Syracuse head coach Scott Shafer said the five wide receivers in the team’s Class of 2014 signees were not told that wide receivers coach Rob Moore was considering leaving the program, he said in a radio interview with The Score 1260 on Thursday.

The group likely found out when the Bills announced the hiring of Moore on Thursday morning.

“Until the deal is sealed, I don’t see any reason to bring stuff up,” Shafer said. “You coach as hard as you can, and recruit, and that’s what you signed up for.”

“The timing of it is just the timing of it. It is what it is.”

Led by four-star wideout K.J. Williams, this year’s crop of pass-catchers is the Orange’s best in recent memory. Three-star wide receivers Steve Ishmael and Corey Cooper are expected to compete for playing time right away while larger targets Adly Enoicy and Jamal Custis are also rated three stars.

Shafer said he would have liked to tell the team about Moore’s departure before the Bills’ announcement this morning. The  team will have a meeting at 4 p.m. to address the situation.

“Sometimes the car before the horse happens because things get leaked,” Shafer said, and I just feel bad about it because I wanted to be the one to tell my players.”

When asked how he thought the signees felt about Moore leaving for the NFL one day after they signed up for four years at SU, Shafer spoke toward the maturity and understanding of the personnel.

Said Shafer: “I’m confident our kids understand. Will they be disappointed to some degree? Sure. Will they also be happy and proud that the guy that was going to be their coach has moved on the the NFL, the highest level? Yeah, they’ll be happy for him. It’s just part of the process.”

Published on February 6, 2014 at 2:44 pm

Contact Stephen: sebail01@syr.edu | @Stephen_Bailey1