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Syracuse wide receivers coach Ross Douglas is departing for Oregon to join Dan Lanning’s staff, 247Sports reported Saturday. In one season at SU, Douglas helped it evolve into the top passing offense in the nation.

Douglas joined Syracuse and Fran Brown’s new staff in early December 2023, just two weeks after Brown took the job. Before SU, Douglas emerged as a top candidate through his experience with the New England Patriots. He shot up the ranks, becoming the Patriots’ wide receiver coach in 2023 before departing alongside Bill Belichick.

His career began as a safety/linebacker hybrid at Michigan and then Rutgers, going undrafted in the 2018 NFL Draft. He then returned to the Scarlet Knights as a graduate assistant. There, he worked with Brown and Nunzio Campanile.

Following a short term with Richmond and the time with the Patriots, Douglas came to Syracuse in 2024 and helped develop Jackson Meeks and Trebor Peña into putting together career years. Meeks posted 1,021 receiving yards and seven touchdowns after totaling less than 140 receiving yards and no touchdowns in his first three college seasons combined.

Peña notched nine touchdowns on 941 receiving yards, capturing 84 receptions. SU’s wide receiver corps, under Douglas’ direction, helped quarterback Kyle McCord lead the nation in passing yards and set the Atlantic Coast Conference single-season record.

Douglas joins an Oregon squad that ranked No. 1 in the nation entering the College Football Playoff this past season and won the Big Ten Championship. The Orange also lost Meeks to the draft, but will return much of their wide receiver corps in 2025.

Published on February 16, 2025 at 11:08 am

Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky