CanadianChris 0 Report post Posted December 29, 2004 From ESPN.com... SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse fired football coach Paul Pasqualoni on Wednesday, eight days after a 37-point loss in a bowl game -- and less than a month after giving him a vote of confidence. Chancellor Nancy Cantor announced Dec. 6 that Pasqualoni would return for his 15th season with Syracuse, but 11 days later Daryl Gross was hired as athletic director and the Orange's humbling 51-14 loss to Georgia Tech in the Champs Sports Bowl apparently sealed Pasqualoni's fate. The decision to fire Pasqualoni was made by Gross. "Right now, I just think it's time to go in a different direction," Gross said at a news conference. "He served the student athletes well. He is a tremendous man. The things he's done here, you can marvel at." Pasqualoni did not attend the news conference. Gross said a search for Pasqualoni's replacement will begin immediately, adding that he will look for someone who has coached in both college and the NFL. Pasqualoni was 107-59-1 and 6-3 in bowl games at Syracuse. But the Orange struggled to break even the last three years after going 10-3 and finishing 14th in the nation in 2001. They were 4-8 in 2002 and 6-6 the last two years. Outgoing athletic director Jake Crouthamel, who hired Pasqualoni to replace Dick MacPherson, gave his coach a positive evaluation after the Orange upset then-No. 17 Boston College in the season finale. That vaulted Syracuse into a four-way tie for the Big East championship and made the Orange eligible to play in the postseason. The Orange began this season with a 51-0 loss at Purdue on national television. It was Syracuse's most lopsided season-opening defeat in the program's 112-year history. The Orange seemed to bottom out with their second straight loss at lowly Temple, a team with a total of 13 Big East that has been booted out of the conference. Dwindling home attendance also became a factor. For the five home games this season, the Orange averaged just over 37,000, about three-quarters of capacity in the 49,000-seat Carrier Dome and nearly 10,000 fewer than 1998, Donovan McNabb's final college season. Since McNabb left for the NFL after the 1998 season, the Orange have an overall record of 39-33 and 21-20 in the Big East Conference and lost regular-season games to Big East also-ran Rutgers, along with Temple. Pasqualoni departs as the second-winningest coach in school history, behind only Ben Schwartzwalder, who had 153 wins. Good to see the new AD going in a different direction. Pasqualoni was a good coach, but the program had stagnated and recruiting was terrible. Can't imagine who they might go after that would be eager for the job, though -- it's not exactly one of the glamour jobs. They're probably going to end up with a coordinator from somewhere else. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vern Gagne 0 Report post Posted December 30, 2004 Norm Chow wants a head coaching job. The Former Assistant A.D. at USC took over at Syracuse. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Precious Roy 0 Report post Posted December 30, 2004 It's about time. Pasqualoni had some good years in the 90's with Harrison and McNabb, but the program has been shit for a while now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nogoodnick 0 Report post Posted December 30, 2004 Norm Chow could do better than Syracuse. If I remember correctly the Ole Miss job is still open as well as LSU. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Agent_Bond34 0 Report post Posted December 30, 2004 The Ole Miss job was filled, already. I forgot who they brought in, though. Syracuse has been shit since Donovan McNabb left. I don't think they have even fully recovered from that. After all, it was McNabb who helped get that team to the Orange Bowl in 1998, against the Florida Gators. Have they even found themselves a true replacement for McNabb, since he left? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
