2010 Season Starts at BIG EAST Media Day
8/3/2010 1:48:57 PM | Football
Head coach Doug Marrone, along with seniors Ryan Bartholomew, Michael Holmes, Rob Long and Derrell Smith, kicked off the 2010 season at BIG EAST Media Day in Newport, R.I. on Tuesday. Coach Marrone and the student-athletes addressed questions from more than 125 members of the national and local media about expectations for the upcoming season.
“I want to go to a bowl game,” Marrone said. “That is the goal. Anything short of that is hard for me to say is good. We're winning a lot of battles but those have to turn into wins on the football field for us. I know that there is a time clock on me from when I was hired. We have to get this team to a bowl game and back up to everyone's expectations. There is a lot of pressure, yes, but it is something I chose and we all chose.”
The Orange kick off the 2010 season on September 4 at Akron (6:00 p.m., ESPN3). SU opens at home against Maine on September 18 at 7:15 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. Season tickets are available online and at the Carrier Dome Box Office (888-DOME-TIX). starting at $100. Individual game tickets go on sale on August 11 beginning at 10:00 a,m.
Bartholomew, Holmes, Long and Smith also fielded questions about the upcoming season and had the opportunity to sit down with television crews from ESPN, The BIG EAST Network and Inside the BIG EAST in preparation for their game day coverage. The four were selected by Marrone to represent the program at the annual media event.
“I start with the seniors and the right student-athlete,” Marrone said. “We ask all of our players to represent Syracuse University with leadership, character and life skills. We essentially pick the student-athletes, the seniors, who embody that.”
In his second year at the helm, Marrone discussed how the program has progressed over the course of a year and how he envisions it developing in 2010. The Orange was picked to finish seventh in the BIG EAST preseason poll as voted on by the media.
“I was happy with the direction but disappointed with the wins,” Marrone said. “I thought we left some games on the field. We could have competed more in the second half and we turned the ball over too much. I thought that being a graduate of the school would allow me to have a better level of trust from the upperclassmen right off the bat. This year there is better communication; there is more of a trust. We're comfortable with what we're doing with the program. I feel more comfortable going into this year and I'm excited about being a much more competitive team.”
Part of Marrone's focus during the past year has been developing the student-athletes on and off the field through leadership, community engagement and Life Skills.
“We're much further along in the Life Skills program and leadership program that we have in place now, you can see how some of those programs have taken effect. We won the 2009-10 BIG EAST Academic Excellence Award for the best team grade point average. We're excited. We've won a lot of battles and now we have to win those battles on the field.”
