‘P’ is for Patriarch

By Mark Adair

This story is courtesy of “From the Sidelines”, the official publication of the New York State High School Football Coaches Association.

Syracuse football coach Paul Pasqualoni is widely regarded as one of the top coaches in the nation. He is 10th in the nation among active coaches with a .658 win percentage and 10th among the nations active coaches with 135 career victories. His 58 conference victories are more than any other coach in BIG EAST history. SU’s win against Notre Dame last fall was the 101st time that the Orange has won under Pasqualoni. He is just the second coach in Syracuse history to earn 100 wins at the school. (The first was the legendary Ben Schwartzwalder who posted a record of 153-91-3 from 1949 to 1973 at Syracuse.)

Pasqualoni also has had success in getting his top players prepared for professional football. Syracuse had players taken in the first round of the NFL Draft six times between 1996 and 2004. In all, 30 Syracuse players have been drafted into the NFL after playing under Pasqualoni. SU is 6-2 in Bowl Games during his tenure.

But despite the on field success of the Syracuse program under Pasqualoni, his record off the field is even more impressive. In 2001, Syracuse was recognized by the AFCA for having a graduation rate of better than 70 percent. It was the 12th time since 1987 that Syracuse was recognized by the AFCA for academic success. The class that began at Syracuse in the fall of 1994 graduated 100 percent of its players.

In short, Pasqualoni has meant a lot to Syracuse University and the school’s football program. But he has meant even more to the sport of football across New York State.

“He is the driving force for football at all levels,” said North Rockland coach Joe Casarella. “In my 38 years of coaching he is the best role model for both football players and football coaches that I have ever seen.”

Casarella is a Past President of the NYS Football Coaches Association. He says that no person has done more for the organization than Pasqualoni.

“Every time he goes on the road he talks about the importance of joining the Coaches Association,” Casarella said. “He comes to the Governor’s Bowl breakfast every year and makes a speech even though he’s busy getting ready for the season. We’ve invited a lot of important people who never show up but Coach Pasqualoni is always there.”

Pasqualoni says that he promotes the coaches organization because he feels that is his duty.

“We all have to accept the responsibility for promoting high school and college football for the right reasons,” Pasqualoni said.

He is also adamant about what those ‘right reasons’ are.

“The purpose of any football program has to be as a complement to the educational aspect of the school,” he said. “We need to teach, coach and do a great job in the community. The job of a coach goes way beyond teaching football fundamentals.”

Pasqualoni says that football is one of the ultimate teaching tools for young men in life.

“Football is an excellent educational opportunity,” he said. “Tell me what other activity teaches you the values of success in life like football. Where if a kid gets whupped he has to get back up and try again. Where the importance of teamwork is so crucial. It’s demanding physically and mentally. If it’s taught the right way it can teach young men character, honesty and leadership. Football is such a team game that it can really teach the values that you want young men to have on a team, in business and in their family.”

High school coaches, according to Pasqualoni, must teach far more than on field techniques.

“The job goes way beyond fundamentals,” Pasqualoni said. “You have to teach kids proper behavior and how they should treat people. They have to act as role models for the young men under their supervision. A good high school coach does all of those things.”

Pasqualoni can even be given some credit for the recent growth that the NYS Football Coaches Association is experiencing. Current NYSHSFCA President Don Santini says that credit for starting the organization belongs to Aquinas Athletic Director and New York State Chairman Dick Cerone and Hunter Low, who was employed by Kodak and worked on the Kodak All-Americans project for many years.

“Dick actually had the idea for quite a while,” Santini said. “And Hunter was also a big part of starting it. The idea came up at Paul Pasqualoni’s clinic and it just kind of evolved from there.”

But although Cerone and Low should be given proper kudos for starting the organization, Santini says it really started to grow when Pasqualoni threw his support behind the idea.

“Syracuse is our most established, big-time program in this state and he has been in national limelight,” Santini said. “Without Paul there at the beginning we would never have been able to start the organization.”

Pasqualoni has been crucial in the recent growth in Association membership, according to Santini.

“He goes all over the state and wherever he goes, he promotes our organization and encourages coaches to join,” Santini said. “He makes a point of knowing every coach in the state and where they coach.”

Pasqualoni also encouraged the Coaches Association to hold its annual Awards Banquet at Manley Field House in conjunction with his own coach’s clinic.

“We used to have 80 people come to the awards banquet,” Casarella said, “now we have 500. It’s a good deal for the coaches. They get a clinic with one of the top coaches in the country and the awards banquet. It’s a win-win situation and he went out of his way to help us.”

Santini says that Pasqualoni offered to help the NYSFCA on his own accord.

“Paul has made the banquet attendance part of the clinic fee,” Santini said. “Coaches don’t have to pay extra to come to both events. Our banquet attendance has increased every year since he started helping us.”

And, Santini adds, Pasqualoni has also lent his support to the annual NYSHSFCA Coaches Clinic.

“Our clinic is the biggest fund-raiser we have for our organization right now,” Santini said. “And Paul has made either himself or some of his staff available to speak at our clinic every year. And even if Paul is not speaking that year he comes to the clinic himself.”

Cynics might point out that Pasqualoni s only being shrewd by tapping into a large reservoir of high school coaches across the state, hoping to recruit and retain their best players. Casarella says that nothing could be further from the truth.

“The night I got my 200th win I got a letter from Pasqualoni presented to me at the game,” Casarella said. “When I was sick and in the hospital I got a personal note from him. He is a friend more than a coaching associate and he makes time for everybody.”

Santini also has first-hand knowledge Pasqualoni’s methods and says that he came away impressed with Pasqualoni’s recruiting methods.

“I was coaching at Fairport in 1992,” Santini said. “I had Keith Downing and a lot of colleges were recruiting him. I was in the living room with Keith and his family when Paul was visiting. He truly stressed the importance of academics as well as the football program at Syracuse.”

Downing did choose Syracuse over other schools.

“He had a great experience,” Santini said. “He was a back-up to Donovan McNabb. He graduated on time and now he’s a doctor. He did well at Syracuse and a large part of that was Paul.”

But despite the efforts of Pasqualoni and many of the state’s high school coaches, football seems to fall short when compared to the football in other states. Unfortunately, football is not the integral part of the culture in New York State as it is in places like Texas, Ohio or Pennsylvania.

“New York State is a very diverse area,” Pasqualoni said. “It’s far more diverse than other areas. Football is just not looked at by the general public in the same light as it is in Ohio.”

Pasqualoni says that this makes it harder for coaches to sell the game as an important part of each community across the state.

“I think high school coaches in this state are a very dedicated group of men,” Pasqualoni said. “I think most of them work very hard and do a great job. That’s especially true of coaches in the inner-city areas where budgets are a lot smaller, they don’t have the same resources and the restraints placed on the football programs are very tough.”

Pasqualoni says that New York State has far more coaches trying to do more - with less - than any other state.

“We have more inner-city neighborhoods than any other place in the world,” he said. “Not just in Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse either. When you think of the five boroughs of New York City it really hits home how many inner-city situations we have in this state. And those coaches don’t always have the luxury of having a coaching staff in the building with them. It’s tough to sell football in an atmosphere like that.”

Pasqualoni says that in places where football is an important part of the community, success comes more often.

“It’s a well-known fact that great high school programs have great community support,” he said. “If a program is a top program year-in and year-out it’s because the community takes pride in the program.”

Santini says that the NYSHSFCA Board of Directors is extremely pleased with the recent growth in members - which reached a new all-time high after February’s Clinic.

“Our membership is the largest now than it ever has been,” Santini said. “Could we use more? Absolutely. The members of our own organization need to continue to beat the bushes to encourage every coach to join. We have increased membership and we are getting bigger and better.”

Pasqualoni says that one way for high school football to become a part of the community is to install lights and play games on Friday night.

“Without a doubt playing Friday Night Football only adds to the community involvement,” he said. “It makes it much more of an event. It creates excitement and pride in the community and that’s very healthy for any program.”

Santini says that it is also important for high school coaches to help promote New York’s collegiate teams to high school kids.

“We are losing a lot of top-level kids to Michigan, Boston College and Pittsburgh,” he said. “The high school coaches need to do a better job of selling Syracuse - and Buffalo - to our in-state kids. Even the Division III teams lose kids to other states. We need to try and keep these kids in state or at least get them to see the benefits of staying home and playing here. If they still decide to go elsewhere, so be it, but we need to at least show them the benefits of playing here.”

Unfortunately, despite his long record of success, Pasqualoni has been under some extreme criticism recently because the Orange has been undergoing a rebuilding period. A 10-3 record, including a victory in the Insight.com Bowl, was followed by seasons of 4-8 and 6-6. Predictably, irate fans who are egged on by talk-show hosts, call for Pasqualoni’s immediate ouster. Pasqualoni refuses to let the naysayers bother him.

“There are a lot of good fans and a lot of good people out there,” Pasqualoni said. “The people that call into the talk shows are in the minority. Most fans have been overwhelmingly supportive.”

Pasqualoni says that he does not - or won’t - worry about his job security.

“I feel great about where I am,” he said. “Obviously, the most important thing is wins and losses. But there are a lot of other victories happening that the public doesn’t get to see. Any good administrator knows what’s really going on.”

Santini says that he is stunned by the viciousness of some of the radio callers and sports talk show hosts.

“This criticism he is getting right now is so unjust it just boggles my mind,” Santini said. “If Syracuse were to fire Paul they would lose one of the most ethical, honest coaches in the nation. They would be losing a man with tremendous work ethic who is a first-class individual on and off the field.”

According to Santini, if Pasqualoni were fired, the Orange would not be the only loser. The sport itself would suffer.

“It would be devastating to lose him,” Santini said. “Football can not afford to lose people with his integrity and honesty and his love for the game. Especially our state where we don’t have the following that other places do. We just can’t afford to lose those people. The general public has underrated him but I can tell you that his peers haven’t.”

Syracuse University Athletics

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