The Friendliest Coach in College Football

Somehow, even with three current students on staff, not one article on the new site has had to do with the fine athletic programs of Syracuse University. Now, obviously, college basketball season is just a blip on the radar at this point, and it’s not like we’re gonna take our time to write about the field hockey’s team pursuit of a national championship. Although, on a side note, while we didn’t write about it, all three Orangemen on the Creature staff were absolutely thrilled when Fab Melo got into trouble with the law last month. In fact, we planned on picketing at his trial to demand stricter sentencing guidelines but figured Fab wasn’t worth our time (which he isn’t). But, a story surfaced today about none other than our up and coming (yes, we’re getting there) football program and its fearless leader, who is also apparently the friendliest man in college football. How’s that you ask? Find out after the jump.

ESPN writers are an odd group of people. So it came to as surprise when I found out that ESPN Magazine’s Ryan Hockensmith came up with an odd way to determine the friendliest coach in college football. Hockensmith, who mind you I’ve never heard of in my life before today, sent a letter under the alias of college football super fan “Jim Smith” to 120 D-1 college football coaches with a very odd request: ”Dear Coach: Would you be willing to call my voice mail and leave a message I can use as my outgoing greeting? Something like, ‘Hi, this is ________. Jim can’t take your call right now, but if you leave your name and number … ‘” Again, ESPN writers are an odd group of people. Anyways, only four out of the 120 coaches actually responded: Baylor’s Art Briles, Southern Miss’ Larry Fedora, Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz and Syracuse’s Doug Marrone. But Marrone, a former ‘Cuse offensive lineman in the 80s, went above and beyond his “call” of duty. Marrone called the number “Jim Smith” gave and left this message:

“Hi, Jim, Doug Marrone from Syracuse football. I got your note and want to thank you for your support. Every fan matters here for us. It’s been a tough few years for Syracuse football, but we have that Big East title in our sights. Stay with us. I’ll start the message in a minute.” Awkward pause. “Hi, this is Doug Marrone from Syracuse football. You’ve reached Jim. He can’t take your call right now. But I promise you, if you leave a short message after the beep, he will get right back to you. Go Orange.” Another awkward pause. “So thanks again, Jim. We really appreciate your support up here. Go Orange.”

A little while after leaving that message, Marrone found out that “Jim Smith” had “accidentally” erased the message. So what did he do? He called again and left another one. What a guy. I mean seriously, what a nice guy. It’s not like this letter was sent right after the season ended when Marrone didn’t have much on his mind. Rather, this letter was sent in the middle of the summer, when Marrone is working his ass off to prepare his team for another run at the Big East title, a feat that two years ago seemed like a pipe dream. Marrone, who is pretty much universally loved by Orange students, alums, and casual fans alike, has somehow completely turned around this once laughingstock of a program. Last year, he lead SU to a 8-5 record and a win in the inaugural Pinstripe Bowl over Kansas State, Syracuse’s first bowl game win since 2001. People haven’t been this high on SU football since the days of Donovan McNabb, which seems like decades ago. So, not only is it good to have a coach who knows how to win games, but, with all the douche bag coaches out there in college sports (cough John Calipari cough Nick Saban), it’s even better to have a coach who is a genuinely great guy as well.