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Orange Nation has been gripped by offseason football interest, so¬†The Fizz has delivered your guide “Five Keys to Spring Football” and other Syracuse gridiron coverage¬†throughout the ‚Äúspring‚Äù (notice the quotation marks ‚Äì glad to see Central New York is finally starting to thaw). The Fizz is¬†counting the days down until the Spring Game on Saturday. Look forward to daily in-depth pigskin posts, and an official Fizz Pre-Spring Game Depth Chart to give you an idea of which players to focus on come gametime. Follow us Twitter for our thoughts next Saturday afternoon, as we give you our live coverage of SU‚Äôs first split-squad game in almost 20 years.
- Listen to a Fresh FizzCast – Spring Game Primer & DaJaun Coleman Scouting Report
- Download the FizzCast on iTunes
That’s right, after two decades of boring and convoluted offense vs. defense battles, Syracuse is finally set to put on a Spring Game the way Ben Schwartzwalder intended. I point out in the latest Fresh FizzCast that this is yet another example of Doug Marrone going the extra mile to elevate the program.
“(The way Syracuse used to run its Spring game) wasn’t something anybody could ever understand. It was really hard to keep track of the score, because it wasn’t a real football game. This year’s is going to be a real legitimate spring game, the way football is supposed to be played. You know the old-fashioned Syracuse fans are loving Doug Marrone bringing it back to a classic football game.”
Though I’m complimentary of The Dougie for his competitive nature in the FizzCast, my critical post last week about the¬†dismissal of former Orange linebacker Brice Hawkes elicited some harsh reaction from the¬†readers.
Hoffman understands where the commenters were coming from, mainly the leeway that any coach is permitted to recruit a few bad apples.
“When you‚Äôre talking about a team of 85, eventually, with a bunch of 18 to 21-year-olds, something is bound to go wrong.‚Äù
D.A. defends the viewpoint that part of the blame has to fall on the head coach when a kid like Hawkes doesn’t pan out.
“If you’re just dismissing guys from the team (without telling his teammates why), I don’t know how much of a benefit that is. Also, it does come back to the coaching staff in terms of recruiting bad apples. It’s one thing to have inherited Greg Robinson kids and found out that some of them aren’t going to work out. But when you’re three years in these are now kids that Marrone has recruited.”
We also spend some time discussing basketball, as D.A. expands on his nauseating realization that Jim Calhoun is a better coach than Jim Boeheim. Has the Per’fesser lost some of his intensity in recent years?
“Boeheim, to me, hit his peak in the 1980s. If you talk to players and coaches around the program, one thing that’s universally accepted is that Boeheim has gone easier on his players since, I would say, the mid ‘90s and when he married Julie. I don’t know if it’s a Julie thing, but that’s one thing that’s universally accepted. I don’t know if Calhoun has ever let up. It has never felt like Calhoun has passed his prime.”
A Julie thing, eh? I know you’re one of the ballsier guys out there, D.A., but I bet you wouldn’t say that to Boeheim’s face. Knowing how the man has reacted to far less significant character attacks, I’d watch out with that sort of talk.
Towards the end of the FizzCast, Team Fizz finally sails into less controversial waters. After bringing newcomer Steve Neikam onto the FizzCast last week to discuss the impact of the Three Amigos, we introduce you to another new member of Team Fizz, Alex Plavin. This past Tuesday, our newest Fizz recruit got a chance to see highly sought after SU hoops recruit, DaJuan Coleman, in person at the Zebra Showcase. Like everyone else who’s caught a glimpse of the Jamesville-Dewitt star, Plavin was impressed.
“He is not a child, he’s a man even at 17 years old. He was very assertive down low, with great feet in the post. Even though he’s big, he’s still very nimble.”
Though the NCAA Tournament success hasn’t been there of late for Coach Boeheim, let’s hope he can continue his recent recruiting hot streak and nab Coleman.
Posted: Andrew Kanell
