Hello friends and welcome this is episode 18 of Syracuse Sports my name is Brent ax great to have you here on Syracuse Sports which is presented by our friends at kuss Health find a career you’ll love at cr’s Health the exclusive healthc care partner for Syracuse
Athletics got a good one for you today Don mcferson the rightful owner of the 1987 Heisman Trophy get out of here with that Tim Brown stuff but we didn’t talk about that today as much as I would love to spend an entire podcast talking about how dony McPherson’s 1987 Heisman was
Basically stolen from him but we’ll save that for another time Don was great we talked quarterbacks we talked Garrett Sher we told stories from his well he told the stories from his time as a Syracuse quarterback but I love the Insight that he had about the position about trader as the quarterback for
Syracuse about to have a moment here with Clemson North Carolina Florida State coming up there shreder moving up the ranks as a matter of fact he’s chasing down Don mcferson for one statistic as we’ll get into here shortly so Don had great Insight on that but what I love about doing these interviews
Is you kind of have one thing in mind and one thing leads to the next and you of go places maybe you weren’t expecting to go you’re going to hear some of that we’re going to talk transfer portal nil what seems to be somewhat of a strained relationship between former Syracuse
Football players and the current Administration in some ways and Don does really important work with young men and what he calls aspirational masculinity and it’s important work and I think you’ll enjoy hearing the work he’s doing there the results that it’s that it’s getting at this point in the work he’s
Got to continue to do in that department so I’m going to get out of the way here and get Don mcferson in here let me remind you of this first though Saturday after the orange take on Clemson Emily lier and I will do a live postgame show
We’re going to do it about six o’clock or so after our postgame festivities are wrapped up at the JMA Wireless Dome so if you follow us Syracuse Orange Sports on YouTube if you follow our Facebook page Syracuse Orange football on Facebook you’ll get it live as it happens with
Your comments included in the podcast if you do listen to it in podcast form and all the places you’re listening and watching now you will still get it on Saturday night but if you want to join us live come on by about six o’clock just look for a notification or hang out
And check us out and all those places we’ll be streaming on Twitter as well you can follow me there at brenta media without further Ado let’s bring in the true winner of the 1987 Heisman Trophy the great Don ferson Don mcferson I’m going to start off with some numbers here okay got my
Uh all right got my yellow pad here old school going old official document yes exact official documents official document 5,812 yards that is your passing yards number in Syracuse football history which still ranks top five in the history of Syracuse quarterbacks Garrett Shader current Syracuse quarterback 5,57 yards he is
755 yards away from you so of course barring injury or anything like that he he’s chasing you down how how does that feel by the way to hear you’re still in the top five I’m very surprised actually to to be in the top I would have thought
They guys tra had passed me by now you know it’s funny I was just saying this to somebody recently is that the players are just better now the game is better the game is faster it’s more wide open I mean if you stood me next to guy traed
I’ I’ve met the young man a couple couple times he Towers over me so you know I’m I’m the game is better and and I’m I’m surprised G’s still there I’m hanging on top five um I wish him well so hopefully by the end of the season
I’ll be I’ll be number six there you go and that’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about today Don amongst uh it’s always great to talk to you first of all just other topics that we will get into but take me back to when you were being
Recruited by Syracuse and what the convers ation was like about quarterbacks because you’re still in the top five and the other four names on the list I’ll just go through it here Donovan McNab Marvin Graves Ryan Nassib Eric dunie counting up to one those are obviously all modern era guys and of
Course the game has evolved and changed and there much more emphasis on the passing game which contributes to that but all those names are basically starting with you and counting up here so what was the quarterback conversation like when you were recruited to come to ser
Well it it was two things BR if you keep in mind I was just talking to someone about this yesterday about the history of Syracuse University and African-American quarterbacks we had a black quarterback wil sadad Singh before the position was called quarterback and the other school that people mention
Very often is Nebraska but Nebraska had black quarterbacks who were running the option you know JC watts and all those guys who were running the wishbone uh and and and even Taylor who came up you know around my age era uh but at Syracuse we were doing more power game
Uh we were doing some option but not a lot and so the opportunity to come to Syracuse to be a true quarterback was was on the table it was it was you’re gonna be allowed to come here and obviously going to run some option use some of your athletic ability but the
Opportunity to to to run some I formation ISO um you know counter tray kind of stuff and and throwing the ball off of that um was definitely the opportunity and that was appealing to me because I wanted to be able to throw the football and be a real quarterback I was
Going to say what kind of quarterback were you in high school was it a combination of the both running and passing did you want to come in here and sling it what was the the mind frame there based on on what you you were you were doing in high school yeah we I’ll
Never forget you know the guy that came up in high school before me uh his name was John Chisum in Long Island West Hempstead and he was a magician with the split back option Veer triple option Veer that we stole from the University of Houston at the time my high school
Coach went down there and studied Bill Yan’s program and and so it was a lot of split black verer option triple option but I had a pretty good wide receiver we had a good a good tight end we threw the ball and we threw the ball a lot in in
High school so I I got a chance to do both and that was again that was the appeal I wasn’t a true passer I never had you know it’s funny I just did an interview with with a sports writer in Philadelphia because I never had a true
Quarterback coach until I got to the NFL and and Doug Scoville was my coach who was a longtime BYU guy um and and and Philadelphia brought him in to coach Rand Cunningham in fact I got the benefit of having him as a coach but when I got here Bill Maxwell was my
Quarterback coach for most of my years and he wasn’t a true quarterback coach he’s more of an offensive coordinator kind of guy uh so I you know I learned as we went and and then when when George de Leon came in we just kind of opened
Up this crazy offense it it predated the spread but we were doing everything the spread was is trying to do today so we’ve evolved to what the passing game is today and I feel like Garrett Trader is just like if you’re going to construct somebody in a lab
Yeah you you’re coming close to what Garrett is because you you brought it up a minute ago he’s a big player he can bounce tackles that Purdue game was kind of an extreme example because Purdue kind of gave him an easy pass to run all
Over the place but the the the rpos and The Fakes and when he gets an opportunity to take off and run he is so hard to stop but the passing game is evolving there too so how have you seen Garrett kind of come into his own as a
Quarterback based on what these offenses uh have to be in college football today yeah and and the offenses require a lot of quarterbacks but and what they require a lot of quarterbacks to do is to make fast decisions and and I think that’s where the only if I if I had one
Sort of criticism of Garrett is that he’s got to make fast decisions and I think that’s why he runs the ball so often out of out of the you know a scramble situation is because of his first reason that that there he sort of hesitates a little bit he’s going to
Make that that fast decision when he makes that fast decision you’re not going to find a better arm a stronger arm a more accurate guy than when he makes that first decision and and and that’s what I I I liked what happened in the second half against Army because I
Felt like they were giving him that ability to make don’t have you don’t have to read the whole field sometimes coaches can really complicate things and even people who watch football from a distance can complicate things because there’s a lot going on you know I learned from a defensive line coach many
Years ago who said listen we’ve got 11 guys that’s six on one side five on the other side pick theci side where we’re weakest and go attack it and I think if if gett tra does that he is dangerous and when and to your point when he takes
Off and runs I I think even defenses you can watch him on film he is deceivingly fast and extraordinarily durable and he’s got good elusive moves he runs the ball he’s really smart Runner and I think it’s it’s one of those innate things you can’t teach he’s unlike any
Other quarterback right in my right now in college football when he takes off and runs because of not just his speed and his size but he he knows how to run he’s an elusive Runner now uh I think it was this week it was recently I asked
Dino babers at a press conference how much basically Liberty Garrett Trader has to run the offense and I don’t know if you know this about football coaches Don they can be a little paranoid about revealing things but I I liked how Dino question they’re Liars I liked how he answered the
Question though he’s like I’m not gonna tell you that because I don’t want to reveal it to my opponents but what he did say hitting on what you just said is he’s right more than he’s wrong and I wonder if that’s because of the continuity he has with Jason Beck so
Let’s go back remind me in your time at Syracuse how many different coaches did you have offensive coaches you mentioned George D Leon came in and I want to ask that because I feel like one of the reasons we’re seeing what we are from Garrett and could continue to see it the
Rest of the year is he finally has some continuity with Jason Beck now Beck was not the OC last year but those two know each other they trust each other right but Garrett has had a lot of offensive coordinators through his career here and at Syracuse and that can affect what you
Can do in terms of that decision making we’re talking about it it can but I I’ll tell you something that’s more important than what than having um a right guy over many years because I had I had um uh Bill Maxwell and then we burning a
Guy for for a year who was not a good guy so I’m not going to mention his name and give him that dignity um and then and then um then George D Leon came in George D Leon was um a legend in the coaching ranks in college football uh
The first guy at the clinic the last guy to leave he was a a workaholic he just never stopped he was a character and he coached the old line and he was about five foot five and 120 pounds soak and wet and he coached the o line and he had
The biggest booming voice and he was a crazy man during practice you could hear him I was just laughing with one of the old Lin I saw him last week Turnell Sims and we laugh at they would go and he and Blake bedar they would have pre-practice
Before the rest of us showed up for practice the rest of us would be walking onto the field these guys are already drenched and there’s there’s D Leon screaming at these guys and going crazy at them I would go into offensive line meetings because we had a young o line
And I would love to just listen to things d own said him he’s brilliant and he tremendous enthusiasm and Brent here’s the difference the first time I had to deal with George D Leon in an official capacity not talking about practice he was our offensive coordinator but in a game when he was
Talking directly to me oneon-one was on headset the very first game I had him I’m trying to think what game it was um it been in 86 and he was as calm he’s calmer than I am talking to you right now I mean he was the crazy man is Cal
Now the crazy man in game time because what his philosophy was you get him ready and this was kind of coach Max philosophy you get him ready during the week and then on Saturday you let him go play and D Leon was so calm on practice
During in that first time in in headsets and I was like Wow and and and then I trusted everything he had to say and I think that’s the piece that you’re talking about when when gett Trader goes out there and he can he has Jason Beck
In his ear and he trusts what coach Beck is here is seeing and telling him he trusts what he’s seeing and telling him during the game and the coach tells you there’s nothing better as an athlete than then when a coach has been yelling at you and telling you to stay
Disciplined on something and then you do it in the game and it works you’re like a you’re like a puppy that just found like you just found a guy with the treats right you’re gonna follow that guy no matter where he goes waiting for him to drop another crumb and and and
That was what what Deon was for me and I think that’s the the the con you talked about with Jason Beck now having a little bit more Authority now was the OC uh and the guy who can help make make those decisions for Garrett now those
Guys I mean here it is what is it Wednesday morning whatever day it is or week it is those guys are sitting down right now with their feet up on their desk looking at film and saying hey this is what they’re going to try to do to
You here’s what they’re going to try to do to you here’s when when they’re going to try to do this is what it’s going to look like expect it to come at this down in distance this time of the game this field position and then all of a sudden
Garett TR that thing starts to happen on the field now the game slows down for him so don you are on the 84 team right yes Syracuse beats Nebraska and that was a huge moment but it it took a couple more years for that to really come to
Fruition for everything we saw in 1987 I feel like Garrett is on the cusp of having that moment now last year of course Syracuse starts six and0 and we were talking to you and a lot of your teammates because it was the first time since 1987 for a lot of things and
Unfortunately the second half of the Season didn’t pan out partially due to injuries including to Garrett Shader by the way who got beat up in that Clemson game he even said this week Donnie surprised he made it through that game that he was so beat up right so I feel
Like he’s on the cusp of his moment I want to talk about that in a second but I want to go back to you when did you have that moment as your as a quarterback as maybe a big win or you kind of knew this thing was coming
Together was it not until 87 or did you sense it before that you know I I talk often about the loss to um to ruter in ‘ 86 um we we should have beat ruter we played home the first drive we go down the field score a touchdown everyone’s
Like oh c football’s doing great you know to your point um and and and then we end up losing and Coach back that Saturday uh or excuse me that Sunday told the coaches to stay home he was gonna he was GNA Run film session on Sunday the offense was supposed to show
Up at like six o’clock defense was there four before us and when we got there they had already been in film study for two hours and the projector was off and Mack was just ripping them to shred and we can hear them from outside the room and we’re all waiting for our turn
To go in and Coach back went through that one series that we had probably like a seven-play drive down the field score a touchdown and Mack ripped every single player to shreds no one went got out of the meeting on scath it turned out to be a two and a half hour tongue
Lashing from from the head coach and that to me was I the Turning Point going into 87 because what he talked about was how we prepared and how we did the little things right and how we each one of us was so dependent on the other to
Do their job and and prior to that I don’t know what what we were thinking tell you the truth I think we you know we were a little this you know kind of a program that didn’t really have a kind of a sense a North star and after that
Um you know I there was no moment for me personally the Louisville start um in in 85 was probably you know obviously that was my first start and and coming off with two injuries in 83 and 84 and and so that was probably a significant moment when I realized I could play
College football uh but that moment against ruter for me was when our team came together and said we have to do different Monday through Friday if we’re gonna win on Saturday and that and that extended to we have to do different in January and February if we’re going to
Do better in in the fall so here we have Garrett on this moment here with Clemson coming in North Carolina and Florida State to follow like these this is the crem Del the crem in the ACC Clemson’s not air quotes Clemson right when you look at Clemson you see a two and two
Record it kind of throws you off but that as Dino babber said earlier this week is still a championship level roster with all the talent they gave Florida State everything they could handle last week Florida State didn’t even have the lead until they took the lead and won the game in overtime right
So I think you got to take that into consideration but I swear to God Don before I even knew I was going to talk to you this week I told the story to to my colleague Emily lyer by the way so I said listen I feel like Syracuse has got
To have a mcferson more moment in this game because you come into 1987 Penn State that play just punched Penn State right in the nose and they were just they were done from the moment that game started right I feel like Syracuse has to do that against Clemson
Right they’re good at stopping the Run they’re a physical football team is there something that Beck has not shown or has not shown a lot that clemenson is just not going to see you deliver that hay maker and you kind of go from there I I feel like he’s just right on the
Cusp of of something like that I I think it’s I don’t think it’s the hay maker I think it’s it’s more of uh of a pounding that that that um because Clemson is you know this this Clemson team I everyone they’re two and two and everyone’s going to talk about
The last time they’ve been this bad and and now they’re out the national championship hunt and now that you know the batana has been had hand the Florida State this is a Clemson team that dbo Sweeney and everyone thought was a top 20 team a top 15 team with no with with
Not a lot of activity in the transfer portal so with the guys that he recruited he believed this was a good football team which means they are a good football team talent-wise top the bottom they still have the talent right now their biggest thing is do they
Believe in themselves and a big play to your point about that Penn State moment that was a big play that was a big moment and that was a shocker and that’s exactly what Penn State was afraid would happen is that we would get the crowd in
It I you know I remember The Telecast because I I’ve watched everything 20 years later and BR saying Joe Paterno’s gotta get the crowd out of this before the game started and and the first play of the game the crowd is like on the field literally as as loud as it could
Be and and so I don’t think it’s going to take that moment to break clemon Spirit what’s going to take is if Syracuse gets the ball and they drive the length of the field six seven eight nine 10 plays get first downs get first downs show that you can get first downs
You can move the football methodically against clemon that’s gonna break their Spirit more so because that’s just beating them down right there’s a difference between having the big play and shocking him and then be or beating him down and I think if if they can beat
Down Clemson get a couple three and outs early uh and and get a sustain a dve I mean look what look what army did Army came in and and that first quarter I mean remember the first quarter of of of Western Michigan I believe the first half of Western Michigan was like three
And a half hours it was ridiculous penalties and everything else it was a properly played game Army comes in their first quarter what’ they do they went I think they had the ball for like nine and a half minutes that’s exactly they said it’s our ball and you can’t have it
Yeah you can’t have it you’re not getting it back you can’t beat us if you don’t have the ball and so I think Syracuse needs to do the same thing against Clemson and say listen if this is our place you can’t beat us unless you have the ball and we’re going to
Possess the football get first downs and keep your offense off the field how do you think Garrett handles not having Gatson not having Isaiah Jones I’ve liked what I’ve seen I and I wonder what you’ve seen from other guys like Donovan Brown and numari Hatcher but no offense
To who we’ve seen so far this is Clemson and I feel like if you’re going to do what you just said and if you’re going to sustain a four quarter game against Clemson who’s really good at stopping the Run including a running quarterback this could be the game maybe we start to
See the absence of two of your top targets particularly Gatson you know I I don’t like saying this because it it’s it’s not it’s not a fun thing you know college football and football period is a is a rough game um and and so very
Often if you if you depend on and I I I cringe with with preseason Superstar talk in college football because of the nature of the game um and and if you if you went to the season thinking it’s going to be shra to Gadson and that’s
Going to be the duo and then you lose that you go oh snap what do we have left like what are we going to do next hey this is time for one of those younger guys to step up right and and Damen Alfred or one of these other guys to
Step up to move that guy into that slot position here’s the other thing about Gatson they list him as a tight end which I never liked because I didn’t think he was a true tight end I’m a John Macky guy right block down block down for half the
Game and every now and then we’ll throw the ball to you and you go R roll over a linebacker or two and so what what what ends up happening with with Gatson out of maybe they bring in a real tight end maybe they bring in a tight end who can
Help in pass protection if if they’re having troubles with with pass Pro um and and then that frees up your receivers to and this is where I think again I mentioned this a moment ago simplify you know you know they did a lot of things with Gatson in that slot
Position I do this because that means he can go just about anywhere like a fish right and and uh but but simplify with your other younger receivers move somebody else in that slot position bring in a tight end I I think that this offense benefits from simplification uh benefits from from
Garett straa having to make make that read right now let the ball go right now and and then and then you know scramble or run off of design um so I I think sometimes when you lose your Superstar skill guy um and I do this in quotes
Because I I say this all the time there’s there’s no such thing as the best player in college football if that left tackle doesn’t do his job gett Sher can’t throw the ball in time you know uh you know nobody gets the ball down field
Right L Quinn Allen has no holes to run into all those things and so um simplify let G Traer see some reads quick and get rid of the ball quick and that helps your wide outs as well right they’re not they’re not trying to they’re running
Quick Cris routes um and and they know if the ball’s not there on time they become a blocker that’s a great point and I think Alford can play the slot they have moved him there a little bit he’s such a big Target he’s that he’s definitely that first read at this point
He had a huge game last week he’s coming in very confident so the offensive line too Don I wonder what you’ve seen there I mean I was fortunate to uh it’s fun to say this name again David wabah Jr who is at Syracuse unfortunately he’s out
For the year with that injury it feels like they’re getting healthier we’ll see if kayn Ellis and and Joe Moore are back in this game coming up they’ve been kind of iffy maybe could have should have would have we’ll see if they’re back in there but when you have a guy like
Shider who can extend plays even uh dbos swinny was saying it this week that extra second you know this as well as anybody that extra second if you either have to take off and run or just run to extend the play it feels like he still has that even with the offensive line
Still maybe it’s still kind of trying to find itself they had to replace three starters coming into this year and that’s a process yeah yeah you know there’s two two things about that I think Brent when you’re talking one is there’s there’s no other position in all
Sports where the sole job is to protect other players and O linan is special and I I I have a special play obviously as a quarterback I have a special place for o linan but I think they’re the smartest guys on the field um and they’re the
Only group that all five have to work together they have to work as a unit that’s why Joe de Leon was so masterful um as an old line coach because he taught those guys how to work as a unit so when you had injuries on the old line
That that hurts that continuity that hurts the communication uh some of the the communication that guys just know they don’t even have to talk to each other they’ve been they’ve been next to each other all day long excuse me all week long or all month long however long
They could keep a unit healthy and together so they can they work together well they tag off of each other really well so that’s that’s the first thing thing I think about when I think of o line the other thing you mentioned you know reminded me immediately as you were
Talking about that extra second that that gett Trader may give an o line because he could run I immediately thought of the relationship between Randle Cunningham and Chris Carter and Randle would would Randle would take off and run randle’s first look very often his you know Keith Jackson was my
Rookie year ke Jackson had 71 catches as his tight end it was just ridiculous because Rand would give to him like I said he was that first read and Chris wanted the ball and if randle’s first read wasn’t there very often he would take off when he was when he was a
Younger quarterback and Chris wanted the ball so because Randall was taking off and running earlier than probably he should have at times instead of going to 14 yards in his route Chris would go to 12 or he’d go to 10 because he wanted to be open sooner he want the opportunity
Sooner and so Chris was breaking off his routes and and I remember in film study like you know literally say Chris why are you breaking off here goes I want the ball homeboy like throw me the ball I’m here now so and so as R matured and
As the offense matured all of a sudden now Chris is getting to his depth now the now the separation between Chris and the relationship with with Chris and the running back coming out of the back field was better distributed into the secondary and so sometimes what a
Running quarterback can do is it can make your skills and your position a little bit lazy because you know you don’t have to be as good you know you know you can get away with and I’m I was guilty of this as a quarterback there
Were times when I knew I didn’t have to worry about the o line because I was Sprint sprinting out and and I was gonna just do it on my own uh because I know I could and that doesn’t help a team and so I as I said you know there not such
Thing as a single best player in college football any football game uh because it does require that team so so when when you said that about the old line it’s true they can get away with things because Garrett’s gonna give him that extra second but at the end of the day
You want them to be sound fundamentally and that means they have to do their job no matter how much skill G sha has as a runner you brought up Randall Cunningham I’ve gotta tell a real quick Randall Cunningham story I was there yeah everybody’s got a Randall Cunningham
Story right I’m sure you got a million of them but bills Eagles I want to say it’s 1990 or 91 one yeah and Bruce Smith Comes Around The Edge yes greatest pass rusher arguably in the history of football I don’t know if you know the play I’m talking about I know exactly
You thought in the Enzo oh you know yeah Rand duck oh Bruce Smith like was literally on his back y Randall Ducks him and then I can’t remember who the receiver was but he’s all alone at the 50 yard line Barrett and yep and all all
Of a sudden you just see this ball floating in midair and he’s all alone and it was like a 95 yard touchdown I will never forget that play as long as I live and and that was random would do stuff like that on a regular basis and
And he was one of the most you know I I was behind him I was a backup quarterback to him he was on the front cover of Sports Illustrated as the Ultimate Weapon like you know how demoralizing it is to be a backup to the Ultimate Weapon but he was he was
Incredible he would do things like that all the time he was an incredible athlete unbelievable uh a couple other things Don while I got you here kind of zooming out a little bit here I wonder what you think about we just saw some announcements recently Syracuse
I mean you drive by the the L complex right now you see a lot of cranes you see a lot of dirt you see a lot of construction equipment they’re getting ready for uh that the next facility coming in in 2025 and it kind of feels like you know
Syracuse is playing catching catch up a little bit here uh in terms of their their peers in the ACC but at least they’re doing it what have you heard and and seen and and how encouraged are you to see that Syracuse is has got some shovels in the ground and and doing some
Things facilities wise here you know you you just mentioned something that I hadn’t really thought of um in in terms of facilities and and the catchup you know 20 years ago it was the arms racing facilities and and you saw people putting up you know all the new indoor
Facilities the practice facilities and all those those different things that that people are doing and I’ve been in some other places like Texas and other places in Alabama and and their facilities are just off the chart in in all the sort of the the the
You know all the perks and and all the bells and whistles nowadays the game is is unfortunately is nil and and I think nil’s is also scary because um we we’re just in the infancy stages of it I think there’s going to be a whole bunch of other things in terms
Of anti-rust stuff and and uh some lawsuits from players to players and I mean I I just think that that the NL landscape is is going to be really really messy before it makes sense and and yet that’s the game right now and and so you know why is a a player choose
A particular school might not be facilities anymore might not be it may be what kind of nil relationships what kind of nil structure and in that regard I you know having conversations with John wildhack the Athletics director um he’s optimistic and excited about the nil path that they’re going down I know
They’ve got some new relationships on campus and uh and that’s going to be the Difference Maker you know young kids are going to want to see that that the school’s not sitting on its hands when it comes to nil and that going to at least create an environment
Because I think this is the thing you know the what what people don’t really understand is the school really isn’t supposed to be involved in nil otherwise it’s not it’s not an individual name image or likeness um and so so there’s this really tricky balance that’s happening right now where the school has
To make moves that provide opportunities for student athletes to to to go make some money uh in the nil Market uh but the school really can’t facilitate that and and so I think that’s where I think there’s a a lot of trickiness to it um where again I guess I should should
Should take that back I think the school can facilitate it but not actually make the deals and so there there’s a lot to be to be done I think that John wild hack is is doing a great job of of trying to get Syracuse in the right position it’s funny because Dino brought
That up this week I asked him about the facilities and what you said there about nil and Facilities it’s almost backwards right and here’s what I mean by that in the nil game you can get one Carmelo Anthony type player and you are set right that’s your team it’s a little
More complicated in football even if you land the big time quarterback you still need as you said the team around him the basketball team here has got the facilities which Dino was talking about this week like when he finally wandered over into the Mellow Center about a year
After he took over he just couldn’t believe what he was seeing and now he’s finally going to get that the football team I still think Don in this day and age even with nil still needs the facilities you still need to wow with the weight room and just all the modern
Amenities that kind of you know get the kids buge eyed when they’re coming here on their on their uh their official visits and their unofficial visits so it’s almost like the opposite is is going back and forth here and now at least it it’ll even out in that
Department you know you you bring up another point about facilities that that I think is once again it’s not just the wow factor of when you walk into a building as I said I’ve been in some places that there’s a lot wild factor in some some buildings but at the end of a
Year does the place feel like home and the and the reason I say that is again I don’t know what those basketball guys do they they go over there and dribble the ball and shoot and there’s only a few of them I don’t know what their lifestyles
Are like but football guys I was just saying this to some students last night I never saw campus after after noon uh during the Academic Year forget about just during the season I never saw K I was in Manley field house now the L Center all day long that place had to
Feel like home and here’s where I say that that the transfer portal is a bigger problem than nil nil is gon to work itself out and and like I said I think there’s a lot more to come with with nil but the transfer portal how do
You keep guys home how do you get guys and keep them there if you have and I said this you know I had this conversation with doo a couple years ago about how to recruit a kid uh who who came through through the transfer portal
And I excuse me how do you not recruit kid how do you coach a kid how do you coach a team that has you know half the team didn’t start here or and and they’re new and they’re repl placing maybe a guy that you were buddies with
Um that that you came up with that you said I remember my high school roommate EXC my college roommate for four years we met in high school at Walt Walt Mosley from Ellenville New York we said hey we’re gonna go to Syracuse and we’re
G to be a part of that backfield for the next four years well all of a sudden Walt leaves or I leave and all of a sudden a different guy’s there I said man you’re not the guy that I met in high school and and and the and the
Continuity of it and that there’s another whole another issue about graduation and education when it comes to transfer um that that concerns me uh but I think it’s really hard in this day and age to get that team continuity with transfer and I I believe that’s why I
Believe D Sweeney uh does not jump into the into that portal Because he believes again facilities but he also believes in his culture he has a very strong sense of his culture and and bringing guys in and out of it is is hard to maintain that sort of cultural identity Don where
Would you put it here in terms of I thought of this because you mentioned talking to dino right how would you characterize the involvement of alumni football alumni what that kind of for lack of a better term that that the kind of Union is like what your feedback is for the
Current program you know depending on what that is there’s been some some donations that players have made to the new complex and that’s great but just in general do do you feel like you have a voice and what goes on with Syracuse now no and I think that’s always been you know
For for however you want to look at it that’s always sort of been sort of the mo at Syracuse former players don’t have a big voice I know there’s a bunch of guys who live here who who don’t feel connected to the program and uh that’s unfortunate and uh however that doesn’t
Mean that that we’re not together we were all there was about you know 25 30 guys actually maybe more than 40 50 guys who showed up um and got together the night before two nights before and the night before um coach Ben was was put
Into the Ring of Honor so there’s and if you saw that field a bunch of guys they were still there the loyalties there um you know generationally my generation I’m 58 years old my generation the guys who are just starting to to get into that um that stage in life where they
Can give and they can feel like they can be a part of it l is is just a generation and a half you know ahead of me so we’re getting into that place where we feel like we can be have have more of a presence and I hope hope that
That the nil generation or era um will help Foster some of that some of that reaching out to guys who are you know recently graduated or or guys like me who were you know 30 years out um to to get them more involved because we really
Haven’t been and you know it’s it’s kind of like you could say this is a more recent thing but it’s always kind of been the history of Syracuse that um we have really reached out a lot to our our our alums that’s too bad and and I think
People would like to see you guys more involved it’s one thing to be at games and have a presence like you said get back together with your teammates but I feel like I could give a lot of examples here but I feel like other schools that connection is more prevalent not just in
What they do to contribute money and contribute things that we physically see like the L complex but just the the spirit I guess for a lack of a better term so maybe the connection is not there with the university but you do you still feel like you have a voice in
Reaching out to the current players maybe in a way or does that have to improve as well well you know what I I think that’s up to the head coach to be honest I I think a lot of things there are times when I’ve been down in L or or
Manly and I I don’t go poking my nose around the football the football Wing that’s up to the the head coach about who he wants around his program and I think that’s that’s a really important thing to maintain his his program and so um I’ve had some connection with some of
The guys I did a podcast with with the mob last year um or a couple years ago yeah well last year and um uh got to know a couple of those guys um and and you see him around campus I’m around campus a lot I was on campus last night
And um and so you see him around a little bit you see him down on the Alley and um but unfortunately you know there there are other guys who live here in town and and you know some guys even you know work in around campus who don’t
Have that kind of connection um and I would I would love to see it because I think I think at the end of the day you’re right about the Brotherhood and the family you know I see guys you know I I I saw Dave Warner um a couple weeks
Ago he came up I guess I guess it was the the Western Michigan game and I saw him from like a 100 yards away and I knew who he was just because his body type right I said hey hey po he’s like how’d you know it was me
I’m like C your body hasn’t changed since you spot him right away that’s great right and and and to see those guys like like him and and Bill Hurley and those guys I love that connection I love the connection to the the quarterbacks who who came before me and anytime I get a
Chance to see Todd norle and uh those guys I played with with Mike amens and those guys I played with um it’s always great to to be a part of and that’s that’s where the giving comes from that’s where the the support for the lifelong support of the program comes
From by the way I should shout out uh I don’t know why this name just popped in my head he followed you Todd philcox we gotta get him in that conversation his birthday was yesterday his birthday was yesterday oh happy birthday Todd there you go Todd yeah by the way had a pretty
Stellar NFL career oh oh yeah people forget yeah yeah he was and and and talk about Todd like that program because of the way D young coached it Todd stepped right in he had as good a year as I did I’m pretty sure statistically the next
Year coming in um he put up some great numbers and he had Rob Moore and and some some great R backs still had Drummond and and Daryl Johnson in that backfield um yeah Phil Cox had a oneye starting role and and and really and really did a great job Don Before I Let
You Go I always like to check in with you and and something it’s it’s amazing what you’re out there doing just on a day-to-day basis and it’s it’s aspirational masculinity and how you go and you talk to football teams and athletes and uh not just athletes by the
Way uh all all I I saw on your social media talking to one of the Su fraternities in recent months right so tell us about your mission there and what you’re doing and how it and how it’s going so Bren i’ I’ve been in the space of doing work around men’s
Violence against women sexual domestic violence prevention for nearly 30 years um when I when I retired from football in 1994 and the work I’ve always done was always about engaging men to prevent violence against women and as I say more recently I’ve been doing the work that
Women and survivors of of violence have asked men to do I haven’t been doing the work that our boys need and and what I mean by that is that we’ve been talking to about masculinity Bo to boys but not about their whole masculinity we’ve been talking about the the ways in which boys
Behavior or men’s behavior hurts women we haven’t been talking about what do we want for boys we haven’t been talking about it and that’s why I use aspirational what do I want for them so that they are living I’m not one for for sort of like uh cheeky acronyms but I
But I’m using this one because I think it’s accurate is I want them to live authentic whole and evolving lives and and and evolving masculinity and that’s awe I want them to live in awe of themselves and the boys around them and that awe is how do you live your
Authentic self how do you live your whole self and and evolving piece is I’m 58 years old and I’m still adjusting to what life is like for me right now and it’s very different than I expected it’s very different than than um you know even even moving here to Syracuse and
And dealing with the things I’m dealing with in my personal life I did not expect to be at this point in my life and so I have to evolve and I have to continue to grow and so the message that I’m delivering with this aspirational masculinity I’m doing some work around
New York state I’m contract with one of the New York state agencies um and and doing work in promoting this aspirational masculinity how do we talk to men about what we want for them not what we want them to do for others but what we want for them to truly grow in
Their wholeness and their authentic selves it’s a great message and I’m wondering it there might be too many to pick from here but is there a particular success story that’s that sticks with you maybe you talk to somebody and they Circle well yeah you’re you’re you’re great for those not watching you got
Your hand up right so that’s that’s a great example so tell me that story and maybe I don’t know maybe a team or somebody you talked to who they circled back in life and said hey thanks for that message it really affected me in this way um I will tell you since I’ve
I’ve been talking about aspirational masculinity in the way that I have um I literally was at I was at Etha College a couple weeks ago and I had a couple of young men literally say to me you saved lives today wow because no one is talking to boys about this and and we’ve
Been t telling them this is a generation of young men who’ve only heard masculinity referred to as being toxic and I remind people that before we use toxic to talk about relationships or masculinity we talked about waste I watched the story today on on uh you
Know on news one about about you know toxic waste in in our water supply in our in our in our uh in our Aqua for and so uh when it comes to toxic waste we want to separate that remove it from society and and so this is a generation
Of boys who haven’t heard it so so so to that point I was with a group of young men last night uh it’s called the men of color initiative on campus of Syracuse I was with about 22 young African-American men of color and I heard men talking about young men college men talking
About therapy talking about who do they talk to when they really need to talk and and and how they need to do that for each other as a Brotherhood and and this was just a sort of a a morphous group of guys from from various parts of Campus
Um who were part of this this club essentially and I and I heard them talking about things that really mattered and every time I’m in that that happens and it happens frequently uh believe it or not is is that I think about the people who don’t think that
Boys and men care about supporting each other in a loving way care about talking about things that they were raised not to talk about like feelings and how they how they feel about things how they navigate emotions how they navigate relationships and we have we’ve been relatively silent on on giving them the
Exact language so so you ask me about you know success stories almost every session I do now you you mentioned the fraternity there was a fraternity on campus at cuse young men told me they have what they called cry night where they actually literally would would come
Together on on certain nights and just talk about their stuff and if someone cried it was okay and right so they started calling it that right I hope I’m not breaking their trust in saying that but I won’t say what fraternity was but but these guys are really talking about
How they support each other emotionally and psychologically and um and I think we we we haven’t done a good enough job of of being very deliberate in that education with young men uh and so that’s the work that I’m I it just you know sometimes I I I’m thrilled that I
Get a chance to experience it um and now trying to grow that message with young men that’s incredible keep up the great work and for those that don’t know Don wrote a book uh you can check that out just uh look up Don on Amazon or any of
Places you get your books and you can check that out and uh don social media and you can see what he’s up to and that important message that that he getting out there and we thank you for getting the message out here today on Syracuse Sports it was so great to catch up
Thanks for the time and sharing the stories and talking some ball with us and uh you know we’ll do it again down the road here but thanks so much for coming out with us today my friend my pleasure BR I appreciate and go orange our thanks again to Don mcferon
For joining us here great stuff from him and uh hey great stuff if you are a subscriber to this podcast Apple YouTube Amazon Spotify wherever you subscribe thank you for that that’s the best way to get new episodes delivered right to you of Syracuse Sports if you
Are an apple subscriber please leave us a review or review us any place you want leave some comments on YouTube We love getting your feedback on the show speaking of feedback don’t forget to take advantage of our voicemail line that’s 31555 21964 if you want to get in touch with
The show or on Twitter or X if you prefer Brent at ma media you can email me bxe syracuse.com as well thanks for hanging with us friends just a reminder about our live Syracuse football postgame show following Syracuse and Clemson here on YouTube Facebook Twitter
And you will get it in podcast form a little bit later on if that’s what you prefer but if you want to participate in the conversation live we’d love to have you on Saturday after the orange take on Clemson we want to thank kuss health for spons ing Syracuse Sports K’s health is
The exclusive healthc care partner of suu Athletics thanks for being a part of Syracuse Sports we’ll talk to you next time friends
source
