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INTIMIDATES FROM PAGE ONE
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Shafer promises inventive, hard-nosed Syracuse team as it heads to ACC FROM PAGE 1
guy is already a head coach,” SU Athletic Director Daryl Gross said Friday at Shafer’s introductory press conference. Shafer’s resume speaks for itself. He’s paid his dues in the coaching profession, gaining the respect of his colleagues since he started his career as a graduate assistant at Indiana in 1991. He proved himself at Northern Illinois, where he led a unit that ranked toward the top in many defensive categories in the Mid-American Conference during much of his tenure. He
proved himself at Western Michigan, where he helped the program go from one win in 2004 to eight in 2006 – a year in which his defense led the country in sacks and interceptions. And he proved himself at Stanford, where he worked under Jim Harbaugh, now the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. “Scott is hard working, enthusiastic and of high character,” Harbaugh said in a statement. “Great things will happen with Shafe.” Great things have already happened with Shafer at Syracuse. Serving under Marrone, he helped Syracuse regain respectability after a disastrous
TOP 5 SHAFER QUOTES “I envision a hard-nosed team that’s from a hard-nosed town.” “I want a team that’s going to have an offensive unit that when you come and watch them play you better not take a bathroom break.” “I envision an Orange crush defense that makes the opponents’ families cringe when their child’s about to get hit.” “We want to put the fear of God into the opposing football player that happens to have the ball underneath his arm.” “When we get the opposition in the loud house, we lock the doors behind them and we don’t let them out.”
Wednesday Jan. 9
SU defensive coordinator Scott Shafer is announced as Syracuse’s new head coach in an SU Athletics press release. Shafer spent the last four years as SU’s defensive coordinator.
Friday Jan. 11
Syracuse holds a press conference to introduce Shafer as head coach. Shafer announces that he has hired Chuck Bullough as defensive coordinator.
2013
10-37 stretch in Greg Robinson’s four-year tenure as head coach left the program in shambles. In the last four years, the Orange put together two winning seasons highlighted by a pair of bowl victories and a share of the 2012 Big East title. Shafer left his mark on the program’s turnaround through his work with the defense. He did his job, getting the players to buy into his system and bringing out the best in them with his fiery coaching style. In his first season, SU finished 37th in the nation in total defense – a category it ranked 101st the previous year. The Orange was seventh in the country in 2010, which was the team’s first winning season (8-5) since 2001. It all contributed to the foundation for success laid by Marrone in the last four years – a foundation needed for Shafer to carry out his vision for the program’s future. “We want to make one of the best teams in the nation,” Shafer said. “That is a goal of ours.” It’s an ambitious goal, and whether SU achieves that remains to be seen. But Shafer is
fired up after receiving his first head-coaching job – something that’s been a goal of his since he was 10 years old, growing up as the son of a high school football coach. He’s dedicated his life to coaching. He understands how to motivate his players. He knows what it takes to prepare his teams to play. He has a detailed plan for Syracuse football to achieve his goal – a vision of a hard-nosed team that plays a brand of football that’s fun to watch. It’s Shafer’s program now, and he’s ready to pour everything he has into making his vision a reality, just as he did the last four years leading the defense with his simple, effective approach. “I’m the type of person that always felt like you do your job and everything else takes care of itself,” Shafer said. This Syracuse team will be a reflection of Shafer. Ryne Gery is a staff writer at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at rjgery@syr.edu.
Shafer adds former WMU colleague Bullough as defensive coordinator By Chris Iseman SPORTS EDITOR
Scott Shafer announced his first move as Syracuse’s head coach Friday: hiring Chuck Bullough as the Orange’s defensive coordinator. When Shafer was Western Michigan’s defensive coordinator, Bullough was his linebackers coach for the 2005 season. Shafer said at his introductory press conference Friday that Bullough shares his values and is familiar with Shafer’s defensive philosophy and schemes. “There’s only a handful of people in the business that you trust like a brother. There’s a lot that you respect, but there’s only a handful that you trust,” Shafer said. “The highs and lows of all the years being a coach, the guys that got your back all the way through and those are usually the guys that you have an opportunity to work with.” Bullough said in a statement that he and Shafer connected immediately at Western Michigan, and he’s excited to continue that at SU. “The game of football is about enthusiasm, integrity and toughness,” Bullough said in the statement. “Coach Shafer and I grew up in the game of football with our fathers and coaches. We were taught from a young age to enjoy and respect the game. From just about the moment we met at Western Michigan, we had an instant connection because of our philosophy and values.”
Bullough spent the last two seasons as a defensive assistant for the Cleveland Browns, who had the No. 5 defense in the American Football Conference last season. Before working for Cleveland, Bullough was UCLA’s defensive coordinator in 2009 and 2010. He also worked on the coaching staffs at Michigan State, Lake Forest College and for the Chicago Bears. Shafer said Friday he will help out on defense, but will give control to Bullough. “I will also keep my hand in the scheme, especially on the defensive side of the football,” Shafer said. “Chuck and I have been together and we come from the same sort of scheme as well as philosophical viewpoint. That’s how we’re going to go about it.” Bullough was a two-time, All-Big Ten conference linebacker at Michigan State before being drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the eighth round of the 1992 NFL Draft. He spent time with the Eagles, Miami Dolphins and Indianapolis Colts before returning to Michigan State as a defensive backs coach in 1997. Shafer said Bullough is one of his closest friends and someone he idolized as a coach. He said he is the right person to take over as Syracuse’s defensive coordinator. “He’s a hard-nosed guy,” Shafer said. “I trust him like a brother.” cjiseman@syr.edu