Doug Marrone hired as Syracuse football coach

Former Orange player Doug Marrone has been hired by Syracuse University and charged with the task of resurrecting the moribund program.   He’ll replace Greg Robinson, who was fired by the school in November after posting a woeful 10-37 mark in four seasons at the helm.

The 44 year old Marrone has been the offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints since 2006, and expressed enthusiasm both for his alma mater and the position he’d accepted when introduced to the media:

"When I went into coaching, I always prepared myself for this. This has been the job I have always wanted. Not a lot of times in your life can you actually accomplish your dream. Today is the greatest day of my life. This is my school and these are my people. You're going to be proud, and we're going to win football games."

Then, sounding a little bit like Peter Pan trying to revive Tinkerbell, he added:

"We need everyone to believe. We need the alumni, we need the fans. I love the people here."

Marrone bristled at suggestions that he was hired to rebuild the program, stating that what he was here to do was rejuvenate the program:

"We are not in a rebuilding process. We are in the process of rejuvenating this program. I don't have any options. I cannot fail. I cannot fail. My option is only to win, and that's what I'm going to do."

Athletic Director Darryl Gross expressed his appreciation for Marrone’s enthusiasm:

"We feel at the end of the day we got the best guy. He brings hope to our football program, brings hope to our student-athletes. He's got a group of kids that are just so hungry to win. It's time to rally around. He's going to be here a long time."

Gross’ comments glossed over the fact that Marrone was a hastily agreed upon “Plan B” after East Carolina coach Skip Holtz interviewed for the job, then removed his name from consideration.  Former Syracuse player Tim Green served on the search committee, and his comments aren’t exactly a ringing vote of confidence for the new coach:

"For me to sit here and say that Doug Marrone is the right guy is what I would love to say, but I can't say that because I don't know at this point if Doug is the right guy for Syracuse football.  This is a daunting task that he's going to face. It's one of the most difficult things in the world of sports, to take a college football program that's down and resurrect it."

This is Marrone’s first head coaching job, but he quickly dismissed any suggestion that he was in over his head:

"I knew someone would say, 'He doesn't have the recruiting ties.' Well, I kept those recruiting ties. I know what we need to win. I've been setting this plan for a long time."

Marrone is, if nothing else, highly enthusiastic and that might be just what is needed at Syracuse to win back the supporters that have abandoned the team in droves during the lean years of the Robinson era.