Syracuse Fires Coach | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Syracuse Fires Coach

Truth is the only program that has upgraded by moving from the BE has been Louisville, even a AD level meltdown hasn't hurt them that badly. We'll see how WV does in a watered down B12. All of the northeast schools have become irrelevant, but at least they are flush with cash. UConn would be better off joining them. At least we could still be best among that group. I think a Hurley led UConn/ACC program would do just fine in the ACC.
I'd throw Cincy in this mix. They just went the hard way yet had success that they might not reach in the Big 12. Reaching the CFP was insane and good.for them.
 
Why? Is rational discussion prohibited on the football board?
If you want to pretend to be rational I'll throw in 2 things. The present and future of CFB is mostly about Coaching and Money (NIL and Facilities). The other filter is clearly league affiliation. Geography is just a convenient manufactured excuse designed to ignore all of the actual metrics involved because it's the one thing we can't change. Serves the fatalist viewpoint perfectly.
 
So all we need to do is hire better coaches and recruit better players? So then why aren’t the northeastern FBS schools (like Boston College, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and Rutgers) doing those things?
Have you been living in a cave? Yes they have. Syracuse is, as they just fired Babers. BC fired Addazio after 7 years. Rutgers already has an excellent head coach in Greg Schiano (After firing Ash in 2019) and an excellent OC in Joe Harasymiak. That being said, pulling Rutgers out of the B1G bottom has been a tough task for anyone, but this past season Rutgers, for the first time in years showed some signs of life.
 
Point of clarification- when Edsall bolted, Maryland was in the ACC.
Right but he had gotten things turned around until the B10. Then he and Maryland found that was a different beast from the ACC.
 
Penn State has the same problem that everyone other than Alabama has had in the SEC. Can't get over the hump. The SEC has rotated who the "2nd" best team is - or now maybe Georgia has taken the mantle. But when you have 1-2 juggernaut programs it is tough being the 3rd or 4th best program. Now in the SEC anyone that isn't Alabama / Georgia is playing for 3rd place.

This will make the playoff interesting though - because now these 3rd place teams have a chance at a playoff bid - and you never know what happens.
 
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“explain” Texas? I have no idea why Texas has declined so much, but I wasn’t arguing that programs in other parts of the country would never change.

My point was that Eastern football hasn’t been strong, on the national level, for decades, and despite the onset of the FBS playoff system (and accompanying millions of dollars), there’s little reason to believe things will improve. So why do we believe that UConn can, somehow, succeed in producing a consistently competitive program?

[Or is our real goal just to be like BC and Syracuse? Get into the ACC, stack up enough wins every year, by scheduling FCS teams and beating the other second-tier teams in the conference, to become bowl-eligible, and get invited to the Myrtle Beach Bowl?]
Our goal is to be a consistently competitive national program. When you consider that there have been just 13 different teams to make the CFP, out of 36 potential slots, getting to that point is a serious stretch. And if We assume that is somewhat accurate in reflecting the top teams, getting there consistently is a pretty high bar for, well maybe 110 of the 135ish D1 programs. I mean this year it is fairly likely that an unbeaten Washington won’t get there. I get that a 12 team tournament is in the offing, but let’s not kid ourselves. It will be biased toward the SEC and Big 10. But if we were to be in the ACC, I would want to compete for a bid on a league championship on a regular basis. Be in the conversation. UConn is different from BC and Syracuse. From facilities to fans to location. And it isn’t like we reject guys for academic standards any more. We aren’t the SEC where as Mike Francesca one put it, you can get a tree into those schools, but we don’t have the same standards as Harvard for athletes either. You can play and the coaches want you, we will most likely accept you. If we have to take the occasional tree that might be arranged too
 
My apologies to those offended by my repeatedly posting this opinion, but this exemplifies the futility of our continuing push to “upgrade” the program, so we can join the [fill-in the blank: ACC, Big 10, etc.]. College football in the Northeast (Syracuse, BC, Pitt, Rutgers, Temple, and UConn) cannot consistently compete on a national level.

Even Penn State, long the most dominant program in the Northeast, is barely hanging on. Despite membership in the Big 10, their goal now is simply a top 10-15 ranking and bowl eligibility. They haven’t finished a season ranked in the top 5 since 2005, they’re currently ranked #12, and barring a lot of luck, that means they’ll have finished in the top 10 only four times in the past 10 years.

For the other FBS wanna-be powerhouses in the Northeast, the prospects are bleak.

 
Have you been living in a cave? Yes they have. Syracuse is, as they just fired Babers. BC fired Addazio after 7 years. Rutgers already has an excellent head coach in Greg Schiano (After firing Ash in 2019) and an excellent OC in Joe Harasymiak. That being said, pulling Rutgers out of the B1G bottom has been a tough task for anyone, but this past season Rutgers, for the first time in years showed some signs of life.
But that’s my point! Syracuse hired Babers 7 years ago, after his success at Bowling Green, thinking he was going to revitalize the program…but he didn’t.
 
And Wisconsin moved on from Chryst in favor of Fickell - and while I still believe it was a good move - he has a lot to prove after barely making a bowl. Being 2nd or 3rd tier in a major conference is not easy.
 
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Some points made in Hale's article that may be apropos to UConn and future with football..

Six weeks ago, Babers was asked about Syracuse's depth amid rising injury attrition, and he offered a blunt answer.
"It's the same old thing: Depth is gone," Babers said. "Our depth is in the transfer portal. You know how many guys we lost. You know what schools they play at. Schools like us, we're not going to have a lot of depth because it gets bought away."
 
And Wisconsin moved on from Chryst in favor of Fickell - and while I still believe it was a good move - he has a lot to prove after barely making a bowl. Being 2nd or 3rd tier in a major conference is not easy.
Especially Wisconsin. Is Barry Alvarez still the AD? Hmmmm…..
 
You think the dismal image of Northeast football is doomed in perpetuity? So what’s the problem in the Northeast? The weather?.No better in the Midwest. The facilities? We’ve all had them upgraded. So what’s the problem? Indifference? Lack of a football-centric culture? A dearth of deep pocketed donors to fill the NIL gap?
Nothing makes you more interesting than a star at QB, (grabbing a benched Arch Manning) (or having a player date a celebrity!)— or hiring a head coach that moves the needle. As exhibit A, I give you Messrs. Babers, Hafley and Mora. On balance you think anyone really cares? No one cares.
But what if Nick Saban took the UConn job, Kirby Smart, the Syracuse job, and Jim Harbaugh, the BC job. No better results? No better players? No better NIL? No better TV slots?
It ain’t easy, and none of those three coaches is walking through the door, but it’s not impossible. Syracuse is up next. They need a big time hire.



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the problem is the northeast schools all put themselves under somebody else's frame. They were never going to service the northeast schools.
What does this mean "they were never going to service the northeast schools"?
 
Why? Is rational discussion prohibited on the football board?
What's the proposal then? Eliminate football or downgrade to FCS, in either case so we're hopefully then permanently stuck in the Big East?
 
What's the proposal then? Eliminate football or downgrade to FCS, in either case so we're hopefully then permanently stuck in the Big East?
The proposal is to keep trying. Big difference between $3 or $4 million a year from the Big East and $30 or $40 million a year from the Big 12, ACC or B1G.
 
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The proposal is to keep trying. Big difference between $3 or $4 million a year from the Big East and $30 or $40 million a year from the Big 12, ACC or B1G.
thank you - was wondering what the fellow that started this whole thread was proposing since he clearly has no faith in UConn.
 
My apologies to those offended by my repeatedly posting this opinion, but this exemplifies the futility of our continuing push to “upgrade” the program, so we can join the [fill-in the blank: ACC, Big 10, etc.]. College football in the Northeast (Syracuse, BC, Pitt, Rutgers, Temple, and UConn) cannot consistently compete on a national level.

Even Penn State, long the most dominant program in the Northeast, is barely hanging on. Despite membership in the Big 10, their goal now is simply a top 10-15 ranking and bowl eligibility. They haven’t finished a season ranked in the top 5 since 2005, they’re currently ranked #12, and barring a lot of luck, that means they’ll have finished in the top 10 only four times in the past 10 years.

For the other FBS wanna-be powerhouses in the Northeast, the prospects are bleak.


I remember when the Courant suggested UConn basketball leaving the Big East because we would NEVER be able to compete in tat conference. But you make a good point.

There are two kinds of people. Historians and Pioneers. One looks backwards and one looks forward.
 
The bar is quite low here for UConn football: (1) Compete for a bowl game in most seasons; (2) get 25k to the Rent; and (3) Don't embarrass the University. I suppose that the expectations are much higher at Syracuse based on their longer football tradition and tv revenue. We left the American because we determined that basketball success at the highest level was more important than pursuing Football in a mediocre conference. It was the correct decision.
 
The bar is quite low here for UConn football: (1) Compete for a bowl game in most seasons; (2) get 25k to the Rent; and (3) Don't embarrass the University. I suppose that the expectations are much higher at Syracuse based on their longer football tradition and tv revenue. We left the American because we determined that basketball success at the highest level was more important than pursuing Football in a mediocre conference. It was the correct decision.
It was until it isn’t. And that could well be the next media deal. You know we could have been equally successful in the AAC, right? Houston has been to a Final Four. Cincinnati has been to the CFP. Had we gone all in like they did instead of whining woe-is-me we’d have been fine. And most likely in the B12 now.
 
Sure, that’s all that 50 or 60 other head coaches need, right?

And don’t forget that HCRE 1.0 ended in 2010, and that we were then in the BE, which was never really a “major” football conference (as evidenced by our 48-20 beatdown by Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, ending the term of HCRE 1.0).
Of course, it was major football conference. Was the ACC not considered a major conference when VaTech lost to Stamford in the Orange Bow 40-12 that same year? Love supposed fans of UConn football who are somehow dismissive of this accomplishment, done in relatively short fashion. Same for those who feel that UConn backed into the invite as the Big East representative.
 
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the ACC is very average. If Cuse can hire the right guy, they def can be very good at football.
 
Of course, it was major football conference. Was the ACC not considered a major conference when VaTech lost to Stamford in the Orange Bow 40-12 that same year? Love supposed fans of UConn football who are somehow dismissive of this accomplishment, done in relatively short fashion. Same for those who feel that UConn backed into the invite as the Big East representative.
Stamford High went to the Orange Bowl? I know back in the late 50’s and early 60’s Stamford High was ranked nationally, but the Orange Bowl???
 
the ACC is very average. If Cuse can hire the right guy, they def can be very good at football.
They could probably lure Joe H away from Rutgers, but we need a good DC too.
 
Every premise of every “we are doomed” argument in this thread is wrong. NIL and the Transfer Portal are net positives for UConn. TV revenue is going to change dramatically, unless you think cable is making a comeback.

I don’t know if UConn football will emerge a winner or not, but I can promise everyone that college football will look very different 10 years from now than it does now.
 
Some points made in Hale's article that may be apropos to UConn and future with football..

Six weeks ago, Babers was asked about Syracuse's depth amid rising injury attrition, and he offered a blunt answer.
"It's the same old thing: Depth is gone," Babers said. "Our depth is in the transfer portal. You know how many guys we lost. You know what schools they play at. Schools like us, we're not going to have a lot of depth because it gets bought away."
Seems to be a common theme:

 
I think Babers is a pretty good coach and probably did as well as anyone is ever going to do at Syracuse going forward. Orange fans want and expect a top 25 program and that just is not going to happen in this present era of college football.
 
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