Head Coach Doug Marrone - Spring Practice
March 23, 2009
Thoughts on first day of practice:
“It's exciting. It's always exciting to be out there. The first thing you do when you set the schedule is you look at that day when you're going to be out on the field first. We've all been excited. I'm sure the players have been excited and it's a chance to get out there and basically try to show them a practice with a football on the field. We haven't been doing anything with the football in our hands, so we had to get out there and put a football in their hands and show them the tempo we want. There's a little bit more teaching now in the beginning, because of the situation of non-padded practices, but again, you'll see the tempo getting faster and faster and the repetitions increasing.”
How have the tempo and any changes you might have implemented been received thus far?
“I don't really know, I don't ask and I don't mean that in a bad way. It's just something that we keep pushing and striving for. The more reps, the more plays we can get offensively, defensively and special teams. How many plays can we can into a practice or how can we be more time efficient, I think that's what's going to make us a better football team.”
It's pretty cold out there – what were your thoughts going into practice in those conditions?
“We play in a controlled environment, as far as when we play at home, but in the back of my mind I know we're going to have to go out there and win games late in the year in an environment like this. That's what great about Syracuse. We can go into the Dome when we're playing at home and yet, we can go outside (to prepare for) when we're on the road and we'll have all the elements we need. I love practicing outside. It was a beautiful day. The sun was out, but it was about 33 degrees and I think it's going to warm up for all of us as Spring goes on. That's why I always liked Coach Mac (former SU head coach Dick MacPherson) because he always started spring ball after St. Patrick's Day. He'd push it back a little bit, maybe starting a little later than most teams. But again, the weather breaks and you get a combination of what's opposite of the season. It starts off cold, but as time goes on, it begins to warm up at the end.”
How did (wide receiver) Mike Williams look in his return?
“Well, everyone is in a rusty stage. To go out and say that somebody was going to come out and you as a coach go, 'Wow'. I told Mike (Williams) coming out on the field, ‘Hey, it's been a while since you've been out there.’ I think he was excited to be out there and we are excited to see him out there.”
Where do you start the evaluating?
“The evaluating started the first day, by the way someone walks or by the way someone presents themselves. You're always in an evaluation process. As far as this, it is the first stage of our evaluation process as football players who can process information and go on a field and go out and play. Every single play is being evaluated. That's why we have so much film (of practice). You'll always see the cameras rolling when we're on the field that way we can get a good evaluation of everyone in every single aspect that we do.”
Could you talk a little bit about the 'Burning of the Shoe'?
“It's something that was instilled in me as a player and a tradition that Coach Mac (former SU head coach Dick MacPherson) had, but really started early on in the 1930s. We were excited to bring it back. It's a tremendous tradition, one that I was a part of, and a lot of people were after Coach Mac and later on during Coach Pasqualoni’s time. It hasn't been done in a while and I wanted to make sure we brought it back because it was important to me.”
Is it important that you brought back the red and green practice jerseys?
“When you come back to your alma mater and there was such great tradition here, (it is great) to be able to bring some things back that inspired me as a player and others who were after me. It gives us a chance to bring back the red and green jerseys and, as we all know, green means go and red means stop. So, the offense is wearing green, defense is wearing red and those in the white jerseys – you don't touch them.”
Is it important to implement things you feel are in your comfort zone in your system?
“As a coach, I think that's what you do. You do what makes you successful. I don't know if it's a comfort zone of what color jerseys we wear or if it's burning the shoe, but my comfort zone in football is high tempo, a lot of reps and lot of teaching. When it's teaching, you teach. When it's football, let's go play football. I think that's what you'll see as the practices get broken up.”
What do you think you accomplished today?
“We have introduced the fundamentals of what needs to be done on the football field. I think we were able to introduce the type of tempo of what we were looking for out of the players. We were able to introduce that we have a long way to go as far as those fundamentals and the type of tempo we need to get to before we become successful.”
Any status on what will be done with the quarterback or other positional situations?
“You see the players going out there and competing and I think you saw a little of that with the one-on-one throwing and a little bit when it's just the basic routes and you see the quarterbacks, as they go, their comfort zone becomes a little different when you expand to 11-on-11. I need to see them operate under the gun. The first day is always going to be a little rusty. That's not just a quarterback position, that's every position. As we go through this process, it will be a continued evaluation and people will be moving up and down as we go, but the quarterbacks will be able to rotate so they can work with all the different teams and all the different receivers.”
You've already made a few position changes. Do you see yourself maybe making a few more as practice goes on?
“Absolutely. We're going to try to find the best 11 players. When we find the best 11 players, we're going to put them in positions where they can perform and win some games for us.”
What does it feel like to be wearing that jacket coaching your alma mater?
“It feels great. It's something I've dreamed about my whole life. I'm excited about it. I was able to go in there, individually, and work with the offensive line so it felt great to be in there.”
Based on today's practice, do you feel you've gotten the team into the shape they need to be once the season starts?
“That's the whole goal. It's a journey and it's a journey that starts today. It's a long way to go and everything is in front of us right now. The one thing that we want to do is make sure we improve every single day in every aspect of what we do.”
Was it weird for you to be able to go in between both fields instead of standing there in the middle?
“I had asked for a tower late and that was my fault. They need to get a tower big enough to hold me, so this way, I don't have to be at field level. I'll be a little bit higher and a little bit elevated so I can see both sides working down the field. It'll be more consistent on what I do see, so afterward, I can answer more questions.”
