I don't have a problem with anyone who is still unsure of the selection of Doug Marrone as the head coach at Syracuse. I get it. We had certain criteria we were looking for, including head coaching experience, that he doesn't have. And until he actually puts a winning team on the field, you have no more reason to think he will be good than Marrone supporters have.
That said, if you're a Syracuse fan, I at least like to think that you're hopeful for Doug Marrone. Don't blame him for the sins of Greg Robinson. At least give him the opportunity to commit his own sins for which we can all hate him.
If you're not a Syracuse fan, sure, I see why he looks like a bad pick. Dennis Dodd seems to speak for you when he put Marrone on the very bottom of his list of college coaching hires:
I can't get past the fact that Syracuse just fired a former NFL defensive coordinator with no head coaching experience and replaced him with an NFL offensive coordinator with no head coaching experience.
Yes, this is true, but it's a superficial comparison. I think we can agree that Greg Robinson and Doug Marrone have enough differences to show why Marrone is not Greg Robinson II, at least on paper.
Dodd adds a quote from Tim Green to drive his point home:
"For me to sit here and say that Doug Marrone is the right guy is what I would love to say, but I can't say that because I don't know at this point if Doug is the right guy for Syracuse football."
That comes from Tim Green, a member of the search committee and a close friend of Marrone's when they played at Syracuse.
The idea is of course to show that even his good buddy doesn't think he's a good choice. One problem there...that quote is taken COMPLETELY out of context.
The quote comes from the Doug Marrone introduction press conference. Green was asked to get up and say a few words, mostly because he's so dreamy, and he started discussing the entire interview process. Here's the full quote from Green:
When we first got on the phone together, Doug's name was one of many. Coach Mac said some wonderful things about Doug, and he should. He brought him here from the Bronx. He was one of our star recruits when we were first able to start turning the program around. And no one, I don't think, is prouder than Coach Mac of Doug.
And then Coach Mac said, Tim, what do you think of Doug Marrone. Tell the guys what you think. And this is what I said. I said, I feel a little put on the spot, because Doug was one of my best friends. It was Doug and me and Todd Morley and Scott Condule (sp?) and we were together like this throughout college. And...For me to sit here and say that Doug Marrone is the right guy is what I would love to say, but I can't say that because I don't know at this point if Doug is the right guy for Syracuse football cause this is a daunting task that he's gonna have, or whoever it is, is gonna face.
It's difficult. I've said it's one of the most difficult things in the world of sports, to take a college football program that's down and resurrect it. Coach Mac did it, and I think that's why what he said carried a tremendous amount of weight with Floyd (Little), Art (Monk) and myself as well as the Board of Trustees.
For Doug, at that point, it was about being one of many. And for me, I wanted the group to know that I was going to be as objective as anyone was. And Floyd Little spoke to me a few nights ago and he said "Tim, I didn't think you were in favor of Doug." I said Floyd, how the heck could you say that? "Well, you said you didn't know if he was the right guy." I said "Floyd, I wanted everyone to know that if he wasn't the right guy, I wasn't gonna put my vote, my weight, behind it."
So we started interviewing people and I had the privelidge to be with Daryl and see how thorough he was and the amount of time he spent with all the different candidates. And then we went down to New York City last week and we were able to have some final interviews with some incredible head coaches, any one of which deserves a tremendous amount of respect. And when Doug Marrone walked into that room, and sat with that group, I will tell you, bar none, he was the most impressive man that we had seen. The thoroughness...his preparation for this job was extraordinary. Naming the names of high school coaches that he was going to contact immediately. The recruiting service that he was going to use to get a head start to try to catch up with where we're at for recruiting. The staff that he planned on selecting. The details of the recruiting.
The details of the X's and O's. He knew Art Monk's favorite pass patterns and he was gonna put one of those in and call it The Art Monk Play. He knew so much about the X's and O's and he knew the opposing coaches in the Big East and their defensive propencities. And he's already got plans on how to attack those defenses right down to which cornerback he's gonna attack and how he's gonna do it.
And to sit there and here that throughness from a guy who's one of the top coordinators, top minds in the National Football League, where you are tested, week in and week out, your intellect of the game is tested. Because every guy you face is a genius, they're brilliant and Doug Marrone rose to the top. And there are general managers in the National Football League who are sad today because they thought Doug Marrone was gonna be their next coach when they needed to make a move.
It goes on from there but, jeez, it really does sound like Tim Green hates the selection of Doug Marrone, huh? He has nothing nice to say at all...
Then again, if all you take is Dennis Dodd's ridiculous out-of-context pullquote, you'd probably think that.
That's really shitty work, Dennis. If you can't come up with any good facts or contextual quotes to make your point, then your point is probably wrong. It doesn't take much to admit that, rather than creating something that's not really there just to "prove" something. Maybe that doesn't make you a cheater or a liar. But it makes you lazy. And readers remember that.
(Also, FYI, if you're going to rip Marrone for not having any head coaching experience, you probably shouldn't put Mike Locksley, who has also never been a head coach, at the top of your list. Just sayin'...)