The outsiders don't understand what Marrone has meant to us. They see that he is 25-25 in 4 years at the school and are unimpressed. They see that we haven't produced that many NFL pros in recent years, though Chandler Jones is a star in the making for New England. They see a team that has won the same bowl game twice in 3 years. They don't get it.
When I got to Syracuse in 2004, our football team was coached by Paul Pasqualoni, who had coached Donovan McNabb, Dwight Freeney and others. We went 6-6 and lost to Calvin Johnson and Georgia Tech in the Champ Sports Bowl. We had the dubious honor of being the first team in NCAA history to allow 51 points in both their opener (51-0 loss to Kyle Orton and Purdue) and our bowl game (51-14 loss). We decided to replace Coach P after that year with Greg Robinson.
Under Robinson, Cuse promptly went 1-10 in 2005. Our only win came over the University at Buffalo. In '06 we won 4 games and thought, for a brief second, that our program was improving. However we only won 2 games in '07 and 3 games in '08. We were awful. We were the worst team in the Big East. Syracuse University, the school that produced Jim Brown, Art Monk, Floyd Little, Larry Csonka, Marvin Harrison and so many others, was one of the worst programs in the entire NCAA. That's what Doug Marrone, then New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator and a Syracuse alum, inherited in 2009.
So, to come into that atmosphere and culture of losing and to go to bowl games in 2 of 4 seasons is quite remarkable. He rebuilt the program into something fairly respectable. We had a team that could compete with almost any team in the country, even if we didn't win. The job he did this year, when Syracuse had one of the hardest out of conference schedules in the NCAA, was excellent. He was able to turn a 2-4 team into the 8-5 Pinstripe Bowl Champions.
Yes, we will miss Doug Marrone. We now head into a new conference without a leader. We are losing our QB, left tackle, 2 best wideouts, defensive captain, and head coach. The end of the Doug Marrone Era is coming at a terrible time for Syracuse, and a great time for Marrone. We do wish him the best, honestly. But it still stings.
Now, what will Marrone do with the Buffalo Bills? Well, they need a ton of help on both sides of the ball. Let's say that they decide to go defense with the #8 pick in the draft. They could take it on a great middle linebacker like Notre Dame's Manti Te'o. That would give them their best defender since London Fletcher left for DC. Their biggest need on offense is quarterback, and Doug Marrone's college QB may be available at the 41st pick. Could he bring Ryan Nassib in to take over from Ryan Fitzpatrick? He already knows the system, and they have playmakers in place in CJ Spiller, Stevie Johnson and Scott Chandler. To help shore up that offensive line, Marrone could bring in Justin Pugh from Syracuse, who is the #7 tackle according to ESPN. Not a bad pickup. Those are just some ideas.
Best of luck to you Doug Marrone. We wish you nothing but success. Hopefully you can take the Bills back to the promised land and make all of us fellow alumni proud.
Now... who the hell is going to coach our football team?
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