Syracuse’s Sean Lewis a ‘strong candidate’ for Kent State head coaching job

Just yesterday, Dan and I were remarking that it seemed like Syracuse Orange coaches would all be staying put this offseason. Obviously we don’t know anything...

Fox Sports’ Bruce Feldman is pretty well connected, so this is a legitimate rumor milling about out there now. The Kent State Golden Flashes fired Paul Haynes after his fifth straight season without a bowl trip and the worst record yet at just 2-10. They’ve been looking for a replacement for some time now, but have yet to settle on one with the early signing period coming up very quickly.

Sean Lewis, as you’re aware, is SU’s QB coach/co-offensive coordinator and a big part of SU’s recruiting staff. In two years with the Orange, he’s worked with Dino Babers and co-offensive coordinator Mike Lynch to turn this Syracuse offense into something more impressive than it was (when healthy, anyway).

Interestingly enough, Lewis’s name also came up for over at Rock M Nation today while discussing potential replacements for Josh Heupel at offensive coordinator after he departed for UCF.

Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

We’ll see what comes of this -- though obviously if he gets an offer, we’re not going to be able to match the money/responsibility that Kent State will be able to offer at a head coaching spot. That’s problematic for this offense and Eric Dungey, who finally had some consistency on staff to help him out. The news also comes at an inopportune time given signing day next week and certainly a few SU players recruited by Lewis.

Surprised? It’s no knock on Lewis’s track record, but I’d just assumed that the play-calling was such a joint responsibility between him, Lynch and Babers that it would be tough to decipher who was really responsible for success. But with Lewis’s recruiting ability and energy, that could be what a (budget-conscious) school like Kent State is looking for to change up the formula. That should sound familiar to us given the process of hiring Babers as well...

Should make for an interesting next few days. Feldman also notes other ‘strong candidates’ including Minnesota’s Ed Warinner and Kansas’s Clint Bowen. We’ll be keeping an eye on the rumor mill.