Syracuse Folks React To Doug Marrone's Exit At Football Coach

Jim Boeheim has seen five football coaches run the Syracuse Orange program since he took over as head basketball coach and he will still be here to see No. 6 when that person is hired. In speak about his reaction to Doug Marrone leaving, Boeheim offered some words of advice...

"It’s sad where we are, but you can’t fault a football coach or a basketball coach who sees an opportunity that he feels is good for him. If he loses two years in a row, he’s going to be fired," Boeheim said. "We know that. So how can you be loyal, what’s loyalty, when they’re going to fire you if you don’t win. I don’t fault coaches for looking and seeing if there’s a situation that is better for them."

SU alum and Marrone friend Robert Drummond had some very interesting comments when he spoke with CNY Central. Drummond basically implies that your conspiracy theories about DOC Gross are probably true...

"There's a lot of things going on that we don't know about," explains Drummond, "I know a lot of things led to him leaving, and it just doesn't come down to him. You've got to look at the (SU Athletic Director), the president, so a lot of things led to him leaving, so don't fault Doug, he's doing the best for him and his family."

Meanwhile, most folks associate with Syracuse in some fashion seemed to echo the same sentiment. We wish Doug well and we're happy for him but it sucks for Syracuse.

Dick MacPherson: "I feel bad for Syracuse, but happy for Doug

Tim Green: "Let me just say that Doug is an excellent coach. I think he did exactly what Syracuse was hoping he’d do."

Dan Conley: "I do think Syracuse was his ‘dream job’ when he took the job. But as you go through life, you develop new dreams and identify new dream jobs. And now he gets to be one of the 32 guys who get to coach in the NFL."

The Daily Orange got some reactions from former and current players:

Cam Lynch: "Wish him the best of luck. I don’t really know what to think."

Andrew Lewis: ""Sad day in Orange land. I never thought he would leave."

James Washington: "I think the seniors will help because that’s basically all it is. You can’t let nothing like that get you down. It’s life. He had to do what he had to do."

Rob Long: "I am very happy for coach Marrone and his family. I think he did what was the smart thing for him and landed a tremendous job. I believe Syracuse will be just fine."

Rob Trudo: "I’m not technically, like, mad at Coach Marrone for doing what he did. Anytime you get the opportunity to be a head coach for an NFL team, that’s a testament to what you did, especially what he did at Syracuse."

Rob Konrad, who always seems to be recommending people to be the new SU football coach, has thrown his latest recommendation into the ring. New England Patriots DC Matt Patricia. Patricia is a former SU grad assistant and worked with Bill O'Brien on the staff before O'Brien went to Penn State.

Finally, what about the rest of the players? CollegeSpun rounded up a bunch of the immediate reactions since the team found up the same time everyone else did. The good news is that it seems like most of the current players are going to tough it out. The bad news is that it sounds like a lot of the recruits are going to look around now. Harrumph.