Aldo Giovanni Amato

USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

MURFREEESBORO — Former Syracuse head coach Scott Shafer was hired as MTSU's next defensive coordinator, the school announced on Friday.

Shafer takes over for former MTSU defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix, who was fired after the Hawaii Bowl after serving five seasons at MTSU.

“We are all very excited about Scott and his wife Missy joining the Blue Raider family,” head coach Rick Stockstill said in a news release. “Scott brings a wealth of experience as a defensive coordinator and we can’t wait until he gets started and puts his plan in place.

"He will have a positive impact on the program and university as our defensive coordinator.”

Shafer is coming off a one-year absence from college football after being fired from Syracuse in 2015. He served as the Orange's head coach from 2013 to 2015 and won the 2013 Texas Bowl.

“I am elated to join Coach Stockstill and his accomplished staff at Middle Tennessee State University,” Shafer said in a news release. “We will put a physical, attacking, multiple defense on the field that will excel in fundamentals and tackling.

"I look forward to teaching the system right away, preparing them for spring practice, and being with them through this critical first stage of football.”

Shafer's defense has widely been noted for its attack-first defensive philosophy. He took Syracuse's defense to seventh in the nation in 2010 as defensive coordinator and was a 2010 AFCA National Assistant Coach of the Year nominee.

At Syracuse, he coached brothers Arthur and Chandler Jones who are both playing in the NFL and both have won Super Bowl rings.

Before he arrived at Syracuse in 2009, Shafer served one year as Michigan's defensive coordinator under Rich Rodriguez. Before that, Shafer was the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Stanford in 2007 under Jim Harbaugh.

Shafer spent 2005 and 2006 as the defensive coordinator at Western Michigan where the Broncos led the nation in interceptions in interceptions and sacks in 2006. Shafer was nominated for the Broyles Award, an award for the top assistant coach, that year.

Shafer's first stint as defensive coordinator was at Northern Illinois from 2000 to 2003. His 2002 squad led the Mid-American Conference in interceptions, scoring defense, takeaways, run defense and sacks. His 2003 squad was part of a team that beat Alabama, Iowa State and Maryland.

Prior to joining Northern Illinois, Shafer had stints at Illinois and Rhode Island as a defensive assistant.

The Painesville, Ohio native played quarterback at Ohio before transferring to Baldwin-Wallace College where he graduated from in 1990. He holds a master's degree from Indiana.

He and his wife Missy have two children; Wolfgang and Elsa.

Scott Shafer's Resume

1991-91 Indiana (graduate assistant)

1993-95 Rhode Island (defensive backs)

1996-99 Northern Illinois (defensive backs)

2000-03 Northern Illinois (defensive coordinator)

2004 Illinois (defensive backs)

2005-06 Western Michigan (defensive coordinator)

2007 Stanford (assistant head coach/defensive coordinator)

2008 Michigan (defensive coordinator)

2009-12 Syracuse (defensive coordinator)

2013-15 Syracuse (head coach)

Reach Aldo Amato at 615-278-5109 and on Twitter @Aldo_ Amato.