More staff changes at Syracuse football arrived on Friday.
Perry Eliano has come on board with the Orange as the team's defensive backs coach, according to his X page. Pete Thamel of ESPN and Mike McAllister of 247Sports also reported this development.
A huge congrats and welcome from 'Cuse Nation to Coach Eliano! Most recently, he served as the cornerbacks coach at Toledo. In the 2025 season, the Rockets had one of the country's top defenses.
Sources: Syracuse is expected to hire veteran coach Perry Eliano as the school’s defensive backs coach. He was last at Toledo and has worked at Ohio State, Cincinnati and is the former defensive coordinator at Bowling Green. pic.twitter.com/KuhN5SHNWi
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 26, 2025
Eliano's defensive coordinator at Toledo, Vince Kehres, recently moved into the same role with the Orange. Before joining the Rockets, Eliano coached the safeties at Ohio State for two seasons. In one of those campaigns, 2023, the Buckeyes had the top-ranked pass defense at the FBS level, according to a press release from Toledo in July of 2024.
Eliano served as the cornerbacks coach at Cincinnati when the Bearcats had a terrific secondary and made the College Football Playoff at the end of the 2021 term. Among other positions, Eliano was also the associate head coach and defensive coordinator at Bowling Green.
A Syracuse football assistant is on his way out.
Thamel also reported on Friday that Nunzio Campanile is expected to become the new offensive coordinator at UConn, which is an independent in football. Campanile was the Orange's offensive associate head coach, and he had been the team's quarterbacks coach.
Sources: UConn is set to hire Syracuse QB coach Nunzio Campanile as the school’s new offensive coordinator. Campanile coached Kyle McCord and Steve Angeli at Syracuse as quarterback coach. pic.twitter.com/5qBd3tkp82
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 26, 2025
However, in early November, head coach Fran Brown said that Campanile would begin coaching the tight ends, while co-offensive coordinator Michael Johnson would move from the 'Cuse tight ends coach to quarterbacks coach. Wishing Coach Campanile all the best!
Here are other recent staff changes:
•John Scott Jr. is the Orange's assistant head coach, co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach. He most recently was a defensive assistant at Clemson.
•Former Georgia state defensive line coach and assistant head coach Jeremy Hawkins will coach the edges at Syracuse football.
•Juan Castillo, who has 40-plus years of experience at the college and NFL levels and most recently was an offensive analyst at Michigan, is the new offensive line coach at the 'Cuse.
•Josh Gattis is now SU's wide receivers coach.
•In early December, Brown announced the firing of special teams coordinator Ricky Brumfield, offensive line coach Dale Williams, defensive backs coach Joe Schaefer and co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Robert Wright.
•Nick Williams, who coached the edges at the Orange, has taken on a similar role at Florida State, where he is the edges coach and pass rush specialist.
•Elijah Robinson, who was Syracuse football's defensive coordinator, left to become the co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at Texas A&M.
At a minimum, Brown likely still needs to hire a new special teams coordinator and a new linebackers coach.