NEWPORT, R.I. –– Following the conference realignment that took place in June, mum was the word Tuesday from Big East commissioner John Marinatto. There was no talk regarding the Big East’s approach to the future of major conference realignment and expansion.

 

And Marinatto forcibly applied that same muzzle to all eight of his head football coaches concerning the issue Tuesday morning in Rhode Island prior to the conference’s annual Media Day. Pittsburgh was picked to win the conference in the preseason media poll. Syracuse was picked to finish seventh, one vote ahead of last place Louisville (41-40).

‘Historically, as you know, we like to do things quietly behind the scenes,’ Marinatto said. ‘Everything is on the table. … Publicly, we don’t talk about it. But we are talking about everything from expansion to our own television network, to things that we need to do internally. … I similarly asked our head coaches to refrain from speculating on these matters.’

Marinatto harped on the fact that in the aftermath of this summer’s conference shakedown, he would like for the Big East to stay ‘true to our values’ of not speculating on matters. In the wake of the reshaping of the Big Ten, Pac-10 and Big 12, Marinatto spoke very little concerning the ramifications for the Big East. But he did hint that he is doing everything he can to maintain the Big East’s status as one of the country’s top football conferences, even if he urged his coaches to not provide any specifics Tuesday.

Marinatto said the Big East’s next main issue is capitalizing on its television contract, which is with ESPN for the next four years.

 ‘We as a conference continue to monitor the landscape while focusing our time on positioning ourselves for optimum growth in the future,’ Marinatto said.

During a question and answer session immediately after his press conference, Marinatto did revisit just what his and other conference commissioners’ mindsets were like during the shakedown in June. Nebraska joined the Big Ten on June 10. Colorado and Utah joined the Pac-10 on June 14 and 17, respectively. In a scare to the Big 12, Texas and Oklahoma, along with four other Big 12 schools, nearly headed to the Pac-10.

They were scared but also prepared. Always prepared.

Marinatto was fine with opening up about the past, not the future. But he promised that that future will be one in which Big East fans should have faith. He repeated three times that he feels the conference is stronger today than at any point in its history.

‘In the 10-day period in June, we in the world of collegiate athletics all got extraordinarily weak,’ Marinatto, said. ‘…Most of us didn’t want to have that kind of a change, we didn’t think it was healthy for collegiate athletics as a group moving forward. So all of us in collegiate athletics that week kept in touch, maintained contact and were planning accordingly.’

Marinatto again on Tuesday constantly brought up the fact that the conference is confident in its approach and strength moving forward, especially seeing that it hired former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue as an adviser this past spring. As the conference enters its 20th year in football play, Marinatto now feels he might have the most talented pawn of them all for the future of the major-conference shakedowns in Tagliabue.

Speculation was a no-no for the entirety of those under the Big East football umbrella on Tuesday in Rhode Island. And Marinatto’s simple answer to why was because speculating is not like the Big East. Speculation can only lead to turmoil.

You can save speculation for other conferences. Not his.

‘When you are sitting in a position of authority and you speculate, I don’t think that it serves anyone well,’ Marinatto said. ‘Because you create unfair expectations or an environment that is cultivated based on rumor and innuendo. I’ve asked our coaches not to speculate for that purpose, I don’t think it serves anybody really in a positive way.’

Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone held up his half of Marinatto’s preached bargain on Tuesday. Marrone welcomed that conference-realignment muzzle. Just like the other seven coaches, as they all tip-toed around the possible conference-speculation landmines.

Together.

‘I love this conference,’ Marrone said. ‘I played in the East. I am an Eastern football guy. I love it. I trust the people in the conference. They will do what is best for us.’

aolivero@syr.edu

2010 Big East Football Preseason Media Poll

Rank     Team (first place votes)           Pts.

1.           Pittsburgh (22)                        190

2.           Cincinnati                                142

3.          West Virginia (1)                      142

4.          Connecticut (1)                         131

5.          Rutgers                                      99

6.          South Florida                             79

7.          Syracuse                                    41

8.          Louisville                                  40

 

Published on August 3, 2010 at 12:00 pm