Spring Break
The Daily OrangeFB | Clayton: Syracuse facing little room for error in coming months
By John Clayton
Posted: 12/2/08, 3:40 AM EST Section: Sports
CINCINNATI - Syracuse's season was over long before the seconds melted away at Nippert Stadium Saturday and Greg Robinson ran off the field in his blue Syracuse polo for the final time.
Sure, in a literal sense, the Orange's year ended Saturday. There will be no more Syracuse football in 2008. Another corps of seniors donned Syracuse jerseys for a final time, their college careers dragging to an unceremonious end. And, of course, Robinson watched the final 60 minutes of his Orange coaching career erode away, soured by the 30-10 beating Syracuse received by the BCS-bound Bearcats.
But this season was over long ago. It's seemed oh-so-obvious for some time exactly how this season would play out. Syracuse would sputter along, maybe even win a game here or there. Robinson would eventually lose a job he probably should have lost a year ago.
Syracuse has been stuck in the football form of purgatory the last two weeks - playing meaningless games for a lame-duck coach. You could argue they've been doing so for an entire season. The Notre Dame win two weeks ago won't have any lingering lift on this program, just like Saturday's loss will be quickly forgotten.
In that sense, Saturday's thrashing was much more a beginning than it was an end. A chance for the Orange to shift out of the neutral gear it's been stuck in since Robinson was retained last November.
That's the good news. But with any coaching change comes uncertainty. The stakes are even higher for Syracuse, a football team mired in chaos the past few years with seemingly no easy way back to prominence.
Never in recent memory has Syracuse been so without direction, so lost at sea without a paddle or an idea where to go. There have been lean years, sure. But nothing as barren as this. There is no direction. No infrastructure, it seems, for success.
All that needs to change in 12 weeks. In that time, a new head coach will be plucked to begin this reclamation project. A whole new coaching staff will be hired. Some semblance of a recruiting class will need to be salvaged to form the base for SU's eventual revival. Some current players will transfer or leave. Others will be convinced to stay.
Sure, in a literal sense, the Orange's year ended Saturday. There will be no more Syracuse football in 2008. Another corps of seniors donned Syracuse jerseys for a final time, their college careers dragging to an unceremonious end. And, of course, Robinson watched the final 60 minutes of his Orange coaching career erode away, soured by the 30-10 beating Syracuse received by the BCS-bound Bearcats.
But this season was over long ago. It's seemed oh-so-obvious for some time exactly how this season would play out. Syracuse would sputter along, maybe even win a game here or there. Robinson would eventually lose a job he probably should have lost a year ago.
Syracuse has been stuck in the football form of purgatory the last two weeks - playing meaningless games for a lame-duck coach. You could argue they've been doing so for an entire season. The Notre Dame win two weeks ago won't have any lingering lift on this program, just like Saturday's loss will be quickly forgotten.
In that sense, Saturday's thrashing was much more a beginning than it was an end. A chance for the Orange to shift out of the neutral gear it's been stuck in since Robinson was retained last November.
That's the good news. But with any coaching change comes uncertainty. The stakes are even higher for Syracuse, a football team mired in chaos the past few years with seemingly no easy way back to prominence.
Never in recent memory has Syracuse been so without direction, so lost at sea without a paddle or an idea where to go. There have been lean years, sure. But nothing as barren as this. There is no direction. No infrastructure, it seems, for success.
All that needs to change in 12 weeks. In that time, a new head coach will be plucked to begin this reclamation project. A whole new coaching staff will be hired. Some semblance of a recruiting class will need to be salvaged to form the base for SU's eventual revival. Some current players will transfer or leave. Others will be convinced to stay.
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