Syracuse Football: Let’s meet the ‘Cuse coaching staff for the 2023 season

I’ve talked a lot about Syracuse football head coach Dino Babers lately. I’ve also written about former quarterbacks coach now offensive coordinator Jason Beck and a few players here and there. But what about other staff members?

There are coaches like Coach Mike Lynch who’ve been with Coach Babers for years and others like Coach Nunzio Campanile who is in his first season working at Syracuse University. And this could be one of the strongest coaching staffs in Coach Babers’ tenure, and Syracuse.com football beat writer Emily Leiker shares why the offensive side at least could be.

I wanted to do a brief overview of the staff minus grad assistants, quality control and strength and conditioning staff members. Position coaches and coordinators are important as they’re the ones working with the players more every day. And credit to cuse.com for most of the information and information not from them, I’ll link to them and ensure they get the proper credit.

Let’s meet the Syracuse football coaching staff for the 2023 season.

Head Coach Dino Babers:

All I have to say about Coach Babers, you can find here.

Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Jason Beck:

My extensive write-up on why Coach Beck earned this opportunity is here.

Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Rocky Long:

Coach Long has been referred to as a mentor to former Syracuse football defensive coordinator Tony White, a defensive guru, and “the Godfather of the 3-3-5 defense” by some including head coach Dino Babers. And players are saying it’s a smooth process changing over while really putting players in the best position for success. I’m excited to see this development this year especially if key guys like the linebacking corps can stay healthy.

Special Teams Coordinator Bob Ligashesky:

A couple of seasons ago, there seemed to be struggles in the special teams unit. Then Coach Babers hired Coach Ligashesky who has extensive experience in that area including with the Super Bowl-winning Pittsburgh Steelers in 2008. Don’t be surprised if Trebor Pena and others on special teams continue to do well in Coach Ligashesky’s second season with the Orange.

Defensive Line Coach Chris Achuff:

Coach Achuff is going into his 4th season with the Orange and 18th season overall in coaching. His coaching experience includes time in the NFL including coaching a guy named Chandler Jones at Arizona who some Cuse fans just might remember. Many of his players are young but with Caleb Okechukwu back and hopefully Terry Lockett healthy, there is talent there that I trust coach will have ready to make a huge impact.

Tight Ends Coach Nunzio Campanile:

Coach Campanile is in his first season with Syracuse football after previously being at Rutgers for five years. He’s had extensive experience coaching tight ends and is well known to have strong ties in New Jersey, previously coaching high school there before joining the Rutgers staff.

Offensive Line Coach Steve Farmer:

Coach Farmer may be entering his first season on the Hill, but it’ll be his 25th season overall. His last two stops were at Texas Tech, where he aided Red Raiders players to six All-Big 12 honors in three years, and at Tulsa, where his unit blocked for a top 25 in the nation passing offense that was previously 53rd before he arrived.

Wide Receivers Coach Michael Johnson:

Coach Johnson was a quarterback at Arizona State who got into coaching at Oregon State coaching quarterbacks and wide receivers as part of the staff who guided them to their first bowl game since 1960. Wide receivers and recruits alike have noted Coach Johnson in media/tweets that he’s a guy who pushes hard for them to be successful and knows what they need to do to be successful.

Running Back Coach Mike Lynch:

As I mentioned in the opening of this post, Coach Lynch is the most experienced of this staff not just at Syracuse but in his 12th season working with Coach Babers. This will be his 6th season working with Orange running backs with even a bit of experience at one point working as the Syracuse football offensive coordinator. He’s a former collegiate offensive lineman himself and was working with the offensive line at Syracuse University before moving to the running back room and having success with several guys including Dontae Strickland, Moe Neal and Sean Tucker.

Cornerbacks Coach Travis Fisher:

Coach Fisher is a former NFL defensive back in his first year coaching at Syracuse football but has previous experience coaching most recently spending time with Nebraska from 2018-2022. He not only was drafted into and played in the NFL himself but also coached multiple players who were drafted as well.

Safety Coach Darrell Perkins:

Coach Perkins is also a first-time coach at Syracuse University but has been coaching since 1997 with stints in several places including UConn, Maryland and last season at UMass. Current Defensive Coordinator Rocky Long actually coached him during his freshman year at Wyoming in 1985.