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The Daily OrangeFB | SU players relieved to see end to month-long coaching search
By John Clayton
Posted: 12/12/08, 7:56 PM EST Section: Sports
As Doug Marrone stood and spoke to a packed auditorium Friday, the three Syracuse players sat to his left, leaning forward and staring up at their new head coach.
The trio - from left to right, junior defensive tackle Art Jones, sophomore center Jim McKenzie and sophomore guard Ryan Bartholomew - had spent the last two weeks in limbo, desperate for any shred of evidence as to who their new head coach would be.
In Marrone, they and their SU teammates finally had an answer. Even if it wasn't the one they expected.
"That's not who I thought was going to get picked," Jones said, referring to Marrone. "… I don't know much about him, but I'm going to do my research after this.
"It's a big relief. Just to get away from all this stuff, and know who's going to be your coach. It's just a little nerve wracking."
Marrone was introduced as the 28th head coach in Syracuse football history Friday, providing welcome closure a to a 26-day coaching search that started Nov. 16, when it was announced Greg Robinson would not return. Marrone, a former guard at Syracuse and the current offensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints, inherits a group of current players that has never been part of a winning season - the Orange went a combined 10-37 in four years under Robinson.
Winning with this crop of Syracuse players would seem a tall task. But it's one Marrone seemed determined to accomplish.
"We need to make sure the players here understand that we are not in a rebuilding process," Marrone said. "We are not in a rebuilding process. We are in the process of rejuvenating this program with the players we have here. We are in the process of going out and getting the best players we can in and around the state. And we are in the process of winning football games."
Marrone's commitment to winning quickly seemed to resonate with the Syracuse players, who met with Marrone for the first time Friday morning. Several - including junior wide receiver Lavar Lobdell and sophomore defensive end Anthony Perkins - were scattered throughout the stuffed auditorium at the Iocolano-Petty Football Complex.
The trio - from left to right, junior defensive tackle Art Jones, sophomore center Jim McKenzie and sophomore guard Ryan Bartholomew - had spent the last two weeks in limbo, desperate for any shred of evidence as to who their new head coach would be.
In Marrone, they and their SU teammates finally had an answer. Even if it wasn't the one they expected.
"That's not who I thought was going to get picked," Jones said, referring to Marrone. "… I don't know much about him, but I'm going to do my research after this.
"It's a big relief. Just to get away from all this stuff, and know who's going to be your coach. It's just a little nerve wracking."
Marrone was introduced as the 28th head coach in Syracuse football history Friday, providing welcome closure a to a 26-day coaching search that started Nov. 16, when it was announced Greg Robinson would not return. Marrone, a former guard at Syracuse and the current offensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints, inherits a group of current players that has never been part of a winning season - the Orange went a combined 10-37 in four years under Robinson.
Winning with this crop of Syracuse players would seem a tall task. But it's one Marrone seemed determined to accomplish.
"We need to make sure the players here understand that we are not in a rebuilding process," Marrone said. "We are not in a rebuilding process. We are in the process of rejuvenating this program with the players we have here. We are in the process of going out and getting the best players we can in and around the state. And we are in the process of winning football games."
Marrone's commitment to winning quickly seemed to resonate with the Syracuse players, who met with Marrone for the first time Friday morning. Several - including junior wide receiver Lavar Lobdell and sophomore defensive end Anthony Perkins - were scattered throughout the stuffed auditorium at the Iocolano-Petty Football Complex.
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