As Syracuse basketball dances into the Sweet 16  against the Hoosiers, some may have been distracted that spring practice is underway for SU football. The Orange carries momentum into Manley Field House with a tremendous win in the Pinstripe Bowl and the construction of a solid 2013 recruiting class.Syracuse is four practices deep into its spring session, and the clear difference between Doug Marrone and Scott Shafer’s approach is energy. The liveliness and excitement is extremely high. Shafer has elected to follow in The Dougie’s footsteps in two ways: the majority of spring practices are closed from the fans and media. He also laid a heavy hand on nonsense within the program. Two players were dismissed from the team before Shafer ever coached his first game.
Shafer has elected two practices to be open to the public prior to April 20th‚Äôs Spring Game at the Carrier Dome. It’s a different vibe this March because Syracuse enters on a big finish down the stretch, not a five-game losing streak. Marrone also didn‚Äôt have the luxury Shafer has with the move to the ACC adding spark to a highly motivated, younger group of players. With Marrone out, Shafer looks to establish his own identity. He recapped last Tuesday‚Äôs first practice of the season:
“First off, I like the way the kids came out. I like their attitude and the approach they had when they walked out on the football field. There were a lot of sloppy things and things we need to work on. I like the effort and I like the approach the kids took. I like the way that they tried to respond to the coaches as they were getting coached hard at time. We got day one in. All in all, I feel good about day one.”
Responding to a new coaching staff will be key. Will the Orange have the same reaction to a new group of coaches, all who are getting their taste of the ACC?
“It was great. It was a blast. I really enjoyed it. It was fun to get back down and spend some time with the offense. It was extremely enjoyable to be right behind the quarterbacks and look at things from a different perspective. Whenever I started missing my defensive guys, I ran over to that sideline and got a little bit of this and a little bit of that.”
The offense will be in the crosshairs all season. Not only was the attack humming by the end of last year with Ryan Nassib, but there’s a whole new play-caller in town. How will George McDonald’s offense differ from the quick tempo one of his predecessor? And who will lead the offense under center?
“We have a new group of coaches that are meshing together. A lot of us have worked together so that will be good. Now it will just be the dynamic of how the flow of the practice works. How the flow of going to practice to a meeting situation and the dynamics of the new personalities meshing, just like any group would take time to get those personalities to mesh. That’s what makes it so much fun ‚Äì all those firsts. You want to try and do the best you can with each first and each opportunity that’s a new one.”
Another underrrated storyline. How will this new staff work together? We know it can take time for the players to bond with the coaches and take their direction. But the coaches are a team as well, and need to be familiar with each other’s tendencies.
“You always like to finish the season on a high note and that Pinstripe Bowl was a great win for us with the way the kids played. But, every season is a new season too so you have to careful. You look at momentum. Usually momentum is based on guys that won those games for you and won those situations. A lot of those guys are gone so we are looking for new guys to create a new momentum as we inch our way toward Penn State.”
Can the Orange capitalize on that momentum? Compared to the even keel and conservative Marrone, Shafer was upbeat and pumped from his opening presser. Syracuse’s hoops season is still underway, but soon the spotlight shifts back to football, and Shafer’s troops are already in gear.
Posted: Brendan Glasheen
13 responses to “Lay of the Land: Shafer’s New Staff Tries to Set Groundwork During Spring Ball”
@Brendan Glasheen;
I discovered a month ago that we had offered a big powerful RB out of Chicago Ill a scholarship. It’s also been rumored that more recruits will be on campus this weekend,being it Easter weekend,if this is true,then is 6’0″ 180 lb Matt Domer out of Mount Carmel HS the person that everyone is talking about?
@Russell MacEachern;
When we talked about some of the recruits earlier Russell that Syracuse was going after out of New Jersey,I was wondering if you had any new information to share with us about the following recruits?
6’2″ 180 lb. CB Juwann Winfree out of Dwight Marrow HS Englewood NJ. or
6’3″ 235 DE Kurt Holuba out of Bergen Catholic HS Oradell NJ.
Since the last post I know that Coach Shafer has added more to the list from the NJ area that they are going after.
Some info here is dated but finally it comes. Come on from, who looks the best at QB, to new recruits, to who’s showing up at practice, to injuries, to who gone, to whats going on with the new facilities?? There’s plenty out there that many sites just don’t want to cover. But thanks for syracusefan.com your really a savior!! They do their best to keep us up to date on SUFB!! They seem to get it. They cover all the major men’s sports at one time.
@ Terry
syracusefan is great. I dont know if you have seen the chart they have on there for SUBB recruiting.. wish they had one for FB too. Its great.
Im wondering if the football teams with its newfound secrecy has plans bigger than even we hoped for?Invading Atlanta?Normandy?lol…well I hope they at least let some local friendly press in to let us fans know whats going on,who looks improved and other matters of interest!!With last years nice finish we can’t complain much yet as long as we get improved results but Im not a big fan of invisible practices.
Andrew they do have a SUFB recruiting site!! And its very informative to!! I see that the Wheatley kid is getting offers already too. I’m guessing Clemson will be his choice. Why??? Clemson just got a brand new sparkling indoor facilities that’s why. I saw and read about Clemson new facilities. They are impressive!! Oh yeah SU “might” get one of those, but since SUBB is in play now SU fans really don’t know where the Facilities really stand. Local sources feel no need to let the fans know how the facilities are moving along!! Guess its not that important!! Oh well??
Ron,I think AJ Longs cousin who had Mich and RU at the top of his list may come here!!He’s from Bethlehem,Pa Liberty Hs and a 4* wr whose 6’3″ 190 and wants to play with his cousin according to AJ?keep ur fingers crossed cause he’d be a great steal!!I think his name is Kevin Williams!!
That other site is informative but a small element there don’t like anyone disagreeing or having opinions of their own!!I recommend it if u like quick and timely updates on all things SU related!!
Good read guys… thanx!
Hey Dipper,so funny watching ESpin fuming over losing control of the NY/NJ media market to the B1G trying to make a mountain out of a molehill..lol..their obviously furious…the rest of the country is starting to realize what jokes they are!!
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