An inside look at the recruiting playlists of Syracuse Orange coaches

Syracuse Orange landed a new football commitment when Taj Harris decided to announce his intentions over the weekend. Normally I don’t pay a lot of attention to recruiting, but in his story on Syracuse.com, Stephen Bailey mentioned something about the recruitment that caught my eye.

So not only is Dino Babers quoting Game of Thrones, or asking Syracuse fans to trust in his vision, but now he’s dropping hip-hop classics on high school recruits, and on vinyl no less. Since we don’t have any video, I’m left to assume Dino dropped these lines to the “Rapper’s Delight” beat:

“I said a hip hop

Hippie to the hippie

The plays come fast and you don't stop, a rock it out

Bubba to the bang bang boogie, boobie to the boogie

To the rhythm of the tempo I seek

Now, what you see is not a test we’re throwing the ball deep

And me, the team, and my offense are gonna get you on your feet

See, I am Coach Dino, and I'd like to say hello

To the Tigers, to the Eagles, the Panthers and the Pack

The Deacons and the Noles, but first, I gotta”

Now I’ll cut it there because if you won’t listen to all of Rapper’s Delight, you certainly aren’t going to read 15 minutes worth of lyrics. This story leaves me wondering what songs some other Syracuse coaches would use to convince a recruit to pledge to join the Orange.

Jim Boeheim - “Sing For Your Supper” from The Boys from Syracuse.

Recruits seem really confused when Boeheim throws on this show tune, but thankfully when he leaves the room and says “Think about the message”, the Syracuse assistant coaches step in. After they explain that the lines “Sing for your supper, and you'll get breakfast. Songbirds always eat, if their song is sweet to hear” means learn the 2-3 zone principles and you’ll play plenty of minutes it makes more sense.

John Desko- “A Family Affair” by Sly & The Family Stone

Simmons, Desko, Gait, Powell, Nims, Donahue, Abbott, Nelson, etc. Seems like a fitting song selection doesn’t it? Odds are that the recruit is already sitting in the room with a family member who played for the Orange, so this just reinforces the connection.

Coach Q- “Push It” by Salt n Pepa

The Orange women have enjoyed success playing an uptempo pressing style of basketball so you know Q wants them push the pace, and push it real good.

Ange Bradley- “Theme from Jaws”

The Syracuse Orange field hockey team has embraced the “shark mentality” since Ange took over the program. It’s used to describe their aggressive attack, so what better why to convince a recruit to join the feeding frenzy.

Chris Fox- “Running Down a Dream” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

When Fox took over the Syracuse XC/Track program, no one believed he could return the Orange to national prominence. That dream became a reality as Syracuse is among the premier programs in the country.

Now it’s your turn. Use the comments to share which songs you think the other Syracuse coaches would use to close the deal.