Twelve months can change a lot of things and Syracuse football coach Scott Shafer found this out in a big way.   At the end of his first season as the Orange head coach, Shafer was celebrating a Texas Bowl Championship.  One year later, he is answering questions about what went wrong with his team that went 3-9.
Though football does not quite compare to basketball in terms of popularity, Syracuse fans have certain expectations for their football team.  Last season just did not cut it for the Orange faithful.
Not only did the Orange struggle to win games, most of their games were quite frankly, boring.  With the exception of the games against Central Michigan and Wake Forest, the Orange offense was stagnant at best.
The defense played at a very high level and the offense just could not keep up.  The result was an incredibly disappointing season.  Looking towards 2015-16, it is clear changes need to be made. The Orange will have Terrel Hunt back under center and his experience, coupled with a strong recruiting class put more pressure on Shafer.
This is not a team that is going to go out and win every game.  Hunt is not a dominant quarterback who will pick apart defenses.  However, the Orange have enough pieces that there is no reason to think that they should not be threatening for a spot in a bowl game, as Orange fans had become accustomed to.
This season, much of the pressure is on Scott Shafer.  The 2015-16 campaign will be one where people can make a judgment on him as a head coach.  Right now, it is hard to tell if Shafer is the coach who led the Orange to a bowl victory over an historic Big Ten program in Minnesota, or the coach who led the Orange to an abysmal 3-9 season that provided very few exciting moments.
The Orange may not play their first game for over six months, but football season is just around the corner and the pressure is squarely on Scott Shafer’s shoulders.
Posted:  Logan Grossman
