SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) – Syracuse football coach Paul Pasqualoni received a vote of confidence Friday and another chance at helping the Orangemen regain their winning ways.

Athletic Director Jake Crouthamel announced the 54-year-old Pasqualoni would remain Syracuse’s head coach for the 2004 season.

“Change is necessary, yes, but not wholesale change. More along the lines of adjustments to the way we do things,” Crouthamel said. “We don’t need to lay a new foundation. We already have a solid foundation and a strong football tradition from which to draw.”

Crouthamel said the most significant adjustment will be that Pasqualoni will be responsible for making game-day decisions on offense. During the past two years Pasqualoni has focused on defense.

Pasqualoni, who had been out recruiting all week, attended a news conference Friday where it was announced he would keep his job. The word drew applause from coaches, staff and players who attended.

“We are determined here to examine every aspect of our program and improve,” Pasqualoni said.

“I feel very good about what we are doing here. I feel confident about the program and our approaches. I am very proud of both the accomplishments of this program and the kids,” Pasqualoni said. “I feel very good about coming back.”

Syracuse barely avoided its second straight losing season by defeating a weak Notre Dame team 38-12 in its last game of the season on Dec. 6. The win left Syracuse at 6-6, but tied for next to last in the Big East at 2-5 and without a bowl bid for the third time in four seasons.

In 13 years as head coach at Syracuse, Pasqualoni, has posted an overall record of 101-53-1 record, including a 58-31 conference record. He is 6-2 in bowl games. His 101 wins at Syracuse rank second all-time, behind only Ben Schwartzwalder’s 153.

Friday’s announcement came a little over a year after Crouthamel gave Pasqualoni a first public vote of confidence. Crouthamel called the team’s 4-8 record in 2002, its first losing season since 1986, an “anomaly.”

In doing so, Crouthamel also spelled out his expectations for the football team. Those expectations included: finishing at least in the top three in the Big East Conference and among the Top 25 teams nationally; frequent bowl participation, including the BCS; and a high graduation rate.

Crouthamel said he used those criteria in evaluating Pasqualoni, but the assessment covered Pasqualoni’s entire career at Syracuse, not just last season.

“Fans focus on the last year or two. They loose focus of history,” Crouthamel said, noting that Syracuse has been bowl-eligible in 11 of Pasqualoni’s 13 years and finished in the Top 25 seven times, including 2001 when the Orangemen went 10-3 and finished at No. 14.

In the 13 seasons before Pasqualoni became coach, Syracuse finished in the Top 25 only three times, Crouthamel said.

“That speaks to me as progress,” Crouthamel said.

With former star quarterback Donovan McNabb leading the way, Syracuse finished ranked four straight years, played in four bowl games, and won or shared the Big East title three straight years.

Since McNabb graduated in 1998, the Orangemen have gone 17-18 in the Big East, including embarrassing losses of 62-0 and 51-7 to Virginia Tech, and 59-0 and 49-7 to Miami.

The losses have led to a decrease in fan interest. Attendance in the Carrier Dome, which seats 49,262, dropped from an average of 47,898 in 1998 to 43,572 last season and to 41,167 this season.

Pasqualoni said he understood fans’ disappointment at losing. However, he said fans should understand it is much worse for the coaches and players.

“I can’t express how hard it hits. It’s difficult to describe. It’s a very sick feeling,” said Pasqualoni, who joined the Syracuse staff as an assistant in 1987 under Dick MacPherson.

Although Pasqualoni has an impressive winning percentage, perhaps his greatest success has come in the classroom. During his tenure, Syracuse has consistently ranked among the nation’s leaders in graduation rates, reaching the pinnacle in 2000 with 100 percent.

Although many disenchanted Syracuse fans had wanted a clean sweep of the coaching staff, Crouthamel said there were “significant risks” in doing that, especially with regard to recruiting.

“If we were to bring in a new staff next season, chances of immediate success would be limited,” Crouthamel said.

Former offensive coordinator George DeLeone will remain as associate head coach and coach of the offensive line. DeLeone will focus more of his attention on recruiting, which is one of his strengths, Crouthamel said.

“We keep intact a solid and knowledgeable coaching staff that gives us our best chance for an immediate turnaround.

AP-ES-12-12-03 1449EST