible but what do you want at Syracuse with regard to a HC, I mean for Christ sake Skip Holtz makes over a million a year!!! They have to take their chances

It's not like we haven't been through this before... We are 3-4 not 1-5. Could be much worse, again we are a small small Bcs program, I bet financially we are still bottom 5 in the big 5 conferences easily... Tough to get blood out of a rock or catch lightning in a bottle. We are 3-4, 5-7 through 7-5 is a very reasonable expectation


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Pfffft. This year could go well in the end. But tired of keep hearing that coaches need 2-3 years for their own players blah, blah, blah. Did Marrone build this program or not? It's almost becoming obvious he had no replacement at QB, WR or OL. If this program had been put back on a solid foundation, we wouldn't be worried about going backwards and waiting again. If this thing ends poorly, then either Shafer and staff was a mistake or Marrone didn't recruit well.

However, I still think we get to 6-6.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[anomander]

In all seriousness, I have no idea how you can deal in such absolutes when it comes to a head coach 7 games in. You have to give the head coach 2-3 seasons to establish his players and to tweak his staff appropriately. It's one thing to bitch but I actually think that many of you think that this Wake Forest is some type of line in the sand for Shafer. They essentially beat us 2 years ago in the Dome, we had a better team then and they have a better team now with a solid staff. Im not saying we should get ruined or should not win but ignoring all the indicators is a bit crazy. I'm also not saying they should blow us out but they have shown to be a pretty good team. I mean even a proven hc like Randy Edsdall looked horrible two years in at Maryland

I would agree that Bullough has been terrible but what do you want at Syracuse with regard to a HC, I mean for Christ sake Skip Holtz makes over a million a year!!! They have to take their chances

It's not like we haven't been through this before... We are 3-4 not 1-5. Could be much worse, again we are a small small Bcs program, I bet financially we are still bottom 5 in the big 5 conferences easily... Tough to get blood out of a rock or catch lightning in a bottle. We are 3-4, 5-7 through 7-5 is a very reasonable expectation


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

I agree, but this isn't a total rebuild. Apparently one of the main reasons we promoted Shafer was to keep someone who has been in the program that could keep it going at it's current upward trajectory. I'm going to go out on a limb and say we are a pretty reasonable bunch. If we were 3-4, and played Clemson, Northwestenrn, and GT competitively, and in competitively I mean the game wasn't over mid way through the 1st quarter, nobody would be talking like this. Sure there will still be people complaining, but I don't think it would be as widespread. Personally, I agree with you 2-3 years for a head coach is fair. I think Shafer can be the man to lead this program, but he may need to make some tough decisions. There is absolutely no way people should be expecting a head coaching change after 1 season. Assistant coaches are fair game though. Still with that said the rest of this year needs to be an evaluation period for Gross. Our sophmore and freshman class are strong. There is absolutely no reason we should not win with them the next 2 seasons. If things don't work out then we have to be ready to make a move, we can't afford to wait too long, or another death spiral may be the final nail for this program.

 

[orangepassion]

I agree, but this isn't a total rebuild. Apparently one of the main reasons we promoted Shafer was to keep someone who has been in the program that could keep it going at it's current upward trajectory. I'm going to go out on a limb and say we are a pretty reasonable bunch. If we were 3-4, and played Clemson, Northwestenrn, and GT competitively, and in competitively I mean the game wasn't over mid way through the 1st quarter, nobody would be talking like this. Sure there will still be people complaining, but I don't think it would be as widespread. Personally, I agree with you 2-3 years for a head coach is fair. I think Shafer can be the man to lead this program, but he may need to make some tough decisions. There is absolutely no way people should be expecting a head coaching change after 1 season. Assistant coaches are fair game though. Still with that said the rest of this year needs to be an evaluation period for Gross. Our sophmore and freshman class are strong. There is absolutely no reason we should not win with them the next 2 seasons. If things don't work out then we have to be ready to make a move, we can't afford to wait too long, or another death spiral may be the final nail for this program.

Agree-The issue with me isn't the losses it's being blown out 3 times in 7 games. I don't think that even happened in G-Rob's 1st year.

 

[Ithacaorange]

We could def win by three touchdowns .

We can't complete a forward pass that is meaningful, we will not beat anybody by 3 Tds , we can win but not by 21 pts vs who we have left.

 

[OrangeinBoston]

What bothers me is that every poster on this board would know enough NOT to switch to a 3-4 from a 4-3 with no time to implement. But, there you have it, meathead coaching at its best. Shafer must get the defense back to playing well enough to stay within 2 TDs of WF which means also that the offense also has to do something. This will NOT be easy as Califano, or whatever his name is, will eat SU's DBs alive.

 

[Stern]

Really? Wake? So we have Jerome Smith and Jay Bromley. If we can't beat Wake at Home after a bye week when they just had to play at Miami, this is going to be a long season.

It already has been a long season!

 

[ForCuseSake]

[quote="IthacaBarrel, post: Could be much worse, again we are a small small Bcs program, I bet financially we are still bottom 5 in the big 5 conferences easily... Tough to get blood out of a rock or catch lightning in a bottle. We are 3-4, 5-7 through 7-5 is a very reasonable expectation
[/quote]

I agree with your thoughts about being patient with Shafer & his staff but I wonder about the finances of the football program and athletics dept.

How much $$ is enough to run a successful football program at SU especially given the significant boost of revenue with the ACC?

While I think Gross has done a decent job overall I'm not confident the dept is allocating its fiscal resources to max out the program's competitive ability.

I don't know enough to pinpoint examples of inefficient use of funds but given TGD's penchant for paying hefty salaries for non-revenue coaches I wonder why the same seemingly free spending attitude isn't obvious with regard to the football team (aside from assistant coaches' salary bumps).

I guess the point of my rambling post is to ask is SU truly trying to get blood from a stone financially or could they spend more wisely to help the program. I'm sure people in the know would say the answer probably lies in the middle.

 

[Crusty]

Pfffft. This year could go well in the end. But tired of keep hearing that coaches need 2-3 years for their own players blah, blah, blah. Did Marrone build this program or not? It's almost becoming obvious he had no replacement at QB, WR or OL. If this program had been put back on a solid foundation, we wouldn't be worried about going backwards and waiting again. If this thing ends poorly, then either Shafer and staff was a mistake or Marrone didn't recruit well.

However, I still think we get to 6-6.

Which do you suspect is the case?

 

[rrlbees]

Which do you suspect is the case?

A little of both.

I know, that's a cop out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk