One by one, they walked down the steps of the auditorium at the Iocolano-Petty Football Complex to greet the new Syracuse University football coach. Doug Marrone only recognized a few faces, but as the former Syracuse football players and alumni shook his hand, they didn’t care. He was one of them.

‘My son is on the team,’ one said. ‘He’s very excited.’

‘I played with Joe Morris,’ another said. ‘It’s great to meet you.’

Marrone turned to his right for a brief respite and saw a Syracuse athletic department official, who adjusted a crooked block ‘S’ pin on Marrone’s jacket.

‘This is crazy,’ Marrone said.

Marrone was prepared for just about everything else on the day he became Syracuse’s next head coach. This was all he dreamed about since he took a job coaching the tight ends at Cortland State in 1992. He talked of the three binders full of plans he presented to the Syracuse search committee, detailing his ideas and prospects for the job.

‘I hope I don’t break down today because not a lot of times in your life can you actually accomplish your dream,’ Marrone said.

It was a dream that seemed highly improbable 26 days ago when Syracuse Director of Athletics Daryl Gross began the national coaching search when he fired Greg Robinson Nov. 16.

A seven-member search committee, which included SU legends Art Monk, Floyd Little, Tim Green and Dick MacPherson, assisted Gross in the search. They settled on Marrone, a Syracuse alumnus who played on the offensive line from 1983-85. He became the first alumnus to serve as head coach since Reaves H. Baysinger in 1948.

Marrone met with Chancellor Nancy Cantor on Friday morning before he was formally offered the position. And at 8:46 a.m., Marrone, 44, began his tenure as the 28th head coach in Syracuse history by making a phone call to a potential coaching staff member, whom he declined to name.

‘Doug Marrone is a lifer,’ Gross said. ‘He bleeds Orange, he will be here to be the steward of this program. We’ll all be here to support him.’

That, it seems, could have put Marrone ahead of other candidates. Gross said he offered the position only to Marrone, despite a whirlwind search that produced plenty of intrigue.

At first, another SU graduate, Connecticut head coach Randy Edsall, appeared to be Gross’ No. 1 pick. But Edsall repeatedly denied interest in the position. Lane Kiffin, whom Gross knew from his time at Southern California, took the job at Tennessee. Oregon offensive coordinator Chip Kelly was named head coach in waiting by the Ducks after Syracuse showed a great deal of interest in him.

And until Thursday, East Carolina head coach Skip Holtz seemed to be the odds-on favorite. Gross spent three days with Holtz in New York City for the College Football Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. On Thursday afternoon, Holtz issued a statement through East Carolina that he was no longer interested in the position.

That’s when Marrone emerged as the leader, an unlikely scenario at the beginning of the search.

Marrone has never been a head coach at any level. He’s spent the last three years with the New Orleans Saints as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. Before that, he was the offensive line coach for the New York Jets from 2002-05. His last college job was in 2001, when he coached the tight ends and tackles at Tennessee.

Because of that, Marrone will likely face the same questions his predecessor, Robinson, did. Robinson was fired after going 10-37 in four years as SU head coach. He came to Syracuse in 2005 with an NFL pedigree and limited recent collegiate experience, and just like Marrone, had never been a head coach.

‘I think that’s shallow thinking,’ Gross said, when asked to compare the similarities between Marrone and Robinson.

Marrone consistently cited his ability to maintain Northeast recruiting pipelines he fostered while with the Jets. He said he worked with local high school programs and coaches, giving clinics and raising money to restore equipment.

And as MacPherson, who coached Marrone when he played at Syracuse, said, ‘he knows the talent level needed to succeed here.’

Of course, it will be a challenge for Marrone to succeed in recruiting immediately. The NCAA dead period for recruiting begins on Dec. 22 and lasts through Jan. 1. Marrone still needs to take the test administered by the NCAA to every coach to confirm their knowledge of the rules for recruiting athletes.

Marrone will remain on the Saints’ staff until the end of the season, while filling out his staff and recruiting at Syracuse. New Orleans, which is a long shot to make the NFL playoffs, plays its final regular-season game on Dec. 28.

Marrone said he would fly back and forth from Syracuse to New Orleans and also bring people in for interviews while down South.

‘That was part of his detailed plan,’ Gross said. ‘It was very detailed and thorough. He’s a relentless worker. He has a tremendous work ethic. You have to keep up with him. You can’t outwork Doug Marrone. I’m not even going to try. He’d sleep in the office. It’s his passion. He wants to make this place perfect and he won’t stop until he does.’

Marrone said he would reach out to coaches with Syracuse and Northeast ties to join his staff. He also said he will not serve as his own offensive coordinator because he wants to be able to oversee the entire team.

At one point, he even said he would discuss ‘bringing some people back here that want to be back at Syracuse.’ That could include Saints’ defensive line coach Ed Orgeron, who was the head coach at Mississippi for three years and hailed as one of the best recruiters in the nation.

‘Right now, you guys just have to have some patience with me as far as what we’re putting together,’ Marrone said. ‘Ed is a tremendous coach, but Ed has a responsibility right now.’

Marrone’s plans and vision for Syracuse was what set him apart from the other candidates, Gross and others said.

‘Throughout the process, every coach we talked to said recruiting was the No. 1 thing,’ former Syracuse defensive lineman Green said. ‘And Doug has been planning on this job, and the recruiting that he’s done. And I’ll tell you what. He sold us. He’s an incredibly impressive guy.’

‘I’ve planned for this my whole life,’ Marrone said. ‘I’m looking forward to it.’

Gross said Marrone was on the short list of some NFL general managers for potential head coaching openings in the NFL this offseason. Any fears he had about Marrone’s lack of head coaching experience were quelled after a conversation Gross had with Indianapolis Colts president Bill Polian, who told Gross that Marrone would be hired in the NFL.

‘I was at a point in my NFL career that if Syracuse isn’t the school, I’m staying in the NFL,’ Marrone said. ‘Art Monk asked me a great question. He said, ‘Daryl’s come out and said you’re on a short list for some of these NFL teams and general managers. Why would you go back to Syracuse?’ I would say the same thing, when I wake up everyday and I have a wife and three kids, I owe it all to this university.’

He met with the players that stuck around past the end of finals and the players came out of the meeting excited and optimistic.

‘We’re not going to be rebuilding,’ sophomore center Jim McKenzie said. ‘We’re going to be focusing on turning this thing around fast. He talked about his pride about being from Syracuse, that this was his dream job. I mean, he’s told us that. This is the type of job he’s been planning on being a part of.’

All of those plans got Doug Marrone to this day, his dream. Now it’s back to reality: Time to make a program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2001 relevant.

‘It starts now and it starts today,’ Marrone said. ‘We need everyone. I told the players today, that we need everyone. We need everyone to believe it. We need the alumni. We need the fans. We need the people. We need everyone.’

magelb@syr.edu

 

Published on December 14, 2008 at 12:00 pm