Syracuse football officially introduces Tony White as new defensive coordinator

Syracuse football has officially introduced Tony White as the team’s new defensive coordinator. Here are all the details and what it means.

Syracuse football finally has gone through the formality of making the Tony White hire official. The news was announced via an official press release on Friday morning.

This will be the team’s fourth different defensive coordinator since November, but Orange fans are hoping this partnership lasts a little bit longer than some of its predecessors.

Syracuse football head coach Dino Babers met with the media earlier this week for the first time since the end of the season and was asked about the reported Tony White hire.

Babers said he couldn’t confirm or deny the reports and for good reason considering what happened last month with Zach Arnett.

Tony White signed an offer sheet and was waiting for the background check to be complete so the University could officially announce the hiring.

In the press release Friday morning he provided his first comments on the pairing:

"“Tony has coached in some elite defenses during his career and we’re happy that he, Angela, Anthony III, and Ava are now part of the Syracuse family.”"

Tony White also released a statement through the press release:

"“My family and I are thankful to Coach Babers and [Director of Athletics] John Wildhack for this opportunity. To be able to coach at a first-class institution like Syracuse University is a great honor. Coach Babers and his staff have a vision for this program and I’m committed to helping them make it a reality.”"

White has ties to defensive mastermind Rocky Long and owns a long history with the 3-3-5 defense.

Also earlier this week Syracuse announced the hiring of Chip West as the team’s new cornerbacks coach.

This now adds two critical pieces on the recruiting front for the Orange that bring in an award-winning resume.

"“In February 2014, Rivals.com and Scout.com each named Chip West its ACC Recruiter of the Year. Three years prior, West was tabbed the Atlantic Coast Conference Recruiter of the Year for 2011 by 247Sports.com and he was one eight finalists for the organization’s national recruiter of the year honor.”"

In addition, Tony White also won multiple awards for his recruiting prowess within the last decade (full details here).