For those calling for head coach Scott Shafer’s head, here’s a plea: just wait for it.  Yesterday’s loss to Virginia is just as hard to think about as it was to watch, and seeing the Orange let the game slip away in the final minutes of the fourth quarter and eventually the third overtime period was painful.
But, in college sports, remember that coaching is two-fold.  And as good as former head coach Doug Marrone was at maximizing talent on the field, Scott Shafer might be a better recruiter than his predecessor.  In Marrone’s final year, he had a great roster to work with, but as soon as he joined the Buffalo Bills staff, Shafer was forced to use Marrone’s players.  Now, with Shafer finally having a roster of young talent, Syracuse is showing promise.
The Orange roster is ripe with young talent: Eric Dungey a true freshman, Erv Phillips a sophomore, Dontae Strickland and Jordan Fredericks, two true freshmen running backs, Steve Ishmael a sophomore, Parris Bennett and Zaire Franklin, two sophomore linebackers.  Shafer may not be the best at coaching on the field, but the fact of the matter is in college sports, recruiting is half of the battle.
Now, that’s not to say that on-the-field product isn’t important, because it’s most definitely the most important part of being a college head coach.  But, Shafer is only in his second full season at the helm and it would be ludicrous to expect the team to transition without growing pains.  Unfortunately, the growing pains are more glaring when a new coach is paired with such a young roster.
The Orange probably will not see a bowl game this year after three straight losses and two crushing defeats to USF and UVA, but there is reason for hope.  It would be ludicrous to fire Shafer after just two seasons.  Look at the young talent he has already put on the field, and realize that in two years, these guys will be seasoned upperclassmen.  Syracuse football will find it’s way to a bowl again, and it may be sooner rather than later.
When watching the game, some of Shafer‚Äôs decisions are infuriating.¬† Simple things like not calling a timeout when Virginia was forced to punt with 35 seconds left even leaves me scratching my head.¬† But, at the same time, the Orange is essentially two bad defensive penalties away from having five wins.¬† Shafer makes some infuriating decisions, but it can’t all be blamed on him.
What are the alternatives?  The Orange could hire a new head coach, but finding a better coach than Shafer probably isn’t in the school’s budget.  And bringing in a new coach is ultimately setting the program back to square one, which is where Shafer entered from two seasons ago.
5 responses to “Firing Shafer?¬† Probably a Bad Idea.”
OK I agree about not fring ShafferBUT not about some assistant coaches namely th OLtwo seasons will be special forus i.fans and or the secondary coachAs matter of fact the youth of THIS TEAM combined about nex season’s influx of talenmakes me think that the NEXT two seasons will be special for the fans and careers of both Shafer AND Coyle. In the mean time the OLMUST be looked at for the right players in the right spots on the line e,g Palmer goes to RG.Frehman Adams gets coached at the OT spot. Trudo to left OG.
Your arguments make no sense. First of all, Shafer should be fired because he’s a terrible coach. Secondly, one of the biggest reasons we continue to lose is because of Defense; the site of the ball that Shafer was the Coordinator of for 4 years under Marrone. Saying that he is just starting to get “his players” is completely illogical.
Additionally, Shafer was handed a team that had just clobbered WVU in the Pinstripe Bowl. Yes, they lost a bunch of players on offense to graduation, but they still had enough talent to win another bowl game.
As for recruiting, everyone (myself included) thought that recruiting would drop-off precipitously after McDonald was demoted (and later quit) and yet it didn’t. If Shafer posts another sub-.500 season it will be that much more difficult to tell recruits to come to Syracuse.
Shafer sucks as a game day coach and has been getting pwned by other coaches for 2.5 years. If Syracuse can get a better coach then they need to do so and not worry about upsetting some kid’s feelings. They need to worry about upsetting the season ticket holders and the people who were just starting to get accustomed to winning games and going to bowl games.
http://atlanticcoastconfidential.com/2015/10/18/soft-nosed-scott-shafer/
http://atlanticcoastconfidential.com/2015/10/18/scott-shafer-squarely-on-the-hot-seat/
As hard as it is with the win/loss record watching an SU game is now fun and the young talent is there. Two more improved recruiting classes and you will love Shafer.
How about a compromise..Keep SS and fire Lester…He is an absolute disaster..He is running plays which were designed for Hunt who couldn’t pas for more than twenty yards in the air..a fullback playing quarterback..wit a freshman who has already gotten one concussion..He is running a triple option which no one but UGA is running in D1 ..and the UGA coaches are catching major criticism for doing so..Frustrated with SS? How about a deep drop and a bizarre option from the eleven two games ago?How about a deep drop and some sort of option while within three feet of the goal in the last game?How about whining in every presser about his QB’s freshman mistakes when his own freshman mistakes are leading us to another 3/9..If you’re right about our recruits, why were we dead last in ranking in the ACC last year and close to it this year..See any four or five stars in either class?
all last summer we the fans were told by the local media that Tim Lester was putting a new offense together where he was going to use the tight ends more. I don’t know about you but I haven’t seen to much of the tight ends in any game. For all of us that watched the game on Saturday did notice that Dungey passed the ball frequently in the first half and moved the ball down field pretty easily. Then it seemed that Lester went away from the pass and tried running the ball. I know that they’re trying to equalize the number of plays between running and passing but come on it looked like the middle was wide open all day long,why not throw to a tight end over the middle or to Ishmael,Phillips,Fredericks,or Estime in the open field.
I feel Syracuse’s offense is becoming to predictable. I thought Lester was going to open it up more, I suggest he starts this Saturday against Pittsburgh. I agree getting rid of Scott Shafer would be a huge mistake. If he is let go now all anyone has to do is go back to when Gross fired Pasqualoni and understand that we lose all of the 2016 recruits including that 5* Chris Clark and maybe some of those young studs that’s that’s playing now for the Orangemen. The last 15 years have been a living hell, are you all ready to sink deeper into the abyss that Cantor-Gross-Robinson gave us? lets give Shafer more time, I honestly believe that he’s the man that will change the program around. One more thing to remember is that we still have some of Marrones players left on the team. let’s wait and see what happens when this team is made up totally of Shafers recruits.