Over the weekend, somewhere in Western, NY, a young child was watching football with his Grandfather, when a commercial came on showing the preview for the upcoming movie “The Express” – a Walt Disney movie about the life of Ernie Davis. The kid while munching on popcorn takes in the preview, thinks for a couple of minutes, turns to his Grandfather and says, “Syracuse was good in football?”
Now I am sure the next question would have been, “Who was Ernie Davis?”, and I am not even 100% sure that conversation even happened. But I am sure hundreds of Western New York football fans will
Syracuse for years was a program that regularly produced running backs and wide receivers ready for Sunday football, and the list of alumni who went on to play in the NFL is staggering.
Here are some interesting facts about the Syracuse football program:
– First game played by the Syracuse football program was in 1889.
– In 1915, the Syracuse football team earned an invitation to the Rose Bowl, but travel wasn’t as easy back then. Since the team had been to the West Coast once already that season, they had to decline the invitation.
– Vic Hanson was the first star of the Syracuse football program, and is a member of both the Basketball Hall of Fame and the College football program. He later became a head coach for the Orange.
– In 1957, Syracuse earned its first Bowl invite, going to the Cotton Bowl. That team was led by Hall of Famer, Jim Brown.
– 1959, Syracuse won its first football national championship, with an undefeated season and a win in the Cotton Bowl over Texas. That team was led by Ernie Davis, who became the first African- American to win the Heisman Trophy
– Starting in the early 1980’s, SU football became a factory for Wide Receivers, with the likes of Art Monk, Rob Moore, Qadry Ismail (The Irish had the “Rocket”, Syracuse had the “Missile”), Marvin Harrison, and Kevin Johnson all ending up in the NFL. 
– 1987, Syracuse finished 11-0, but finished behind Oklahoma and Miami in the polls. Instead of playing for the National Championship, SU played Auburn in the Sugar Bowl where they tied, thanks to the infamous decision of then Auburn coach – Pat Dye who opted to kick a field goal, rather then go for the win.
– From 1988-2001, the Orangemen appeared in 11 bowl games – winning 9 of them.
– Syracuse Football program boasts an overall record of 669-452-49 in its history – only 12 schools have more victories.
– Oh yeah, Hall of Fame tight end John Mackey played for Syracuse. Other alumni include Dwight Freeney, Donovin Darius, Tebucky Jones, Tim Green, Keith Bulluck and oh yeah – Donovan McNabb.
Like any major college football program, SU has come across hard times – but unlike most major football programs, Syracuse has been unable to recover. For the Orange, it started in the last couple of years under Coach Paul Pasqualoni – possibly as the wishbone offense started to run its course within the college ranks. The program’s fall from the elite college ranks seemed to gather speed in 2005, when Syracuse was close to joining the ACC. Ultimately the ACC spurned Syracuse, choosing Boston College instead and appears to have cost Syracuse from a recruiting standpoint. In 2005, Greg Robinson was named head coach with the hope that he would able to bring the program back to prominence. Unfortunately prominence has not been the direction the program has gone, as Robinson has managed only a 7-30 since.
Which leads to the question: Is this program capable of being saved? If so – what is it going to take? Obviously it starts with talent and if Greg Robinson can’t recruit the talent, then who do they bring in? Nick Saban tends to jump ship every 3 years – maybe he can be convinced. Skip Holtz has done wonders with East Carolina – considering his pedigree, would he take the task on?
And as the Grandfather watches the TV, looks down as his grandchild, smiles and says “Were they good? Well let me tell you a story…..”
Whatever SU does, they need to act quickly. I noted this before on the Clipboard – last year they were advertising on billboards for season ticket at $95 a piece! That’s 6 NCAA D1 pigskin games for less than $100! They need fannies warming the seats.
Robinson should be removed and soon if they want any chance with this year’s recruiting battle.
It’ll be very difficult to get Syracuse back near where it was. Not impossible, but the odds are stacked against it. It starts with recruiting, so they gotta go out and get the horses. I think a major disadvantage is their Big East affiliation … not real attractive for football. To get the horses, you probably need a new, young, charismatic coach … he’ll need to really sell, sell, sell to get kids to go there. (It’s not exactly in a great part of the country from a number of standpoints). And of course, they can always lower any academic standards they may have there.
But I think they’ve got to get a new coach in there to try to start winning again … and recruiting again. Not sure which happens first … probably the recruiting. But how do you get the players to come when you’ve been losing so badly???? That’s when you start selling them on the tradition, the quality of the school, and that the new, bright, charismatic coach has a plan. So step 1 is definitely 1a) target the new coach immediately, 1b) fire Robinson ASAP after achieving 1a, but not too late to impact the next recruiting class.
Again, this won’t be easy by any stretch.
Oh … and Nick Saban will NEVER even look at the Syracuse job.
Now Skip Holtz … maybe … but he might be on the short list of some more attractive jobs opening up. But I’d certainly look into him if I were Syracuse. And hire his Pop as a consultant ! Lou was a great turnaround specialist back in the day.
Skip Holtz won’t even look at the job. He’s already taken a nothing program and turned it around. Why would he do that again? ECU was/is his stepping stone to a big time football school.
Yes they need to get a young charismatic coach. But that coach HAS to get control of the best recruits in NY State. Syracuse is a centralized location and should have a strong hold on the best talent in NY, but they don’t. Kids are going to PA and New England. How has Beamer done it every year at VA Tech? He has every area covered in the south of VA with his best talent consistently coming out of Newport News, VA.
From there, if they are successful, they can start branching out and snagging some of the best from Ohio, PA, NE, and so forth. Coaching is a huge part, but for most colleges it’s about signing the best local talent year after year. You’re always going to lose out-of-state kids because of competition, but you have to have your best local talent to fall back in.
Mike Paulus is sitting the bench at UNC. You’re telling me he’d rather sit the bench at UNC than turn around his hometown university, where he would be the garuanteed starter? It’s UNC football – not Notre Dame, Michigan, Florida, LSU. If you can’t get some of your best talent to commit, then what are they playing with?
I say hire the former offensive coordinater from USC who then went to the Titans (or someone along those lines). Someone with a name behind them. “Hey, this guy was at USC and the NFL.” That would draw some attention from recruits.
Guys – couldn’t agree more. It has to start with recruiting and bringing a energetic coach. Right now, all they have to sell is the chance to play Division I football, live in Siberia and play for a school that is rich in tradition – just hasn’t won in awhile. Who couldn’t sell that? 🙂
Reynell – I agree with you. If you can’t get the cream of the crop from your neighborhoods, who the hell are you going to convince to come in from outside the neighborhood.?
I agree with Nick Saban – pipe dream. Skip Holtz – Reynell I think you are selling the SU short. East Carolina is well East Carolina – no offense. But you are talking about a school that has a long history of great football. I think the chance of bringing a program like that back to the forefront would appeal to alot of coaches.
Norm Chow – you are thinking about. I also put Steve Sarkisian in the mix, along with Turner Gill. He is coaching at University of Buffalo right now, has an idea of the talent in New York and knows what it is to play for a major powerhouse – Nebraska. Now that I say it – I think he is the IDEAL candidate. Alright I have made the decision for SU – Greg Robinson – gone and the new coach – Turner Gill. You heard it first on the Clipboard – Turner Gill.
Losses to Northwestern and Akron and then a thrashing by Penn State. It is like having your wisdom teeth chipped at with an ice pick for 2 weeks and then having someone come in with a sledgehammer to finish the job. Wham!!
Ooooh – Turner Gill would be a great choice.
Turner Gill has taken a NOTHING program and made it relevant- Greg Robinson has flushed a relevant program down the toilet to nothingness. I agree- Syracuse must act now to have an opportunity at the next class of recruits.