With the passion that’s marked his career in football, Scott Shafer stepped behind a podium for the first time as Syracuse’s head coach and gave a glimpse of what his players will see and hear in the locker room. He was reflective at times, but the fiery approach he’s looking to take overshadowed it all.

Shafer was introduced as the Orange’s next head coach at a press conference in the Iococlano-Petty Football Wing of Manley Field House on Friday. He spoke with excitement and pride of taking over the program where he’s made his imprint as the team’s defensive coordinator for the past four seasons. Now he has the reins of the team, and he outlined how Syracuse will play under his control.

“The thing we will talk about most on a daily basis is just that – attitude, effort and enthusiasm,” Shafer said. “It really is the core of my beliefs of how you develop young men. And we talk about controlling the controllables. It’s the most underrated thing going in my opinion.”

Shafer was officially named Syracuse’s head coach on Jan. 9, just two days after former head coach Doug Marrone was introduced as the head coach of the Buffalo Bills. When Marrone arrived at Syracuse in December 2008, Shafer was one of the first coaches he hired.

Shafer thanked Marrone on Friday for the chance to come to SU, and said Marrone built the foundation for Shafer and his staff to build off.

“I appreciate the fact the Doug came in here, along with a good group of staff, and took us from the worst to the first,” Shafer said. “He should be commended and he has been because he’s in a position that I know he’ll do great things in Buffalo. Being a head coach in the NFL is something I know he’s aspired to do and I know he’s a perfect fit.”

Continuity was a key for Syracuse athletic director Daryl Gross. The Orange is coming off an 8-5 season that ended with a win in the Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 29. Syracuse is headed to the Atlantic Coast Conference with momentum, so finding someone who could continue moving that momentum was priority No. 1.

That new coach was already at SU. He helped the program turn around. He transformed the Orange’s defense into one of the best in the country. So when Gross had to find a new coach, Shafer fit the position perfectly.

“At the end of the day for the stability, for the job Coach Shafer has done, all the experience that he’s brought to the table for him being our defensive head coach, for the engagement with the kids, for continuity and all those things,” Gross said, “it was the perfect fit to have Coach Shafer.”

Shafer said he wants to have an offense that’s inventive and exciting like the one Syracuse had in 2012 that broke program records and ranked at the top of the Big East. Former Orange offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, who left to join Marrone and the Bills on Thursday, built that up-tempo, no-huddle attack.

His successor has to be able to continue that, Shafer said.

“I envision an offense with a lot of juice, a lot of Orange juice. I want an offense that’s fast, that’s fun and inventive,” Shafer said. “I think Coach Hackett did a great job putting that on display, especially the last three quarters of this season. And we want to continue that forward.”

But Shafer lit up the room when he talked about the intensity and aggressiveness he wants his team to play with. He said he wants the families of opposing players to cringe when their kid is about to get hit. And he said he wants the Orange to lock its opponents in the Carrier Dome for each game, without letting them “escape.”

“We want to put the fear of God into the opposing football player that happens to have the ball underneath his arm,” Shafer said. “That’s what we want to do and we want to continue to play an aggressive style of defense that people love to watch.”

Former Syracuse linebacker Derrell Smith, who had 114 total tackles for that dominant 2010 unit, said Shafer is the perfect man for the job. His players feed off Shafer’s passion, Smith said, and it shows on the field.

“As far as competition and as far competing on every level and just getting the team hyped up,” Smith said. “You could tell that whenever he comes up with a plan and whenever he sits down in his office, he brings his best every single day.”

Shafer will have his work cut out for him as Syracuse heads to the ACC, where it’ll play some of the best teams in the country. But the Orange’s newest head coach is confident his team can compete with them.

His intensity will lead the way.

Said Shafer: “We’re going to go into the damn ACC, and we’re going to storm that conference and we’re going to do better than people think we can in year one.”

Published on January 11, 2013 at 5:28 pm

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