DOC Gross: "We Solidified Our Relationship With Doug Marrone"

DOCTOR Daryl Gross stopped by ESPNCNY yesterday to talk about Louisville's impending move to the ACC and the topic of Doug Marrone's status as Syracuse Orange football coach also came up.

On Marrone's status in light of NFL rumors:

"He's done an unbelievable job and what he's done with this program is terrific. No, we haven't had any of those conversations but we've been always transparent and straight-up to one another from day one. We've solidified our relationship with Doug Marrone and Syracuse football for a long time and we're very excited about that. Doug's obviously done a great job...I'm excited about his future here at Syracuse and that's all we've been talking about.

He's a stud coach, he's a loyal coach and we're really proud of him. We're on the same wavelength, so I feel really good about Doug Marrone's tenure here at Syracuse."

On whether or not Marrone already has a contract extension:

"We're a private school, so we don't discuss those things cause we don't have to, but you can read into it what you want...Doug is very solid here at Syracuse."

On the ACC adding Louisville as it's new 14th member:

"Absolutely...when you add everything up, Louisville makes the most sense for many reasons...it's a very proud institution, got a lot of positives to it and it'll fit in the ACC. It's a good move for the athletic profile of the conference. I think it subsides some of the talk about ACC teams going and that stuff...all the rumors that are out there are so inaccurate in terms of the strength of the conference."

On how much input the ACC gives Syracuse:

"They've been great. You know, we don't have an official vote yet but they take our input very seriously. John Swofford has been the ultimate professional. He's got a great way of managing situations with many institutions with different needs, so it's been very professional and very appropriate and trust me when I tell you our input is taken very seriously and significantly."

On his influence when it comes to bowl selection process:

"What I try to do is make sure folks are aware of things they might not be thinking about. You've got to think of every scenario that can happen. One the scenarios you have to look at is that if Louisville loses and Cincinnati loses, then we finish outright second place. So what does that do?...If Louisville loses, they will have lost three in a row. If Cincinnati loses, they will have lost two in a row. So, there's all those types of dynamics that have to be taken into account."

If we tie for the conference championship and went to the Pinstripe Bowl, I would consider that a very, very great year for Syracuse football and an indicator that we've made the turn of the corner and Doug's taking this program in the direction that we felt like he was."