'CUSE HIRES NFL ASSISTANT

Syracuse has hired New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Doug Marrone as its next head coach, Adam Schefter of NFL Network is reporting. Ralph Mancini and Ross Mandel of the NFL Draft Bible give their take:

Mancini's Take: Marrone has always been a highly-regarded assistant coach both as an offensive-line coach for the Jets and as an offensive coordinator for the Saints. Marrone, of course, wasn't actually calling the plays in 'Nawlins, but the fact that he's worked directly under a quality offensive mind like Sean Payton is a big plus. You can be sure the new coach will bring a more wide-open attack to Syracuse, which will be well suited to the Carrier Dome. To be ultimately successful, Marrone has to establish relationships with northeast recruits, which is something that former head man, Greg Robinson, failed miserably in doing.

Mandel's Take: Syracuse is lucky they found someone to take the job, much less a guy who actually wanted it. Yes, it's a positive that Marrone has been working for the offensive mind of Sean Payton...Orange fans can only hope his play calling is better than his former boss's. Marrone went to SU, and has been around the block as an assistant--he even had a cup of coffee with the Jets as an assistant in the early 2000s--but he's never been a head coach and to me, his hire is a matter of beggars not being choosers. Syracuse couldn't get a bigger name, nor could they get someone with prior experience so they settled for a rah-rah alum. That being said, there's no way Marrone can be anything but an improvement over Robinson, who was nothing less than a total disaster.

Photo Credit: Syracuse University Athletics