Syracuse Football: New WR coach Terrence Samuel develops talent well

Syracuse football has officially hired Terrence Samuel as the team’s wide receivers coach, and he has a track record of strong recruiting and development of players, according to head coach Dino Babers.

Coming off a dismal 1-10 campaign in 2020, but with some signs for optimism looking ahead, Babers has brought on board Samuel to help fill the void left by Justin Lustig, who is now at Vanderbilt.

Most recently, Samuel served as the passing-game coordinator at UNLV, and prior to that, he possessed a nine-year stint on the staff of Big Ten Conference member Michigan State.

Interestingly enough, Samuel said in a press release posted to cuse.com that he “almost ended up here during my recruitment as a player.”

He added that he’s excited to join the Orange program. “Coming to coach at Syracuse feels like a full circle experience for me,” Samuel noted.

During the 2020 stanza, UNLV was limited to six games as a result of an abbreviated Mountain West Conference schedule amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Even so, the Rebels’ receiving group included freshman Kyle Williams, who set a UNLV program record by averaging 5.8 receptions per contest, per cuse.com.

New Syracuse football WR coach Terrence Samuel should help the Orange with recruiting.

While at Michigan State, Samuel’s wide receivers received All-Big Ten honors eight times. Additionally, Samuel coached five wide receivers who got selected in the NFL Draft, with six wide-outs making active NFL rosters, according to the media statement.

In his tenure with the Spartans, they made a bowl game on eight occasions, including a trip to the College Football Playoff during the 2015 season.

Other prior stops where he coached wide receivers included at Central Michigan, North Dakota State and Southeast Missouri State. Samuel is a 1995 Purdue graduate.

"Here’s what Babers had to say about his new wide receivers coach in a statement. “Coach Samuel has years of experience at the Power 5 level and has coached some excellent wide receivers in his career. He has an eye for talent! Coach Samuel has proven to recruit good players and develop them for the next level on and off the field. He will be a great mentor for these young men. I look forward to adding his experience both on the field and on the recruiting trail to the Syracuse University football program.”"