Bleacher Report - Articles by Drew Shapiro

The Big East Can Get Off Its Knees for Notre Dame in Ten Years

Drew Shapiro — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 15:36:00 -0500

Paul Zeise kindly took reader questions about the Pitt football program in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The first question focuses Notre Dame's affiliation with the Big East Conference:

Q: Do you think it's time for the Big East to give Notre Dame an ultimatum to either join the conference in football or get out completely?
G. Simon, Houston, Texas

ZEISE: No, there are far more benefits to being aligned with Notre Dame than the other way around and frankly the Big East doesn't have enough brand name teams to stand on its own and start making demands. Maybe ten years from now, but not quite yet. And don't forget Notre Dame is playing against Pitt, against Connecticut, against Syracuse (and they wanted to play Rutgers but of course, Rutgers being Rutgers declined an eight-year deal to play four at Notre Dame and four at the new Giants Stadium because Rutgers wanted the games on campus, which is ridiculous. The amount of money and exposure and the guaranteed national television appearance which would have come from playing at Giants Stadium against Notre Dame would have been far more than any home game against Army or Morgan State or whatever rent-a-win opponent Rutgers wants to bring to its campus) -- so those teams are benefiting from being aligned with Notre Dame (you don't think Pitt's entire strategy for selling season ticket packages next year is going to be built around the Notre Dame ticket? And you don't think there is at least one guaranteed national television appearance on the schedule because it is Pitt-Notre Dame). The one or two bowl games every so often the Big East might lose to Notre Dame is well worth the negotiating power being aligned with Notre Dame has given them. Again, at some point, perhaps the Big East can stand on its own, but that time is not right now.

All in all, I tend to agree with Zeise's assessment, although I think it's a little harsh. I do think the Big East is well within its rights to "make demands" regardless of the brand name quality of the schools that make up the conference.

Notre Dame is 2-3 against the reconstituted Big East since 2004. Granted, all five of those games are against Pittsburgh and Syracuse, but it serves to prove the point that Notre Dame doesn't light up the Big East on a consistent basis, and is in fact comparable to the conference teams.

Regarding the Rutgers scheduling situation, I think the right call was made. Rutgers has poured a significant amount of money into their athletic facilities and they should be utilized accordingly, especially for "big game" events such as a match-up with the Fighting Irish. It's understandable that Notre Dame would want to to face off at the meadowlands, and out of four trips to New Jersey, I could see possibly two games being played there. But for Notre Dame to walk away from the agreement unless all the games were played at the home of the New York Giants/Jets is arrogant at best.

UCONN took a different tact with Notre Dame by scheduling a 10 game home and "sort of home" series between the two institutions. The Huskies, with the support of the Connecticut state legislature, ultimately decided to play their "home" games against the Irish at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA and the Meadowlands in New Jersey. The concern for the state legislature was that UCONN's home stadium, Rentschler Field, is a tax payer funded facility that should be utilized to draw fans to the state and surrounding areas in an effort to spur economic activity. The upshot though, still has UCONN playing six homes games at Rentschler under the agreement with the state legislature, paving the way for the Notre Dame agreement.

I can't disagree with either school's approach to negotiating with Notre Dame. Rutgers did not feel it was appropriate to play Notre Dame anywhere else beside their home field, and UCONN felt otherwise.

There is no question that Notre Dame is on excellent footing by being an unaffiliated football program. It stings to know that they call the Big East Conference home for all sports besides football, but one can't fault the Irish program for capitalizing independently off of their brand name. The recent quality of Fighting Irish football has called into question the validity of not being affiliated with a conference, and the Big East's resilience in the face of teams departing for the ACC, has opened up the idea of Notre Dame potentially joining the likes of traditional programs such as Pitt, Rutgers, Syracuse, and others. It will be interesting to see what transpires at the conclusion of next season, when Notre Dame's television contract with NBC expires. Will the Big East make the potential ultimatum that the reader (above) makes reference to?

Oh Maron! It's Doug Marrone As Syracuse's New Coach

Drew Shapiro — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:57:00 -0500

ESPN this evening is confirming that Doug Marrone will be the new head football coach at Syracuse University.

Marrone, who as of this writing is skulking the sidelines of Soldier Field as the offensive coordinator/offensive line coach of the New Orleans Saints (the Saints are playing the Chicago Bears), had been on Syracuse's radar for some time.

There is a supposed press conference to introduce Marrone set up for Friday, but Syracuse Athletic Director Dr. Daryl Gross continues to maintain that he "...has not offered the job." Regardless, the word seems to be out that this Syracuse Alum will be leading the Orange after one of the most futile periods of their existence.

Doug Marrone's hiring will most likely come with mixed feelings for Syracuse fans due to the other names that had come up in the coaching search before him, and the fact that the hiring process took Daryl Gross so long to complete.

Dr. Gross' first choice seemed to be UConn head football coach Randy Edsall, a Syracuse alum in his own right, who had already experienced a reasonable amount of success leading a fledging program. Next, Gross focused on East Carolina head coach Skip Holtz. After several days of heated anticipation, Holtz finally announced today that he would not accept the Syracuse post.

That seemingly left Gross reeling for a fallback option—one that some felt would logically lead to Buffalo head coach Turner Gill, who managed to impress Auburn with his ability to coach a once miserable program to a MAC Championship. Gill, it seems now, is not the man for the job.

Doug Marrone was born and raised in the Bronx, a traditional recruiting stronghold for Syracuse until recently. He was an offensive guard, lettering for three years at Syracuse from 1983-1985.

Between 1991 and 2002 Marrone coached in various offensive capacities in the college ranks, most notably with Georgia Tech, Georgia, and Tennessee. Later he moved on to the pros, spending three seasons with the New York Jets as offensive line coach, and he has been with Sean Payton in New Orleans since Payton's hiring in the same capacity.

It has to be encouraging to the Orange faithful that New Orleans has one of the more dynamic offenses in the NFL, but that comes with one caveat: Marrone does not call the plays, a duty that belongs to Payton.

So without the head coaching experience, the lack of play calling experience, and the significant time he's spent away from the college game, some Syracuse fans could be hesitant to greet this hiring with open arms.

Additionally, Marrone doesn't have the big name that some felt was necessary to provide a jump-start to the lackluster recruiting that the program has become accustomed to over the past few years.

If nothing else, the 44-year-old Marrone will represent someone who feels a tremendous amount of passion and enthusiasm for the tradition-rich Syracuse program.

Rich Cimini of the New York Daily News recalls a story that Marrone told him about his playing days at the 'Cuse: In 1984 Syracuse coach Dick MacPherson was trying to rally his troops on the eve of a game with a heavily favored Nebraska team. He asked all players to write an essay on why Syracuse was going to win.

Marrone took this task to heart and wrote an emotional essay that was several pages long, well into the night, demonstrating that he truly relished the opportunity to express his love for the Syracuse program and the game of football. I'll have you know that Syracuse did in fact beat the Cornhuskers 17-9.

Whether or not Doug Marrone is successful lifting the Syracuse program out of the doldrums, Orange fans can rest comfortably knowing that they now have one of their own roaming the sidelines of the Carrier Dome. They know that he will pour his heart and soul into his work as head coach.

Most importantly, they know he is the "anti-Greg Robinson," at least in the sense of his prior connection to Syracuse.

But if things don't work out for Marrone, one can rest assured that Daryl Gross may have to look for a new job as well.

Skip Holtz Snubs Syracuse: Now What?

Drew Shapiro — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 09:40:00 -0500

Various North Carolina media outlets and recruiting websites are reporting that East Carolina head coach Skip Holtz has rebuffed an offer to become head football coach at Syracuse.

The proposed deal is reported to have been somewhere in the neighborhood of $12 million and I've heard the figure of $2 million per year bandied about, leading me to believe this could have been a five- or six-year deal. That is quite a generous offer to turn down if it's true, making me wonder what Skip has in mind for his future.

Auburn still has a head coaching vacancy to fill, a place that Holtz probably finds more appealing, but there has been no official word of that school contacting him. The bottom line is that Skip Holtz is probably very comfortable staying in Greenville, NC for at least another season, knowing full well that other opportunities will most likely present themselves in the future, especially if he continues to have the type of success he's having at ECU.

There is no word on why exactly he turned down Syracuse AD Daryl Gross' offer, but it could have something to do with the fact that turning around the Orange program will be a massive undertaking.

Despite being a storied program in a BCS conference, Syracuse has fallen quite drastically from the days of Donovan McNabb and Dwight Freeney only a few short years ago. Recently fired head coach Greg Robinson oversaw a 10-36 tenure with constant coach and quarterback shuffling, record low attendance rates, and a generally disgruntled fan base.

Where does Doc Gross go from here?

If you're Daryl Grosss, you're still pretty happy that there are solid second and third options to be had after Skip Holtz.

The next natural step would be to look at Buffalo head coach Turner Gill. He exhibits many of the same resume items that Holtz does, such as having head coaching experience, rebuilding a once-futile program, a knowledge of the Northeast and its recruiting landscape, and having worked at top tier programs in an assistant capacity in the past.

Gill even has one major attribute over Holtz: He was a successful college quarterback with Nebraska, winning three national titles (Holtz played two seasons at Notre Dame under his father, Lou Holtz, in a mostly reserve role). Like Holtz, though, Gill is a hot commodity, fresh off leading the Buffalo Bulls to an unlikely MAC championship over Ball State.

In addition to Syracuse, Auburn has also received permission to talk to Gill about their head coaching vacancy. Auburn, though, is more likely to go with a candidate who has stronger ties to the SEC, leaving Syracuse an opening to make a quick and generous offer to lock up Gill and make him one of only two African American head football coaches in all the BCS conferences.

Fallback option No. 2 for Gross and the Orange is Doug Marrone, who is currently the offensive coordinator/offensive line coach for the NFL's New Orleans Saints. Marrone is an extremely passionate Syracuse grad who would probably relish the opportunity to resurrect the once-proud program for whom he was an offensive guard.

Negatives on Marrone are that he lacks play calling and head coaching experience, he has not coached much on the college level, and he lacks the type of name recognition that would be of value on the recruiting trail. Marrone's name has also come up in the University of Tennessee's search for an offensive coordinator under newly hired head coach Lane Kiffin.

I don't think Syracuse or fans of the program should be in any way concerned that Skip Holtz turned down their offer to become head coach. These things happen to bigger and more prominent football programs all the time, and the fact is, Syracuse has many solid options with which to fill their vacancy. Both Turner Gill and Doug Marrone are excellent candidates, and others are still out there who could pose as possibilities to lead the struggling program.

My sense is that Daryl Gross is close to making his decision on how best to proceed and that we should here something by Monday next week at the latest.

Love 'Em or Hate 'Em: All BCS Bowl Teams Know How to Stop the Run

Drew Shapiro — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:45:01 -0500

A trend to live by in college football: A proficient run defense will get you into a BCS bowl (unless you’re Boise State*—I can’t help you there). All 10 teams in BCS bowl games this year are ranked among the top 20 in the country in stopping the run. Seriously, here they are:

Texas, No. 2

Alabama, No. 4

USC, No. 5

Penn St., No. 8

Cincinnati, No. 13

Utah, No. 14

Florida, No. 16

Oklahoma, No. 18

Virginia Tech, No. 19

Ohio State, No. 20

*In case you’re curious, and I know you are, Boise State is ranked No. 15.

I don’t really want to get into why the above statistical rankings seem to prevail in getting teams into BCS games; that’s neither here nor there. What I would like to do is examine the implications that rush defense (now that we’ve established that it could very well be a trumping stat) may have on games involving Big East Conference teams.

Today, I’m focusing strictly on the marquee bowl for the Big East: the Orange Bowl. As you’ll see above, Cincy has a better rush defense than its Orange Bowl opponent, Virginia Tech, so notch a point for the Bearcats.

Virginia Tech does, however, grab the edge in rushing offense (No. 42) over Cincy (No. 93). What does this mean? Well, if you ask me, it’s a push because Cincinnati’s superior run defense will marginalize Tech’s solid rushing attack, and vice-versa.

Where things will get interesting is in the passing attack. Frank Beamer’s pass defense is incredible (No. 15). Brian Kelly can’t say the same for his pass defense (No. 68).

I’ve left the best stat for last, though: Virginia Tech is downright dreadful when it comes to throwing the ball. In fact, the team’s TD:INT ratio is 6:11. You read that correctly, folks; Virginia Tech as a team (we’re not just citing one quarterback’s statistics) has thrown for fewer touchdowns than interceptions, which is good for No. 111 in passing offense.

I’m sure Cincinnati’s fine coaching staff can already see where I’m going with this. If you stack eight men in the box for most of the game, Virginia Tech will have a tough time running the ball despite its decent ground game. Worried about them coming over the top with some down-the-field throws? Don’t be. Tyrod Taylor is better passing to opposing defensive backs than his own receivers, as demonstrated by the passing offense stat mentioned previously.

This brings me back to my opening point: Rush defense wins games. Don’t get me wrong; I do think that Virginia Tech can keep this game relatively close with its overall proficiency on the defensive side of the ball. But, given that Cincinnati can for the most part concentrate one-dimensionally on stopping the run, I give the edge to the Bearcats in the Orange Bowl.

Be sure to tune in on New Year’s Day to see if I’m right.

Learn more about the least respected BCS conference in the nation at http://dangerfielddivision.blogspot.com/.

Big East Schools Are Snapping Up Bowl Tickets

Drew Shapiro — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:41:00 -0500

A perennial knock on Big East Conference schools is that they don't travel well. I don't think that it's a totally unfounded complaint, but an exaggerated complaint nonetheless. I think if one were to compare the traveling bowl attendance of the average Big East school to the average ACC or Pac-10 school, they would most likely be comparable.

Regardless, bowl ticket allocations for Big East schools are going fast.

Ry Rivard of the Charleston Daily Mail is reporting that "More than 9,000 of the 12,500 tickets made available to WVU's ticket office are sold. Some of those are reserved for the traveling party, which includes the band and family members of the coaches and players."

Now, I'll grant you that West Virginia is one of the Big East's better traveling fan bases, but this has been a down year for Mountaineer fans, and the similarly down economy might have hampered many fans from making the trek to Charlotte for the Meineke Car Care Bowl. It's going to be interesting to see the makeup of the crowd given the fact that WVU is taking on nearby UNC.

Greg Aumman on the USF Sports Bulletin indicates that Bulls fans have snapped up about 4,000 tickets to the MagicJack St. Petersburg Bowl. USF lucked out on this one, being that they'll only have to travel about 30 minutes to see their team play, but this is by far one of the less appealing bowls out there, so getting fans to the game is impressive.

I don't think there is any question that Cincinnati Bearcats fans will suck up their full allotment of Orange Bowl tickets to see their team make history in Miami. Likewise, I expect UConn fans to make the jaunt north of the border to see the Huskies take on media darling Buffalo in Toronto.

What will be more difficult is getting Pitt fans to El Paso and Rutgers fans to Birmingham, AL. If I'm a Pitt Panther fan, I'm going to Texas for the matchup, if nothing else. They're taking on the Oregon State Beavers, who beat USC earlier this season and almost won the Pac-10. Meanwhile, this is the most success Pitt has had under Dave Wannstedt thus far, so some fan appreciation would be nice.

Getting the Rutgers' faithful to Birmingham to see them take on a marginal NC State squad in the Papajohns.com Bowl will be a challenge. Rutgers has had one of the more formidable home crowds around, but convincing people to lay down coin to make this trip is a stretch.

Stay tuned for more information on Big East bowl news, and look out for a possible future analysis on bowl attendance between the major conferences.

South Florida Favored By Two Touchdowns Over Memphis: No Bull

Drew Shapiro — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 19:52:00 -0500

Brett McMurphy of the Bulls Report (linked above) lets us know that Las Vegas oddsmakers are expecting the USF Bulls to hand the Memphis Tigers a sound loss by 14 points in the MagicJack St. Petersburg Bowl on Dec. 20. Yowzaaa!

I realize this is tantamount to a home game for the Bulls, but what does this say about Memphis if USF is arguably the Big East's worst team (certainly coldest team) going into bowl season? Let's have a look-see, shall we?

Memphis started slow this season, losing their first three games (Ole Miss, Rice, and Marshall). Hey, some teams are slow starters, okay? The Tigers would then go on to even their record by rattling off three straight wins against powerhouse programs: Nicholls State, Arkansas State, and UAB.

I won't go into the rest of the schedule; you can see it for yourself. I will say, though, that they lost to Louisville, and Big East fans are keenly aware of how inept of a team Steve Kragthorpe's guys were this season.

Anywho, if there is a team that USF can exploit to get off the schneid, this is it.