Russ is out but now who is in

News broke today that Syracuse's defensive coordinator is leaving to take a job at Wake Forest. Reports are that Russ will be in charge of the tight ends and linebacker. This is a strange move, why would anybody take a demotion from Coordinator. "Steve was dedicated to our program and worked hard to help us build the program to take it in the direction we want to go, Robinson said.”This is an opportunity for me to enhance our program toward our needs at this time." Was the writing on the wall for Russ? After the Press conference back a few months ago when grob told us that everyone was being evaluated, I thought Russ was the first to go, and needed to go.


I have to say that this might be the best decision for both parties. Russ goes elsewhere and saves face by not getting fired or demoted and Grob gets to either get somebody new in there or takes back control. The question is who will take over as linebackers coach? I have to say that when I first heard about this the first name that popped into my mind was former Linebacker Dan Conley. This would be the best hire in the grob era, with hiring Conley you get somebody who was a warrior in orange, somebody who knows the school and can sell a program because he bleeds Orange.

The question is, would Conley take the job?
Well Dah, take a look at what Dan said this past summer. "It may not have been the right reason, but I got into the coaching profession because I was completely lost without football," he said. "And now I love it. But I've set a career goal to go back and coach at Syracuse. "My intention has always been to return to Syracuse. If Notre Dame called and said, 'Hey, we want you to be a coordinator,' I'd tell them, 'No.' Syracuse has become my home. It's a very special place to me. It would be great if I could coach there for the rest of my life." Tell me this guy is not Mr. Orange.

Well how about recruiting, can Dan sell this program?
"When I got into this business," said Conley, "I was told, 'Don't do this to make a lot of money.' And that's true. I know there are million-dollar jobs out there, but there aren't that many. Coaching isn't about money; it's about the passion for the game. It can be a grind and I know the pressure from the alumni to win can make you old real fast. But I love the strategy end of it, and I can be around our kids all day long. "I love teaching them what I learned at Syracuse - and not just how to defeat a block and make a tackle. I love teaching young men about respect and accountability and responsibility. You know, about how to represent yourself. 'Yes, sir.' And, 'No, sir.' Those kinds of things. Coach P always said coaching was about winning games, developing the character of young people and graduating the players. I've adopted that." Who wouldn't want to send there kid to learn from this guy.
A few months back when I read the POLIQUIN article, I was like hire this guy grob, you need to hire him. Well here is Grobs chance to get something right. Hire this guy who bleeds Orange, Give this guy a shot. As POLIQUIN once said "Orange linebacker becomes Orange aide. Orange star becomes Orange mentor. Orange tackler becomes Orange teacher