Spring Break
The Daily OrangeWhy Saturday will be Paul Pasqualoni's last game at Syracuse
By Chico Harlan
Posted: 12/5/03, 3:08 AM EST Section: Sports
Crouthamel stamped it clearly, on letterhead paper. He expects the football program to finish regularly among the top three teams in the Big East conference; he wants the Orangemen to earn a Top 25 ranking in the season-ending polls; he asks for high graduation rates; and lastly, he demands frequent participation in bowls, including, every so often, a Bowl Championship Series game.
Academically, Pasqualoni does an admirable job. He also dresses with impeccable style, as he did last Monday when he matched a blue-striped Ralph Lauren shirt with a soft yellow tie. Beyond those two standards, Pasqualoni's successor should be able to outdo Pasqualoni in almost every category.
Since 1997, Syracuse has exceeded the seven-win mark only once. Even then, in 2001, it participated in the unremarkable Insight.com Bowl. In the last seven years - eight, once this season concludes - the Orangemen will have finished the season in the AP's Top 25 four times. But only once have they been ranked higher than 20th.
The numbers add up to an overwhelming sentiment against Pasqualoni. "Coach P Must Go," message board posters and talk show callers cry. "Coach P Must Go," a website with that very address claims. "Coach P Must Go," the evidence says. The next time SU's well-dressed coach reaches into his wardrobe, it should be in preparation for a job interview.
Pasqualoni, of course, has not lost his ability to coach, nor has he lost his ability to work hard. "We have played very hard," Pasqualoni said to open his press conference. Later: "We have tried very hard." Again: "We have worked this year as hard as we have ever worked." And again: "[The losing] doesn't mean the kids haven't played hard."
The Orangemen, both their players and staff members, all contribute energy to match their coach, who arrives most days to the office at 7 a.m. and smiles if he can get six hours of sleep. Sometimes, however, hard work alone doesn't equate to success.
Perhaps SU's talent level has decreased, even if the difference is barely discernible. (Early this year, high school quarterback Joe Dailey, now at Nebraska, retracted his commitment to SU, further tainting SU's football reputation.) Perhaps the team's discipline has wavered. (Team leaders like Walter Reyes and Rich Scanlon should never, under any circumstances, pursue altercations in the stands, as they did after the recent Rutgers loss.) Perhaps Pasqualoni and the Orangemen have simply lost their allure. (The Carrier Dome, now bereft of novelty, isn't the gem recruiting tool it used to be.)
Academically, Pasqualoni does an admirable job. He also dresses with impeccable style, as he did last Monday when he matched a blue-striped Ralph Lauren shirt with a soft yellow tie. Beyond those two standards, Pasqualoni's successor should be able to outdo Pasqualoni in almost every category.
Since 1997, Syracuse has exceeded the seven-win mark only once. Even then, in 2001, it participated in the unremarkable Insight.com Bowl. In the last seven years - eight, once this season concludes - the Orangemen will have finished the season in the AP's Top 25 four times. But only once have they been ranked higher than 20th.
The numbers add up to an overwhelming sentiment against Pasqualoni. "Coach P Must Go," message board posters and talk show callers cry. "Coach P Must Go," a website with that very address claims. "Coach P Must Go," the evidence says. The next time SU's well-dressed coach reaches into his wardrobe, it should be in preparation for a job interview.
Pasqualoni, of course, has not lost his ability to coach, nor has he lost his ability to work hard. "We have played very hard," Pasqualoni said to open his press conference. Later: "We have tried very hard." Again: "We have worked this year as hard as we have ever worked." And again: "[The losing] doesn't mean the kids haven't played hard."
The Orangemen, both their players and staff members, all contribute energy to match their coach, who arrives most days to the office at 7 a.m. and smiles if he can get six hours of sleep. Sometimes, however, hard work alone doesn't equate to success.
Perhaps SU's talent level has decreased, even if the difference is barely discernible. (Early this year, high school quarterback Joe Dailey, now at Nebraska, retracted his commitment to SU, further tainting SU's football reputation.) Perhaps the team's discipline has wavered. (Team leaders like Walter Reyes and Rich Scanlon should never, under any circumstances, pursue altercations in the stands, as they did after the recent Rutgers loss.) Perhaps Pasqualoni and the Orangemen have simply lost their allure. (The Carrier Dome, now bereft of novelty, isn't the gem recruiting tool it used to be.)
