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San Diego State offensive line coach Mike Schmidt is expected to join Syracuse’s coaching staff as the Orange’s new O-Line coach, according to a report from Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports. Schmidt has spent the last eight years as the O-Line coach at SDSU. He will replace Mike Cavanaugh, who left for Arizona State in January.

Schmidt has been involved with the Aztecs on and off the field since 2005. He played both offensive and defensive line at SDSU from 2005-2008 before becoming a volunteer and, later, a graduate assistant with the program. During his time as O-Line coach, three Aztecs have been selected in the NFL Draft, including Keith Ismael in the fifth round of the 2020 draft. Linemen Kyle Spalding (first team) and Zachary Thomas (second team) were both named All-Mountain West Conference this past season.

Dino Babers has now replaced both of his vacant coaching positions after replacing Justin Lustig with Terrence Samuel in mid-January. Syracuse began winter workouts last week. The season opener at Ohio is scheduled for Sept. 4.

Pro Football Focus ranked Syracuse’s offensive line 113 out of 127 FBS programs at the end of the 2020 regular season, second to last among 15 Atlantic Coast Conference teams. PFF noted that “all of the Orange’s offensive linemen rank at the bottom of the ACC at their respective position in PFF grade.”

SU is expected to retain all of its linemen from last season while adding Florida transfer Chris Bleich and junior college transfer Jakob Bradford.