The remaking of the Syracuse defensive staff continues.
According to a release from the school, recent NFL assistant Chris Achuff was named as the Orange’s new linebackers coach.
“Chris has been around some of the top coaches and athletes in the sport,” head coach Dino Babers said in a statement. “He was in the NFL for two seasons in addition to his college experience. He’s a fantastic addition to our staff and we are excited to have him on board.”
Achuff spent the last two seasons coaching the defensive line for the Arizona Cardinals. The Pennsylvania native is no stranger to the college level, however. Prior to spending the 2017 campaign at Navarro Junior College, he had a nine-year stint coaching the defensive line at Baylor. There he tutored such notable All-Big 12 selections such as Andrew Billings and Phil Taylor.
While in Waco, Achuff overlapped in tenure with Babers for several seasons.
Interestingly, this is the first time Achuff is set to coach linebackers since 2001 at Kutztown. Syracuse is moving to a 3-3-5 alignment with the hire of new coordinator Tony White so it will be a bit of a transition for everybody in upstate New York come 2020.
