Syracusem NY — Two weeks ago, new Syracuse offense line coach Dale Williams watched his unit work through a drill in which they practiced double-teaming a defensive lineman together before one peeled off to take on a linebacker.
His most common message was one that has summed up the Syracuse offensive line for most of the past decade.
“Not good enough,” Williams declared loudly. “Not good enough.”
Changing that is likely the most critical challenge the Syracuse football staff faces heading into next season.
“Whether it’s today, 30 years from now or 50 years ago, the way the team moves is the way the offensive line is going to move,” Williams said. “It’s what’s up front that counts.”
Williams will be the Syracuse’s fifth offensive line coach in the past eight seasons and will be the latest to try to solve an issue that has plagued the program consistently since joining the ACC: building a competent offensive line.
The Orange has finished in the bottom-third of the country in sacks allowed per game in each of the past eight seasons and, rarely, has its starting quarterback finished the year in adequate health.
This year, there is no path forward for the Orange unless there is improvement within the unit.
New coach Fran Brown has said he wants power running to be a major tool for the Orange.
At quarterback, Syracuse will go from the improvisational scrambling abilities of Garrett Shrader to the pro-style approach of Kyle McCord. The Ohio State transfer was graded by Pro Football Focus among the best quarterbacks in the country last season when provided a clean pocket. The website graded him below average when he wasn’t.
So while the Syracuse offense is full of fun weapons this season, it will be up to Williams and the offensive line to ensure the Orange is able to deploy them all and keep them healthy.
“We want to run the football,” Williams said. “We have to toughen them up. To run the football you have to practice running the football. Then we have Kyle McCord, so I know we’re going to throw it. We have good receivers. We’re going to be balanced.”
So far, the interior of the offensive appears as if it will be manned by holdovers from last season. Spring game starters at guard are expected to be returners Jakob Bradford and Mark Petry, along with center J’Onre Read.
Howard transfer Da’Metrius Weatherspoon is expected to start the spring game at one of the tackle spots. Returning starter Enrique Cruz and Georgia transfer Josh Miller are currently battling for the starting spot at the other tackle.
Two more players, David Wohlabaugh (recovering from injury) and Grambling transfer Codie Hornsby should enter the battle before the fall. Colorado transfer tackle Savion Washington said the Orange has offered him a spot, an indication that Syracuse is still looking to improve its personnel before next season begins.
Trying to pull it all together will be Williams, who exudes the crustiness you expect from someone who has been building offensive lines for the past 25 years.
With a voice still hoarse from coaching on Thursday he joked — we think — that his wife would evaluate his performance with reporters and offer a blistering critique if he didn’t make the switch from his usual practice language to words used in polite society .
“To get better, you need competition,” Williams said. “I have to create it. How do I create it? If you screw up, I’m going to pull you out. I’m not going to let you sit there and say ‘It’s OK.’ Life doesn’t work that way. … It’s not OK to consistently screw up and be rewarded.
“The greatest motivator is your ass is on the bench. Then the bench transmits a signal to your ass, which transmits a signal to your brain. It’s a great process because then you play better.”
Williams’ ability to use dry humor to deliver his message has resonated with the team, veteran lineman Joe More said.
“For me he’s the perfect combination of he likes to joke and have fun but he’s very strict,” More said. “We’ll have meetings and he’ll joke around but everyone leaves knowing what the goal is for the next practice and what we need to accomplish.”
Williams said that Syracuse is looking to put its best starting five on the field and identify a No. 6 and No. 7 who can be taught multiple positions in case any injury occurs.
Williams played briefly with Syracuse offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon at West Virginia in the early 90s and the two maintained a connection during their coaching careers.
Nixon, Williams said, always told him that if he was given a chance to hire a staff he should expect to get a phone call.
It came this offseason at 6 am and Williams, serving as a quality control coach at Louisville last year, was eager to return to a role he loved.
“Jeff sent me a text message at 6 in the morning saying, ‘How are you doing?’ ” Williams said. “I thought this ought to be interesting, a how-are-you-doing text at 6 in the morning.”
Before coming to work at Syracuse, Williams had traveled with Louisville coach Jeff Brohm to multiple spots from Western Kentucky to Purdue to Louisville.
At Purdue, he built an offensive line that allowed the Boilermakers to win the West Division of the Big Ten in 2022 and kept Aidan O’Connell, another pro-style quarterback, safe enough that he threw for more than 3,400 yards in each of his final two seasons and earned his way into the NFL.
The effort paved the way for Brohm to land at Louisville where an alum, Richard Owens, took the on-field role coaching the offensive line last year. Williams served as the team’s senior quality control coach.
Over the course of that year, Williams said, he found himself missing the intensity that comes with leading the unit.
Nixon’s offer, he said, came at the right time for him.
Syracuse fans hope it came at the right time for them too and that Williams will become the rare SU coach to consistently build an offensive line that proves to be good enough.
“It was time,” Williams said. “That’s the best thing for me is coaching again and having that fire. I was on a one-year sabbatical. It was time for me to get back out there. You do it, and you do it at a high level, and you do it with intensity. That’s what I need in my life.”
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