Here are three highlights from Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone’s Big East teleconference call on Monday:
Syracuse will head to Connecticut this weekend in what has been already dubbed as the battle for the Paul Pasqualoni Trophy. Pasqualoni needs no introduction to Orange fans. He guided the team for 14 seasons, amassing a 107-59-1 record as Syracuse’s head coach before being fired following the 2004 season.
After spending time with both the NFL’s Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys, Pasqualoni returned to the coaching ranks in the offseason, replacing Randy Edsall at Connecticut. The Huskies have had an uneven start this season, and are currently 3-5 overall and 1-2 in the Big East. Despite the Orange playing Connecticut, Marrone was indifferent toward the upcoming matchup with Syracuse’s former coach.
“I don’t really think about it like that, and I don’t think any of the players here probably will. The fans and the media may. But in this profession, it’s so volatile – I can’t tell you a game that I’ve coached when someone I’ve coached with previously wasn’t on the opposing sideline. You have relationships with people all the time, and it’s just part of the profession. And especially at the next level where there are only 32 teams. But even at this level with 120 teams, it’s just so volatile and everyone just keeps going around the coaching circle. So from a coach’s standpoint, we see it probably a lot more often than most people think we do.”
Marrone had more to offer on Connecticut’s offensive coordinator, George DeLeone, who was an assistant coach at Syracuse during Marrone’s playing days.
“He was here my senior year, and he helped me to develop as a player and to get back to the fundamentals that I needed to move on and play at the next level. Out of all the line coaches that I’ve had – and I’ve had a ton – I probably had the closest relationship with him over the years.”
The conversation also drifted back toward Syracuse’s disappointing 27-10 loss to Louisville on Saturday. The Orange played an overall undisciplined game, getting flagged 12 times for 99 yards. Five of those flags were personal foul penalties.
“It was uncharacteristic and it changed a lot of field position. Five of them, I think, occurred on special teams. It’s disappointing, but with penalties you have to evaluate because sometimes things happen and it’s the correct call, but sometimes calls are missed. Some of those calls were correct, but I’m not going to get into the officiating.”
“But playing with discipline was one of the things that we were doing very well. Those penalties are the types of things that happen in games that shift field position and momentum, and you just can’t have those types of errors.”
