Syracuse AD Mark Coyle: 'Your Core is Right Here'

Mark Coyle's tenure as Syracuse's new Athletic Director hasn't even started yet, but that hasn't stopped him from making the press rounds. He recently sat down with Syracuse.com's Bud Poliquin and had a lot of important things to say.

But most importantly to a lot of folks around here, Poliquin asked him about #BRAND and "New York's College Team." What Coyle had to say was incredibly forward and encouraging.

"I didn't know we had advertising in Yankee Stadium or on cabs or any of that. But I want to make sure about what we're doing right here. Because your core is right here. The Carrier Dome can be an incredible home-field advantage. And my goal is to do everything I can do to get the place rocking on game days because that creates a great experience for our student-athletes and our fans.

"Obviously, New York City is a huge market, an important market, for Syracuse for a lot of reasons. But I want to just focus on here now. I need to talk with the chancellor and see what his vision is for the university. But I'll get my arms around it."

If that didn't get you going, how about the winning football games with a less than ideal budget in a power conference?

"I have to look at the business model. I have not seen one budget yet. But we won at Boise State and I promise you that Syracuse has more revenue than Boise State. And I absolutely love Boise State, so that's no disrespect to Boise State. We won at Boise State and when Coach (Chris) Petersen left, everybody said, 'That program is going to fall off the face of the earth.' But we had a foundation in place and we were able to maximize all of our resources.

I have to take a long look at our budget, but there are programs out there with a lot less available to them than Syracuse, and they're winning. In my opinion, you can't get caught up in the business model."

Somewhere in the Women's Building, a janitor will find the good DOCTOR wondering the halls, muttering to himself about brand, New York City and smiling at his reflection in the mirror, waiting for a camera flash.

Go read the rest of the interview, which also touches on his focus and plan when he officially assumes the role of AD on July 6.