2014 Football Guide

t h e i n d e p e n d e n t s t u d e n t n e w s p a p e r o f s y r a c u s e , n e w y o r k

2014 football guide

Sports Editor Jesse DoughertyPresentation Director Lindsay DawsonPhoto Editor Margaret LinWeb Developer Chris VollAsst. Sports Editor Phil D’AbbraccioAsst. Sports Editor Jacob KlingerAsst. Photo Editor Renee ZhouDesign Editor Mara CorbettAsst. Copy Editor Sam Blum Asst. Copy Editor Matt Schneidman

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2 the daily orange football guide

— Front page illustration by Lindsay Dawson, presentation director

Dear readers,

Football's back. Our 2014 football preview is an all-encompassing look at Syracuse's new, no-hud-dle offense as it heads into its second Atlantic Coast Conference season. In this guide, you'll find a breakdown of the offense and what it could mean moving forward, a profile on senior running back and captain Prince-Tyson Gulley, a look at how the Orange is shifting the way it views the tight end position, and more. We also delve into topics from around the conference and nation, along with all the stats you need to know about this year's team.

Thanks for reading, Jesse Dougherty, Sports Editor

The wild, wild web All football guide content can be found on The Daily Orange’s website. See dailyorange.com

Sophomore testSU is heading into its second Atlantic Coast Conference season, and the numbers point to an a very experienced squad.Pages 8-9

New hardwareAs the BCS system is changed to a new playoff system, college football champions will hoist a new trophy. That hardware will replace one of the NCAA’s iconic traditions. Page 11

lchannel 2 & 2.1HD

Live post-game analysis afterevery SU football game.TN

the daily orange football guide 3

Syracuse isn’t planning on huddling too often, if ever in 2014. That could mean more than just offensive efficiency. It could spring the Orange into a group that it has, until now, only admired.

By Jesse Dougherty sports editor

onversation centered around Syracuse’s new, fast-paced offense ever since SU beat Minnesota in the Texas Bowl

in December. So on the first day of training camp, offen-

sive coordinator George McDonald didn’t waste any time.

One hundred and sixty plays on Day One. One hundred and sixty more on Day Two. It was at his fingertips, the team that would carry out his plans to turn a middling Atlantic Coast Conference offense into a machine.

But the players’ responses to the increase in snaps told him, “Not so fast.” Not yet, at least.

“They noticed that we were dying and they didn’t know why. Then they realized we just ran 160 plays and that’s how fast we were going,” SU quarterback Terrel Hunt said. “Teams don’t average that in two games. That was the first two days of camp and we had to kick it back.

“But then we just started going faster and faster and no one was tired and everyone was ready to go.”

Syracuse’s new-look, no-huddle offense could have a little something for everybody. Tight ends previously relegated to one role and one spot will find themselves in a hybrid-ized position. A spread-out attack could lead to fifth-year running back Prince-Tyson Gul-ley’s best season yet. The Orange’s defense, which worked against the offense in the spring and all of camp, is that much sharper heading into its second ACC season.

Then there’s the intangibles of an all-around sleeker system — from play-calling to route-running to the nuanced schematic wrinkles — that could put Syracuse foot-

ball on a proverbial map. It’s the facet of the Orange’s no-huddle offense that is easy to lose in the shuffle, but may just matter the most.

“Moving fast and not going into a huddle, that’s a big swagger to have, man,” freshman wide receiver Steve Ishmael said. “That’s a lot of swagger for us. It could be big for this program to get that identity. That edge.”

Part of the no-huddle fad, which has swept through college football and is seeping into the pros, can be traced back 11 years to War-ren McGuirk Alumni Stadium in Amherst, Mass. New Hampshire, led by head coach Sean McDonnell, trailed Massachusetts in the middle of the third quarter.

The Wildcats’ offense was sluggish at best, and McDonnell looked to offensive coordina-tor Chip Kelly to make a change.

Kelly took huddling out of the equation. The offense moved, the Minutemen defense grew tired and although UNH lost 44-30, something clicked.

“Once we did it to gain ground when we were behind we felt pretty comfortable and thought that maybe the best thing to do would be to run our whole offense that way,” McDon-nell said. “The hardest thing to do was figure out the logistics and how to signal every-thing.”

To do that, Kelly looked at other programs with no-huddle offenses and sculpted a system that fit his personnel. New Hampshire toyed with the new approach for the rest of the 2003 season and went fully no-huddle at the start of 2004.

McDonnell doesn’t think that other pro-grams followed Kelly’s guinea pig offense — the Wildcats’ stadium seats 8,000 fans and it has never played in a bowl game — but in a way, Syracuse has.

In the spring, McDonald and SU quarter-backs coach Tim Lester listed offenses the Orange had broken down while molding its own. One of them was Oregon’s, Kelly’s col-lege brainchild, and another the Philadelphia Eagles’, Kelly’s NFL project.

It’s no coincidence that much of Syracuse’s new offense mirrors Kelly’s first experiment in Durham, N.H.

“There are only so many different ways you can run an offense like this,” SU center John Miller said. “It’s important that we see how

C

see offense page 4

fast lanelife in the

fast companyIn the spring, Syracuse offensive coordinator George McDonald and quarterbacks coach Tim Lester said the Orange had checked out Ohio State, Missouri, UCLA, Texas A&M, Oregon and Texas Tech while laying out the new offense. These teams have been historically successful at a fast pace, and here are how many plays per minute each ran in 2013. McDonald also expressed a goal of using just 18 seconds per play in the coming season, which would place SU ahead of the teams it is taking cues from.

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moving fast and not going into a huddle, that’s a big swagger to have, man. that’s a lot of swagger for us. it could be big for this program to

get that identity. Steve Ishmael su wide receiver

fast takes

'how i ride'Prince-Tyson Gulley had an up-and-down start at Syra-cuse, and is ready to make the last leg of his five-year career his best. Page 5

never-ending story Syracuse transforms the way it views and uses the tight end position in its faster offense. Page 6

learning on the flyThe Orange's defense uses work against no-huddle offense to prepare for the tough 2014 schedule. Page 13

conference comparisonHere’s how Syracuse’s 2013 tempo stacks up against the rest of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Virginia led the conference with 82.9 plays per game, with the Orange snapping an average of 73.7 times.

1. Virginia 82.92. Clemson 79.83. N.C. State 78.84. Syracuse 73.75. Duke 72.66. North Carolina 72.57. Virginia Tech 71.2

8. Georgia Tech 70.59. Maryland 68.510. Miami 68.311. Florida State 67.612. Wake Forest 66.813. Pittsburgh 65.614. Boston College 60.8


other programs are doing it because it’s new to us. There is a common way that teams are successful and I think we’ve tapped into that.”

What’s different is how the Orange has fos-tered the change.

New Hampshire’s was quick and circum-stantial, a necessity-based decision of low risk and high reward. SU’s shift in strategy is some-what of a spillover from the Doug Marrone-Na-thaniel Hackett era, when Ryan Nassib led Hackett’s up-tempo, pro-style offense, and has gained steam and shape over time.

In McDonald’s second game as offensive coordinator at the start of last season, Syra-cuse trailed Northwestern and made a Kel-ly-like switch. The offense spread out and with Drew Allen under center, found a groove. In the spring, after Hunt had earned the starting spot and helped the Orange finish the season on an upswing, McDonald went back to the idea and laid out the blueprint for his new scheme.

But unlike other years when Syracuse would teach the offense a new set every day of training camp, McDonald has worked on one for two days before moving on to another. Everyone’s learning, seniors and freshmen, starters and reserves, a backward way of side-

stepping a learning curve. “The beautiful thing about this for me is that

they’ve all grown together,” McDonald said. “It’s just like having kids and raising them up, the raising part happened over the spring and now camp, but they’ve all been in the same boat.”

McDonald added the offense has struggled but is now “starting to see the progress of all the work they’ve put in.” The progress that sur-faced at times during intra-squad scrimmages at Syracuse FanFest and the last day at Fort

Drum and has the offense looking, in flashes, like it’s playing in fast-forward.

The key to moving so fast is quickly calling the play. While Hunt used to get the call from the sideline and relay it to the receivers, run-ning backs and line, he now only has to worry about the front. The rest of the players get the

play from their positional coach, with DeAndre Smith signaling to the running backs, Bobby Acosta to the tight ends, and so on.

It goes as fast as Hunt wants, but also gives him more time to make adjustments at the line. The time that Hunt used to take relaying plays to his teammates is now spent reading the defense — with five seconds to do so, instead of one or two.

“Those guys are picking up on signals real-ly quick. They know what they’re doing and they’re executing on a high level,” Smith said. “There’s an edginess in that we’re really locked in and can really go as fast as we want.”

As far as raw tempo goes, SU is in the same company as the programs it looks up to. Reach-ing McDonald’s goals of 84 plays per game and 18 seconds per play would push it well ahead, but Hunt added an important word to the preseason rhetoric:

Execution. “If you’re going fast and not completing any

passes and not having any success then you’re just out there fooling around,” Hunt said. “Anyone can go fast, and some are successful like Oregon and some aren’t.”

Oregon, UCLA, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Texas Tech. They don’t just go fast. They win. Their offensive identities are coupled by suc-cess. Their speed is illuminated by statistics.

Whether Syracuse joins that class is now up to the 2014 team.

[email protected] | @dougherty_jesse

from page 3

offense

TERREL HUNT, SU’s quarterback, will be the signal caller in the new offense. As the season nears, Hunt is excited about the simplifying change. logan reidsma staff photographer

The Syracuse offense works against a phantom defense during training camp in anticipation of its Aug. 29 opener against Villanova in the Carrier Dome. margaret lin photo editor

STEVE ISHMAEL is starting out his SU career on the same foot as all of his older teammates. With a new scheme, everyone’s learning together. logan reidsma staff photographer

the beautiful thing about this for me is that they’ve all grown together.

it’s just like having kids and raising them up, the raising part

happened over the spring and now camp, but they’ve all been in the

same boat.George McDonald

su offensive coordinator

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By Phil D’Abbraccioasst. sports editor

hree years ago, Prince-Tyson Gulley lay in a hospital bed for an entire July night.

The young running back had just survived a stabbing and a transformation was underway. A season-ending injury would end the upcoming season just four games in, but he had started down the road to maturation.

“It was life-changing. But I honestly felt like that built me into the person that I am today. I wish it didn’t happen,” Gulley said of the stabbing. “But when it hap-pened, I started seeing stuff a little bit more clearly. Now I understand what I really have to do and I get away from the foolishness now.

“I definitely had to mature from there. You can’t take life for granted.”With a refined outlook on life, Gulley’s tumultuous Syracuse career is on another

upswing. It’s been a journey that includes being stabbed at a South Campus party and winning a Pinstripe Bowl MVP, suffering a broken collarbone that sidelined him for most of the 2011 season and rushing for 830 yards in 2012 as the Orange’s No. 2 back.

Now, the tailback hopes to spearhead the rushing attack of Syracuse’s new-look, up-tempo offense after waiting four years to be the feature back. Gulley enters his fifth year as not only the vocal leader of the running backs, but as a captain, selected by his teammates toward the end of training camp.

“He had some ups and downs in figuring out the way when he was a young man here,” SU head coach Scott Shafer said. “And then the last two years he’s really grown. Last year, he actually had a lot of votes and it didn’t surprise me that he was

elected captain (this year).”Gulley, a two-star prospect out of Akron, Ohio, was one of six running backs in

SU’s recruiting Class of 2010. Only he and fellow freshman Jerome Smith cracked the Orange’s roster as tail-

backs, but Gulley came in with an abundance of ambition — maybe too much.“Man, he was loud. He was kind of a loose cannon, man,” said Smith, who left SU

for the NFL after leading SU in rushing in 2012 and 2013 and was recently relased by the Atlanta Falcons. “He was young and he already wanted to be the starter.

“He had immaturity and things like everyone else. But it was just all him want-ing to make it happen and be one of the big programs.”

But there was some growing up to do, and it took a near-death experience before his sophomore year to get that process rolling.

At a South Campus party on July 29, 2011, Gulley was stabbed several times. The wounds missed his kidney and spine by an inch each. A 19-year-old Syracuse man was later arrested and charged with the stabbing.

Gulley spent the night at Upstate University Hospital and, with no internal bleeding, was released the next day having narrowly eluded a disaster.

‘how i ride’

Gulley overcomes difficult start to SU career to emerge as team captain, feature back in senior season

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PRINCE-TYSON GULLEY survived a stabbing in July 2011 and then missed most of his sophomore season with an injury. The running back got on the right track by maturing through the adversity and taking on a leadership role, which has grown into him being a team captain for the Orange this year, his fifth with Syracuse. margaret lin photo editor

prince-tyson gulley year-by-year stats

Year Att Rushing Yds Rushing TDs Receptions Rec Yds Rec TDs2010 13 74 1 2 8 02011 18 89 0 3 26 02012 158 830 9 33 282 22013 83 456 4 15 59 1

jerome smith year-by-year stats

Year Att Rushing Yds Rushing TDs Receptions Rec Yds Rec TDs2010 No stats2011 37 134 1 1 4 02012 227 1171 3 8 83 02013 200 914 12 8 74 1

i think what helped him was that he was becoming older and it was younger guys he saw starting to go down the wrong path. and he

wanted to be a mentor and help those guys out.Jerome Smith

former su running back

see gulley page 7

in good companyJerome Smith was recently released by the Atlanta Falcons but had a legitimate shot at making an NFL team. Prince-Tyson Gulley has run step for step with him in their respective careers.


Text by Jacob Klingerasst. sports editor

Photos by Margaret Linphoto editor

ight end means more than it used to. It doesn’t mean end, as in the last player on the offen-sive line. The Syracuse players

that fill the position are hardly bound to that, or any, one spot.

Theirs is a surviving, now expanding role. The only tightening is of their muscles, required to twitch quicker than ever as the SU offense speeds into a no-huddle system. They either keep up or get left out; learn to play from four different positions in a formation or be replaced by someone who can.

Syracuse’s tight ends, like the Orange itself,

are on the front line of the sport’s evolutionary battle between old, new and the change in athletes on both sides of the ball. In 2014, the Orange is searching for rare combinations of skill set and body build on the recruiting trail while it reshapes its current unit for an offense being built on unblinking efficiency.

“At the beginning of the camp, over the sum-mer, the emphasis was on tempo,” sophomore tight end Kendall Moore said. “So the tight end had kind of become a forgotten position.”

Moore was recruited by SU as a tackle and told to catch passes. He played center in this year’s Spring Game. But when he takes the field for the Orange this season, he’ll do so split out like a wide receiver, off the line in the backfield as a fullback or next to a tackle, as a traditional tight end.

There’s still room for one in the Syracuse

offense under head coach Scott Shafer and offensive coordinator George McDonald. Sometimes even two, in what SU calls its “12”

personnel. But whoever’s on has to stay on, in whichever position is needed. There’s simply no time to stop.

“Josh (Parris) is probably the closest to what we’re looking for,” tight ends coach

Bobby Acosta said. “He can run block, he could be a passing receiver, he could be a full-back in the backfield.”

But Parris is out for another 1-3 weeks after having knee surgery, leaving some combina-tion of Moore, freshman Jamal Custis, red-shirt sophomore Tyler Provo and SU’s other tight ends to form the ideal player the Orange doesn’t have yet. And they wouldn’t have been called tight ends five, 10 years ago.

In the cases of Moore, Custis and Provo, they weren’t called tight ends when they played their last high school games. Custis was a receiver, Moore a tackle and Provo, whose brother Nick holds the career and single-sea-son receptions records for SU tight ends, was rated the No. 5 fullback in the country by ESPN

never-ending story KENDALL MOORE was thrust further into the fray of the tight end unit after Josh Parris was sidelined with a knee injury during camp.

JAMAL CUSTIS’ rare combination of strength and speed makes him a viable option for SU’s tight end position. Custis was recruited as a wide receiver.

T

With Syracuse’s all-around attack quickening, the Orange is insisting its tight ends keep up

when my brother played here, the offense was mostly around the tight

ends. now it’s mostly more of a spread.

Nick Provosu tight end

see tight ends page 10


Once the season started, Gulley was Ant-won Bailey’s primary backup. Through the Orange’s first four games, Gulley rushed for 89 yards on 18 carries before Smith, a fellow sophomore, had even seen the backfield.

But those were the only four games Gulley would play all year. He was hesitant to see the SU trainers about the sharp pain in his left shoulder, hoping it would feel better on its own.

But the ache became unbearable, and it turned out to be a season-ending broken collar-bone he had suffered against Maine in Week 4.

“For a guy like Tyson, football is his life. I knew it really hurt him,” Smith said of the missed time. “I knew when he got back he would come back with a full head of steam and ready to roll.”

He did, racking up 830 yards on the ground and nine touchdowns while taking 69 fewer carries than Smith, who reached the end zone just three times while surpassing 1,000 yards on the season in 2012.

Smith and Gulley’s rushing prowess reached its peak in the snowy 2012 Pinstripe Bowl against favored West Virginia. Smith chipped in 152 yards on the ground, but it was Gulley who stole the show and the MVP award with 213 rushing yards and two touchdowns, plus 56 receiving yards and another score through the air as SU rolled past the Mountaineers, 38-14.

And to prove that Gulley was not just grow-ing on the field, he made changes off of it.

If anything felt wrong, Smith said, Gulley was in the trainers’ room getting it checked out. Gulley says he still needs to have a social

life, but his teammates say he’s cut it back since the stabbing.

“I think what helped him was that he was becoming older and it was younger guys he saw starting to go down the wrong path,” Smith said, “and he wanted to be a mentor and help those guys out.”

The leadership role Gulley’s taken on — which SU’s coaches and players credit for helping him get on the right track — has been evident with the running back groups leading up to the season.

In the film room, junior George Morris II has learned from Gulley’s experiences with different offenses. At Fort Drum, freshman Ervin Philips roomed with the fifth-year senior and Gulley instructed the newcomer to learn from his mistakes.

Senior Adonis Ameen-Moore has seen past SU tailbacks grow into role models and said Gulley’s not only embraced that tradition, but has added to it. Junior Devante McFarlane called Gulley the group’s “big brother.”

“It’s great, because his work ethic has matched his words,” running backs coach DeAndre Smith said. “He’s the first one who’s always starting out series, so he’s doing that and they follow that lead.”

As the Orange cranks up its offensive tempo and looks to discover which of its 13 receivers and seven tight ends will best fit the scheme, Gulley is the steadiest option in the run game.

With lightning speed and the ability to seamlessly reverse direction, he’s one of the fastest weapons on an offense that hopes to move at such a pace.

With the spread attack also opening the middle of the field for the run game, his four-year wait to become Syracuse’s feature back

may have yielded the best possible scenario for him.

“Patience is very key. I waited my turn,” Gulley said. “I feel like this is the perfect timing and actually, this is the best offense that I’ve played in since my junior season.”

The short haircut Gulley tried last year is long gone. His long hair is back, because that’s who he is.

“This is me. That’s just how I ride,” he said.He had a down year in 2013, missing two

games with an ankle sprain and not scoring in any of SU’s last seven games. That was the

latest drop in Gulley’s roller-coaster college career.

Shafer informing him of his captaincy was the next change in direction.

Now it’s Gulley’s job to keep running down that path.

“He just told me that the work starts now,” Gulley said. “‘You’ve already been working hard but now that you’re a captain, we’re look-ing for more from you. So you’ve got to lead by example.’

“So that’s what I’m doing.”[email protected] | @PhilDAbb

from page 5

gulley

PRINCE-TYSON GULLEY has waited four tumultuous years to be Syracuse’s feature run-ning back. SU’s spread-out offense could be a good fit for him. daily orange file photo

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Franchising, Inc. Expires September 30, 2014

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bringing it backSyracuse’s experience on offense and defense is shown by the statistics it is returning from last year.

INERCEPTIONSTACKLES SACKSRECEIVING YARDS

YARDS PER GAME

YARDS PER GAME ALLOWED

POINTS PER GAME

POINTS PER GAME ALLOWED

TURNOVER MARGIN

PASSING YARDS PER GAME

PASSING YARDS ALLOWED PER GAME

RUSHING YARDS ALLOWED PER GAME

RUSHING YARDS PER GAME

182


RECEIVING TOUCHDOWNS

RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS

RUSHING YARDS

PASSING TOUCHDOWNS

PASSING YARDS

sophomore test

2014 schedule

villanova

AUG. 29

HOME

central michigan

SEPT. 13

AWAY

maryland

SEPT. 20

HOME

notre dame

SEPT. 27

METLIFE STADIUM

louisville

OCT. 3

HOME

florida state

OCT. 11

HOMEwake forest

OCT. 18

clemson

OCT. 25

nc state

NOV. 1

duke

NOV. 8

pittsburgh

NOV. 22

boston college

NOV. 29

AWAYAWAYHOMEHOMEAWAYAWAY

2014 schedule

Quantifying SU’s 2013 season as an experienced team heads into the Orange’s second ACC season

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st(acc)ing upHere is how Syracuse’s 2013 averages compare to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s averages in both offensive and defensive categories.

the daily orange football guide 1 0

and Scout.com.Tyler Provo remembers watching Nick

Provo gut then-No. 15 West Virginia with three touchdowns in a 49-23 upset win for Syracuse on Oct. 21, 2011.

“When my brother played here, the offense was mostly around the tight ends,” Tyler Provo said. “Now it’s mostly more of a spread.”

The older Provo brother began each of his scoring plays against WVU in a three-point stance, all but hip-to-hip with an offensive lineman. He caught an SU tight end record 51 passes that season, which was also the second-to-last under head coach Doug Marrone and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.

“When Coach Marrone and Coach Hackett were here, it was great, we utilized the tight end,” former SU tight end Beckett Wales said. “And then we got the new coaching staff and things kind of changed.”

Last season was only the second in the past 10 years of Syracuse football that ended with-out an Orange tight end in the top five in team receiving yards. Parris and the older Provo’s successor, Wales, combined for 23 catches.

Moore had six and Ben Lewis and Jacob Green each caught one pass.

In 2013, short slants went to wide receivers. Dump passes went to running backs. Tight ends weren’t receiving outlets so much as they were extra blockers or decoys.

It had Moore wondering what room remained for tight ends at SU.

“We had to build the trust into the tight end with the offense,” Moore said.

In turn, Syracuse and Will Hicks, its assis-tant athletics director for athletic perfor-mance, have tried to build its players for a role.

It’s why the 6-foot-5 Moore, who said he’s down from 255 pounds to 240 since arriving at Syracuse, spent the summer running up to 32 110-yard sprints at a time. He followed them with weight room sessions and provided lunch-es of ribs, potatoes, rice, spinach or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches designed to keep his metabolism high. The workouts brought him closer, but not right to being SU’s ideal tight end.

That player — 6 feet 6 inches, 245 pounds and running a 4.6-4.7 40-yard dash time, Acos-

ta said — would allow Syracuse to keep the same personnel on the field in various forma-tions. No substitutions, no huddle, no break for the opposing defense.

Most significantly, it would put the Orange out in front of defenses in the unending phys-ical and tactical adjustments that are growing within the sport.

“What I see is that the linebackers are becoming more like big safeties,” Acosta said. “Even watching the Florida State game, those kids are very athletic. They look like safeties out there playing linebacker. So I think they’re adapting to the spread offense now.”

But if SU can play faster while getting bigger by staying lean, the opponent’s defense, in theory, can’t win.

Without the perfect combination of frame and speed in one body, though, SU is trying to mold players like the true freshman, 6-foot-5-inch, 230-pound Custis.

“Right now we’re looking for Z or X (receivers) that are — they’re too slow to play Division I-A outside receiver,” Acosta said. “And then you move them inside and they’re usually going to be a pret-ty good, decent pass-catcher, but now you have to develop their run-blocking skills. And I think you can do that with a bigger kid like Custis.”

Syracuse still starts practice, in front of media, with no tight ends in its “10” personnel, Moore said the tight ends have now forced the position back and further into the offense.

Parris would catch three or four live passes from Hunt each day in practice. Moore said he does the same with Austin Wilson and Mitch Kimble. They’re back to being a quarterback’s best friend.

“Just a more versatile safety blanket like that, coming out of the backfield,” Moore said.

Acosta has set a goal of 51 total receptions for the Orange tight ends this year as Syracuse still looks for and hopes to create its perfect, full-field player in the position.

If SU finds or makes that athlete, whose existence is as rare as ways to defend him, it will have a player too fast to be covered by a linebacker, too massive for any defensive back, too good to come off the field and an offense that truly stops for no one.

Said running backs coach DeAndre Smith: “It is an evolution with the game.”

[email protected] | @Jacob_Klinger_

from page 6

tight ends

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enduring, endearing

Perhaps no position's role on a team gets jostled more than that of the tight end. Below, you can see the percentage of team receptions Syracuse tight ends have accounted for in the past 15 seasons.


By Josh Hyberstaff writer

hil Fulmer didn’t know what to do. The Tennessee head coach stood on a podium having just won the first Bowl Championship

Series national championship game in 1999. He held the Fiesta Bowl trophy for all of 10 sec-

onds and answered a few questions before gazing at another trophy on the podium, the American Football Coaches Association Coaches’ Trophy — the Waterford Crystal football.

“I don’t think anybody really expected anyone to pick it up,” said Fulmer, now a spe-cial assistant to the athletic director at East Tennessee State. “But I did. I raised it above my head and got a big roar out of our crowd and our players.

“They had another trophy there and tried to hand it to me, but I didn’t think it was as significant as the crystal ball.”

A tradition was born.Since 1999, the winner of the BCS national

championship game has received the AFCA Coaches’ Trophy in an on-field ceremony after the game. However, with the new College Football Playoff system being introduced this

year, the AFCA Coaches’ Trophy will no longer be hoisted during the on-field celebration — ending what has become a symbolic image of college football.

“The reason for a new trophy is simple,” said Bill Hancock, the College Football Playoff executive director, in an email. “The crystal football was a beautiful award for the BCS champion. With the playoff coming next year, we felt it was time for a new trophy — a clean break from the past.”

Now, just as it was done from 1986-98, the coaches’ trophy won’t be presented to the national champion until a few days after the title game in that team’s home stadium.

“The trophy is the symbol of supremacy in college football,” AFCA Executive Director Grant Teaff said. “It is the emblem that every coach and every player ever wants to hold up and kiss.”

•••When Miami won the 1983 national champion-ship, all head coach Howard Schnellenberger received was an upgrade to his office bath-room. Despite an enrollment spike that year of 13 percent in Coral Gables, Florida, UM

passing it aroundEven though it has been around for fewer years than most major championship trophies, the AFCA national championship trophy has been won by 19 programs since 1986. Of the current crop of trophies, only the Stanley Cup (NHL), Vince Lombardi (NFL) and Commissioner’s Trophy (MLB) have been passed around more times. From 1986 to 1998, the trophy was awarded to the winner of the Associated Press Top 25 Poll at the end of the regular season.

PHIL FULMER hoists the Coaches’ Trophy after winning the 1999 national title. He started a tradition that has ended with the new playoff system. courtesy of tennessee athletics

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new hardwareAs college football shifts to a playoff system, the tradition surrounding the Coaches’ Trophy is history. No longer will coaches hoist the NCAA’s most coveted prize right after the title game.

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223 N. Clinton St. Syracuse, NY 13202

316 S. Clinton St.Syracuse, NY 13202

1 2 the daily orange football guide

1 Ashton Broyld WR

1 Julian Whigham CB

2 Quinta Funderburk WR

2 Wayne Morgan CB

3 Durell Eskridge FS

3 Mitch Kimble QB

4 AJ Long QB

4 Brandon Reddish CB

5 Luke Arciniega LB

5 Austin Wilson QB

6 Ritchy Desir SS

7 Troy Green WR

7 Oliver Vigille LB

8 Steve Ishmael WR

8 Darius Kelly SS

9 Brisly Estime WR

9 Corey Winfield CB

10 Terrel Hunt QB

10 Josh Kirkland LB

11 Alin Edouard QB

11 Colton Moskal LB

12 Ryan Norton K

13 Ron Thompson DE

14 Ervin Philips RB

15 Juwan Dowels CB

16 Keenan Hale WR

16 Rodney Williams FS

17 Jonathan Thomas LB

18 Naesean Howard SS

19 Joe Nassib CB

20 Cordell Hudson CB

21 Chauncey Scissum FS

22 Adrian Flemming WR

23 Prince-Tyson Gulley RB

24 Jaston George FS

25 Eric Jackson CB

25 Jeremiah Kobena WR

27 George Morris II RB

28 Antwan Cordy CB

29 Devante McFarlane RB

30 Parris Bennett LB

31 Clay Cleveland FB

32 Travon Burke FB

33 Marqez Hodge LB

34 Adonis Ameen-Moore RB

35 Dyshawn Davis LB

36 Alex Hodgkinson K

38 Cameron Lynch LB

39 Greg Tobias RB

41 Eric Anthony SS

42 Jacob Green TE

42 Joe Stanard CB

45 Zaire Franklin LB

46 PJ Batten TE

47 Sam Rodgers LS

48 Cole Murphy K

49 Alryk Perry LB

50 John Raymon NT

51 Donnie Simmons DE

52 Eric Crume NT

53 Nathan Hines LS

54 Kennedy Kodua DE

55 Marcus Coleman DT

55 Rob Trudo OG

56 John Miller C

57 Omari Palmer OG

58 Hernz Laguerre LB

59 Aaron Roberts OG

60 Sean Hickey OT

63 Rony Charles DL

65 Jamar McGloster OT

67 Michael Lasker OT

68 Nick Robinson OG

69 Keith Mitsuuchi LS

70 Jesse Wolf-Gould OG

71 Alex Hayes OG

72 Ivan Foy OT

73 Jon Burton OT

74 Seamus Shanley OG

75 Denzel Ward OT

75 Wayne Williams NT

77 Keaton Darney OL

78 Jason Emerich C

79 Taylor Hindy OL

80 Tyler Provo TE

81 Jamal Custis WR

82 Alvin Cornelius WR

83 Sean Avant WR

84 Ben Lewis WR

86 Adly Enoicy WR

87 Kendall Moore TE

88 Jarrod West WR

89 Josh Parris TE

90 Cameron MacPherson TE

91 Isaiah Johnson DE

92 Riley Dixon K/P

93 Micah Robinson DE

94 Robert Welsh DE

95 Chris Slayton DE

96 Jalen Harvey DT

97 Kayton Samuels NT

98 Trevon Trejo DE

99 Ryan Sloan DT

2014 rosterSyracuse chiseled its depth chart down to two players at each position on Monday. Here is the whole roster that head coach Scott Shafer and his assistants chose from. Like what you see?

Apply to be a design editor.

Send a cover letter, resume, and a few clips to

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By Sam Blum asst. copy editor

hen he first got to training camp, Syracuse cornerback Julian Whigham questioned

how he had conditioned during the summer.Facing off against an SU offense that doesn’t

plan to huddle in between plays, the junior was quickly winded.

“The up-tempo, it makes you have to think faster,” Whigham said. “You have to under-stand the concept and get the plays a lot faster and understand what you’re doing. Some-times if you’re moving too quickly you can make mistakes.”

With the offense speeding up its play-calling system and with it, its overall play, the goal is to leave opposing defenses huffing and puffing behind it. Before SU faces Villanova, Central Michigan and, most importantly, Louisville to start its Atlantic Coast Conference schedule, it will go up against its own defense, which has used the faster competition to prepare for a rig-orous conference slate.

“The hardest thing that we face is teams that run tempo really well,” linebackers coach Clark Lea said. “You’ve got to be able to play when you’re fatigued and any of those things are great.

“The formational challenges, the tempo challenges, the schematic challenges from the offense, you welcome those because it makes what’s coming in the fall seem a little bit easier.”

Lea said he’s seen defenses wear down against no-huddle offenses. The defenses “play in space,” he said, and often miss tackles. Considering Syr-acuse’s results last season as well as its upcoming schedule, the defense’s work will likely pay divi-dends in the season.

ACC teams such as Clemson, North Carolina, North Carolina State and Duke have averaged fewer than 25 seconds per play from 2011–13, ESPN.com reported.

Florida State beat Syracuse 69-3 on Nov. 16

with just 18:18 of possession, less than half of the time the Orange had the ball. Clemson needed two fewer minutes than Syracuse to run the same number of plays as the Orange in a 49-14 Tigers’ win on Oct. 5.

“It’s good for us. The speed is so fast, it gets our wind up, and it gets us going,” senior linebacker Cameron Lynch said. “I’m glad that

they do that, and it gets us ready for any type of spread team, or anything. They run the ball, they pass the ball, so they get us ready for multiple dimensions of what we’re going to be seeing in the season.”

The differences in preparation start with assistant athletics director for athletic per-formance Will Hicks, who said the team cuts down the recovery time during training. In the past, he’d give about four times the amount of rest to the amount of time ran, and now that ratio is 1-to-1.

That running philosophy also applies to weightlifting, as Hicks will have the players sac-rifice lifting heavier weights if it means more lifting and shorter rest periods.

“We got a good taste of it last year but this year, going a little faster, we’ve kind of refined it a bit more,” Hicks said.

While the root of the changes are geared toward Syracuse’s offense, they’re also help-ing to refine its defense into one that can not just compete, but be successful against faster-moving opponents.

Head coach Scott Shafer has slowed the offense down in practice from time to time, but for the most part, this training camp has been about implementing an uncatchable attack. At first, that meant tired players and constant substitutions on the defensive side of the ball.

But the unit has begun to come into its own. “I think last year kind of caught us off guard,

and we weren’t sure where we wanted to be and how we wanted to approach it,” Whigham said. “But this year, we have a better understanding of what they’re doing, and we have a better under-standing of what we want to do to approach it.”

[email protected] | @SamBlum3

SU’s defense benefits from practicing against fast offense

After having trouble against a small handful of fast-paced offenses last season, Syracuse’s defense was able to compete daily against the Orange’s new-look, no-huddle attack. As train-ing camp rolled along, the defense found itself improving its conditioning and adjusting to the faster pace. margaret lin photo editor

trouble with the tigersClemson is one of Syracuse’s ACC opponents that moves at a noticably fast pace. Here is how the Orange fared against the Tigers’ attack in the Carrier Dome last season. The teams will meet in Clemson on Oct. 25.

Plays Seconds per play

Yards per play Yards

Passes for more than 15 yards

Final score

CLEMSON 49 - SYRACUSE 14

the formational challenges, the tempo challenges, the schematic challenges from the offense, you welcome those because it makes what’s coming in the fall seem a

little bit easier.

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1 4 the daily orange football guide

By Matt Schneidmanasst. copy editor

evin Parks doesn’t have eye-opening size or speed.

West Rowan (N.C.) High School head coach Larry

Young doesn’t think the Virginia running back will ever have high-end quickness. UVA safety Anthony Harris playfully called the 5-foot-8 Parks “short” when asked to give one word to describe his teammate.

But despite his height and mediocre explo-siveness, Parks had the most rushing yards and all-purpose yards in 2013 of any running back returning to the Atlantic Coast Con-ference this season. Rather than attacking opponents with talents that define most at his position, the fifth-year senior has utilized a combination of his low center of gravity, pass-catching prowess and ability to protect the quarterback to become a nationally rec-ognized name.

In the upcoming season, Parks thinks that gaining more speed could push his brewing repu-tation even further.

“As far as individually, I feel like I really hit on speed this year,” Parks said. “I want to be able to make those explosive plays and turn

those 20 yards into 40 yards, turn those 40 yards into 80 yards.”

The level Parks is at now was far from the one he started at.

He redshirted his freshman year, which allowed him to spend time with current UVA

wide receivers coach Marques Hagans on the sideline. Parks said Hagans is the main person who’s helped him become the player and person he is today, and Hagans stressed to Parks that his redshirt year should be looked at as a chance to develop rather than just sitting out.

He adapted that mentality and recorded 791 total yards from scrimmage in his second year. Then he went for 923 in his third. Slowly he started to evolve not only as a runner, but also as a receiver out of the backfield.

“I take pride in catching the ball out of the backfield,” Parks said. “You don’t want to be that one-dimensional guy and limit yourself. You want to be somebody that, ‘Oh, he can do everything,’ and that’s always a plus.”

What he lacked in speed and size was com-pensated in his ability to be a dual-threat.

He was largely able to do so by possessing a skill that is undervalued at the running back position.

“What allows him to excel in the screen department is he’s really good in pass protec-tion, Hagans said. “A lot of people overlook the requirement of a running back to be able to protect the quarterback.”

Many of the yards Parks accumulates out of the backfield, whether it is on the ground or in the air, come after contact. Young noted how lethal his former running back can be if he breaks the first tackle.

“Even though he’s a shorter, more compact guy, that sometimes helps him with a low center of gravity to get more yards after contact than other running backs do,” Young said. “He’s just got the God-given ability to see things that other running backs with more tools can’t see.”

Then last year, Parks used those three sel-dom-celebrated traits among running backs to have a breakout season.

He went for 1,360 total yards and was one of the lone bright spots on a Virginia team that won only two games. Still, he doesn’t arise in the discussion of elite running backs simply because he doesn’t possess the typical abilities valued for his position.

“His whole career he’s played with a chip on his shoulder kind of being like a little underdog,” Harris said. “Kevin has really stepped up not just

performance-wise, but being as vocal a leader as he can be.”

As one of UVA’s four captains, Parks has been communicating more with his offensive line.

Along with Harris, he’s helping the younger guys work to turn around last year’s struggles while working on his own game.

Young said he hopes Parks’ speed will improve, but also pointed out how there are a handful of successful running backs who don’t blow people away with their legs.

For those, it’s the other features that allow them to succeed. For Parks, it’s what has enabled him to standout in the ACC and beyond.

“People think (Parks) isn’t quite big enough or wasn’t quite fast enough to get to this level,” Harris said. “It’s an opportunity for him to set a statement and put his best foot forward to show people that he’s one of the best backs in not only the conference, but also around the country.”

[email protected] | @matt_schneidman

Parks sees speed as last piece of growing reputation

k

his whole career he’s played with a chip on his shoulder kind of being like a little underdog. kevin has

really stepped up not just perfor-mance-wise, but being as vocal a

leader as he can be.Anthony Harris

virginia safety

KEVIN PARKS doesn’t possess high-end speed and only stands at 5 feet, 8 inches. Still, he has utilized lesser-heralded intan-gibles to rise to the top of the running back ranks in the Atlantic Coast Conference. courtesy of virginia athletics

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administration still believed athletics and edu-cation had no correlation.

Patrick Gerrits, a Miami businessman who started Gerrits Construction in 1954, believed otherwise, so he presented an idea to his friend Schnellenberger.

The two would start an independent cham-pionship trophy. The winning school would receive the trophy, along with a four-year scholarship from the Gerrits Foundation — full room and board, books and tuition — given to a student not involved in athletics.

“My dad’s theme was, ‘Athletics giving back to academics,’” said David Gerrits, Patrick Ger-rits’ son.

Schnellenberger agreed, and the two took the trophy concept to Tiffany & Co., which designed the now-well-known Waterford Crystal football. Patrick Gerrits and Schnel-lenberger took the design to Bobby Bowden at Florida State, who got his good friend Lou Holtz at Notre Dame to join in. Soon, Georgia Tech and East Carolina were in as well.

United Press International — the main competitor of The Associated Press ranking — agreed to present the Gerrits Foundation trophy, in association with the AFCA, to its national champion.

The breakthrough moment came after Penn State won the national championship in 1986. After head coach Joe Paterno saw the trophy at a celebratory banquet, he invited Patrick Gerrits and the trophy to ride in a car with him during the victory parade.

“It was cold, so my dad bought us these Burberry jackets,” David Gerrits said. “We were walking behind the car and these kids go, ‘Hey, are you guys Secret Service guarding that thing?’ And we look at each other and go, ‘Yeah, we are!’”

The Gerrits Foundation owned the trophy for eight years. The AFCA became part of the new BCS national championship configuration

in 1998, and the crystal football began to be awarded after the BCS title game.

“It’s a beautiful trophy,” Fulmer said. “(But) the fact that it represents the coaches makes it special.”

•••No one has spent more time with the coaches’ trophy than Charlie Green and Ray Mallouk, its former managers.

The two traveled roughly 20,000 miles with it every year, staging the Waterford Crystal football at events from Washington and Ore-gon to Florida and Massachusetts.

“We realized early on that what we were doing wasn’t just some routine job,” Green said. “A lot of people make jokes, ‘Can we throw the trophy?’ or ask if we take it out to bars. That’s fine to be joked about, but for us we took it very seriously.”

“We knew we were protecting an item that was coveted by every player, coach and fan in college football.”

Green, Mallouk and the trophy f lew commercial from its home base in Dallas to appearances and games around the coun-try. The two discovered that, unlike hockey’s Stanley Cup, they didn’t need to wear white gloves when handling it. The Waterford Crys-tal was of such quality.

From Fulmer at Tennessee to Bowden’s suc-cessor Jimbo Fisher and Florida State quar-terback Jameis Winston, the coaches’ trophy became what the AFCA calls the “symbol of supremacy” in college football.

“It didn’t look like Jameis Winston wanted to give it up,” Teaff said. “He held on tight and hugged it. It was a great sight to see the joy on his face.”

But now, Green and Mallouk will travel with the College Football Playoff trophy, while two new managers will oversee the coaches’ trophy.

One new college tradition may emerge, but another one has been laid to rest.

Said David Gerrits: “We’re kind of sad to see it change. We had a good run with it. It’s been fun.”

[email protected] |@JoshHyber

from page 11

trophy

weighing inAs far as recent history goes, the AFCA national championship trophy is one of a kind. But when it comes to its weight up against other major trophies, it doesn’t necessarily fit in. No wonder coaches and players have effortlessly lifted it for so long.

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2014 Football Guide

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