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Former Syracuse offensive coordinator Tim Lester will coach quarterbacks at Purdue next season.

(Stephen D. Cannerelli | Syracuse.com)

Syracuse, N.Y. — Former Syracuse offensive coordinator Tim Lester became the first of Scott Shafer's assistant coaches to officially land a new position when he was announced as the new quarterbacks coach at Purdue on Monday.

After three years at Syracuse, Lester finds himself in another unsettled situation by joining the staff of Darrell Hazell, who has won six games in his three years leading the Boilermakers. Like Syracuse in the ACC, Purdue is regarded as one of the toughest jobs in the Big Ten. Purdue went 2-10 last year, and its only conference win came against Nebraska.

Lester was known for an analytic approach and was meticulous about creating metrics to chart his players' success and improvement.

At Syracuse, Lester helped shepherd first-year quarterback Terrel Hunt to a bowl game during his only full season as a quarterback coach. He took over SU's struggling offense during the middle of his second season at SU and overhauled the offense during his third year, putting in a system Lester was comfortable with.

His efforts resulted in some improvements during Year 3. The Orange scored 10 points more per game under Lester's offense but improved just marginally in yards per play and actually averaged 10 fewer yards per game. Those efforts weren't enough to save the coaching staff, as the Orange went 4-8 and fired Shafer during the week leading up to the season's final game.

Shafer has since latched on as the defensive coordinator at Maryland.

Former running backs coach DeAndre Smith, meanwhile, was a reported finalist for the head coach job at Southern Illinois that was eventually filled by interim coach Nick Hill.