Syracuse football coaching carousal keeps spinning with a staff departure and arrival

Assistant coach Nunzio Campanile is set to leave to become Connecticut's offensive coordinator, while former Toledo defensive backs coach Perry Eliano will take the same role with SU.

Nov 25, 2023; Syracuse, New York, USA; Syracuse Orange interim head coach Nunzio Campanile walks on the field prior to the game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images | Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

The close-knit nature of the world of college football coaching was never more evident the last couple of weeks with the comings and goings on Fran Brown's staff this postseason, the promised coaching changes he declared would be coming at the end of the 3-9 season.

Once Toledo coach Jason Candle left to take the Connecticut job replacing Jim Mora on December 6, it set off a chain reaction of moves with Brown hiring Vince Kehres from the Rockets as his new defensive coordinator, and on Friday it was reported by ESPN's Pete Thamel that Candle has lured SU offensive assistant coach Nunzio Campanile to join his staff as the Huskies new offensive coordinator.

Also Friday, Thamel reported that another former Toledo coach is joining the 'Cuse staff, with longtime Ohio college coach Perry Eliano being hired as defensive backs coach.

An assistant coach with ties to the last two Syracuse head coaches is departing

Campanile came to the Orange in 2023 under Dino Babers, and after Babers was dismissed with one game to play in the regular season, helped coach SU to bowl eligibility and then a 45-0 loss to South Florida in the Boca Raton Bowl, with Brown watching from the sidelines.

After an excellent 2024 season coaching Kyle McCord to becoming an NFL Draft pick, this past season was off to a flying start for Campanile and McCord's replacement Steve Angeli, until Angeli's season-ending injury in Week 4 against Clemson.

The struggles that followed under Rickie Collins and briefly Joe Filardi and Luke Carney, caused Brown to switch Camapanile's coaching duties with tight ends coach Michael Johnson Sr. at the beginning of November, and likely figured into investigating other coaching opportunities.

The move to Connecticut is an upgrade for Campanile as the fulltime offensive coordinator, a position he held on an interim basis at Rutgers a couple of times earlier in his career. Syracuse is set to face the Huskies in East Hartford next season (October 3), and it will be an intriguing matchup between Campanile's offense and Kehres' defense.

The new Syracuse defensive coaching ensemble continues to take shape

There is no doubt that Eliano and Brown will be spending a lot of time together, as Brown, with his defensive secondary coaching roots, continues to be actively involved as another "position coach" of the DBs in addition to his overall head man duties.

There is also the familiarity factor as Eliano, who also coached at Ohio State, Cincinnati, and Bowling Green in the Buckeye State, worked alongside Kehres coaching the Rockets cornerbacks last season, as Toledo had one of the stingiest defenses in the country ranking in the top 4 overall prior to the bowl games.

Eliano and Kehres from Toledo join new defensive line coach-run game specialist John Scott Jr. who is coming to SU after two seasons at Clemson, and DL coach Jeremy Hawkins who coached at Georgia State the last two years.

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