Clemson is no longer the only orange walking through the halls of the Grandover Hotel in Greensboro as part of the annual ACC Football Kickoff event. The Syracuse Orange are now part of ACC Country.

The old Orange of Clemson is more likely to make a big impact on the ACC and the country this season however. Syracuse has not only lost 11 starters from last year’s team, the Orange are breaking in a new head coach.

Scott Shafer, who spent the last four years as the Syracuse defensive coordinator, gets his first head coach job at the age of 46.

He’ll take over with a new quarterback taking over for the graduated Ryan Nassib, who started every game over the last three seasons. A senior, a junior and a sophomore are competing for the starting QB position.

Syracuse returns a 1,000-yard rusher in Jerome Smith but they’ve also got another competent runner back in Prince-Tyson Gulley, who rushed for more than 200 yards in the Orange’s bowl win last year.

Senior center Macky MacPherson has been named to the Rimington watch list. The Rimington award goes each year to the nation’s top center.

The defensive front was hit hard by graduation with three of the four gone. But the linebacker and secondary positions look strong. Linebacker Marquis Spruill has started 36 games for the Orange. Six returning starters on defense have at least 18 games as a starter under his belt.

Kicker Ross Krautman ranks fourth among all active placekickers in career field goals made with 48.

Syracuse, which hasn’t defeated NC State in six tries (the latest in 1998), comes to Raleigh to take on the Wolfpack on Oct. 12.

Check back for more on Syracuse.