Meeting Marrone

Doug Marrone had done the press conferences and the interviews with the media, but it wasn't until yesterday that he met with his most important audience of all.  The fans.

Marrone spoke during halftime of the SU-ND game.  Some choice tidbits below (not sure how the exclamation points were dolled out or how legit they are):

"As you all know, when I started my coaching career I had a dream. And every decision that I made, I made with the thought the end result would be I'd be the head football coach at Syracuse University. And I would like to thank our chancellor, Nancy Cantor, and our athletic director, Daryl Gross, for making that dream come true"

"Right now we are in the process of rejuvenating this football program! We are doing that with the players that we have here now. We're also in the process of recruiting the best student-athletes in the state of New York, around New York and across this great country."

"I am here, and my responsibility is, to win football games. And that is what we're going to do."

"This is our state, our town, our team . . . and we're gonna win! Now! Go, Orange!"

Good work, Duggan.  Marrone wasn't done making news this weekend.  He also hired a running backs coach.  That would be former Tennessee coach Stan Drayton.

We're not Tennessee North yet, but we're getting there.  Drayton is the third hire from UT.  Amongst the many things he brings with him from there is the ability to recruit...

Known for being an elite recruiter, Drayton was named one of the nation’s top 25 recruiters in 2007. He earned the honor for his part in Florida’s 2007 No. 1-rated recruiting class. Drayton mentored the Gator running backs from 2005 through 2007. He has also coached at Mississippi State (2004) and Villanova (1996-2000). At Florida, the Gators rushing offense ranked third in the SEC and 23rd nationally under Drayton’s direction in 2007, averaging 200.2 yards per game.

Giggity.  Read more about him here.