What sucks most is the good will being lost in a pandemic season

[TheCusian]

What do social and political issues have to do football? Our schedule got a little tougher with Notre Dame and Unc but lets not go nuts there were a lot of winnable games on the schedule this year.

You must not be a young black man living through a once in a lifetime pandemic with a national election smack dab in the middle of it all. Remember, the season was in jeopardy weeks before the first game. Unprecedented times. I’m honestly impressed they are playing at the level they are given the circumstances.

A season that has a long runway with Rutgers, WMU, a FCS team sounds good to me. (I didn’t say that we had no winnable games - just that the schedule got harder, no camp new coordinators, a rash of OL injuries and opt outs made an uphill climb untenable)

 

[TheCusian]

I agree with most of what you've stated, except for the mental wear of political and societal issues. These are very young adults, at that age, resiliency, etc. trumps any weight one really gives/pays attention to those issues.

Other than the two backs and one other I believe, no one else has opted out due to COVID? Injuries, no doubt have impacted this team, but it is part of the game that ALL teams have to deal with. It is a significant job requirement of the head coach to recruit and build a roster to deal with depth, injuries, and the like, as it is somewhat foreseeable.

The most glaring issue for Dino in YEAR 5, is his overwhelming failure to have an adequate backup qb available to at least keep the ship afloat, especially with the fact that it's the most critical position in the game, if not in all of team sports. It's not outside of the realm to think that a starting qb could get injured, miss some games, etc. during the course of a long season, etc., and Dino has been ill-prepared for such. That's 100% on him for his whiffs on the recruiting trail and in player development. The fact the Rex gives Dino "his best chance to win and have a winning season" after TD is really quite astonishing.

I think you’re misunderstanding the impact of this summers societal unrest on young black men. They *absolutely* think about and we’re affected by it all. Throw in a pandemic that is killing minorities at a higher rate? C’mon. I know young black kids and they are very aware and care deeply about this stuff.

As for QB depth, I agree. I think it’s been hard to recruit to Syracuse and even harder to recruit a backup to Tommy. That’s on Dino. 100%.

 

[TheCusian]

It’s actually pretty sad when these kind of excuses have to be made for Wake and Duke recruiting better than Syracuse. Pennsylvania, Ohio and NJ all border NY and produce large numbers of prospects.

NC has better prospects within its borders. 4 P5 programs and some of our best kids are from the state. Ohio kids are harder to get than you think.

By the numbers, Duke and Wake are close enough to us average recruit wise that a case can be made we’re all roughly in the same boat (3* kids that need development)

 

[OrangeDW]

It’s actually pretty sad when these kind of excuses have to be made for Wake and Duke recruiting better than Syracuse. Pennsylvania, Ohio and NJ all border NY and produce large numbers of prospects.

I named a recent skill position starter at SU from NC.

You didn’t name any Upstate NY kids who started for Duke or Wake though.

Why?

 

[Willy75]

I named a recent skill position starter at SU from NC.

You didn’t name any Upstate NY kids who started for Duke or Wake though.

Why?

I took your point to be that they are situated in better recruiting territory. We’re close to good recruiting territory ourselves (and have tapped Ohio and PA in the past).

 

[OrangeDW]

I took your point to be that they are situated in better recruiting territory. We’re close to good recruiting territory ourselves (and have tapped Ohio and PA in the past).

Close is like 4-6 hours away for us though. Do Ohio kids look at Syracuse as “close” to them?

Theres pretty much nothing nearby or within a couple hours though.

 

[Briancuse]

You must not be a young black man living through a once in a lifetime pandemic with a national election smack dab in the middle of it all. Remember, the season was in jeopardy weeks before the first game. Unprecedented times. I’m honestly impressed they are playing at the level they are given the circumstances.

A season that has a long runway with Rutgers, WMU, a FCS team sounds good to me. (I didn’t say that we had no winnable games - just that the schedule got harder, no camp new coordinators, a rash of OL injuries and opt outs made an uphill climb untenable)

We are all living through this pandemic, your right I am not a black man, but we are all appalled by social injustice. Its nothing you can use as an excuse, because our opponents are all going through the same exact thing. Your impressed by this? lol. We lost to Liberty, I'm not sure we would beat Rutgers or Wmu right now.

 

[TheCusian]

We are all living through this pandemic, your right I am not a black man, but we are all appalled by social injustice. Its nothing you can use as an excuse, because our opponents are all going through the same exact thing. Your impressed by this? lol. We lost to Liberty, I'm not sure we would beat Rutgers or Wmu right now.

I think we’re all under a lot of stress and I wouldn’t blame a kid for not being at peak performance.

Had this not happened and we had both camps fully - I think we’re in much better shape.

 

[Briancuse]

I think we’re all under a lot of stress and I wouldn’t blame a kid for not being at peak performance.

Had this not happened and we had both camps fully - I think we’re in much better shape.

Believe me I understand I am as stressed as I have ever been, everyone has been stressed, i'm just not sure you can use it as an excuse, There are some teams under stress playing some great football right now.

 

[dollarbill44]

Where do I say he should apologize?
Or he owes me an apology?

He is the face of the team. What he says matters publicly. I don’t expect an apology. My god.

It seems you are greatly aggrieved by Dinos actions. When one feels they have been wronged by someone, an apology is in order unless you enjoy being trod on, (it seems you don't) so it's not a crazy thought.

 

[TheCusian]

Believe me I understand I am as stressed as I have ever been, everyone has been stressed, i'm just not sure you can use it as an excuse, There are some teams under stress playing some great football right now.

There are some wildly different results and inconsistent play across CFB like we've never seen. It's not an excuse, but more of an empirical fact that players won't be at peak.

I don't think we were going to be a good football team this year no matter what, but I do believe we could have been a bowl team had all of this not happened. It is what it is. I'm handing out grace and patience - it's a freebie year. Just get better. Ignore the w-l.

 

[Briancuse]

There are some wildly different results and inconsistent play across CFB like we've never seen. It's not an excuse, but more of an empirical fact that players won't be at peak.

I don't think we were going to be a good football team this year no matter what, but I do believe we could have been a bowl team had all of this not happened. It is what it is. I'm handing out grace and patience - it's a freebie year. Just get better. Ignore the w-l.

These are college kids lol there is always inconsistent play unless your Clemson, Bama or Osu. If there is a full season you can't just ignore the results, Is Clemson going to ignore the results? This team isn't getting better.

 

[TheCusian]

These are college kids lol there is always inconsistent play unless your Clemson, Bama or Osu. If there is a full season you can't just ignore the results, Is Clemson going to ignore the results? This team isn't getting better.

This year is inconsistent compared to other CFB seasons. The team *is* getting better. The young underbelly of the team is getting playing time, we discovered a great RB, we're installing a new defense in a throwaway year that will always have a giant asterisk on it. It might not show up in W's - but it doesn't mean they aren't getting better.

Holding them to the same standard you'd hold them to normally is a fools errand.

 

[Briancuse]

This year is inconsistent compared to other CFB seasons. The team *is* getting better. The young underbelly of the team is getting playing time, we discovered a great RB, we're installing a new defense in a throwaway year that will always have a giant asterisk on it. It might not show up in W's - but it doesn't mean they aren't getting better.

Holding them to the same standard you'd hold them to normally is a fools errand.

How are they getting better? Wake Blew our doors off on Saturday. Tucker looks pretty good, other than that, The qb play has been abysmal, the defense is getting worse. I mean Quelley looks decent.

 

[Chip]

Nobody in their right mind thought this team would be really good and be a contender this season.
No spring practice.
Little conditioning.
Players being away.
Summer Practice being delayed.

What sucks is the HC has just performed so poorly and his comments publicly are just garbage it loses credibility.

If we were losing and getting beat because of talent it’s not an issue.
This team isn’t losing as badly because of talent. It’s awful in-game
Coaching, it’s game plan, it’s adjustments.

We are just irrelevant. That is on the HC.
I get he doesn’t like the media. When he talks publicly it’s to the fans and diehards realize fans want to make an excuse for this season. Give them a reason.

The crap being spewed is just passive aggressive frustration with no accountability.

It’s sad in a season that should be a bonus for even happening I wish didn’t happen at all. In year 5 of DB Era that is on him 100%.

People have short memories. Enough of them will be back next year, as long as they feel safe going to games (that's the bigger issue no matter how we play).

Everyone overanalyzes our fanbase. You start the season with about 30,000 that will go to any game. If it's an attractive opponent, bump that up some. If we're having a good season, bump it up more.

Next year's early schedule is terrible. Get thru it 4-0, and no one is going to remember how bad 2020 was.

 

[TheCusian]

How are they getting better? Wake Blew our doors off on Saturday. Tucker looks pretty good, other than that, The qb play has been abysmal, the defense is getting worse. I mean Quelley looks decent.

You're thinking short-term and measuring by wins. I'm thinking long-term and about how much experience is being gained in a season that is a freebie eligibility-wise. It's the position I've had since we heard we had a former FB playing G.

I can almost guarantee that's how the staff is thinking about it too.*

*NOTE - that doesn't mean that they are not trying to win, but it means they are aware of their shortcomings and chances of winning.

 

[TheCusian]

People have short memories. Enough of them will be back next year, as long as they feel safe going to games (that's the bigger issue no matter how we play).

Everyone overanalyzes our fanbase. You start the season with about 30,000 that will go to any game. If it's an attractive opponent, bump that up some. If we're having a good season, bump it up more.

Next year's early schedule is terrible. Get thru it 4-0, and no one is going to remember how bad 2020 was.

We'll remember that we weren't there, it was a crazy time to be alive in our country/pandemic, and that we lost a bunch. But for every poster on the message board yelling "NO EXCUSES" there's got to be like 1,000 who shrug and say "COVID man"