According to a report from FootballScoop's Zach Barnett, the Syracuse University football team is expected to hire Alex Byar as its special teams coordinator. Byar previously served in the same role at Bowling Green. This marks yet another change for the Orange on the coaching staff this offseason.

Let's look a little further at some of the moves:

1) At the outset of the offseason, head coach Fran Brown demoted defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson to defensive line coach and co-defensive coordinator. He then left for a defensive line job at Texas A&M.

2) Quarterbacks coach Nunzio Campanile left to take the offensive coordinator job at the University of Connecticut. 

3) The Orange hired Vince Kehres as the new defensive coordinator

4) Perry Eliano was hired as the team's defensive backs coach

5) John Scott will now serve as the defensive line coach. He came over from Florida State.

6) Juan Castillo has been hired to serve as the offensive line coach

A former player at Bowling Green, Byar has also coached at Otterbein, Wake Forest, and Valparaiso. He's worked with special teams at Bowling Green since 2022. 

The following on his success with the Falcons comes from his Bowling Green biography:

Under Bayer’s leadership in 2025, Bowling Green continued to excel on special teams. Cameron Pettaway earned FWAA Freshman All-America honors as an all-purpose player after leading the nation with a 33.0-yard kick return average, setting a BGSU single-season record. Kicker Jackson Kleather was named a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award. The Falcons also made FBS history by becoming the first program to open back-to-back seasons by returning the opening kickoff of the year for a touchdown, accomplishing the feat in both 2024 and 2025.

Syracuse finished the 2025 campaign on a dreadful note, losing eight consecutive games to finish 3-9. However, a lot of that can be blamed on the season-ending injury to quarterback Steve Angeli. With Angeli healthy and back in the fold for SU, the optimism is high heading into next year. The Orange were 3-1 when he was healthy before losing those eight games.

Syracuse has added a number of exciting players through the transfer portal, and they also secured the commitment of Calvin Russell III, who is one of the best recruits in program history.

Ahmad Miller, RB (Jackson State)

Jartavius Flounoy, DT (Georgia State)

Cole Weaver, WR (Miami of Ohio)

Ju'Juan Johnson, RB (LSU)

Michael Smith, TE (South Carolina)

Chris D'Appolonia, LB (Toledo)

Elijah Moore, WR (Florida State)

Keyshawn Johnson, Edge (UT-Martin)

Dillan Fontus, DL (Maryland)

Amari Odom, QB (Kennesaw State) 

Amare Snowden, DB (Toledo)

Tunmise Adeleye, DE (UNLV)

Nazir Ward, DB (Western Kentucky)

Matthew Outten, WR (Penn State)

***It should be noted that Smith's transfer is evidently causing some hiccups. He reportedly wanted to return to South Carolina, but Syracuse is making that difficult. 

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