Syracuse Expected to Hire Bob Ligashesky as Special Teams Coordinator
Syracuse football has its Special Teams Coordinator, multiple sources confirmed to All Syracuse (the news was first reported by Pete Thamel). The Orange will hire Bob Ligashesky, 59, who was at Bowling Green in the same position this past season. Ligashesky has extensive special teams coaching experience at the collegiate and NFL levels. He even was a Super Bowl Champion on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ staff in 2009. Here is a look at his resume:
1985: Wake Forest (Graduate Assistant)
1986-88: Arizona State (Graduate Assistant)
1989-90: Kent State (Linebackers & Special Teams Coach)
1991-98: Bowling Green (Linebackers & Special Teams Coach)
1999: Bowling Green (Assistant Head Coach, Linebackers, Special Teams Coach)
2000-03: Pittsburgh Panthers (Tight Ends & Special Teams Coach)
2004: Jacksonville Jaguars (Special Teams Coach)
2005-06: St. Louis Rams (Special Teams Coach)
2007-09 Pittsburgh Steelers (Special Teams Coach)
2010: Denver Broncos (Tight Ends Coach)
2011: Oakland Raiders (Special Teams Assistant)
2012: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Special Teams Coordinator)
2013-15: Houston Texans (Special Teams Coordinator)
2016-17: Illinois (Tight Ends & Special Teams Coordinator)
2018-20: Illinois (Special Teams Coordinator)
2021: Bowling Green (Special Teams Coordinator)
Ligashesky’s Illinois teams had solid special teams units, ranking as high as 16th in the nation in 2019 in special teams efficiency (per ESPN). Bowling Green was ranked 43rd last season, while Syracuse was 122nd out of 130 FBS teams. The Orange had one of the best special teams units in the nation in previous seasons under Dino Babers, led by then Special Teams Coordinator Justin Lustig. Lustig left this past offseason to take the same position at Vanderbilt. The Orange played the 2021 campaign without a Special Teams Coordinator, and that phase of the game clearly suffered as a result. Syracuse is not making that same mistake in 2022.
