With National Letter of Intent Signing Day less than a week away, one of the most significant recruits in Syracuse University history made news by accepting a coaching job this week in nearby Skaneateles.
Tim Green, who was a consensus All-American at Syracuse and a College Football Hall of Fame inductee, as well as an eight-year defensive end for the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, was approved for the job by a 4-3 school board vote. The board was sharply split between Green and former Lakers football coach Ron Doctor, currently the school’s lacrosse coach.
Skaneateles appeared to be going places in Section III after following up an 0-9 season with marks of 4-5 in 2006 and 4-4 the following season. But the Lakers fell to 1-7 in each of the last two seasons. The irony of the situation Green inherits cannot be ignored.
Green was selected the state’s large-school co-player of the year as a senior at nearby Liverpool in 1981 and was the subject of an intense recruiting tug-of-war. When Dick MacPherson landed Green following a rough inaugural season as head coach of the Orange, it signified that the program was ready to hold its ground and prevent the likes of Penn State from poaching the home recruiting territory without a tussle.
And Green was the centerpiece of a defense that surrendered just 151 points in the 1984 season, beat then-No. 1 Nebraska in a stunning upset at the Carrier Dome and solidified MacPherson’s status at Syracuse.
For his part, Green went on to his pro career and then solidified his position as a bit of a Renaissance man after earning a law degree at Syracuse.
He has written more than a dozen suspense novels and the non-fiction "The Dark Side of the Game" that was featured in a "60 Minutes" segment, and has also had stints as a commentator for National Public Radio as an a football analyst for FOX Sports. His name has even surfaced from time to time as a potential candidate for political office.
If coaching scholastic football would seem to be a step down, Green certainly isn’t approaching it in that fashion.
"I'm very excited," Green told The Post-Standard. "My objective is to build the program, turn it into a championship program ... and create something that can perpetuate itself."
More football: Private Poughkeepsie school lures Walsh
John Jay East Fishkill coach Brian Walsh has left to take over the program at Our Lady of Lourdes, an indication that the Poughkeepsie school may be serious about a top-to-bottom upgrade in the sport.
Walsh, 61, was 166-79-6 at Brewster, losing New York State Public High School Athletic Association finals at the Carrier Dome to Lackawanna in 1997 and to Canandaigua in 1999. He left to coach for five seasons at JJEF, going 5-4 last fall for an overall 30-13 mark.
Lourdes was 4-4 last fall under Mike Lindberg.
"As I talked to the people from Lourdes, they were committed to improving the football program, improving the facilities," Walsh told The Poughkeepsie Journal. "I'm excited. I've never before worked in a private-school setting. It was attractive to me."
The Lourdes master plan calls for the addition of new facilities, including an all-purpose turf field. The timetable has not been announced.
"It's not going to happen overnight, but hopefully I can be a part of that," Walsh said.
Boys basketball: From the highest of highs . . .
Fresh off a signature win Saturday, CHSAA powerhouse Rice experienced a major letdown three nights later and lost to Holy Cross 75-66. Sophomore Will Davis pumped in 17 points in the fourth quarter and 30 for the game for the winners.
Rice was coming off a 62-44 win over nationally ranked Westchester, Calif.
"To beat a team of this magnitude, they're a national team that just got back from beating the No. 7 team in the country by 18 points," Holy Cross coach Paul Gilvary told The New York Post. "They're as good as any team in the country. Any time you can beat Rice, it's a tremendous win."
More basketball: Officially awkward
An intense game Friday in Buffalo had a bit of a sour finish as a changed call that didn’t necessarily affect the outcome of the contest nevertheless raised a lot of eyebrows.
Bishop Timon-St. Jude scored a 64-60 victory over Buffalo Nichols in a game matching CHSAA squads ranked in the top 12 in Class A by the New York State Sportswriters Association. A sequence in the final minute led to words being exchanged between two coaches.
Timon-St. Jude’s 18-point lead had been cut to three, but a pair of free throws with 42 seconds left got the margin back to 62-57. On Nichols' subsequent possession, Mike Scarcello blocked a ball out of bounds, after which Nichols was called for an offensive foul while trying to inbound with :31 to go.
The officials awarded the ball out of bounds, but Timon-St. Jude assistant coach Mark Clifford waved one of the refs over to the bench for a discussion to seek more than just possession, after which the two refs had a separate conference.
Clifford is more than just a veteran assistant coach. He is also rules interpreter for the Western New York Basketball Officials Association, which supplies the referees for many of the leagues in the Buffalo area, a detail that wasn’t lost upon Nichols coach Greg Plumb.
The officials changed their call and ruled that the infraction was actually a two-shot foul. That brought about this exchange between the coaches, according to The Buffalo News:
Plumb: "You're coaching. ... That's not right."
Clifford: "Who cares? The call is the right call."
Scarcello made one of two free throws, and Timon went on to wrap up a game that was probably already out of Nichols’ reach anyway.
Clifford’s advice on the call appeared to be correct, but begged the question as to whether someone in his position would have been as forthcoming with help had the call put a player from the other team on the line for two shots.
Expect there to be a bit of discussion during the offseason over whether the rules interpreter should be allowed to also serve on a coaching staff.
Odds and ends
* Organizers officially announced that the inaugural New York State High School Football Classic, a statewide senior all-star game, will make its debut June 6 in the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. The contest organized by the New York State Football Coaches Association will feature 80 to 100 of the top seniors in the state, replacing the defunct New York-New Jersey All Star Football Classic. Syracuse-based Empower Federal Credit Union has signed on as the sponsor.
* Two-time All-American Stephen Baker of McQuaid will continue his soccer career at the University of Pennsylvania. Baker scored 42 goals last fall to finish with 118 for his career.
* The Watertown City School District athletic department is serving a year of probation for allowing alums to practice with the boys basketball team. Frontier League officials were tipped off by an e-mail after the Watertown Times reported last month about a scrimmage between past and current players.
"With all of the things that are wrong in the world, we're being penalized for this?" board member Yvonne Gebo asked. "As an educator, one of the best things you can see is when kids leave this building and they want to come back to see their coaches."
John Schiano, who has written about high school sports in western and central New York for more than 25 years, covers New York for MaxPreps. He may be reached at