Syracuse Football: Why Does the Football Program Struggle Regularly?

During a Philadelphia Eagles vs. Washington Redskins game, a Syracuse alumnus and long time ESPN broadcaster grabbed the attention of Syracuse fans with a statement.

Little did anyone know, but not only did Donovan McNabb want Vick as an Eagle out of jail, but he also almost lured him to Syracuse. Mike Vick had narrowed his choices as a college down to Virginia Tech and Syracuse.

In McNabb’s last season as an Orange, he had many epic moments, like leading the Orangemen to a BCS game in the Fiesta Bowl against Kansas State.

A game played in Arizona, which led to McNabb’s love for the state and his perpetual return to it every summer. That game ended in defeat, and Syracuse football spiraled downward from there.

If Mike Vick would have been the freshman replacement for McNabb, how would of the 2000’s been for the Orange? Paul Pasqualoni probably wishes he could have found out.

The Orange hired Pasqualoni in 1992, and were able to win nine games or more in five of his first seven years as head coach. Predicated on having a solid starting quarterback, Marvin Graves and Donovan McNabb led the assault.

Unfortunately, post-McNabb, the Orange struggled with consistency. Through 2002-04, the team failed to eclipse the .500 mark, intolerable for a school that excelled for so long in a history-laden football program.

Pasqualoni did the round about in the NFL, bouncing from coordinator positions for years before finally landing back in college football this season as UConn’s head coach. The question begs to ask, how did Syracuse fall so quickly in the 2000’s?

For one, Syracuse could no longer lure top recruits from states such as New Jersey, Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania. Players such as Donovan Darius, Dwight Freeney, Keith Bullock, and Tebucky Jones were not possible to recruit to Syracuse in the 2000’s. Getting a three- or four-star recruit was becoming harder and harder.

Why? The team kept losing, and fell backward with the hiring of Greg Robinson. The team became the laughingstock of the Big East, going 3-25 in it during Robinson’s coaching career.

Two bright victories occurred: one when they were 35-point underdogs to Louisville, and another at Notre Dame. The team lacked heart every week, and the talent level kept declining with it.

A change was needed, and athletic director Darryl Gross stepped up to the challenge, hiring Doug Marrone, who was voted by ESPN as the most likable coach in college football. A team filled with seniors and upper classmen that played through miserable years as Orangemen got a bowl victory in New York City.

It was a sign that the team is turning the corner. In fact, even in most losses last year, the Orange were right in them. It took nearly 10 years to dig this program out of the cellar. AD Darryl Gross and Head Coach, Doug Marrone can now start luring in some higher caliber recruits.

With the new realignment to the ACC, more money will enter the Syracuse program and in turn boost fan support.

The schedule might not be mighty, but at 3-1, Syracuse is getting the job done. Young quarterback Ryan Nassib is showing more promise, and the team is just finding ways to win games. Look for them to reach another bowl game and shake the cobwebs of the last 10 years off completely.