Syracuse: Marrone’s Dirty Dozen, plus two

By Darrell Laurant  |   Friday, February 06, 2009  |  Comments( 1 )

Syracuse Orange
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Hired in December, new Syracuse football coach Doug Marrone came to the recruiting trail late, but he hit it running. Call it "recruiting with an attitude."

For openers, Marrone raised some eyebrows when he told four of previous coach Greg Robinson's recruits that he didn't see them fitting into the program. With Robinson's head on the chopping block all season, it was almost impossible for his staff to bring in quality players, and the six verbal commitments Marrone found when he arrived were not encouraging.

The former New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator then took on a number of major programs for the dregs of what was left, winning some battles and losing others. He was working at it right up to national signing day itself, when the Orange got written commitments from CBs Philip Thomas (also offered by Florida State) and Dale Peterman (who resisted late entreaties from Michigan) and O-tackle Andrew Tiller of Nassau Community College (beating Miami and Rutgers).

Granted, these players were probably not at the top of the list for those other schools, but it still tops beating out Temple and Hofstra.

Marrone introduced his 14 recruits to the long-suffering Syracuse community in the Carrier Dome, and had this to say about O-tackle Zack Chibane: "I go down to New Jersey and I do a clinic. Everyone knows my background in on the offensive line. One of the coaches at the clinic says, 'I saw you took this kid from Paramus High School. You know, I'm just going to tell you I think he's this. I think he's that.' And I said, 'I don't really care what you think.' This kid is a good football player. He's got leadership ability and he's an ex-wrestler. We all know what type of football players these ex-wrestlers are."

Obviously, a players' coach in the making.

A native of Long Island and onetime Orange offensive lineman, Marrone has already staked out New York City and Long Island as "ours. And we don't want anybody else coming in and taking away our recruits."

Unlike Robinson, he has myriad East Coast connections. But he also brought in some assistant coaches with experience in the South, where the big ones lurk.

Indeed, this small class may well prove a blessing in disguise to Marrone down the road, because it will enable him to bring in a monster group in 2010. Not that he's taking refuge in the future.

"We're going to start out winning," he said, "with the players who are already here."
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