PAGE A-8/THE POST-STANDARD, Wednesday, Jan.

9, 1991

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COACH MAC'S FAREWELL

Mac Says Goodbye as Only He Cart

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STEPHEN D. CANNERELLI/The Posl-Slandard

Dick MacPherson says goodbye to SU players Tuesday with a hug from Warren Prisby
and a handshake from Dan Conley.

STEPHEN 0 CANNERELLI/The Post-Standard

Tearful daughter Janet hugs Dick MacPherson Tuesday after his farewell news
conference.
remember us that way, we're in great shape. We
fooled them if we haven't."
Some of the tougher moments for MacPherson dealt with his family. He told the story of
how he left the Denver Broncos for the head
coaching job at the University of Massachusetts
in 1971. He recalled how the family moved into a
beautiful new home on a tree-covered street in
Amherst. MacPherson said he thought he was in
heaven.
Then Sandra began hanging a picture that
the wives of Broncos coaches had given her,
and she began to cry.
"Because she didn't want to leave Denver,"
said MacPherson, his voice choked with emo-

tion. "The funny part of it was, to show you how

cruel I am, I didn't even ask her if she wanted to
go or not. I just assumed that we went, and so
that's how crazy this game is at times."
Certainly, there were plenty of lighter
moments, often at the expense of one of MacPherson's longtime straight man, athletic director Jake Crouthamel.
MacPherson has longed poked fun at Crouthamel, the man who brought him to Syracuse.
While he lavished heaping spoonfuls of praise on
Crouthamel, who is in New Orleans searching
for his successor, MacPherson also broke up the
tension with a few final jabs at Jake.
He was mentioning the low-point of his career
at Syracuse, a 35-18 loss to Maryland in the
1985 Cherry Bowl, when a Crouthamel stoly
came to mind.
"The low point would have to be that great
Cherry Bowl game that Jake is still got the books
out on waiting to get that money," he said.
MacPherson said he plans to clean out his
office the next few days, then report to New
England on Friday to begin rebuilding a franchise that lost 15 games this past season.
The press conference ended in dramatic
fashion with MacPherson asking Rev. Msgr.
Charles Borgognoni to sing a blessing, and the
pnest did in fact stand before the room and belt
out the blessing before a stunned and moved
audience.
"It's an exciting opportunity," MacPherson
would say, "and I think this: I'm blessed with a
great God with a great family in a profession I
love and am excited about each and every day I
get up. That's what I tell our football players. If.
you've got that, you got something going for
you. To be at my age, and still dream and still
push, is something I wish for everyone."
- -'.
And with that, MacPherson no longer had
any second thoughts.

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v

(MAC, from Page A-l)

seemed
MacPherson was there to deliver his own
eulogy, and he struggled to find all the right
things to say.
Several times, MacPherson's craggy Maine
voice broke up and tears welled up in his smiling
Irish eyes.
MacPherson said telling his players, who he
recruited to play for the Orangemen, might have
been the toughest part.
"It's a very, very sad time," said MacPherson.
"They're concerned about where they're coming from, and quite honestly, the thing didn't go
the way I wanted it to go. How do you tell the
people just exactly how you feel as you're walking out the door? They want to see what you're
doing rather than what you're saying. It's tough
from that standpoint.
"This is the first time Sandra and I are moving
and the kids are staying behind, and that's a
tough move. You don't know what it's like to
pass that on to your kids. I told the football team
this, my daughters love me very much, and they
said, Daddy, if you want to do it, we're really
really excited for you, and we think it's a great
thing. So I said to my football team, I love you
guys very much, and if you really love me, you
don't think of anything else but what you think is
best for me, and if I think that's best for me, then
you should, too, and be happy that I'm going. I
can honestly say that I'm not sure if they love
me or not because there was absolutely no
response from the football team. I didn't get
anything there."
MacPherson spent s lot of time thanking
administrators and local supporters. He thanked
the media. He thanked his family. He thanked
just about everyone he could think of. On one
occasion, he tried stopping himself from thanking so many, and then proceeded to thank a few
more.
If there was a theme to MacPherson's message, it was that he came to do a job at Syracuse
University and did so to the best of his abilities.
He seemed to be groping for support and
understanding of his decision to jump ship for
the Patriots.
MacPherson said he's leaving Syracuse without finishing the job he was hired to do. And for
that, he leaves with regrets. Perhaps that's why
MacPherson probed repeatedly for acceptance.
"I don't know why I'm rambling like this,"
said MacPherson. "I just feel we were here,
and the thing you have to feel is this: Did you
try to do the best you could all the time you
were there? The people that you worked for,
did they think you gave it great effort? And
were you a giver and not a taker? And quite
honestly, from me and my family, I'm not sure
we ever got across the line because of what's
happened to us."
In fact, MacPherson did not seem to wish
to be held accountable for his coaching successes as much as his contributions to the community.
"I would hope my football team and everybody here would look upon my .family and everybody here as givers, and not takers," said Mac-Pherson, tears spilling out again. "If they

(MacNUGGETS, from A-l)

the vice chancellor, whether he
likes me or not, he had to say he
liked me, so it went around like
that.
I said this: you just got a new
Carrier Dome, Frank Maloney is no
longer here as a coach, all you think
you need is a coach. I want you to
know there's something else wrong
around here. It's a beautiful evening. You've got a beautiful home
here. Nick Coyne is dying to get out
of here because his wife is there
waiting to go to a Christmas dance.
All I want you people to understand
is this: you might like me now, but
suppose we go 5-6, 4-7 or 2-9
and I didn't realize I was being prophetic or 1-10. Will you love
me then?
And the chairman of the board,
Mel Holm says, Mac we'll love you.
We don't know where the hell you'll
be coaching, but we'll love you.

On Being GO
You'd be amazed since yesterday
how many people in America know
that I'm 60.1 don't know if anybody
in here'is 60, but as I traveled
through airports, I think I've
become popular. Everybody over
60 is for me. "Go get 'em Mac,
you're all right." So I think somebody's for me.

The High and Low Points

The high point was the day I got
the job, the next high point for credibility purposes was 1984 when we
beat Nebraska.
We thought when we came here,
been 15 years before we'd beaten
Maryland, 15 years since we'd
beaten Pitt, had a hell of a struggle
trying to stay in there with Temple
and Navy.
In 1984 we got that victory.
I knew it was in good shape
because Father John J. Burke, God
rest his soul, at St. Theresa's at the
10:30 Mass, with my family with
me, he said there will no more weddings on Saturday afternoons of
home football games. And he
wanted to make sure he was there.
So I think that was the start...
The low point would have to be
that great Cherry Bowl game that
Jake has still got the books out on
waiting to get that money.
But all of a sudden, in 1986, with
program on the rise, we go 0-4...

The Greatest Win'

I asked this question there are
guys in this room the greatest
win they had was Penn State when
it was 41-0 and we're 6-0 and there
were six minutes left in the third
quarter. And what a great delight to
have Penn State fans accuse Syracuse of running up the score.
When I used to be over there and
the score was 42-8 and Joe
(Paterno) would be throwing the
ball over, and he'd say Mac, I know
you understand, this is a young kid
and I got to get him some
experience throwing the football.
And I'd say, of course I understand
for God's sake, would you like to
have the game continue a little bit
longer?
And the funny part of it is, the
guy thinks we're going to believe
that. "I'm so, so sorry we're not
playing Syracuse anymore, it's a
sad, sad time to play this game, the
last one." He gets everybody
believing it. So they feel bad. He's
the one that's caused us not playing anymore, so he's sad about it. So
we don't play them anymore.
But then they think of going up to
Penn State in 1988 and beating
them there. Some guys think that's
the game.

Trying to Get to THT

The other game people talk
about is the West Virginia game.
From a drama standpoint, trying to
get to 11-0, and all of a sudden
you're down by a touchdown ...
One of the greatest men in all of
Syracuse was proven to be a 55minute man I gave him a jersey
with 55 on it with five minutes
left, he gets mad, starts swearing
and left. Steve Rogers, the guy that
runs the newspapers. So we came
back and won the game, went for
two points, and Mike Owens
brought it in.
There are so many to thank, it's
limitless. I shouldn't get into
names, but I think the big thing is
this I think the media, how lovely
they've been. I have no problems
with anything that they do.
I've been places where you don't
get anything. And I recognize how
important it is for them to generate
this interest in the program, and I
believe they're part of it. So I thank
all the newaoaoers. and I thank all

the radio and TV people ... I think

you've been great to us.

They See This Face*

Sometimes you don't understand
the power of television, but as you
go across the country, they see this
face and they recognize it, they
don't know who I am, but a lot of
people point at it, and I want people
to know it's because I'm the football
coach at Syracuse University, and I
think everybody should know it's a
blessing and a gift.

On Opportunities
I don't know how you make these
decisions. I think you make the
decisions maybe this way:
You've been here for a while, and
you're really very happy in what
you're doing. Then all of a sudden,
you've had these opportunities and
you go to them and they just don't
fit right, and all of a sudden you go
to one and it fits just exactly who
you are and where you are and what
you want to become. AH of a sudden, all the puzzle fits.
Been around the game long
enough to know these opportunities
don't come very often. And you better take the bull by the horn if
you're going to take anything.
And so, I go back to what I told
my players this afternoon ... Each
and every year, we've got to
upgrade ourselves to get better
because the program never stays
the same. It either goes ahead or
goes behind ... That's what I was
talking to them about.
All of a sudden, I'm sitting up
here as a coach, I'm telling them to
push on and push on how come I
don't do the same thing? So I did. I
reached for another level. And I '
hope they understand that. That's
what's important.

On Jflke CrouttMrnsj

And never once, in all my career

here, with all the crazy damn stuff
going on, did he ever question what
we were doing offensively, or
defensive or specialty teams.
Now, I've heard he's wild during
a game, but I've never seen it, and
he's never remarked on it to me.
And he gets so excited at times,
that he's a c t u a l l y smoked a
cigarette.

This Thing WM Turn Out1

The great lesson as I tried to tell'
the players today and people are
scared to death of change what
they have to do is understand this is
a great university and a great
administration, and the athletic
department is led by Jake, who has
all the support systems in place for
excellence.
I talked to Jake at 20 after 3 this
morning, and he's not in a very good
mood at that time, so I called him
again from the airport at a quarter
till 7, and he's right in it. He was up
most of the night and it's amazing,,
you know Jake with that ugly pencil
of his and how he puts things down
and gets little lists all over the
place, how he can get things
focused on just exactly what he's
accomplishing.
I have great faith in everybody
that this thing will turn out. I guarantee that they'll have that.
-

We Haven't Got It Done1 :

People ask me, did you want to
take that thing to a national Mel,
and be up there consistently yea
after year, that's what I thought
that I could get done by '92, and this
is only'91.
I thought '91 season, '92 season,'
if we continue to win and go ttr
bowls ... I was very anxious to see
what we could do on Feb. 6, and we*
haven't got it done. I have to admit'
that. I thought we'd get it done. I
think we should have had it done by
now, but we didn't.

I think people here should know

something about Jake Crouthamel.
We coached against each other, and
we decided that he wasn't going to
I can't emphasize enough to you,
coach'anymore. He was six wind that when I have a chance to go up
and no losses and he was going to there and get whole of a bunch of
retire at the end of the year.
guys that are 1-15 and how sad they
When Jake coached, nobody won are and not feeling good about
more games in a seven-year period themselves or the Patriots or footin the Ivy League than Jake Crouth- ball or anything else, to be able to
amel. Jake Crouthamel was the first put them together and maybe have
guy signed by the Dallas Cowboys. them run down the field and get
He was the first professional foot- happy and kick the crap out of
ball player under contract by them. , somebody... *