Syracuse Football: Orange Hire CNY Native Mike Hart as New Running Backs Coach

Just yesterday, the Syracuse Orange filled one of its three remaining coach staff spots with Western Michigan D-line coach Vince Reynolds. Today, as reported by Sports Illustrated's Thayer Evans, they add another new name to the staff, in the Broncos' running backs coach Mike Hart.

Hart, who is a Syracuse native, played for the Michigan Wolverines from 2004-2007 and is the program's all-time leading rusher. In 2006, he was part of a Michigan team that nearly competed for the national title, while also being named a Doak Walker award finalist and fifth-place Heisman Trophy finisher. Following a three-year career with the Indianapolis Colts, he coached at Eastern Michigan for three years, before spending the last two at Western Michigan.

As a high school player, Hart starred at Onondoga Central High School, where he scored 204 rushing touchdowns in his career. He's always been "the one who got away" for Syracuse fans, so this is a bit of a homecoming for him.

Hart's Heisman-caliber pedigree has been a huge help in P.J. Fleck's above-average recruiting at Western Michigan. He's assisted in locking up and developing quality Broncos like Jarvion Franklin, Jamauri Bogan and LeVante Bellamy among others in the WMU backfield. Last year, Western's run game was the 30th-best in the country.

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With that, Syracuse needs just one more coach to fill out its allotment of full-time spots. If you're so inclined to follow SU coaches, you can find Hart here. Welcome home, Mike!