Todd Littlejohn has traveled this road before.

He traveled it through San Jose, Calif. As defensive backs coach at San Jose State, he inherited a defense ranked last in the WAC in passing efficiency and, in one year, improved it to No. 4 in the conference.

He traveled it through Los Angeles. After UCLA hired him as its defensive backs coach, he turned a defense ranked No. 6 in the Pac-10 in passing efficiency into the No. 1 secondary in the conference.

The road has taken him east, all the way to Syracuse. Now, Littlejohn, the Syracuse football team’s new defensive backs coach, commands the nation’s worst secondary, one that ranked last in the country in passing defense last season, giving up 304 yards a game.

‘It’s a challenge,’ Littlejohn said. “I’ve been a part of defenses that have been poor statistically the year before (I came). And I’ve been a part of the turnaround the very next year. So I’m optimistic that I can help bring something.”

Littlejohn’s latest travels began earlier this year. After UCLA fired head coach Bob Toledo on Dec. 9, the status of the Bruins’ staff became uncertain. In essence, Littlejohn became a free agent. Meanwhile, SU’s defensive backs coach, Tim Walton, bolted to become an assistant at LSU.

Former SU secondary coach Brian Stewart, a current Houston Texans assistant and Littlejohn’s friend, recommended the former UCLA assistant to SU head coach Paul Pasqualoni.

“Brian recommended me and thought that I was a nice fit on the staff and the program,” Littlejohn said. “One thing led to another. Coach Pasqualoni was great in presenting the opportunity to me. And I like challenges. I mean, why not?”

Littlejohn’s approach contrasts that of Walton, who acted as more of a dictator, telling players what to do rather than teaching, SU safety O’Neil Scott said. Littlejohn, meanwhile, uses a more personal approach. When Littlejohn came in, he sat down with the secondary, introduced himself and became familiar with the players.

Scott describes Littlejohn as “friendlier,” a characteristic not typically ascribed to football coaches. But when Littlejohn is on the field, he is, as he said, “as fierce a competitor as there is. I won’t hesitate to rip someone’s head off.”

Still, Scott is pleased with Littlejohn’s methods.

“He makes you want to learn,” Scott said. “It works a lot better because you relate to him. It makes you want to play a lot harder.”

Said Pasqualoni: “I love his approach and his demeanor. He’s got great character, and he’s got a great work ethic. He sees every opportunity as a positive opportunity to correct and instruct.”

Littlejohn places emphasis on turnovers, claiming it’s the one stat that has a direct effect on winning. Syracuse’s defense intercepted 10 passes last year while allowing 22 passing touchdowns.

Three of last season’s four starters are gone — sophomore cornerback Steve Gregory is the only one back. This year, sophomore Thomas Whitfield, junior Diamond Ferri and either Scott or sophomore Anthony Smith will join Gregory in the defensive backfield.

With such an inexperienced core, stronger doubts arise about whether this secondary can improve.

“You wanna know something? They can doubt,” Ferri said. “They’re not the ones on the field. We’re gonna get prepared. Coach is going to tell us what to do. There’s a lot of guys who are really hungry who want to play football and want to get that monkey off their back.”

“(The youth) is a problem if you make it a problem,” Littlejohn said. “At some point, those kids have to realize that you could look across the country and see that there are true freshmen who come in and play well. They cannot use that excuse.”

Three days into spring football, Littlejohn has worked on the basics: how to align against, stay with and read receivers. Meanwhile, he’s learning the strengths and weaknesses of each player, hoping he can make the same turnaround at this roadstop that he has in the past.

“I just want them to play at a high level,” Littlejohn said. “I told them, ‘I’m crazy enough to think we could be in the top 20, top 25 in pass defense.’ And I told them that if they don’t think that, they don’t need to be playing. That’s the bottom line to me.”

Published on April 1, 2003 at 12:00 pm