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Football

Upon Shafer’s promotion, a reflection on the last 64 years of head coaches

1949-73 Ben Schwartzwalder (153-91-3) – Schwartzwalder coached Syracuse to an undefeated season and a national championship in 1959. He finished at .500 or better in all but three of his 25 seasons and helped build a tradition of winning at SU. The late coach helped recruit and polish running backs Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Jim Nance, Floyd Little and Larry Csonka.

1974-80 Frank Maloney (32-46) – Maloney’s up-and-down stint with the Orange was highlighted by a 7-5 season in 1979 during which Syracuse played all of its “home” games in the Meadowlands, Buffalo and Ithaca while the Carrier Dome was built.  Maloney and Hall of Fame wide receiver Art Monk carried SU to its first bowl birth since 1967 that year.

1981-90 Dick MacPherson (66-46-4) – The pinnacle of MacPherson’s career at Syracuse came in 1987 when the team completed an undefeated season. Quarterback Don McPherson and fullback Daryl Johnston ignited the team to an 11-0-1 campaign, including momentous wins over Virginia Tech, Penn State and West Virginia. Three years later, a 28-0 shutout of Arizona in the 1990 Aloha Bowl capped a three-bowl win stretch for MacPherson to end his run at SU.

1991-2004 Paul Pasqualoni (107-59-1) – Pasqualoni has the best winning percentage of any Syracuse coach in the last 87 years. In his first season, Pasqualoni posted a 10-2 record and helped the Orange fend off Ohio State, 24-17, in the Hall of Fame Bowl. Syracuse won its first-ever outright Big East championship in 1997, finishing the regular season with an eight-game winning streak. 

2005-08 Greg Robinson (10-37) – Robinson didn’t have much success as head coach at Syracuse. After the Orange won just 10 games during his four years at the helm, Robinson was fired in November 2008. Despite his overall lack of success, he did help hone and fine-tune the games of Perry Patterson, Delone Carter and Mike Williams, among others.



2009-2012 Doug Marrone (25-25) – Marrone’s four years as head coach at Syracuse are highlighted by two Pinstripe Bowl wins over Kansas State and West Virginia, respectively. Marrone helped turn the program around following the Robinson years and transformed Syracuse’s offense into one of the most prolific in the country. He was officially introduced as the head coach of the Buffalo Bills at a press conference Monday. 

2013-Present Scott Shafer – Shafer served as the defensive coordinator under Doug Marrone for the past four seasons. He has coached 10 All-Big East selections at Syracuse, including Chandler Jones and Derrell Smith. In 2012, the Orange defense led the Big East in tackles for a loss and ranked sixth nationally. The Shafer-led defense ranked No. 7 in the nation in 2010. Shafer looks lead the Orange to another bowl game in 2013, despite losing key players Ryan Nassib, Alec Lemon, Marcus Sales and Shamarko Thomas.





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