After leading the best turnaround in program history, Justin Lustig will leave Edinboro to become an assistant at Syracuse in the ACC.

Justin Lustig said Syracuse approached him with an offer to leave the Edinboro football program he turned around in one stunning season. It was an offer he ultimately couldn't refuse.

Lustig met with players early Thursday morning to inform them he will become running backs coach and special teams coordinator for the Orange, a move that elevates him back to Division I in a Power Five conference but takes him away from the area where he grew up and played high school football.

"It was completely difficult," Lustig, a Cathedral Prep graduate, said of the decision to end his 14-month stay at Edinboro. "I don't think I'll ever be 100 percent okay with it. Moving back here was one of the most important things to us. We bought a house. We planned on staying here for awhile."

Instead, Lustig departs after the biggest one-year turnaround in Division II history. He was named PSAC West and D2Football.com coach of the year after Edinboro went 9-2 in 2016 and narrowly missed the NCAA playoffs after finishing 0-11 in 2015.

At Syracuse, Lustig joins the staff of second-year coach Dino Babers, who was hired on Dec. 5, 2015, after stints at Bowling Green and Eastern Illinois. Syracuse finished 4-8 overall and 2-6 in the ACC in 2016.

Lustig said he got to know Babers when they coached against each other in the Mid-American Conference, where Lustig was an assistant at Ball State.

"Sometimes an opportunity comes out of nowhere," Lustig said of a call he received inquiring about his interest in making a move. "It was a good opportunity."

Edinboro has been the subject of recent news coverage outlining financial problems that include a projected $6.3 million budget deficit by June. The univeristy's new president, H. Fred Walker, who was inaugurated in a ceremony held at the campus on Thursday, has suggested potential budget cuts in several areas, including sports programs.

Asked if that played a role in his decision to leave, Lustig said, "No, not at all," adding, "I truly believe they've got a great leader in (Walker) who knows what he's doing."

Lustig said he did not offer athletic director Bruce Baumgartner or other officials a recommendation on his replacement.

In a release issued by the school Thursday afternoon, Baumgartner credited Lustig with leaving the program "in very good shape. We come off a 9-2 season and have an excellent staff in place. Due to their efforts and Justin’s, I feel very good about the direction of our program."

Baumgartner added that the school would move quickly to replace him, saying, "I would think we would have an announcement very soon."

Lustig declined to comment on whether there are internal candidates from his staff, none of whom has served as a head coach at the college level.

The most experienced assistant is Wayne Bradford, a linebackers coach who also serves as director of development and recently completed his 18th season at the school.

Chris Limbach, who served as offensive coordinator, recruiting coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Lustig, was associate head coach at Division II Oklahoma Panhandle State in 2011.

Former Edinboro quarterback Joe Wanson coached the past two seasons under Lustig and his predecessor, Scott Browning. Before that, Wanson coached at McDowell.

John Dudley can be reached at 870-1677 or by email. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNdudley.