ESPN Magazine’s Ryan Hockensmith devised a dubious experiment. He created a fake fan and wrote a letter to each of the 120 FBS coaches with one request; for that coach to leave a message on his voice mail that could be used as an outgoing message. He did this in the hopes of finding the America’s friendliest football coach.
Syracuse Coach Doug Marrone Will Do Anything You Tell Him To
Four coaches actually came through. Baylor’s Art Briles, Southern Miss’ Larry Fedora, Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz and Syracuse’s Doug Marrone all called the number and left a message. However, it was Marrone who went above and beyond when, he assumed, no one was looking or listening.
“Hi, Jim, Doug Marrone from Syracuse football. I got your note and want to thank you for your support. Every fan matters here for us. It’s been a tough few years for Syracuse football, but we have that Big East title in our sights. Stay with us. I’ll start the message in a minute.” Awkward pause. “Hi, this is Doug Marrone from Syracuse football. You’ve reached Jim. He can’t take your call right now. But I promise you, if you leave a short message after the beep, he will get right back to you. Go Orange.” Another awkward pause. “So thanks again, Jim. We really appreciate your support up here. Go Orange.”
So generous was Marrone with his time that after finding out “Jim Smith” had accidentally erased the message, he called again and left another one (listen here).
Syracuse fans are already over the moon with the job Marrone has done in his short tenure with the Orange. In 2+ years, he’s turned one of college football’s laughingstocks into a bowl team.
But now that fans know they can call him up anytime, ask him to run some errands or send them $50 and know he’ll do that too, well, Doug Marrone is the gift that just keeps on giving.
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