While Syracuse men’s basketball is riding the ups and downs of its ACC slate, SU football is quietly trying to rebuild its staff and roster after losing key players in the transfer portal and coaches to other universities. The thrill of the almighty dollar has left the Orange without key leaders on both sides of the ball. Tony White and Nick Monroe, gone. Secondary, gutted. Offensive line, without its leader and successful run game coordinator. So the pressure’s on Dino Babers to retool his staff and get his crew back to a bowl.
The seventh-year head man’s latest hire comes from the school where White went, Nebraska.
Fisher will coach corners, and follows his former Cornhusker Jaedan Gould to the 315. In his three years at UCF, the Knights went from 0-12 to 13-0. In 2016, the secondary only allowed 200 yds per game. He coached both Shaquem Griffin and Mike Hughes, who have both played over five years in the NFL. At Nebraska, Fisher’s secondaries held opponents to 225 yards per game. Current Bengals corner Cam Taylor-Britt (who’s matching up with Stefon Diggs as this article is written) spent four years under Fisher’s tutelage after a fantastic career as a high school quarterback in Alabama, and was a two-time all-Big Ten honoree.
After Nick Monroe made his late move to Minnesota, SU was badly in need of a secondary coach to keep recruits around. Fisher’s track record of producing NFL players and league experience himself are great starting points. Hopefully he can find diamonds in the rough just like Monroe.
The other thing about Babers…he’s not afraid to hire coaches who have been around the block… a couple times. Steve Farmer is going to begin his 25th season in college football. He’s previously spent time coaching o-lines at Texas Tech, Tulsa, Utah State, Louisiana-Monroe, Eastern Michigan, Eastern Illinois and Illinois State. Not exactly a bunch of powerhouses. Farmer did spend time calling plays at Monroe from 2010-2015, and churned out five different all-B12 lineman at Texas Tech.
Farmer will have the benefit of a very talented LeQuint Allen running behind his lines at SU. However, the line itself is not anything to write home about. The upperclassmen were inconsistent last year, and the underclassmen unproven and undersized. If Farmer can improve the group and consistently recruit some big boys to the Hill, the Orange can take some steps forward.
