Syracuse All-American and former NFL Standout Tim Green's Remarks on Head Coach Doug Marrone
Opening Remarks
“I want to thank Daryl Gross because I’ve been privileged to be part of this group including the Board of Trustees, led by Bob Miron, the football part of the advisory group, led by Coach Mac (MacPherson), Floyd Little and Art Monk. I was just thrilled to be a part of that group. You’d love to be a part of that group anywhere, anytime. Daryl Gross went through an exhaustive search. In the last three weeks I bet he hasn’t seen his wife for more than five minutes because he has been going. He has been talking. He has been on the phone. I got tired just being around him. He didn’t leave a stone unturned in his search to find the best and the right person for Syracuse University football program.
“When we first got on the phone together and had our first conference call, Doug’s name was one of many. Coach Mac said wonderful things about Doug, and he should. He brought Doug here from the Bronx. He was one of our star recruits when we were able to start turning the program around. No one is more proud of Doug than Coach Mac. And then Coach Mac said ‘Tim, what do you think?’ I said ‘I feel a little put on the spot because Doug was one of my best friends, along with Todd Norley and Scott Congel. We were together throughout college. For me to sit here and say that Doug Marrone is the right guy is what I would love to say, but I can’t say that because I don’t know, at this point, if Doug is the right guy for Syracuse football because this is a daunting task that he is going to have, or whoever it is going to face.’ It’s difficult. I’ve said one of the most difficult things in the world of sports is to take a college football program that’s down and resurrect it. Coach Mac did it. That’s why I think what he said carried a tremendous amount of weight with Floyd, Art and myself, as well as the Board of Trustees. For Doug at that point, it was about being one of many. For me, I wanted the group to know that I was going to be as objective as anyone. Floyd Little spoke to me a few nights ago and said ‘Tim, I didn’t think you were in favor of Doug. I loved him and I didn’t think you were in favor of him.’ I said ‘Floyd, how the heck can you say that.’ Floyd said ‘You said you didn’t know if he was the right guy.’ I said ‘Floyd, I wanted everyone to know that if he wasn’t the right guy, I wasn’t going to put my weight and my vote behind him.’
“We started interviewing people, and I had the privilege to be with Daryl and see how thorough he was and the probing questions he asked and the amount of time he spent with all of the candidates. We went to New York City last weekend and we were able to have some final interviews with some incredible head coaches, any one of whom deserves a tremendous amount of respect. When Doug Marrone walked into that room and sat with that group, I will tell you that, bar none, he was the most impressive man we had seen. The thoroughness of his preparation for this job was extraordinary, naming the names of high school coaches who he was going to contact immediately, the recruiting service that he was going to use to try to catch up with recruiting, the staff that he planned on selecting, the details of the recruiting, the details of the x’s and o’s. He knew Art Monk’s favorite pass patterns and he was going put one of those in and call it the Art Monk play. He knew so much x’s and o’s and he knew about the opposing coaches in the BIG EAST and their defensive propensities. He already has plans to attack those defenses, right down to which cornerbacks he’s going to attack and how he’s going to do it, and the weaknesses in their systems.
"In the National Football League, you are tested week in and week out, you’re intellect of the game is tested because every guy you face is a genius, they are brilliant. Doug Marrone rose to the top. There are general managers in the National Football League who are sad today because they thought Doug Marrone was going to be their next head coach when they needed to make a move or make a change. So we’re sitting there and we’re hearing all of these great things with x’s and o’s, and we asked what kind of system he will run on offense. He said it will be a multiple offense. We said how are you going to do that. He said ‘I don’t know how I’m going to do it. I want to assess my players, see what I have because I know there is some talent there, see what we can bring in, and then I’ll design my system around my players.' Throughout the process, every coach we talked to said recruiting was the number one thing. Doug has been planning on this job and the recruiting that he’s done. He sold us. He was an incredibly impressive guy.
“I don’t know how long it’s going to take to turn Syracuse football around because it’s that catch 22 – how do you win, you recruit; how do you recruit, you win. So how do you do it? You have to have incredible passion, force of personality, intellect and devotion to the institution. Doug Marrone has all of those things. I was very proud, and am today, to say that at the end of that process, that without a doubt, he was clearly the best guy to bring pride back to Syracuse football."
On what impression Doug Marrone made when he was interviewed by the search committee:
“Doug Marrone, who in a group of outstanding coaches, stood out for his knowledge of the game, his knowledge of players and his knowledge of recruiting – that’s so key in a football program in college. His passion for Syracuse University was unsurpassed. He hit everything on the mark and to a depth that no one else matched.”
On whether he always knew Doug Marrone would be the leader he is:
“I always loved Doug because he was one of my best friends and a teammate. We spent a lot of time together. He’s always been a wonderful person with a big heart. Throughout his career at Syracuse University as player, he started to ascend. When he first got here, he wasn’t in great shape, he didn’t work that hard. By the time he left, he made himself into a 6-5, 310-pound block of granite who was drafted by the Oakland Raiders. He’s a guy who transformed himself during his time at Syracuse, and it didn’t stop there. He kept going throughout his career as a coach. He made a steady and precipitous ascent, constantly getting better as a coach, as a recruiter, as an x’s and o’s guy. It’s been the perfect body of work that has led him to Syracuse.”
On whether he feels the Syracuse community will get behind Doug Marrone:
“I think they will. I think Syracuse, as a community, will get behind him because he’s one of our own. He played here. He played under Coach Mac. When people look into this, they find out how many NFL teams had him on their short list as one of the next head coaches in the National Football League, they will say ‘Wow. Why would he come back to coach Syracuse?’ Then they will realize he’s one of us – the same reason that I came back. The same reason that Coach Mac came back here. The same reason that Jim Boeheim and John Desko came back here. We’re part of Syracuse and Syracuse is part of us. He loves this area, and he is proud of it. That’s going to resonate with people.
The other thing is he has to win. And, he will win. I really believe he’s going to turn this thing around next season, and it’s going to be the same precipitous ascent that his coaching career has taken.”
On the fact that Doug Marrone has served as a NFL coordinator but has never been a head coach:
“I think that if you look throughout coaching and you see the kinds of (head) coaches who were coordinators and then became head coaches who had success, it’s just as many as coordinators who became head coaches and didn’t have success. I don’t think that is the most important part of the formula. If you want to think about that as the formula, all you have to do is look here at Syracuse University – names like Boeheim and Desko. They were all Syracuse players. They all came back. Neither had been a head coach before, and every one of them won a national championship. Doug Marrone, I believe, is going to win a national championship. I think he’s going to be here for the duration of his career. It’s going to be like the Ben Schwartzwalder era. It’s going to be like the Coach Mac era. He’s going to turn it around, and he’s going to stay here.”
On Doug Marrone’s passion for Syracuse University:
“I think it’s important because as he said, he can’t fail. Think about this, this is his life’s dream. His goal in life was to be the head coach at Syracuse University. So if that’s your life’s goal, you know that every ounce of the talent that he has, and he has a lot of talent, is going to go into this program without hesitation, without ever looking back, without ever looking sideways, without ever looking forward. He is going to be here. He is going to be focused on Syracuse University because it’s the job of his life.”
“I want to thank Daryl Gross because I’ve been privileged to be part of this group including the Board of Trustees, led by Bob Miron, the football part of the advisory group, led by Coach Mac (MacPherson), Floyd Little and Art Monk. I was just thrilled to be a part of that group. You’d love to be a part of that group anywhere, anytime. Daryl Gross went through an exhaustive search. In the last three weeks I bet he hasn’t seen his wife for more than five minutes because he has been going. He has been talking. He has been on the phone. I got tired just being around him. He didn’t leave a stone unturned in his search to find the best and the right person for Syracuse University football program.
“When we first got on the phone together and had our first conference call, Doug’s name was one of many. Coach Mac said wonderful things about Doug, and he should. He brought Doug here from the Bronx. He was one of our star recruits when we were able to start turning the program around. No one is more proud of Doug than Coach Mac. And then Coach Mac said ‘Tim, what do you think?’ I said ‘I feel a little put on the spot because Doug was one of my best friends, along with Todd Norley and Scott Congel. We were together throughout college. For me to sit here and say that Doug Marrone is the right guy is what I would love to say, but I can’t say that because I don’t know, at this point, if Doug is the right guy for Syracuse football because this is a daunting task that he is going to have, or whoever it is going to face.’ It’s difficult. I’ve said one of the most difficult things in the world of sports is to take a college football program that’s down and resurrect it. Coach Mac did it. That’s why I think what he said carried a tremendous amount of weight with Floyd, Art and myself, as well as the Board of Trustees. For Doug at that point, it was about being one of many. For me, I wanted the group to know that I was going to be as objective as anyone. Floyd Little spoke to me a few nights ago and said ‘Tim, I didn’t think you were in favor of Doug. I loved him and I didn’t think you were in favor of him.’ I said ‘Floyd, how the heck can you say that.’ Floyd said ‘You said you didn’t know if he was the right guy.’ I said ‘Floyd, I wanted everyone to know that if he wasn’t the right guy, I wasn’t going to put my weight and my vote behind him.’
“We started interviewing people, and I had the privilege to be with Daryl and see how thorough he was and the probing questions he asked and the amount of time he spent with all of the candidates. We went to New York City last weekend and we were able to have some final interviews with some incredible head coaches, any one of whom deserves a tremendous amount of respect. When Doug Marrone walked into that room and sat with that group, I will tell you that, bar none, he was the most impressive man we had seen. The thoroughness of his preparation for this job was extraordinary, naming the names of high school coaches who he was going to contact immediately, the recruiting service that he was going to use to try to catch up with recruiting, the staff that he planned on selecting, the details of the recruiting, the details of the x’s and o’s. He knew Art Monk’s favorite pass patterns and he was going put one of those in and call it the Art Monk play. He knew so much x’s and o’s and he knew about the opposing coaches in the BIG EAST and their defensive propensities. He already has plans to attack those defenses, right down to which cornerbacks he’s going to attack and how he’s going to do it, and the weaknesses in their systems.
"In the National Football League, you are tested week in and week out, you’re intellect of the game is tested because every guy you face is a genius, they are brilliant. Doug Marrone rose to the top. There are general managers in the National Football League who are sad today because they thought Doug Marrone was going to be their next head coach when they needed to make a move or make a change. So we’re sitting there and we’re hearing all of these great things with x’s and o’s, and we asked what kind of system he will run on offense. He said it will be a multiple offense. We said how are you going to do that. He said ‘I don’t know how I’m going to do it. I want to assess my players, see what I have because I know there is some talent there, see what we can bring in, and then I’ll design my system around my players.' Throughout the process, every coach we talked to said recruiting was the number one thing. Doug has been planning on this job and the recruiting that he’s done. He sold us. He was an incredibly impressive guy.
“I don’t know how long it’s going to take to turn Syracuse football around because it’s that catch 22 – how do you win, you recruit; how do you recruit, you win. So how do you do it? You have to have incredible passion, force of personality, intellect and devotion to the institution. Doug Marrone has all of those things. I was very proud, and am today, to say that at the end of that process, that without a doubt, he was clearly the best guy to bring pride back to Syracuse football."
On what impression Doug Marrone made when he was interviewed by the search committee:
“Doug Marrone, who in a group of outstanding coaches, stood out for his knowledge of the game, his knowledge of players and his knowledge of recruiting – that’s so key in a football program in college. His passion for Syracuse University was unsurpassed. He hit everything on the mark and to a depth that no one else matched.”
On whether he always knew Doug Marrone would be the leader he is:
“I always loved Doug because he was one of my best friends and a teammate. We spent a lot of time together. He’s always been a wonderful person with a big heart. Throughout his career at Syracuse University as player, he started to ascend. When he first got here, he wasn’t in great shape, he didn’t work that hard. By the time he left, he made himself into a 6-5, 310-pound block of granite who was drafted by the Oakland Raiders. He’s a guy who transformed himself during his time at Syracuse, and it didn’t stop there. He kept going throughout his career as a coach. He made a steady and precipitous ascent, constantly getting better as a coach, as a recruiter, as an x’s and o’s guy. It’s been the perfect body of work that has led him to Syracuse.”
On whether he feels the Syracuse community will get behind Doug Marrone:
“I think they will. I think Syracuse, as a community, will get behind him because he’s one of our own. He played here. He played under Coach Mac. When people look into this, they find out how many NFL teams had him on their short list as one of the next head coaches in the National Football League, they will say ‘Wow. Why would he come back to coach Syracuse?’ Then they will realize he’s one of us – the same reason that I came back. The same reason that Coach Mac came back here. The same reason that Jim Boeheim and John Desko came back here. We’re part of Syracuse and Syracuse is part of us. He loves this area, and he is proud of it. That’s going to resonate with people.
The other thing is he has to win. And, he will win. I really believe he’s going to turn this thing around next season, and it’s going to be the same precipitous ascent that his coaching career has taken.”
On the fact that Doug Marrone has served as a NFL coordinator but has never been a head coach:
“I think that if you look throughout coaching and you see the kinds of (head) coaches who were coordinators and then became head coaches who had success, it’s just as many as coordinators who became head coaches and didn’t have success. I don’t think that is the most important part of the formula. If you want to think about that as the formula, all you have to do is look here at Syracuse University – names like Boeheim and Desko. They were all Syracuse players. They all came back. Neither had been a head coach before, and every one of them won a national championship. Doug Marrone, I believe, is going to win a national championship. I think he’s going to be here for the duration of his career. It’s going to be like the Ben Schwartzwalder era. It’s going to be like the Coach Mac era. He’s going to turn it around, and he’s going to stay here.”
On Doug Marrone’s passion for Syracuse University:
“I think it’s important because as he said, he can’t fail. Think about this, this is his life’s dream. His goal in life was to be the head coach at Syracuse University. So if that’s your life’s goal, you know that every ounce of the talent that he has, and he has a lot of talent, is going to go into this program without hesitation, without ever looking back, without ever looking sideways, without ever looking forward. He is going to be here. He is going to be focused on Syracuse University because it’s the job of his life.”
