College football: Syracuse's new coordinators providing the knowledge during spring practice

Mar. 24—SYRACUSE — Syracuse University retains a rare sense of familiarity while switching coordinators on both offense and defense at the start of spring football practice.

The Orange underwent its first training sessions this week under new offensive leader Jason Beck and defensive mastermind Rocky Long.

Beck is the longtime pupil of the former Syracuse "OC," Robert Anae, while Long is the past mentor to SU's most recent "DC," Tony White. They will instill their imprint over 15 total practices leading into the annual SU spring game April 21 in the JMA Wireless Dome.

Head coach Dino Babers said he noticed a renewed sense of urgency after the opening practice Tuesday when discussing the new coaches, who are expected to install systems similar to their respective predecessors with some personal tweaks.

"I thought they blended in extremely well, it didn't seem like the practice was like: 'Hey where do I go?' I thought they fit into our system, into our culture, and it's exciting to see what they bring," Babers said.

"The new coaches bring a certain energy, those (players) are out there trying to impress some people that haven't been able to see what they've done up close and personal, so they're not resting their laurels, and I always think that's exciting," he added. "When you bring new coaches in and new players in, they're trying to impress each other."

Beck was promoted in December after one season as SU quarterbacks coach. He served 10 seasons in the role under Anae — six with BYU then three at Virginia before joining SU last year — but took over the offensive coordinator role when Anae left for the same position at North Carolina State.

Beck is expected to keep some of the air raid principles and feature dual-threat quarterbacks as was often the preference with Anae. The duo has garnered a reputation for the ability to adjust and mold a successful scheme around existing personnel.

"I think it's similar, but I think there are definitely going to be changes," said SU sophomore quarterback Justin Lamson, battling for first-team reps this spring in the injury absence of starter Garrett Shrader. "Coach Beck is really creative, and so was coach Anae, but I think you guys will definitely see a lot of different things, so I'm excited for it."

Syracuse tight end Oronde Gadsden II — coming off an All-ACC first team campaign with 61 catches for 969 yards and six touchdowns — expressed a similar sentiment.

"I think it's a little bit of both, we're always trying to add some new things in and make it work for us, but we don't want to make it too confusing, so we'll try to keep some of the same things that we had," Gadsden said.

The SU defensive leaders provided glowing reviews of their initial practices under Long in their first spring media appearance Thursday.

"Surprisingly smooth, everyone has been communicating really well, and that's really the biggest part of this defense, being able to communicate with each other and all be on the same page," said junior defensive back Justin Barron. "Coach Long has been doing a good job making sure we're all on the same page."

Long is considered the master teacher of the 3-3-5 defense that SU has operated for the last three seasons with White guiding the unit, including a No. 29 finish in total defense in 2022.

White, who left for the same position at Nebraska in December, had more than a decade combined experience studying the system under Long as a player at UCLA and assistant coach at San Diego State.

Barron, along with defensive linemen Kevon Darton and Caleb Okechukwu, each said they expect to gain a deeper knowledge of the 3-3-5 scheme under Long's watch.

"He's really the guru, he (taught) coach White, so it wasn't really any kind of knock off, it was like an upgrade because he understands it," Okechukwu said. "I like how he's relating stuff to us and how we do things but then again, he brings in his flavor and shows us how we can make more plays."

Okechukwu later added: "He believes in everybody playing hard, and I like that, too, because it shows that it doesn't matter what we did we did last year, he understands that we can be that much better. Whenever a coach comes in and sees that, it's always a good thing."

STARTERS SIDELINED

In addition to the expected absence of starting quarterback Garrett Shrader, SU opened spring practice Tuesday with top linebackers Marlowe Wax, Derek McDonald, and Anwar Sparrow all sidelined.

Reserve tight end Dan Villari, the former Michigan QB transfer converting to the role full-time this year, was also held out.

Babers did not provide specifics on the unannounced injuries but said that he expects each to be back full-go by fall practices and will "wait to hear," regarding any possible spring participation.

"Making sure that they're absolutely strong enough that when they come back, we don't lose them again," Babers said.

The SU head coach approaching his eighth season at the helm shed additional light on Shrader's ailment, stating that the procedure to his right arm announced by the team on Feb. 27 was to address a lingering issue.

Shrader was in the facility sporting a hard brace the length of his arm this week but is expected to be cleared ahead of regular-season practices beginning in early August.

"It was something that had been with him for a while, and we were told by the physicians that if we gave him the spring off and let him work on it that we would get someone either the same or better coming back," Babers said. "When they said the last part of that, we can give up 15 practices to have somebody better."