GROSS NEEDS TO GO FOR SYRACUSE TO SUCCEED

I know what your thinking. Oh great, another post about Syracuse! Well, the Orange are in the news again, as Athletic Director Daryl Gross has apparently decided on New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Doug Marrone as his next head football coach. The move is a puzzling one, and reveals a horrifying trend for fans of Syracuse: The continued incompetence of Dr. Daryl Gross.

Now that may seem a bit harsh but believe me, it's not. Sure, Greg Robinson was a disaster, but his boss is just as much to blame. Gross has done nothing of value since taking over as Syracuse AD, and even worse, has tried to convince fans that none of the problems are his fault. Sure, the football team is the worst it's ever been, and the basketball team hasn't reached the big dance in two years, but Gross wants you to look at the other sports to see how well he's done. The men's lacrosse team won the national championship last season. The field hockey team was ranked number one for much of the year! It's not just about the high revenue sports, you know.

But wait. How much of that was actually Gross' doing? The lacrosse national championship sure wasn't because of him. In fact, until two years ago, the lacrosse team had been to the final four 22 straight times. And with field hockey, he wasn't exactly doing the coaching or recruiting.

What about other sports, like swimming and diving? Oh wait, Gross decided to cut those two sports completely. It wasn't until the criticisms came rolling in that he ultimately opted for a three year phase out, instead of just eliminating the programs right away. After his initial announcement to get rid of the teams, Dr. Phil Witten, Executive Director of the College Swimming Coaches Association of America, stated that Gross "had a breathtaking lack of competence" and called for his resignation. No such luck. What a huge help in the "non major" sports Daryl Gross has been.

Which brings us back to football. Within weeks of his hiring as Syracuse AD, Gross unceremoniously fired coach Paul Pasqualoni, who went 107-59-1 in 14 seasons, and went 6-3 in bowl games. I guess that just wasn't good enough for Gross. He then elected to hire Greg Robinson, who had no head coaching experience whatsoever. Yeah, that really worked out.

And now, Gross is going with Marrone. Hmm, a coordinator who has shuttled between the NFL and the college game and has never been a head coach before...sound familiar?

I hope Marrone succeeds, I really do. But with Gross' continued buffoonery, I'm just not sure that's possible.