Syracuse Fires Pasqualoni After 14 Years

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Posted 5:05AM on Thursday, December 30, 2004

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - Three weeks ago, Syracuse football coach Paul Pasqualoni received a vote of confidence to return for his 15th season. Now, he's just the latest Division I coach out of a job. Athletic director Daryl Gross, hired by the university less than two weeks ago to replace the retiring Jake Crouthamel, fired Pasqualoni on Wednesday. The move came only eight days after the Orange's 51-14 loss to Georgia Tech in the Champs Sports Bowl. "Sometimes you just know you need to make a change," Gross said. "You could sense a little of losing hope, and I think that hope always has to be there. "He's had a long tenure here. He served the student-athletes well. He is a tremendous man. The things he's done here, you can marvel at. I just think it's time to go in a different direction." Pasqualoni, who had one year left on his contract, was unavailable for comment. He departs with a 107-59-1 record and a 6-3 mark in bowl games, the second-winningest coach in school history, behind Ben Schwartzwalder, who had 153 victories. Gross said a search for Pasqualoni's replacement will begin immediately, adding that he will look for a defensive-minded coach with experience in both college and the NFL. Players were saddened by the news. Pasqualoni is the 11th Division I football coach to be fired this year, and another seven have resigned. "I know what kind of man Coach P is and I respect him very much," said center Matt Tarullo, a senior co-captain. "I wanted him to go out on his own terms, and obviously, he won't get the chance." Gross, a former assistant at Southern California, cited several factors for his decision, including declining attendance and the team's inconsistent play. "Obviously, there has been some success here, but as of late it hasn't been on a consistent basis," Gross said. "At the same time, there were some opportunities to do some great things that didn't materialize, and that's unfortunate." Syracuse has played below .500 after going 10-3 and finishing ranked No. 14 in 2001. The Orange were 4-8 in 2002, Pasqualoni's only losing season, and 6-6 each of the last two years. Crouthamel, who hired Pasqualoni to replace Dick MacPherson, was a staunch supporter of Pasqualoni and gave him 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. But the win at BC was Syracuse's first victory in 11 conference road games and only served to emphasize the team's inconsistent play. Syracuse began the season with a 51-0 loss at Purdue on national television, the most lopsided season-opening defeat in the program's 112-year history. The Orange nearly upset Florida State, beat Connecticut and Pittsburgh, and then lost for the second straight time at lowly Temple, a team with a total of 13 Big East wins that has been booted out of the conference. The Temple loss ended up costing Syracuse the Big East's BCS berth in the Fiesta Bowl and the big payday that goes with it, something the university's athletic department desperately needs. For the first time in years, it has had to be subsidized by the university after being mostly self-sufficient. Dwindling home attendance seemed to make the firing a business decision as much as anything, as disgruntled fans stayed away in droves. For 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. "There is some restlessness in the community about football," said Gross, who left town immediately for the Orange Bowl in Miami. "The expectations are very high. It's a very, very proud place."