New beginning: Marrone era starts at SU

URGENCY AT CAMP: Quarterback battle

featuring Paulus is top story in preseason

By DANIEL J. CASSAVAUGH

TIMES SPORTSWRITER

SYRACUSE — The overwhelming feeling among the Syracuse Orange football team was urgency during the first practice Monday at the Carrier Dome.

There's urgency for first-year head coach Doug Marrone, each of the three quarterbacks vying for the starting spot — including Greg Paulus — and urgency for senior defensive tackle Arthur Jones, who promised his mother he would return for his final season, get a degree and play with younger brother Chandler.

"If you think you can take a breath right now, you can't," Marrone said. "That's why it's important for us to continue to push our players and push ourselves as coaches, and to realize that there is no margin for error. We don't have that opportunity. We have to learn every day and compete every day. If you go out there one day and not compete, you've lost a day. We can't afford to lose any days. If anything, we need a whole lot more."

And with that, the Orange began their 2009 season, hoping to erase the lingering doubts among fans. Doubts that a team that accumulated only 10 wins over the last four seasons can drastically improve in just a year.

"I do feel more pressure than anywhere else I've been," Marrone said. "It's not because I'm the head coach, it's because of where I am."

Marrone, a former Syracuse player, NFL and college coach, has a number of decisions to make in the coming weeks. The most notable: Who is the starting quarterback?

On the preseason depth chart, sophomore Ryan Nassib is the starter. Backing him up is last season's starter, Cameron Dantley. Right now, Paulus is No. 3.

He, of course, spent the last four years as a basketball point guard at Duke University after earning National High School Football Player of the Year honors at nearby Christian Brothers Academy in 2004. He has only one season of eligibility with the Orange.

"I made the decision for myself and one of the things I would like to do is help Syracuse and help the program," Paulus said. "I understand that there is only one year, and as a result of that I have as much urgency as you can have. I made this decision knowing the obstacle and the challenges that I had, and I'm looking forward to trying to reach my goals."

He must first work his way up the depth chart, past Dantley and Nassib, both of whom are up for the challenge.

"I'm just trying to stay focused on what I need to do," Nassib said. "I just need to focus and play the way I played in the spring. (Paulus) is a great kid and a great competitor."

For Marrone, it means choosing who gets the starting job, and soon.

"There's going to be a point later on that we don't want to get to," he said. "Where you need to make a decision so you can start working on the concepts you need to work on to become successful as a football team. Every point of everything we do is critical to us being successful."

Then there's Arthur Jones, the 2008 All-Big East first-team member who nearly ended his career by tearing his pectoral muscle trying to bench 405 pounds in February. He's back for two reasons: His brother and to win.

"I came to Syracuse expecting to be a winner, and I want to leave a winner," Jones said. "I also wanted to play with my little brother. Not many guys can say they played Division I football at a great institution like Syracuse with their younger brother."

Add in the fact that defensive line coach Derrick Jackson is one of only two coaches returning from the Greg Robinson staff, and this could be a career year for Jones.

"It's a huge advantage for me and for the whole defensive line," Jones said. "It's a beautiful thing."

Jones is coming off surgery and missed spring football. He was cleared to play by team doctors on Sunday and says he's 100 percent.

"That injury alone was definitely humbling," he said. "It made me become a better student of the game. I really want to leave Syracuse a winner."

Said Jackson, "Everyday he comes to practice and he's got a great attitude. He really enjoys the opportunity to be a part of a team. He's a guy that really relishes the role of being a leader."

As pseudo-coach to Chandler, Jones teaches him how he climbed Syracuse's all-time charts. Both are expected to start on the defensive line this year.

"He gives me tips and everything. He's always on me to get in the weight room and with conditioning," Chandler said. "It's exciting. I think the whole group has come together and we're all going to attack as one. It's like we're all brothers out there."

Syracuse opens the regular season against Minnesota on Saturday, Sept. 5 at the Carrier Dome.