If Doug Marrone Wants Army, Doug Marrone Gets Army

This was Doug Marrone back in March 2009 when I spoke with him.

I would like to play Army every year. We have a large base of alumni in that area and it’s always great to play a service academy. I coached at the United States Coast Guard Academy and I have a lot of respect for them. And they’re part of New York State, so I’d love to play them.

Looks like Doug might finally be getting his wish, or at least closer to it and we can thank Notre Dame for it.

Army director of athletics Kevin Anderson told the Middletown Times Herald-Record on Thursday that a 2013 game against Notre Dame, which had been penciled in at Yankee Stadium, has been canceled by the Irish.

The Times Herald-Record story, by reporter Sal Interdonato, quoted Anderson as saying he's already discussed the possibility with Daryl Gross, SU's athletics director.

The only OOC games currently on the schedule in 2013 are Boston College and Northwestern so there's plenty of room.  Of course, that might chance if we suddenly have fifteen conference-mates instead of seven.  But yet then again, one of those new mates would be either BC or N'western so I guess that re-opens that slot all over again.  These are weird times.

The fact that the Orange would then finally be apart of these inaugural Yankee Stadium games is slightly ironic.  The Orange were team non grata when the original plans were made.  Army, Rutgers, Notre Dame, Boston College and Notre Dame took all the slots while SU said it wanted nothing to do with the Yankee Stadium deal.  We'll see if that still holds up.