Head Coach Doug Marrone Press Conference Transcript (Aug. 23, 2010)
“We have three players, (Jay) Bromley, (Malcolm) Cater and (Keon) Lyn, who we are waiting for clearance from the NCAA eligibility center. What the NCAA does is it has a temporary period during which those players can practice and once that period is expired they have to have full certification. It is going on throughout the entire country; the NCAA has a lot of things to look at. We feel very comfortable with where we are with those players and it is just a matter of going through the process, which is a large process for the NCAA. That is where they are right now.
“Shamarko Thomas and Kevyn Scott were out there today (back from injury). We put them through a pretty extensive individual period, no problems there so we expect to proceed with them and they’re right on schedule for where they’re going to be.
“On the scrimmage the other day, scrimmages are funny when you look at them from the perspective of the whole team. There is good and bad, but you want to look at players who really stepped up. One player who has done a good job for us right now is Jose Cruz at the tight end position. I feel very comfortable with that position right now from a standpoint of depth, with the players we have there. We have (Nick) Provo, who has had a very good camp. Behind him Jose, who I just talked about, Beckett Wales has done a very good job for a freshman. He will be playing this year for us if he keeps progressing the way he has. And David Stevens has done a nice job for us. We have four guys right there, and we have (Thomas) Trendowski , who is not a scholarship player for us, who will be able to help us on short yardage and goal line. He did a nice job of that during the scrimmage. That is where we are right now.”
On where (safety) Shamarko Thomas and (cornerback) Kevyn Scott fit in after returning from their injuries:
“Shamarko goes back more for the safety position and we have some other safeties back there. The other guy who is playing well there who people might not notice if they’re not studying it is Olando Fisher. He has done some nice things back there so we’re excited to work with him. Shamarko gets back there and we’ll see what he has. He worked extremely hard in the off-season. He is a very productive player for us. We’ll get him out there and see how he is since he hasn’t been out there for a while. He is a big hitter, he can spark a defense and we just have to make sure he gets out there and does a good job for us.
“Kevyn Scott, I was very excited with. He had a good couple days (at the beginning of camp) where he was playing a lot better than he had played before here and I was very, very excited with him. With some of the injuries that we’ve had and really struggling to go through these last couple days, those two players coming back will be a big boost for us, especially when we start going to all different packages.”
On the three players (Jay Bromley, Malcolm Cater and Keon Lyn) awaiting NCAA clearance:
“It is a large process for them, it is a very complicated process for the NCAA and what they have to go through, but a lot of it goes by competition first. A lot of the things they are reviewing right now are soccer and field hockey because they’re in competition and they have first priority. You’ll see it throughout the country and the NCAA does a great job. It really isn’t anyone’s fault, everything was in on time, everything was checked, we feel very comfortable with it. It is just a matter of waiting. We’ve been told they have the files and they’re being looked at right now. I don’t know whether it will be a day or two days, sometimes they call back and ask for more information. We’ve already called during the process to make sure they had everything, which they said they have everything they needed to make a decision. That is really all I know.”
On what the team misses in the absence of (Jason) Bromley, (Malcolm) Cater and (Keon) Lyn:
“Just a day of practice, which is important because (Bromley and Cater) are in the mix to be productive for us. Cater is playing behind Derrell Smith at the mike linebacker and it is tough when you lose a day of practice. Bromley is playing well and we have to see where he is, is he ready to play now? Is he ready to play against Akron or Washington? Where is he going to be ready to play during the course of the season. That is how we’re looking at where he is. We need everyone because it is a shame when you look at the players who are out for the year, whether it is Carl Cutler, Cody (Catalina), Jarrod West, Jared Kimmel, Averin Collier, Ri’Shard Anderson. Every one of those players was going to play a role and some of them were going to be starters. We really can’t afford to have injuries or have anyone else lose any practice time.”
On whether his program is modeled after his former coach and College Football Hall of Famer Dick MacPherson’s program:
“Yes, I would say so. If someone was to look at this program today they would say there are a lot of things that we do which Coach Mac has inspired. One of the things that I’ve done, and it may sound corny is, we always remember Coach Mac in the tower )at practice) and I put a picture of Coach Mac over to the left of me (in my office) and every time I look at things or I make decisions I always wonder what Coach Mac would do. (With that picture) I have him right there with me so when he is in Florida or Maine, and we talk quite a bit, he’ll ask what he can do for me and I say ‘Coach, you’re with me every day.’ It’s symbolic.”
On what changes he has made that model Coach MacPherson’s program:
“The red and green (practice) jerseys go back to Coach Mac, the up-down’s when it is someone’s birthday go to Coach Mac, the burning of the shoe is something that was Coach Mac’s. There is a lot of tradition. For me, I learned the tradition of Syracuse University through the older players and the alumni, and I learned them through Coach Mac. Coach Mac was a very, very good coach, obviously he is in the Hall of Fame. He was a very fair coach, but a tough coach. A lot of people who have played for Coach Mac would say that they’re successful today because of Coach Mac because he always pushed us and it wasn’t good enough unless we won and when we won he was even harder on us. Yet when we lost and were down he’d put his arm around us and hug us. He is a special type of guy. What you see from our players in their community service, I can remember the first day as a freshman Coach Mac put me right out into a church breakfast. (smiling) I got tricked a little bit because he told me it was all you can eat pancakes, but I’ll never forget how scared I was when I was speaking in front of this church group. That is how Coach Mac was, he pushed us out into this community and he made us realize how important Syracuse football is to this community. There are a lot of things we do now which we have special words for like ‘Life Skills’ or ‘Leadership Program,’ they didn’t call it that back then but that is what Coach Mac was teaching.”
On the battle for the back-up quarterback position:
“It is highly competitive. We have Charley Loeb out there and John Kinder. Johnny (Miller) we’ve shut down, for lack of a better term, until we make sure that when he does throw with the football that his motion is correct. We don’t want him to develop any poor habits. Right now we have the three quarterbacks and the position is highly competitive. John Kinder did some nice things at quarterback in the scrimmage and Charley has done well with the deep vertical balls. Every quarterback has something to work on.”
On breaking in three new starters on the offensive line:
“I love it. I’ve done it for a long period of time. It is interesting now, Adam Rosner has just come back and Zack Chibane has been playing well. That position will be interesting for the next couple days until we sort it out. Right now at any position when new players play you have to overcome that anxiety for the first game, you can’t do it 24 hours before, you have to start now. We’ve started to mentally get our players ready to have a feeling of what it will be like to play in that first game. I enjoy it. There is no better feeling in the world. Everyone remembers their first game.”
On how comfortable junior quarterback Ryan Nassib is:
“Ryan puts pressure on himself just like any other player. I don’t know if you ever get comfortable from a standpoint of trying to get better. There are things out on the field that Ryan needs to improve on and the great thing about Ryan is he’ll be the first one to tell you that. For the coaching staff, we’re comfortable with where he is. He is working to get better. We need him to get better and we’re excited with where he is. The other thing from today is we rested Alec Lemon, nothing wrong, but we just rested him today.”
On what role fullback Tombe Kose will play:
“His role is going to be the fullback, the true fullback position. Right now we’re working on his conditioning when he is in there for a long period of time. I’ll do a Coach Mac and say, ‘Fatigue makes cowards of us all.’ We’re working on his conditioning. He has done a great job since he has been here and when you see him get in better shape then we’ll be ready to insert him more in what we’re doing. Right now Adam Harris is our starting fullback and he has done a nice job. To be able to have two fullbacks in there will help us in certain situations, whether it be short yardage, goal line or four minute at the end of the game. Having those players and trying to get a toughness about ourselves is important and those two players provide that.”
On whether defensive tackle Ollie Haney is injured:
“Yes, he is. Our trainers and doctors do a good job, right now we’re in a situation where they say he could go but we make the decision of holding him out and letting him get better before we move on because we need the numbers. It isn’t an excuse and it isn’t a crutch, it isn’t going to stop us from being a good football team.”
On sophomore kicker Ryan Lichtenstein:
“Same thing, we’re resting him.”
On defensive back Phillip Thomas missing practice today:
“Wisdom tooth. (smiling) I’ve lived my life well, I’ve done a lot of good deeds, so I’m hoping somewhere along the line it starts to pay off. A lot of us have done that, I don’t think we deserve some of the things that are happening right now (related to injuries), but it is part of the game, they’re little things. Anything major I’ll share it with everyone quickly.”
