Paul Pasqualoni
Over the past few years, Syracuse alumni would shrug their shoulders and look at the floor when outsiders, invariably, would look at them, astonished, and say, "You mean Paul Pasqualoni's still coaching there?"
Well, pretty soon, Orange fans might be able to look up and proudly answer: "No! By God, no! No, I tell you!"
Pasqualoni's Orange won't lose today. The team is off. But entering next week's season finale at Boston College, Syracuse is 5-5 this season, 15-19 in the past three. For a once-proud program, that's stagnant.
But the key for Pasqualoni, who is on the verge of finishing his 14th season at Syracuse, came last Monday, when longtime athletic director Jake Crouthamel announced his retirement as soon as a replacement could be found. Crouthamel hired Pasqualoni in 1991 and has constantly provided protection even as SU fans have let their frustration be known.
Crouthamel said this week that he still expects to evaluate Pasqualoni after the season, and he will make a recommendation to new chancellor Nancy Cantor. But without Crouthamel to watch his back -- and with Syracuse facing pressure to come back to form in the overhauled Big East -- is there any reason to believe that a new AD won't want a new football coach?
"I think there's always, certainly, always that possibility," Pasqualoni told the Syracuse Post-Standard.
