College football is back, and with it comes hopes, dreams and crushing defeats. However, for one football team, Saturday’s season opener is about more than just a game, it’s about the renaissance of an entire community.
For the past four seasons, Saturday’s in Syracuse, NY, have been more like an unwanted trip to the dentist, than game days in what used to be a football-crazed college town. Under the direction of former Head Coach Greg Robinson, the Orange went a pathetic 10-37 in four years. Despite his pleas that things were getting better, they only got worse.
Robinson’s players looked like a bunch of high school kids who were somehow convinced that playing at the D1 level was a good idea. They didn’t have the speed, the size or the wit to compete at the Division 1 level. And it showed.
A City in Peril
For a school that is perched on a hill in an eroding Central New York town, the football team represented what the entire community was going through. Buildings were vacant. Streets were dirty. And crime seemed to slowly pile on. Syracuse, the town, appeared to have been struggling through its own kind of recession long before the real one hit the nation.
Much like how the football team depended on Robinson, the town’s hope rested in a project that appeared to be an ill-fated venture from the start. City leaders hoped Destiny USA, which was a multi multi-million dollar project aimed at creating one of the most extravagant mall experiences in the Northeast, would take off and cure the city’s woes. But, for years, the project has seen its share of setbacks, and is still struggling to secure funding. It sits vacant and unfinished, waiting for a hero to emerge.
There Is Hope
That brings us to Saturday’s season opener against Minnesota. Under the direction of new Head Coach Doug Marrone the Orange have a completely new look. Marrone, the former Orange offensive lineman and NFL offensive coordinator, is an unproven commodity, but for a program that has been ransacked, there is hope that he could be exactly what the program needs.
When Marrone was tapped to be the head coach, the change was felt immediately. He began shifting players around. Former quarterback Andrew Robinson was moved to tight end and has put on more than 40 pounds. Running back Doug Hogue was moved to linebacker, where he’ll start on Saturday.
More impressive was Marrone’s ability to lure in former Duke point guard Greg Paulus. Paulus, who is eligible to play one year of college football, is from Syracuse and was a standout in high school. He was recruited to play quarterback at Notre Dame, but chose go to Duke to play basketball. No one really knows what he can still do at quarterback.
A win against Minnesota would certainly raise the spirits of Orange fans, but that’s not the necessary result. Orange fans just want a game, to show they can compete again.
For the first time in a long time, there is excitement. There is hope. For a team and a town that have struggled for both.
It’s time for a hero to emerge.
