Syracuse has hired Steve Morrison as a defensive assistant coach and is not bringing back Dan Conley and Jimmy Brumbaugh as assistant coaches.

Conley, Syracuse’s linebackers coach for the past four seasons, and Brumbaugh, who worked on the defensive line, are still under contract but will not be on the field with SU next season, Orange head coach Doug Marrone said Wednesday.

‘Both are looking at opportunities. Whether they may be here or other places, that’s going on right now,’ Marrone said after Syracuse’s national signing day press conference. ‘We’ve hired one coach, Steve Morrison, who’s on with us. He’s going to be on the defensive side of the ball. And then we’ll hire someone else to be on the field with us.’

Morrison was the linebackers coach at Eastern Michigan for the past two seasons. Before that, he spent five seasons as a defensive coach at Western Michigan, including his last two as defensive coordinator.

He coached with current SU defensive coordinator Scott Shafer and defensive ends coach Tim Daoust at WMU. Morrison was with the Broncos from 2005-09, while Shafer was there from 2005-06. Daoust coached at WMU from 2006-09.

As a player, Morrison shined as a linebacker for Michigan, making the All-Big Ten first team in 1994. He played at UM at the same time as Syracuse running backs coach Tyrone Wheatley.

Conley was the SU linebackers coach for the past four seasons, including three under Marrone. Brumbaugh just finished his second season as a coach on SU’s defensive line.

‘I can’t tell you the status of where they’re going to be, but they will not be on the field with us next year,’ Marrone said.

As far as the other hire SU will make, Marrone said he has some flexibility as to the position of the coach Syracuse is still looking to add.

mcooperj@syr.edu

Published on January 31, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Mark: mcooperj@syr.edu | @mark_cooperjr