On Monday morning, head coach Scott Shafer and the Syracuse football program announced that George McDonald was being demoted from his position as offensive coordinator to just coaching the wide receivers and that quarterbacks coach Tim Lester would take over as offensive coordinator.

In his Tuesday teleconference, Shafer said he made the decision alone over time, not just in reaction to the Orange’s six-point performance against Louisville on Friday. He also talked about how McDonald took the move and briefly spoke to Lester’s role in the future.

“It’s all-inclusive. Every decision you make is one that’s day-by-day and it wasn’t something that was preconceived a long time ago,” Shafer said of the thought process behind the coaching shakeup. “It was as simple as I felt like it was in our best interests to improve the team by making the move.”

The SU offense had scored just three touchdowns in its last three games, all of which were losses. Against Louisville, the Orange gave up two safeties, including one on an audibled pitch from the shotgun to Adonis Ameen-Moore in the end zone.

Shafer reiterated that he felt he had to both make the decision and move on from it as quickly as possible. He also said that McDonald’s willingness to take responsibility for the offense’s struggles and jump back into coaching at practice on Sunday helped.

“George for sure is one of the most unselfish people I’ve ever met and one of the most diligent, hard-working coaches I’ve ever worked with,” Shafer said, “and at the end of the day, I’m sure there’s the natural frustration of making the change and having to listen to my decisions.

“But the thing that was great about George is how he just put his head down and went to work.”

Syracuse hosts No. 1 Florida State at noon on Oct. 11 in the Carrier Dome. And while Lester will be calling the offensive plays on Saturday, Shafer would not elaborate on Lester’s role as the offensive coordinator much further into the future.

“Well we’re going one game at a time right now, but I do have a ton of respect and confidence in him,” Shafer said. “He’s a talented offensive mind and I’m fortunate to have him here, that’s for sure.”

Said Shafer, when asked how the offense would change under Lester: “You will find that out on Saturday.”

Published on October 7, 2014 at 1:32 pm

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