When Scott Shafer defended his decision to not allow Pitt to score in the waning minutes of Saturday’s loss I had a familiar feeling. He’s in over his head leading this program. By now you know the situation: Syracuse and Pitt tied at 20, Panthers first down at the 18, with 1:39 remaining.
Had SU let Pitt score there, the Orange get the ball back with a chance to tie with a minute and a half. Instead, the Panthers drained clock, kicked the chippy, and the Orange never saw the football again.
It wasn’t just the strategy that bothered me. It was the rationale:
“I just don’t feel like throwing in the towel is the way to teach young people how to live their lives through football,” Shafer said. “That’s teaching them how to quit.”
You want to make the argument a fumble could happen on any play? Okay. Or that college kickers are anything but a sure bet so force them to kick it? Fine. But life lessons are how you’re deciding clock and game management? That’s just seems ridiculous.
Shafer’s “don’t give up, keep fighting, be hard-nosed” mentalty is admirable in many ways. The effort and want is apparent with him. He feels like he can will this program to better days. And that’s what we all want. But when Mike Holmgren and Bill Belichick decide to let the opponent score on the goal line in a Super Bowl (which both did), are they teaching their players to “quit?” Understandably, college kids and pro players are different. But smart game management has nothing to do with life lessons or teaching moments. The idea is to win games, and there’s not a kid on that sideline or that huddle who doesn’t want to win.
Life lessons come through the hard-work, the practice, the commitment every Saturday. It comes from being there for a teammate, grinding in the weight room when no one is watching, putting everything you have into a goal. There’s not a kid alive that would get that signal from the sideline and then think, “Man, I guess quitting is the right thing to do in life.” It’s just not a reasonable cause and effect.
If you want to derive life¬†lessons from gameplanning (and that’s pretty dangerous) it’s that sometimes to take two steps forward, you need to take one step back. You need to position yourself for successful situations. How many of us have passed on what appeared to be the short-term gain for the better long term solution? We’re always taught that the long view is what’s most important. And in this case you’re looking for the bigger victory by conceding a smaller defeat.
It’s just tactics – this is football coaching, not life coaching. It feels like recruiting has been on an uptick, and injuries have done him no favors. But we’ve all seen some questionable game and clock management decisions this year by Shafer. We’ve groaned at ill-advised time outs. I’ve winced at his defensive posture in postgame press confrerences. It’s not just Shafer appears headed for another lost football season. It’s that he doesn’t seem equipped to be the top man for this¬†football program. His time feels like its running out.
Posted: D.A.
7 responses to “Shafer’s Clock Management Comments Make Little Sense”
It do make you wonder……
Shafer thought it magnificient that CUSE had opened the season 3-0 for the first time in some 20+ seasons.
But at home we had managed to dispatch Wake Forest, CMU in OT and Rhode Island…AT HOME!!
I get that players want to play for him….parents for the most part love him…that’s fine.
But are we going to get those PLAYERS(plural) that can truly go on to the NFL? Can Shafer’s in game decisions win us 1 or 2 games a year
the way they seem to be costing us that many?
COYLE has a tough call to make should CUSE not make a bowl.
I don’t think Coyle will wait long if this team doesn’t win a couple more games before year’s end, it will be thanks for the past 3 years to SS, and someone with better FB pedigree will be coaching SU in 2016…………….
ome football coaches are just gym teachers who got lucky. I’m not saying that Shafer should be fired but I don’t believe he is one of those kind of coaches that can think up during a game with the exception of calling a play rather than punting on 4th down. Plays like this aren’t the kind that require Vince Lombardi’s ability in this game. Vince WAS one of the best if not THE BEST!
There is a process of developing a program with a young team. It has 3 steps.
1. Learn how to compete.
2. Learn how to win.
3. Develop a culture of winning.
So many people see these close losses and say that Shafer is not working. I think one of the things that makes them so frustrating is how close they have come in several games. Shafe is correct. Bounce of ball here, bad penalty there and we are 5-2 6-1. These kids are learning how to compete. This group is SO young (75% of offense comes from freshmen). They are going to make mistakes. Shafer’s recruits have supplanted what is left of the Marrone era and they are playing better on the offensive side of the ball than they have since Nassib was here (~24 points per game). They are learning to compete. Would we like more wins, sure, but this is step one. Shafer is loved by players and this team is doing it in the classroom as well. (Highest 2 semester GPA since they started keeping track).
Did we compete last year in every game in the first half of the year? I don’t think so. These players are on step one. Firing Shafer would destabilize the program and put us further in a hole. The same people who love Eric Dungey, Fredricks, Ishmael, Franklin, Phillips, etc. are the same ones who are calling for the head of the guy who brought them in here.
This is the first time in years we had any real hope. Unless the bottom falls out and the kids stop playing for him, he should be given more time. More time to learn how to win. Winning doesn’t just happen.
Appreciate the comments guys – I agree, winning doesn’t happen overnight. This is a process so you cant just look at his wins and losses. But I think two things strike me – 1) this program wasn’t bad when he took over from Marrone. It was competitive and going to bowls. So a pair of 3 win seasons is a big step down 2) some of SS decisions and explanations just leave me scratching my head – like the post above. Thanks for reading guys.
No the program wasn’t bad but in hind sight Marrone’s recruiting in his last year or so was not spectacular so I think that is hidden in his bowl wins. His kids that are still on the roster at skill positions on both sides of the ball are being passed by the younger kids. We have to face it too, Marrone was in the Big East and the ACC is a tougher conference. I do agree that sometimes Shaf gets too “hoorah” for the kids and talks a bit too much about his thought process. McDonald was Shafer’s one big mistake and he handled it poorly but at least he handled it and now Lester is having a pretty good showing. Sometimes the answer is patience. Do the kids play hard? Are we in games? Are we in a position to win the games? Are penalties down (I understand there have been crucial ones at bad times)? Yes on all accounts. Young players make mistakes. It happens. They learn from them.
Been a long time since I posted here! Give the coach more time. A minimum of 4 years or 5 because you gotta let his recruiting grow and see what they become as Sr.’s And Jr.’s.