In a development that few saw coming in the Syracuse community, Director of Athletics Mark Coyle left the school Wednesday and will serve in the same capacity at Minnesota.

The news not only came as a surprise to community members, but also to the head coaches of SU’s highest-profile programs: Jim Boeheim and Dino Babers. Coyle was announced as the Orange’s athletic director in June after a three-month search to replace Daryl Gross. He officially began his job on July 6, and is leaving his post after less than a full year.

Boeheim learned of Coyle’s departure on Wednesday morning, and told Syracuse.com the news is “shocking.”

“I would say it’s a surprise,” Boeheim told Syracuse.com. “I really liked Mark Coyle. I thought he was really good. Thought he had a good grip on everything in a relatively short period of time. It’s shocking. I like him a lot and I thought he was doing great.”

Only six days after Syracuse named Mark Coyle the 10th director of athletics in school history, SU announced Mike Hopkins would be the successor to the 40-year veteran head coach. Boeheim had previously announced he intended to retire after the 2017-18 season.

The most heralded coaching change Coyle made was with football, the sport he played through his college years at Drake University. He fired Scott Shafer with a week remaining in SU’s season and hired former Bowling Green coach Dino Babers.

Babers was away from campus and attending the Atlantic Coast Conference spring meetings on Wednesday when he heard the news from ESPN.

 

Published on May 11, 2016 at 4:00 pm

Contact Connor: cgrossma@syr.edu | @connorgrossman