Greg Paulus has decided to return to his home to play football with Syracuse.
Yes, Im not kidding! The former Duke point guard will enroll in graduate school at Syracuse and try to make a comeback in football for the Orangemen. I can see it now…Jim Brown will be having a press conference on how this is somewhat racially motivated.
The decision ends a month of speculation whether the one-time star high school quarterback from Syracuse would resume his football career.
Lets see.. over the last 3 months he worked out for the NFL, Michigan and now after Duke.. uh ha.. Duke said no Paulus ended up choosing a program gasping for air.
Maybe its because he feels comfortable paying in domes? Or he just likes the color of Orange? Whatever the reason this is a slap in the face for a once hallowed program. Hey UCLA needs someone Greggy!
What a joke! Paulus will be a bust & may not make it through a season of college football. Even though I can’t stand DOOK, I had the good fortunes of briefly chatting with David Cutcliff a couple of weeks ago and asked him about Greg Paulus as a D-1 QB. He was obviously the first D-1 coach to talk about Paulus about his chances. They worked him out at QB and Cutcliff said he offered him the opportunity to earn a spot as WR on the Duke team by trying out with other players — he just wasnt QB material. Remember, Cutcliff coached both Peyton & Eli in college so I think he knows a thing or 2 about QBs. Paulus said no that he’d only play for a team where he could start as QB. Cutcliff was certainly politically-correct about it all, but I could tell he was miffed by Paulus’ actions and knew he was in over his head.
Poor Syracuse — what are they thinking? Any ‘Cuse fans care to chime in on this one? What’s next — John Scheyer at Linebacker b/c we know he’s not going to the league either? How about Zubek at placekicker?
As the resident ‘Cuse-a-holic, I’ll take a stab at this…
First things first…although it may be nothing more then semantics – Paulus still has to apply to the NCAA for a waiver to play this fall. I’m sure nothing will stop that, but you never know.
Second, will Paulus make an impact? – possibly…I don’t care that its been 4 years since he played football – he threw for 11,763 yards and 152 touchdowns during his career in school. You don’t put up those kind of numbers if you are a ho-hum quarterback.
Third, is Paulus playing at Syracuse going to turn the program around in his only year of competition and become a bowl participant…most likey not. But I do think having a skilled athlete on the rooster (and he does have skills) is a plus for Syracuse. If he actually comes in here and gets us to .500 or better – recruiting becomes a little easier.
Just the fact there was talk about him possibly coming home has already impacted the program in a positive way, by getting Syracuse football back in the media for something other then its recent woes.
Fourth, if anyone thinks Marrone is going to just hand this kid the starting job…well – they’re clueless. He will have to earn it.
Lastly – Am I glad he’s coming? – There are no expectations for the Orange in 2009 except positive forward progress. I don’t think him coming or not coming is that big if an issue – There are no quarterbacks on the rooster currently who, on paper at least, are better then Paulus on paper
Sidenote – Its fine that Cutcliff, who coached the Manning boys, doesn’t think Paulus has what it takes – there’s a guy in Syracuse who coached a kid named Brees who thinks he can. With any luck – Dookie fans will be cursing Cutcliffe just as Boston fans curse the Redsox for trading The Babe! 😉
Well that’s one of the more thoughtful responses I’ve seen on SU in quite some time. Nicely stated & good job not taking “the bait” :-). We’ll see — hopefully it’s not viewed as a negative to big-time recruits who see that a “has-been” QB can step into a major D-1 program and be the best on paper. That Coach K – Jimmy B Dream Team connection has some major pull is all I have to say.
Between the newly found media attention and the people who will now come watch a game this year to me this is a no-brainer. It could end up being the shot in the the arm this program needs.