Tim Lester doesn’t know where he’s going next. He has to clean out his office by Monday. His job status is in the hands of a Syracuse head coach not yet hired.

When Director of Athletics Mark Coyle informed the SU assistants they were being cut loose, there was no explanation. He sat down in a room with them, fired them, got up and left. It only took a minute.

The business side of college football hit the Syracuse staff hard this week. The offensive coordinator who directed an Orange attack that posted almost 28 points per game felt the brunt of it, expressing the uncertainty surrounding his future after Syracuse’s 20-17 win against Boston College on Saturday afternoon.

“The one thing I know,” Lester said, “is that I don’t know anything.”

It’s up to the next head coach which assistants he wants to keep, if any. When Coyle informed the assistants of his decision to let them go, Shafer wasn’t in the room, Lester said. The head coach couldn’t defend them and nobody refuted Coyle’s decision. There wasn’t any time to.

“At that point, the decision is made,” Lester said. “He didn’t explain, he didn’t have a rationale for it…It wasn’t very long.”

Lester didn’t seem bitter on Saturday. He said football teaches people not to be surprised by anything. As a player, he had one coach for two years and another for three and he tells Syracuse players that to keep them from losing hope through change.

He’s given players his phone number and tried to put a positive spin on whatever awaits them. He even said it doesn’t matter if he’s watching games from the booth or on TV.

“The light’s going to go on,” Lester said, “the sun’s going to come up tomorrow.”

After taking one last question, Lester smiled and shook hands with each of the five reporters around him. It wasn’t evident that he could be speaking for the last time as a Syracuse coach, but it’s how coaching has taught him to react.

“In this,” Lester said, “you never know.”

Published on November 28, 2015 at 6:11 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman