Assistant Coaches Rob Spence, Jamie Elizondo And Derrick Jackson Fired (Updated Again)

I had heard something along these lines last night but figured I'd wait and see what comes of it.  Sure enough when I woke up this morning, the rumors were mongering. Via Brent Axe...

The website footballscoop.com is reporting that Syracuse football offensive coordinator Rob Spence and wide receivers coach Jamie Elizondo have been let go.

Here is what the website reports.

"Our sources just told us moments ago that offensive coordinator Rob Spence and wide receivers coach Jamie Elizondo have been let go."

Probably the first thing SU fans notice is that Special Teams coach Bob Casullo isn't on that list.  Then again, Marrone has been giving Casullo the benefit of the doubt the last couple weeks, peppering his comments with explanations that the special teams unit is undermanned and outgunned.  Not sure how that explains the fumbles and bad kicks, but, fair enough.

Now...if this is true, that's quite a shocker to see Rob Spence go so quickly.  The SU offense had its struggles but, like Casullo, Spence wasn't always playing with a stacked deck either. Then again the SU offense did look stale most times.  Greg Paulus broke the SU completion percentage record but much of that was because he was throwing screens and dink passes all day.  If not for Delone Carter's 2nd-half surge, the offense would have been in huge trouble most of the way.

Or maybe Marrone has his eye on someone else and needed to clear house.  God, please don't let it be Kragthorpe...

As for Elizondo, I'm going to guess this was a philosophy thing.  Not sure you can fault him for working with the scraps after Mike Williams left.

More as it develops...

Update: Donnie Webb is reporting that Derrick Jackson is also being shown the door by Doug Marrone today.  Jackson was one of only two holdovers from the Greg Robinson staff, the other being Dan Conley. Marrone is on the road recruiting but is apparantly going to have some kind of press conference later today.  Stay tuned...

Update: Guess not on that press conference.  Via DO Sports on Twitter: "No Marrone press conference this week, and no confirmation on the rumors about the firing of Coach Spence and Coach Elizondo."  No confirmation also means no denial...

Update:  Aaaaand, it's official.  "Offensive coordinator Rob Spence, Wide Receivers coach Jaime Elizondo and Defensive line coach Derrick Jackson will not be returning to coach for the Sryacuse University football team next season."  But what does DOCTOR Gross think???