Marrone indifferent toward Syracuse’s final season in Big East

marrone
Is he the right man for SU?

After being one of the founding members of the Big East Conference in 1979, Syracuse will leave on July 1, 2013 for the ACC. That will make the 2012 season the Orange’s last season in the conference.

But SU coach Doug Marrone isn’t assigning this season any more significance.

marrone
Marrone never played in the Big East

“I’ve always looked at it since my playing days at Syracuse as Northeast football,” Marrone said. “Then everything goes into conferences. I’ve always been a believer in Eastern football, so it’s very difficult with all the changes.”

» Related: No time to reminisce as Big East era winds down

In other words, Marrone was indifferent.

It’s hard to blame Marrone. Although he played as an offensive lineman at the school from 1983-85, the Big East didn’t start as a football conference until 1991.

So Marrone had little problem saying goodbye to the conference, instead listing his wedding anniversary and children’s birthdays as more significant times in his life.

Marrone is more than likely to be looking forward to SU leaving the Big East simply so he doesn’t have to answer questions about realignment anymore.

» More Big East Media Day: Alec Lemon looking for big season

“I’ve had this question a hundred times (in the last few months),” Marrone said. ” I have no feelings about that.”

Instead, Marrone will channel his attention toward the team’s success this season.

“We’re excited about the challenges we have this year,” Marrone said. “I’m not looking forward to what the challenge may be next year, or down the road, because we have a challenging schedule (this year), we have to get better, and we have a lot to prove.”

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About Wes Cheng 2907 Articles
Wes has worked for Rivals.com covering the New York Knicks, as well as for Scout.com covering Syracuse athletics. Wes has also been a contributing writer for the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), for SportsNet New York (SNY) as a news desk writer covering all of New York professional sports, and reported on the NBA and MLB for the New York Sportscene. A native of Long Island, New York, Wes graduated from Syracuse University in 2005 with a degree in journalism. Contact him at wes[at]sujuiceonline.com.