Head Coach Doug Marrone Press Conference Transcript (Feb. 4, 2009)
2009 NLI Press Conference
Opening Remarks:
"Thanks for being here and happy signing day. One of the things that we talked about in the beginning when I first took this job was about trying to re-establish the boundaries that made this University and this football program successful. That was one of our goals going out there. We talked about the staff and how they needed to have Northeast ties and have been in areas in the Northeast for at least five years and that would help build the foundation to take our program to where we all would like it to be.
“One of the things you face when you become a new coach and you start your job on December 15 is that you are late and you are behind. A lot of times in recruiting, people talk about filling up needs and taking care of those needs with your recruiting class. One of the things that we made sure to do was go out and get the best players we could. We were a little limited in regard to our scholarship numbers, so what we did is we went out and tried to sign the best 'football players' or the best 'student-athletes' that we could. In doing so with this class, we felt that we've accomplished that. We were able to turn some commitments, fight some battles and we really, at the end of the day, were holding on to our hats with some of these recruits because others teams came back in. That's really the fun part about recruiting. I was telling our coaches how you obviously get concerned near the end of the period and I was saying, 'You know what? This is great. This is what you want.' You want people to come back in on some of your recruits and it makes you feel better about those recruits and that you've gotten the right players. So, I'm extremely satisfied with this class.
“My background as far as scouting, obviously some of you know in my past jobs, they rate some coaches. I've been rated as one of the top recruiters when I was in the south, in the top 10. But, I never put much into the ratings of players. What I mean by that is that you have these scouting services, the same as we see on NFL Gameday with Mel Kiper, but I never really put much into what players are rated or what other peoples' opinions are of them. I care about what my opinion is and the rest of our staff because what I am about, and what I have been about my entire life, is development. There are many stories I have from the NFL and college about the development of players. That's the key thing. We look for certain aspects in a player, we'll define those aspects as a staff, we'll recruit that athlete and we'll develop that athlete. That's one of the things I've believe in, I always have and it is one of the things we are going to do with our current football team – we will develop them as football players. In the end, we'll go out and we plan on winning football games."
What was the one central theme when you went into a prospect’s living room that you tried to sell your first recruiting class on?
"I think that's a good point because one of the things I've said before is when you become a coach and you go to another university, you have to get a really quick 101 class about what that university is about and what to sell. That's something that I've had my whole life here (at Syracuse). For me to go into a home, I felt great. My passion for this University, my passion for this community and my passion for this program were the three things I was able to get across and sell. The direction of where we're headed and what we want to do. Those points are so important that when a coach and I would leave a home and I'd ask one of the coaches, 'Well, how do you think that went?' He'd say, 'Coach, it's unbelievable'. They've been with other head coaches and it's different. It’s just the passion I have, but it's something so genuine. These are things I believe in. These aren't things that I am trying to sell. It's so much easier for me to talk to parents and to athletes about this program and the great tradition that we have because those are the things that I was brought up on and those are the things that I believe in. They are the things that we are going to get across, not only in New York, and the rest of the tri-state area and the surrounding recruiting areas, but across this great country. That's one thing I'm proud of."
You have six weeks to tackle this challenge. Were you surprised at how much work needed to be done to re-establish those boundaries? How far behind are you? How much catching up did you have to do?
"I did think about that prior to getting the job. During that time, during the interview process, really what went through my mind is you kind of generate a plan of how you're going to attack those problems. I believe we attacked that with relationships. I really do. One of those things obviously is being from New York and having played in New York City and having played high school football there, that creates connections. Having someone like (offensive coordinator) Rob Spence, who is from the Westchester-Rockland area and was a high school coach, creates connections. Having (secondary coach) John Anselmo from Nassau County and New York City creates connections.
“At one point during recruiting when I was out on the road, I started really think about this – what's going to get the player? What are you going to do? At the end of the day, I said I cannot believe how much recruiting is about relationships. That's why I when you go out and you get experienced coaches that you're able to establish yourself quickly or quicker in areas you may not have thought of when you first started. Also, what we did in the dead period (for recruiting), is work a clinic in New Jersey. I also plan on doing clinics in New York and Pennsylvania.
"By hiring a staff that has experience and the same type of relationships with these coaches has helped us re-establish those boundaries and re-establish those relationships. Today, I was talking to a high school on the phone and he said, 'Coach, it's great to have you back at Syracuse and it's so great to have you come into our school. Now I know that when we have student-athletes, that this is a school that we can send them to.' That also happened a number of times when we were out on the road. That really says a lot about recruiting. You think about recruiting and you think about the relationship between player and coach. It's tremendous. It's not only about family; it's about the relationship with that coach. That coach has to feel comfortable sending that player to that university. He has to know that the people truly care about his player other than his ability just to play football. That's one of the things that we tried to establish when we were on the road. When I interviewed the coaches for our staff, the first question I had asked in the interview was 'How are we going to develop the student-athlete and let's take football out of it. How are we going to create the leaders in our University? How are going to create the leaders in our community? How are we going to create the leaders for us nationally? What type of setting is our room going to be? What are we going to give them as far as life skills? How are we going to establish that?' These conversations went on for hours. At the end it was about, 'Well, how do we defeat Cover 2?' That's really what it's all about in recruiting – making sure when you go into that home, you look those parents in the eye, look that student-athlete in the eye, look that coach in the eye and say, 'We are going to develop your son and we are going to create a future leader in our community, as well as the national.' That’s what I believe."
What defines the successes of the 14 players that you have signed?
"Often times people like to take success early on in a recruiting class by ratings and stars or where they're from. I think the recruiting class is defined when they graduate. When you look at success, you look at one, graduating, and two, their production on the football field. I spent time with (former Georgia Tech coach) Bobby Ross, whom I'm sure you all know was the coach at Army and he evaluated who the best recruiters were with a point system. And, it was very interesting. He said, if a player came in and played as a freshman, he would get four points. If he was an all-conference player, that would add a point. If he was an all-American, that would add a point. If he played his second year it would be three points. At the end of the career, there's a point value for every guy. That's how he defined the successes of our recruiting class, by looking at how they play and how they perform on the football field, in the classroom, as well as graduating and in the community. That's how we look at our players."
As a New York City guy, are you happy to get the New York City Player of the Year (Torian Phillips)?
"(smiling) Obviously, he's a much better kid than when I was growing up, so that's a good thing. New York City is funny because you go to different areas of the city and it's really such a melting pot of people. I think it was important for us to establish to the other schools that we are going to be in this area and we are dedicating the full staff to the state of New York. With each coach, even though some numbers may be skewed a little bit, the goal was to have each coach have 60 or so schools, so no one slips through the cracks. One of the things I talked about earlier today on one of the recruiting shows I was on is about how we play less football in the state of New York, than, obviously, the state of Florida or Texas or some other areas. Therefore, one of the things that's important is how do we evaluate those players? We have to do a better job of evaluating the players in state because we have less to evaluate with, but knowing that the upside and talent with these future players can be tremendous."
What were the disappointments? Were there any areas you felt that you lost out on?
"What was important to me and my staff was that we are going to be here for quite a long time and we cannot do anything in our foundation to have people think that we don't do things the right way. This is a school that I went to and it's a school that I'm proud of. For example, there was a player who was committed to another school. We liked the player and thought he could help us, so we called the high school coach and asked if we can have permission to speak to this player, knowing he was committed. The high school coach said yes and I told the coach how I'd like to handle it. I said I would like to call the parents first before we talk to the prospect. If the parents say it's okay to recruit the prospect, then we will go ahead. If the parents say, ‘You know what Coach, this recruiting process if long and hard, it's been tough on the family and we'd like it to end right here,’ then we are not going to contact this person. We did that in quite a few instances throughout the areas that we were recruiting because it's my belief in the long run that it's going to help us. People right now know Syracuse University is going to do things the right way and that people in the area know that they can trust Syracuse University and that I am a person of my word. I think at the end of the day, it's going to help us."
When you inherited the previous offers, what made you want to hold onto those three?
"I don't think I went about it in terms of I wanted to keep this and not keep that. I just wanted to make sure I had a good evaluation from all the commitments that we had already. I wanted to make sure that I was honest and up front with all of the commitments. I went about it and said, 'Okay, you were committed to Syracuse University and we were not there when you accepted the commitment, but this is how we feel you fit into the program. It was explained to the athlete, it was explained to the high school coach and it was explained to the parents where they can make a decision on the direction the program was going and how they fit with the program and they can make a decision whether they wanted to hold that commitment or try to lo look elsewhere. That's how I tried to go about it with the six commitments when I took over."
Anything about the recruiting process that surprised you since you've been out of college for some time?
"I love recruiting because I look at recruiting as this – it's you against someone else. It's a competitive situation. Can I do a better job of selling our program than a coach at another school? I'm a competitive guy and we have competitive coaches. I really feel when I go into that home and I talk to these prospects that I am doing the best I can for them because of what Syracuse University has done for me. I go in there and try to win over a recruit because I believe it's in his best interest to attend Syracuse University. When I lose a recruit, I feel like I've let that player down. We as a staff can do a better job can do everybody else."
What was it about this quarterback (Charley Loeb) you wanted to go after?
"This is what I told him in his home, ‘I believe if I was here for a full recruiting process, which we know is longer than a year, I'd still be in the same place, the same living room, talking to the same prospect.’ That wasn't a recruiting ploy or something to help him feel better about his commitment. That was our evaluation about him. So, we're excited about him."
Could you talk about the local product in (Christian Brothers Academy offensive lineman) Andrew Phillips and the importance of recruiting local talent?
"I think it's a relationship with the community. I hope that CBA (Christian Brothers Academy) has four or five kids every year, and that the surrounding schools have that so during recruiting season, we can drive around everywhere so we don't have to get on planes (smiling). I think it's important that, one, I give credit to the high school coaches in this area for developing those players and, two, I think it's important for someone like Andrew (Phillips) to have the pressure he's going to have playing in his hometown. There is quite a bit of pressure that way. It helps us. I'm excited and the more we can get, the better."
How do you feel you recruited offensively and defensively, overall?
"I didn't go out there looking at offense and defense. I went out there looking for the best players. The players that we have I'm very comfortable with. I think the numbers will settle out through the next recruiting class. When you have 14 players and you don't know really what you have (currently on the team), you have to recruit the best players. I'm not going to sit here and tell you what we have to work with on our football team because I have not seen us go out there and compete. I'm a firm believer in what you see is with your eyes. You can see things on film, but I like to see it live. I didn't look at from an offensive and defensive standpoint. I looked at it as the best 14 players that we can have. I'm just excited about the student-athletes who we've brought in and where we are."
Could you discuss the group of defensive backs? It seems that was the most heavily recruited position.
"One is Dale Peterman, from Ohio. We just looked at someone who can just flat-out play man-to-man. He is a tough football player. Obviously we had to hang on in the end to keep him and when I say hang on, I don't mean it in negative way. I mean it in a good way. We see someone who is tough and physical at corner. That's something that you look for in the corner position. With Rishard Anderson, he is a top quality player who was injured going into his senior year. You go back and look at his junior film and you see this type of player and you visualize, if this player did not become injured during his senior year, where would he be? Would he be at one of the top schools in his state? Probably. So we went after him and we feel comfortable with his position. Torian Phillips is from in-state and his development is sky-high as far as where he goes, so we're excited about him. Shamarko Thomas is another big corner. He's someone who can play and who is physical. That's what we are looking for at that position. Some size, some physicality and somebody who can step in and play press man-to-man and not let these guys off the line. We have Phillip Thomas, another one people tried to come back in on. He's a big hitter.How they develop is key and part of our job as coaches.
“One of the things I've learned about recruiting is that there is so much media attention toward these high school players, with high school football being on TV nationally at times, with high school players being in the media and, really, a lot of these high school players getting built up. Then you look at the collegiate game and how we have built up the college football players as they get ready to enter the NFL. It's easier to build up the college football player as they enter the NFL, because physically, they're read y to do that. One of the things I always had a problem understanding was that the high school players aren't as physically ready to play at the collegiate game and that's one of the things I always think about when we bring these student-athletes in. ‘Do they have the tools to be good players yet?’ It is up to us as coaches to develop that and it's really up to them to develop it along with the weight program and the things you have to do to get your body ready. That's one of the things that you're always thinking about. When you're sitting in the car or the airport and start thinking how this is unbelievable. That's probably the biggest difference in the seven years since I've been out (of the college game). It's all the attention to where recruiting is in regard to the internet and the services and the star-ratings. At some points, I say, ‘Who are these people rating these players? What's the accountability for it?’ We're accountable as coaches when we bring these players in to make sure they perform for us and they graduate. Looking at the class that's ready to be drafted – how did the experts rate them when they were freshmen coming in? I look at the Super Bowl and I look at the rosters I've been on. I see players like Willie Colon from Hofstra, who's starting, or Justin Hartwick, from Kansas, who wasn't a highly-recruited player to my knowledge. I look at all these players who are playing and wonder what were they rated coming out? I really do. That's not a knock on the people that are doing the recruiting services. I think they do a tremendous job of finding talent. But, it's something when you're sitting in that airport you're sitting and wondering, what happened to all the five-star kids that came into college?"
Do the junior college guys (Torrey Ball and Andrew Tiller) have a leg up as far as earning playing time seeing they've had a little more experience and time to grow?
"I absolutely agree. It was kind of the same route we went before when I spoke about physical development. They're more physically developed. They've had the extra two years to develop themselves at a junior college institution, so they'll be able to come and compete at a better level, physically, than the players coming out of high school."
Has the sense of excitement shifted from recruiting to spring ball?
"Without a doubt. We've already started our junior recruiting class, also. That's a big thing and that's a sense of excitement, too. There's a sense of excitement about being around our players more. We've been on the road and I get uncomfortable being away from our team. It's part of my job, but I enjoy being around our players and building relationships with them, knowing what makes them tick, what they think and how they go. We've been doing a lot just trying to re-establish ourselves, just the mindset or the culture, looking at the things we have to do to become a better football team. The other day, a football player was cleaning a locker and I was cleaning one right next to him. I turned around and said, 'Do you think you've done a good job?' He said, 'Coach, I think I did a pretty good job.' I said, 'Well, a pretty good job is losing 21-20.' That's one of the things we want to talk about – pretty good is not good enough. We want to be the best and do the best we can and they are some of the things we're trying to change and we're doing that by being around the players. You don't have to do that all the time on the football field. You do it by how you act, by how you greet people, by how you dress. There are a lot of things that go into building a winning program and it starts with little things."
How close are you to finishing hiring your staff?
"I believe we'll be finished shortly. You talk to a lot of people, you interview them and you really don't know what's going to happen until they sign like signing day. That's what I've told some people here before. I wish I could say it, but I don't want to say it until that person comes in and signs and we know he's in full speed before we go ahead and announce any of the hirings."
How much work did you get done that is not necessarily reflected in this year's class but in next year's (2010) class?
"Quite a bit from the standpoint of building relationships. You go to see one kid in one area of the country in one school, but do you know what, you go visit three other coaches within that area. I think it's important that you do that and start building back that foundation. You're in town and you're going to stay overnight, you say to area coaches, ‘I'll be at the diner, do you want to come out to visit?’
It is sort of like a meet and greet. I think we've done quite a bit of that. We try to use our time out on the road to see how productive we could be from the standpoint of the senior prospects and then meeting a coach who might have a junior coming up the following year. Again, we were trying to use all the time we could to be as productive as we could in this short period of time."
You've stressed that you don't read much into ratings, but from the looks of these rating; these kids aren't ranked very high. Do you think these kids are underrated? What's your stance on these kids?
" I really don't know how the ratings go or the stars. It's easy to see the top ones. I think we'd all be blind to see that. One of the things I think I need to bring up is highlight tapes. What's amazing about highlight tapes to me is that in the NFL and here at Syracuse, we would never take a player off of a highlight tape. I talked to a high school coach who is a very good friend and he had a prospect. He had told one of our assistant coaches this isn't someone you want to recruit. I watched the highlight tape and I said to myself, what's wrong with this player? So I went in and I talked to this coach myself and I said to him, ‘Why would you tell us this player is not the player we think he is on the tape?’ The coach said, ‘Doug, I can make this highlight tape look however I want. I can make this player look great, but you're my friend, and I'm just telling you.’ That's one of the things you have to think about when you see them on YouTube –it creates the interest in the athlete, but then we have to go back and look at the game film and look who the player is in between plays, how he carries himself and how he can play for four quarters, not just when he's getting thrown the ball to him or when he making a tackle, but how he plays for 60 minutes. They are the things we look at. I don't mean to say highlight films aren't good, but there's more to recruiting than just watching a highlight film. How the class is rated from some people's perspective, I don't really comment on it because it's their opinion. They're entitled to it. I appreciate their opinion. But our opinion as coaches is that we've signed a class that can come in here and compete for starting spots and we've signed a class that we can all be proud of.”
