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Syracuse defensive line coach Vinson Reynolds and tight ends coach Reno Ferri have parted ways with Syracuse football the day after a loss to No. 20 Pittsburgh likely ended the Orange’s season. The news was first reported by Yahoo Sports and syracuse.com.

Reynolds was SU’s longest tenured assistant and had been with head coach Dino Babers every year since Babers arrived in 2016. Reynolds coached the defensive line in 2016 and over the past two seasons, with a stop as the defensive tackles coach from 2017-19. Reynolds arrived at Syracuse after four years as a defensive line coach in the Mid-American Conference. He was described on cuse.com as a “dynamic recruiter” who was the primary recruiter for quarterback Tommy DeVito, the highest-ranked recruit in the Babers era according to ESPN.

Ferri also joined the SU staff in 2016 and worked exclusively as a tight ends coach in his first two seasons before adding inside receivers coach to his duties in 2018. The Orange rarely incorporated tight ends into the passing game over recent seasons, with this year’s No. 1 tight end Luke Benson recording just five catches for 22 yards and no touchdowns. Benson was ranked tenth in receiving yards for Syracuse this season, but he missed several games after suffering an injury against UAlbany in September.

SU’s defensive line had a strong season — the Orange ranked third in the Atlantic Coast Conference with 37 sacks, behind only Pittsburgh and Clemson. Senior Cody Roscoe ranked third with 8.5 sacks, and he was named a midseason All-American in October. The defensive line, however, is expected to lose Roscoe, Kingsley Jonathan, McKinley Williams and Josh Black, all starters or key contributors.

Babers has endured coaching staff turnover in recent seasons. His special teams coordinator, Justin Lustig, left for Vanderbilt after last season, and Syracuse also had changed with its offensive line and wide receivers coaches. Two years ago, Babers brought in Sterlin Gilbert to be the offensive coordinator and Tony White to be defensive coordinator after Mike Lynch was demoted to running backs coach and Brian Ward was fired after a blowout loss to Boston College.

The 31-14 loss to Pitt likely ended Babers’ sixth season as Syracuse’s head coach with a 5-7 record. The head coach now has a 29-43 record as SU’s head coach and has had five losing seasons in six years, including the 1-10 season last year. Babers and Syracuse’s players declined to address questions postgame about his future as head coach, but he said on Nov. 22 that the question was “very easy” to answer.

“My job belongs to my employer, my career belongs to me,” Babers said. “I only control the things that I can control. I also believe that good coaches get hired and good coaches get fired. And really, really, really good coaches get rehired, but I’ve always thought that for 35 years, whether I was an assistant, a coordinator or a head coach. It’s not the most important thing.”

Published on November 28, 2021 at 3:33 pm

Contact Connor: [email protected] | @csmith17_