On Monday, following perhaps the most damaging loss of his coaching career, Paul Pasqualoni fixed himself behind a folding table and addressed the local media in his weekly press conference. Director of Athletics Jake Crouthamel and roughly 30 media members were in front of him. Nobody was behind him.

In 13 years here, Pasqualoni has coached 154 Syracuse football games. The prediction: Saturday’s game will be his last. If the SU football team wants to move forward, it will soon fire the coach who’s lost his backing and support. Recent history, in fact, indicates that the decision may have already been made.

When Syracuse lost in 1999 to 30-point underdog Rutgers – the team’s third defeat in four games – Pasqualoni’s job status descended into water cooler conversation for the first time during his tenure. Crouthamel and Chancellor Kenneth A. Shaw immediately came to his defense; Crouthamel even cracked that he’d forgo his own job before he’d dismiss Pasqualoni.

A year ago, as the Orangemen stumbled through their worst season in more than a decade, Crouthamel tore the Coach P rumors into ribbons when he assured that Pasqualoni would not be fired during or after the season.

This year, Pasqualoni is still waiting to find someone of stature who thinks he should return next season. To this point, Crouthamel has remained quiet – he refused to address the issue when asked on Tuesday. Yet that silence won’t last long. Crouthamel plans to soon hold a press conference and address his coach’s job. ‘Sometime next week,’ he said. If Crouthamel had good news for his coach, he’d have already said it.

Quite simply, Pasqualoni cannot return. The fans deserve better. The school demands more. This season, the Orangemen currently stand at 5-6; if they lose to Notre Dame in the season finale, they’ll finish with a losing record for the second consecutive year. Once again, they’ll fall short of the minimum standards that Crouthamel cited for his football team a year ago.

Crouthamel stamped it clearly, on letterhead paper. He expects the football program to finish regularly among the top three teams in the Big East conference; he wants the Orangemen to earn a Top 25 ranking in the season-ending polls; he asks for high graduation rates; and lastly, he demands frequent participation in bowls, including, every so often, a Bowl Championship Series game.

Academically, Pasqualoni does an admirable job. He also dresses with impeccable style, as he did last Monday when he matched a blue-striped Ralph Lauren shirt with a soft yellow tie. Beyond those two standards, Pasqualoni’s successor should be able to outdo Pasqualoni in almost every category.

Since 1997, Syracuse has exceeded the seven-win mark only once. Even then, in 2001, it participated in the unremarkable Insight.com Bowl. In the last seven years – eight, once this season concludes – the Orangemen will have finished the season in the AP’s Top 25 four times. But only once have they been ranked higher than 20th.

The numbers add up to an overwhelming sentiment against Pasqualoni. ‘Coach P Must Go,’ message board posters and talk show callers cry. ‘Coach P Must Go,’ a website with that very address claims. ‘Coach P Must Go,’ the evidence says. The next time SU’s well-dressed coach reaches into his wardrobe, it should be in preparation for a job interview.

Pasqualoni, of course, has not lost his ability to coach, nor has he lost his ability to work hard. ‘We have played very hard,’ Pasqualoni said to open his press conference. Later: ‘We have tried very hard.’ Again: ‘We have worked this year as hard as we have ever worked.’ And again: ‘[The losing] doesn’t mean the kids haven’t played hard.’

The Orangemen, both their players and staff members, all contribute energy to match their coach, who arrives most days to the office at 7 a.m. and smiles if he can get six hours of sleep. Sometimes, however, hard work alone doesn’t equate to success.

Perhaps SU’s talent level has decreased, even if the difference is barely discernible. (Early this year, high school quarterback Joe Dailey, now at Nebraska, retracted his commitment to SU, further tainting SU’s football reputation.) Perhaps the team’s discipline has wavered. (Team leaders like Walter Reyes and Rich Scanlon should never, under any circumstances, pursue altercations in the stands, as they did after the recent Rutgers loss.) Perhaps Pasqualoni and the Orangemen have simply lost their allure. (The Carrier Dome, now bereft of novelty, isn’t the gem recruiting tool it used to be.)

Most condemning of Pasqualoni, there’s no longer a strong argument for keeping him. A new coach will provide a much-needed boost for attendance and interest in the team. He’ll likely unplug SU’s often-archaic offense from the system. He might even provide a colorful personality – not a requirement for a football coach, but certainly a bonus for a public figure.

Pasqualoni, predictably, refuses to talk about the controversy swirling in front of him, or, for that matter, about the empty backfield of supporters behind him.

‘I would rather just talk about this game and what we feel we have to do to win this game,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘That is exactly where the focus should be.’

Pasqualoni, of course, is wrong. Maybe he even knows as much, but his steadfast personality won’t allow him to admit it. The focus this week is on Pasqualoni himself, and more specifically, his job. Soon, Pasqualoni won’t have it any longer. When Pasqualoni turns around and walks away, he’ll realize why.

Chico Harlan is a staff writer for The Daily Orange. E-mail him at apharlan@syr.edu.

Published on December 4, 2003 at 12:00 pm