Greg Paulus: I’ve Got The Same Playbook Everyone Else Has
by Tas Melas
Greg Paulus is the man that went from starting point guard at Duke to the starting quarterback of Syracuse for this upcoming season. I should note that he lost many of his starter’s minutes in the Blue Devils’ backcourt this past campaign in his senior year. How many more years can he play at ‘Cuse after four full seasons at the college level? The answer is only one. Just like any NCAA athlete, he’s only got five years. Paulus played QB at the high school level and he was a leader playing the floor general at Duke. So the Orange are taking a chance, but really, can the 3-9 team get any worse? Paulus joined 99.9 The Fan in Raleigh to discuss how the offense is coming along, if the coaches have lightened the playbook for him, and how many times he’s fumbled in practice.
Have the Syracuse coaches simplified the playbook for you?
“No, they gave me the playbook and it’s the same one everyone else had and got. I just got it a few months later and it definitely is a complex playbook and the terminology, it’s a little bit different than high school obviously, it’s more sophisticated. But, when I was seeing this offense on film, when I came to visit Syracuse, and when I was making the decision, it was one where I felt it fits my strengths, and one where I was really excited to have the opportunity to be in.”
On how learning the offense is coming along:
“I’ve been hit a couple times; we’ve installed a little bit each day. I think we’re on day ten, we’ve been going for a little over a week now and each day there’s something different whether it’s zones, or blitzes, or running plays. The schemes that I’m getting defensively and the system that we’re doing offensively, it’s getting deeper and deeper, and it’s a lot more fun because you can do so many different things to fool the defense.”
On how many times he and the running backs haven’t communicated properly in practice, resulting in a fumble:
“We’ve had a couple. There’s a few different footworks that we do – trying to get familiar with the running backs and how they like the ball and my ball handling skills with that. I’m working on it; we’ve had a few mistakes along the way in the first however many practices, but it’s something that I’m working hard at and I think I’m gonna get down.”
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