The Daily Directive

When Coach Marrone took over I initially thought that 2009 would be an important year to get Ws, for recruiting purposes. This is because SU has a much easier schedule in 2009 vs 2010. This year SU has 8 home games, with OOC games against Akron, Maine, Minn, NW, and @PSU. While in 2010 SU will have only 6 home games, with OOC of @Akron, BC, Maine, VT, and @Wash. But after the new depth chart came out, I think SU could still be in decent shape. This is because SU will lose very few players due to graduation.

Looking at the 2 deep

-The O will return all but Greg Paulus, Mike Owen, and Dan Collier. Numbers wise there isnt a whole lot being lost. Collier will be a little used walk on. Owen is our best blocking TE but you can get by without him. Assuming Paulus wins the starting QB job, he will be the only real loss. Now the QB position is an important one so this could hurt. But the blow will be softened by everyone else returning.

-The D will return all but Art Jones and Mike Stenclik. Again only a few players are leaving. I like Mike but he hasnt been able to see the field so he isnt a big loss. Art Jones however will be a big loss. But again with everyone else back it should soften the blow.

So when you take into account that we only have 2 real losses (although pretty BIG Ls), we may very well be able to handle the harder schedule. The returning kids should all be better based on an extra year of development and the fact that they will be more comfortable with the O and D systems which are new to them this year. Initially I thought we would take a step back in 2010 but now I think we could sustain or even improve vs 2009.

Two other factors could have a pretty big impact which could change things. One is the possibility that Mike Williams leaves for the NFL. He struggled with school his first stint at SU. If he doesnt think he can make it through another year he could leave. On top of that if he has a monster season, he could leave. Losing Mike would without a doubt hurt our O.

The other factor is Nassib. He could beat out Paulus, making that loss irrelevant. Also what does Marrone do if the Orange are 2-6, or worse, after 8 games? With 4 games left, three of which are on the road, the chances of 6-6 will be slim. And even at 6-6 it is unlikely that a Bowl spot opens up for SU. At that point if Nassib is the #2 QB behind Paulus, do you start Nassib the last 4 games to better prep him for 2010?

I still think 2009 will be an important year for recruiting. But the fact that SU returns so many players in 2010, will at worst soften the blow of a harder schedule.

Aloha to all

King Otto III