What I Expect From Syracuse Football: A Community Sound Off

[DoubleDee]

I expect us to be competitive in ACC play. That means a 4-4 record or better each season. Though I would be okay with an occasional 3-5 record.

I expect us to schedule OOC so we are favored to win 3 of the 4 games each season. And to win at least 3 OOC games each season. So we should end up with a minimum of 7 wins a season. Maybe 6 for a bad year.

I expect us to go to a bowl game every season.

I expect a minimum of 7 home games every season.

I expect a spring game, a real spring game, where fans are allowed to attend, the team is split into 2 teams and score is kept, every season.

I expect a weekly coaches TV show where highlights of the previous game are shown, the coach discusses what happened and a discussion on the next opponent is held. This should be an hour long show and include in depth behind the scenes features on players and coaches. Assistant coaches should be guests on the show. As well as players. It is unfathomable to me that we have stopped doing this but competitors like Rutgers, Penn State, Notre Dame (and probably every other school in the ACC) do it, and do it well, with impressive production values.

I expect some kind of presentation to season ticket holders and supporters of the program highlighting the new recruiting class at or near each national letter of intent football recruiting period. It should be an in person event with support for people who can't be in Syracuse that day.

I expect an open practice featuring a scrimmage, as part of each preseason that all season ticket holders are invited to.

I expect us to occasionally have good years, where we get 8-10 wins, get ranked and contend for a major bowl.

I expect us to have good facilities for football (and all other sports). Not the best in the ACC or the country, but middle of the road in the ACC. This includes a state of the art football operations center. Good to hear progress being made on this front.

I expect us to pay a middle of the road (for the ACC) salary to our HC and to our coaching staff. I expect us to have middle staffing levels for football. I expect our recruiting classes to be middle of the road for our conference.

I am okay with the dome as it is currently configured. No expectations for further major improvements. It would be nice to have comfortable individual seating, wider concourses and better food selection at the concession stands (the pee troughs and foot operated hand washers are perfect as is). But none of that is very important to me.

I expect the SUMB to have the size and quality of the other schools in the ACC. It currently does not. Not a jab at the kids in the band or the band director. I think SUAD needs to focus more money and attention on this.

A lot of what I expect are things we used to have that we have lost. The fan base that supports the program deserves better treatment than it is currently getting from SUAD.

While I don't necessarily know what the AD may be able do to control Toms band concern (which is corect), I DO EXPECT the band to become more of an integral part of every game. Drop the canned music and #LetTheBandPlay

 

[tep624]

I think the only expectation that is off is the being ranked more often than not.

From '87-'01, we were ranked at least 3 weeks in the polls every year except 1990 and 2000, in both of those years we never were ranked. 13 of 15 years.

 

[TheCusian]

From '87-'01, we were ranked at least 3 weeks in the polls every year except 1990 and 2000, in both of those years we never were ranked. 13 of 15 years.

Do you think that’s possible now?

The ACC has 3-4 ranked teams week to week. And outside of Clemson, are remarkably unpredictable even with programs that have been somewhat consistent year to year like PITT.

Throw in a robust portal and player movement and I think that’s more churn than anyone from ‘87 could even fathom

 

[tep624]

Do you think that’s possible now?

The ACC has 3-4 ranked teams week to week. And outside of Clemson, are remarkably unpredictable even with programs that have been somewhat consistent year to year like PITT.

Throw in a robust portal and player movement and I think that’s more churn than anyone from ‘87 could even fathom

I think if you've done it in the past then anything is possible. However, having 9-10 win seasons every 3-4 years and being ranked at least 1 week in most seasons I think is very realistic. We've already seen 2 years in the last 4 where we had a golden opportunity in the ACC to be a 9-10 win team and be ranked. We took advantage of it in 2018 and blew it this season. 2019 started out preseason ranked into the first week in the AP and could have been a 8 win team if the season was managed properly.

 

[Scooch]

While I don't necessarily know what the AD may be able do to control Toms band concern (which is corect), I DO EXPECT the band to become more of an integral part of every game. Drop the canned music and #LetTheBandPlay

I suspect that band size will increase if/when our football fortunes improve. When I joined the SUMB a huge draw was the idea of playing in a packed Dome and seeing a nationally ranked team. I liked the musical aspects for sure, but I, and a lot of my friends, were big sports fans who were into that aspect of it just as much, or more.

I give the kids in band a lot of credit. For 20 years they've been subjected to a lousy team and a half-empty Dome. That we have the numbers we do is a testament to their dedication. It's impressive.

 

[Chip]

I expect to go to at least one game per year, hang out with friends I don't see as often, have a great time win or lose, leave with a hangover.

That pretty much covers it at this point.

 

[Bayside44]

I expect to go to at least one game per year, hang out with friends I don't see as often, have a great time win or lose, leave with a hangover.

That pretty much covers it at this point.

Heck we met RutgersAl. Everything after that is gravy.

 

[Chip]

Heck we met RutgersAl. Everything after that is gravy.

Yes, on that particular trip, I got a picture with Derrick Coleman and I met RutgersAl.

If people are expecting more than that, I don't know what to tell them.

 

[721Comstock]

I expect to go to at least one game per year, hang out with friends I don't see as often, have a great time win or lose, leave with a hangover.

That pretty much covers it at this point.

I'm glad that at least one of the posts in this thread is realistic.

Most of the others include one or many "I wants" or "I expects" that are things we haven't had since the late 90's -
since when, the college football landscape has changed dramatically, and not in a way that Syracuse will ever return to those sort of glory years.

We're a lot closer to Wake Forest overall, than Pitt or BC.
Minus the recent success and consistency of any of them.
Wake has been on a really nice roll these past 6 seasons.

Wake is having that once in a generation type season this year, like we had in 2018.
Only they also had another one in 2006, with a few solid years after that too.

So - we're really more like Duke then, I guess?
UGH.

 

[qdawgg]

Have to agree with a lot thats already been said. I think Bees nailed a lot of it saying, I want to be entertained. Some of the losses mid year were tough but they were fun and exciting games to watch, for the most part. The end of the season felt like most of the previous 5 years and that’s were my negative

Tomcat made a great point (well an entire post really) about some of the things other schools do for fan access we don’t even attempt to do. Like a coaches show breaking the game down and previewing the next game. I’m so used to not seeing something like this I forgot that the whole rest of the country does it. It just makes it feel like there’s aspects of the program that’s just “going through the motions”.

I think getting to a bowl game even 4/6 years should be attainable.

The 10 win season was great, I don’t expect that though. I think a breakout season of 8 or 9 is more than doable 1-2 times every decade.

I can’t write anymore. Even just writing the stuff above reminds me of how far and long we’ve been down compared to the excitement of the program when I first became a fan.

 

[bothsocksup]

I expect us to be competitive in ACC play. That means a 4-4 record or better each season. Though I would be okay with an occasional 3-5 record.

I expect us to schedule OOC so we are favored to win 3 of the 4 games each season. And to win at least 3 OOC games each season. So we should end up with a minimum of 7 wins a season. Maybe 6 for a bad year.

I expect us to go to a bowl game every season.

I expect a minimum of 7 home games every season.

I expect a spring game, a real spring game, where fans are allowed to attend, the team is split into 2 teams and score is kept, every season.

I expect a weekly coaches TV show where highlights of the previous game are shown, the coach discusses what happened and a discussion on the next opponent is held. This should be an hour long show and include in depth behind the scenes features on players and coaches. Assistant coaches should be guests on the show. As well as players. It is unfathomable to me that we have stopped doing this but competitors like Rutgers, Penn State, Notre Dame (and probably every other school in the ACC) do it, and do it well, with impressive production values.

I expect some kind of presentation to season ticket holders and supporters of the program highlighting the new recruiting class at or near each national letter of intent football recruiting period. It should be an in person event with support for people who can't be in Syracuse that day.

I expect an open practice featuring a scrimmage, as part of each preseason that all season ticket holders are invited to.

I expect us to occasionally have good years, where we get 8-10 wins, get ranked and contend for a major bowl.

I expect us to have good facilities for football (and all other sports). Not the best in the ACC or the country, but middle of the road in the ACC. This includes a state of the art football operations center. Good to hear progress being made on this front.

I expect us to pay a middle of the road (for the ACC) salary to our HC and to our coaching staff. I expect us to have middle staffing levels for football. I expect our recruiting classes to be middle of the road for our conference.

I am okay with the dome as it is currently configured. No expectations for further major improvements. It would be nice to have comfortable individual seating, wider concourses and better food selection at the concession stands (the pee troughs and foot operated hand washers are perfect as is). But none of that is very important to me.

I expect the SUMB to have the size and quality of the other schools in the ACC. It currently does not. Not a jab at the kids in the band or the band director. I think SUAD needs to focus more money and attention on this.

A lot of what I expect are things we used to have that we have lost. The fan base that supports the program deserves better treatment than it is currently getting from SUAD.

Living in Jersey Tomcat I come accross the Rutgers weekly show and I hate to say it, but its REALLY well done. Highlights, interviews with players, all access stuff, its top notch. Its incredible that we don't have something like this for Syracuse fans

 

[JRHEETER]

Have to agree with a lot thats already been said. I think Bees nailed a lot of it saying, I want to be entertained. Some of the losses mid year were tough but they were fun and exciting games to watch, for the most part. The end of the season felt like most of the previous 5 years and that’s were my negative

Tomcat made a great point (well an entire post really) about some of the things other schools do for fan access we don’t even attempt to do. Like a coaches show breaking the game down and previewing the next game. I’m so used to not seeing something like this I forgot that the whole rest of the country does it. It just makes it feel like there’s aspects of the program that’s just “going through the motions”.

I think getting to a bowl game even 4/6 years should be attainable.

The 10 win season was great, I don’t expect that though. I think a breakout season of 8 or 9 is more than doable 1-2 times every decade.

I can’t write anymore. Even just writing the stuff above reminds me of how far and long we’ve been down compared to the excitement of the program when I first became a fan.

I agree the lack of access is getting really frustrating…..

I also feel like the lack of giving a good experience to the season ticket holders is really exhausting. Do something for us for sticking by the program….instead in a lot of ways I feel like we are laughed at for continuing to hold on to tickets.

The kick in the nuts is that I’m pretty positive they are going to raise prices this year. I know they planned too after 2019 and then Covid happened and derailed that. Then the 1 win season so they couldn’t for 2021. I would be shocked if it didn’t go up for 2022.

And yes I know technically they won’t raise the “ticket price” they just will raise the donation amount but it’s really all the same thing just allocating differently where the money will go

 

[JRHEETER]

Living in Jersey Tomcat I come accross the Rutgers weekly show and I hate to say it, but its REALLY well done. Highlights, interviews with players, all access stuff, its top notch. Its incredible that we don't have something like this for Syracuse fans

Gives away toooo much intel

 

[Ozone!]

A creative balanced offense coupled with a a dynamic attacking defense .
Going to a bowl most years! Our players being drafted into the NFL annually.
Very few mental mistakes, including excessive roughness calls.
Recruiting well for our systems; dynamic QB’s, WR’s with speed and good hands, OL with attitude and ability to both run and pass protect, DL who can defeat both run and pass protection efforts by opposing OL

For long time fans of the program; the demise came when Coach Mac left and Coach Pasqualoni took over and he and
his staff were not able to recruit at a level to keep our team at that level. I am attaching Coach Pasqualoni; just telling things like I see them.

Much the vitriol for DB is leftover dissatisfaction from th length of time we have been without a quality program. In
part that is due to the university attempting to do things on a budget that didn’t fit our entry into the ACC.

Sure,
he has his faults; however you get what you pay for!

 

[OttoinGrotto]

This would not even impact me, but I expect a legitimate spring game and I expect if there's an open practice/fan event that people can actually see the fun parts of football and not have the time dominated by special teams shenanigans.

 

[DMDMD]

I want 2017/2018 back where we play fun football and beat up bad teams and play well against our peers and have more than a punchers chance against the big boys

 

[storange]

I expect to show up at the dome 6 or 7 times each fall, I expect the beer lines to be manageable and I expect to overreact to every loss and every win. I expect to have to visit the troughs at least once maybe twice a game ( Im aging ) I expect to do this until I can no longer walk . Note some of these expectaions are directly related.

 

[chugg21]

I expect an "offensive guru" to manage to have at least 1 offensive player picked in the NFL draft in any round in 6 years.

 

[RoatanCuse]

Pretty realistic. 6-10 wins and a bowl every year. Next year I hope to see more flash out of the offense. I pray Shrader can develope his arm and his ability to hit his targets. Those targets need to be able to catch the ball better. Tucker is Tucker. He will get his yards. Quite honestly, had play calling been better, he would have led the nation in rushing. Sure, opposing defenses knew he would run the ball and Shrader as well, but think back to the 60's, every team SU played knew who was getting the ball. Davis, Little and Nance, Little and Czonka and so on. They ran the ball well with quarterbacks who were not known for their passing and seldom stopped. So, it can be done.

You are absolutely correct, sir. those teams played in no-lid Archbold stadium in rain, snow & hail and Wally Mahle passed only about 10 times a game, completing only 6 or 7. He was a running threat along with the prized running backs you mentioned. The “scissors” play worked well. The “pop pass” to John Mackey worked well, too. No one knew which player was going to get the ball, or which direction the runner was headed. We even did sweeps. Sure the plays are “old”, but the OC knew which plays to run.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Win games at home. We cannot go 1-4 vs P5 competition at home. At worst that needs to be 3-2. It is hard for teams to win on the road, yet we go 1-4? We don't play in the SEC West. An average SU team should have gone 7-5 against this year's schedule.

Schedule wisely. Given the current state of ACC programs, outside of being injury riddled there isn't an excuse for worse than 6-6. Look at who we played in 2019 and 2021 and it is hard to see how we didn't get to 6 Ws.

Schedule OOC games vs Northeast teams. It is easy for families, fans, alumni, recruits to go to the game. And we have tradition against these teams. Rotate Penn State, West Virginia, Maryland, Rutgers as our OOC P5s. Rotate Army, Navy, Temple, UConn as one of our OOC G5s. The more games we play in the Northeast the better it is for the program. Playing in a Southern conference and having Midwestern OOC games isn't a good idea.

 

[DoubleDee]

A creative balanced offense coupled with a a dynamic attacking defense .
Going to a bowl most years! Our players being drafted into the NFL annually.
Very few mental mistakes, including excessive roughness calls.
Recruiting well for our systems; dynamic QB’s, WR’s with speed and good hands, OL with attitude and ability to both run and pass protect, DL who can defeat both run and pass protection efforts by opposing OL

For long time fans of the program; the demise came when Coach Mac left and Coach Pasqualoni took over and he and
his staff were not able to recruit at a level to keep our team at that level. I am attaching Coach Pasqualoni; just telling things like I see them.

Much the vitriol for DB is leftover dissatisfaction from th length of time we have been without a quality program. In
part that is due to the university attempting to do things on a budget that didn’t fit our entry into the ACC.

Sure,
he has his faults; however you get what you pay for!

I have to disagree with the P take. 7 of 14 seasons with 8 or more wins. Only two losing seasons, including one that required a bowl loss to take them under .500. And a 10 win season 11 years after Mac.

 

[Ozone!]

As I said, not trying to pick on Coach Pasqualoni, he is a long time successful coach. Other than Cuse he has never been a college HC other than a short term HC at UConn, 5-7 in both years. He was not a dynamic recruiter which is why he coached mostly in the pros. We need a dynamic recruiter, IMO!

 

[Trueblue25]

I expect a bowl win and the following recruitment class following the bowl win to be top 45.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Realistically as long as we have a manageable schedule a typical 4 year stretch should be:

5-7 (assuming young team)
6-7
7-6
8-5 (Senior led team)


That is just over a .500 record over 4 years, 26-25 with 3 Bowls. Every now and then we will have everything go wrong (3-9) and every now and then we will have everything go right (10-3).

 

[Ozone!]

Part of what we have been dealing with competing interests; getting fanny’s in the seats for out of conference foes while crafting a bowl eligible won-loss record. One can hurt the other or we play programs like Liberty for recruiting purposes and their much lower academic standards allows them to bring in talent that we can’t get admitted!
We need to build up our out of conference wins to give us a better opportunity for a bowl until we upgrade our talent to ACC standards!