Malcolm Cater’s Old Coach Takes Subtle Shot at Doug Marrone
D.A. | Dec 26, 2010 | Comments 22
Not everyone is an unbridled Doug Marrone fan. Most of us look at the big picture – that Syracuse’s head man has immediately restored respectability to the program, won rivalry games and recruiting battles, reached a bowl game in Year 2.
Because of the inherent trust in Marrone, Malcolm Cater’s dismissal from the Orange sparked little outrage from fans. But Riverhead High School football coach Leif Shay may have taken a not-so-subtle shot at SU’s leader.
The Riverhead News-Review did a piece on the hometown star’s departure from the team. Shay spoke about remaining in contact with his former player.
“I coached the kid for two years. He bled blue and white for me. I’m not going to turn my back on him. I won’t do that for any of my players.”
More from the piece: “Shay who witnessed Mr. Cater’s development both on and off the field during his two years at the school, said he was notified by a Syracuse assistant coach of Mr. Cater’s arrest and subsequent dismissal from the team.”
“Just disappointed. That’s the biggest word. The young man had such a great opportunity. He was doing well. He found a place where he could contribute.”
Shay says he and Cater still exchange text messages and the coach has no intention of severing his friendship with Cater.
Was Marrone too hard on Cater? The linebacker was nabbed for theft from South Campus apartments, and allegedly from his own teammates. Hard to keep a guy like that in the program. But Marrone has also seems to dismiss players as often as he snacks on his bologna-and-cheese sandwiches.
It’s not surprising that a high school coach would stand by a former player. Shay may have just been showing honest support in a time of need. But it’s also possible that high school coaches don’t believe Marrone embodies the virtues of guidance, tutelage and mentoring.
When young men make mistakes, isn’t it an opportunity to help teach how to correct and grow from it? At times it feels like Marrone has no time or patience for that half of the equation.
Posted: D.A.
Just read the article – I don’t see a subtle shot – or any shot there. He said he’s supporting the kid, how is that taking a shot at Marrone? For all we know, Marrone is too. He put in a good word for Mike Williams after he kicked him off the team.
This may be the wrong case to highlight this, in fact it absolutely is, But I’ve long felt DM was too stiff with some of his rules and way to quick with the boot. Fans are too willing to ignore it right now because of the love affair with DM. Look at the MW thing last year, the curfew he broke was Sat night AFTER the game! WTF was that about? Was he punishing them for losing? I get a night before Curfew, but night after the game?? Really? Who couldn’t predict someone would break that? E.J.Cater, Who honestly thinks his trangression was worth being kicked off the team? Being kicked off the team equates execution and you can’t discipline a dead man. DM’s only form of discipine seems to be execution. I’m SURE that’s being used against him on the recruiting trail.
Two points I would like to make about DM and his rules:
First, rules are rules, you can’t enforce some and not all, you can’t punish some players and not others. If you are going to be respected as a leader, there must be discipline and it must be consistent to be effective. In the incident concerning MW, those kids were out at a casino in the “wee small hours of the morning” and were involved in a major accident involving a truck… those kids are blessed that no one was killed. Had they been at home in bed, they would not have been in harms way. The kids involved left the coach no choice… The Cater incident… the guy is stealing from his own teammates…. there is no defense for this kid. DM is trying to teach these kids life skills in a way that is pro-active. Violation of team rules, violation of the law… there are consequences for your actions and young people have to understand that… what better place to learn those life skills than in college, a place that should be preparing young people to lead productive adult lives. I think we all should be applauding our coach for his stance, it may save a kid’s life in the future. Isn’t that a more worth while goal than just winning games? Go Cuse.
First off…Mike Williams was not kicked off the team…he was going to be suspended for yet another game for the “late night casino incedent”. He chose to leave after hearing that he was going to be suspended yet again. Get your facts straight before you talk about EXECUTION. Furthermore, if there is ANY infraction that a player deserves to be kicked off a team for it would seem that felony robbery would be one of them…and especially if he was stealing from a teammate.
It is quite a serious issue when someone on a college campus is stealing. Part of living in a college community is that you have to be able to trust other people, living so closely with one another and so many opportunities for people to do things like stealing. If these charges are true, I can’t imagine anyone wanting to be around this guy. What do you do with someone like that? Would you want someone like that living around you with easy access to all your “stuff?” This has nothing to do with Marrone’s rules or anyone else who has left the team. This is about someone who is an alleged thief living and interacting on the campus of Syracuse University. I really can not imagine keeping someone like that on the team. The fact that anyone would try and lay the blame on Marrone is incomprehensible to me.
“At times it feels like Marrone has no time or patience for that half of the equation.”
This seems to me the only shot at Marrone, and based on the lack of quotes it appears to be by the author….Lack of patience to teach, here is my take. For the basic rule violations. Every kid knows the rules and was told the rules when he came in, they all had a chance to leave, Mike Williams broke the rules and choose to leave the program, this is a non issue. If you do not discipline even your best player you have no credability. If Cater’s coach thinks that he should forgoe protecting the other 80 players to try and rehab a kid that will be in jail most lukely for his offense you are nuts. A team demands that ability to trust one an other I highly dobt the players will trust him. I would guess that Marrone would offer assistance to the kid if he can, just as he did with those that left the program.
Mr Shay might have a different take if his TV was stolen, or if Cater robbed other kids at Riverhead.
Let’s see just how far Shay stands behind his players when Cater is doing 1-3 years at Auburn Correctional.
there is no room for thieves on the new, evolving Syracuse football team. Coach was right in relieving Cator of his football duties and most likely his football career..perhaps Mr. Cator learned a lesson from this, or not. The ball is in his park now, and thankfully, his park is not Syracuse.
“When young men make mistakes, isn’t it an opportunity to help teach how to correct and grow from it? At times it feels like Marrone has no time or patience for that half of the equation.” Is that a joke? He steals from his own teammates, and you can even hint that they maybe should keep him around? Now, maybe you could say they should have suspended him instead of summarily dismissing him (pending the results of any investigation), but the writing was on the wall on this one. You can’t get a second chance HERE after such a transgression. Suggestions to the contrary are FOOLISH. I hope he can straighten his life out, and get a chance SOMEWHERE ELSE. But I can’t believe there is even a slight suggestion that maybe they should have kept him!
Coach is correct to set standards and expect everyone to live up to them, including the assistant coaches. I also believe that he is trying to build a program that will likely take another year or two. A rule breaker is expendable when you are trying to rebuild a program. To achieve the end goal of being back on top requires hard work on everyone’s part, a commitment and obeying the rules of the head man. I fully support Marrone in the Williams and Cater cases.
You have spoke about a number of curious things in this post. I found this article by using Bing and I’ve got to confess that I already subscribed to your website, it is quite fine ;D
This author is terrible.
Both the author and the subsequent commentators have missed an important legal point. Mr. Cater was arrested and charged with felony counts. Bail was set. On felony arrests with bail it is customary that a condition of bail until trial is that the accused have no personal contact, or even come within so many feet, with ANY of the alleged victims. If one or more of Mr. Cater’s alleged victims were indeed fellow teammates, then Coach Marrone had to kick off of the team either Mr. Cater or the victims. Otherwise the bail conditions would be violated.
NewNHOrange,
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Conroy
DA, save some face and retract this steamer.
@Billy – Not sure why I would retract any part of this article. Cater’s HS coach speaks of standing by his player no matter the circumstance. “I’m not going to turn my back on him” is the quote I felt could be a subtle shot at Marrone. DM clearly felt otherwise when he immediately dismissed Cater from the team. Hey, maybe he had every right to. Like I said, it WAS stealing from teammates. Plus, I’m a huge DM supporter. But how many murky, cloudy dismissals from the team does there need to be before we start wondering if DM is being too impatient with the “learning” part of student-athlete? If you want pom-poms for the university and blind thumb-sucking for the program you’ve come to the wrong website. I’ve enjoyed the discourse back and forth on this article. Thanks everyone.
DA
D.A. — Your headlines to these articles are sensationalized. There is no “story” here and your comment above makes no sense (“murky, cloudy dismissals”?). There is not one thing “murky” or “cloudy” about any of these dismissals. You, sir, are the only person that belives a student-athlete (and a grown man at that) needs to “learn” that stealing is wrong. I’m sorry, but that is not a lesson to be learned in college. D.M. cares more about his players than we can even imagine and does not publicize dismissals to protect his players going forward.
Your website is garbage and is hardly news. This piece would have been news had you interviewed Mr. Cater himself regarding the incident and obtained his true feelings about Coach Marrone. I am sure that he will tell you not so “subtlety” that he himself is to blame, not anyone else.
Not saying you need to cheer SU news with pom poms, but you seem to feel player defections are the coach’s fault…grow up yourself and understand that a coach can not keep a player on a team that (1) breaks specified team rules, (2) does not do their homework, (3) gets in trouble with the law.
Orange1- I appreciate your sentiments on this, but your description of fault here sounds like a 1950s version of reality, with Doug Marrone and the SU program starring in “Leave it to Otto.” So are there any facts at all for even 25% of the myriad player dismissals in his first two years? Forget just Cater. We’ve had a half dozen in just the weeks leading up to the bowl game. I think “murky” and “cloudy” would aptly describe Mike Williams, Averin Collier, Brice Hawkes and Cater – just to name a select few. I also like the leap you’re making – that Cater would blame only himself. Maybe so. But you think the 25 college athletes who have all been released from SU would all take 100% self blame? What planet are you living on where 20-year-old’s take complete responsibility? If you’ve read even 3 posts from the website (and judging by your description as “garbage” that could be a stretch) you know I have applauded Marrone at every turn. But I don’t feel it was a stretch to interpret Cater’s HS coach’s comments as taking the opposite approach from Marrone by saying he would stick by his former player no matter what happened. I absolutely feel the number of dismissals from SU football in the last 24 months is “news.” Most college football fans would. I just happen to believe in impartial observation – not blindly believing that whatever Saint Doug does is above reproach. But there are plenty of other blogs that do. So you’ll have no shortage of people who agree with your perspective.
As always, thanks for reading.
DA
whoah! i d isagree together with your no.1 very best id
sorry?- I consider AOL do notdeserve it.. 
This kid committed multiple felonies. The law does not look highly on anyone who breaks into someone elses house even on one occassion. This kid will be in jail for a few years. Not sure Coach Marrone can stop that.
This was not some snow ball fight, breaking into someone’s house is serious stuff. If this article is about Marrone dismissing players too quickly, this is not an example that should be used.
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