Football

Syracuse football hires Justin Lustig to coach running backs and special teams

Jessica Sheldon | Staff Photographer

Lustig won D2Football.com's coach of the year honors last season.

Syracuse has hired Justin Lustig to be the new running backs coach and special teams coordinator, SU athletics announced Monday afternoon in a press release.

Lustig was most recently a head coach at Edinboro University, where he took a winless team and the next season tied a school record with nine wins. He was named D2Football.com’s coach of the year.

“The job Justin did as a first-time head coach was fantastic,” head coach Dino Babers said in the release. “He’s also been a highly-successful assistant coach. The running backs he has coached have performed extremely well, and his special teams units have consistently ranked among the nation’s best.”

In his 15 years as a coach, Lustig has worked with six teams that reached the NCAA playoffs and been to four bowl games. He has also developed 41 all-conference players. Prior to Edinboro, Lustig coached at Ball State from 2011-15. BSU named him an assistant head coach prior to the 2015 season, per his Cuse.com bio.

Lustig replaces running backs coach Mike Hart, who left for the same position at Indiana. He will also take over the special teams duties that Tom Kaufman held before departing to be the defensive coordinator at Chattanooga.



“My family and I are excited, honored and grateful for the opportunity to come to Syracuse and join Coach Babers’ staff,” Lustig said in a press release. “He is building a championship program there. The future of Syracuse football is very bright and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.”





Top Stories