Bayer Named Special Teams Coordinator

Alex Bayer, who was a Broyles Award nominee in 2024 and has presided over some of the nation's top special teams units, has joined Fran Brown's staff as Special Teams Coordinator.

"I'm very excited to join the Syracuse family and Coach Brown's staff," Bayer said. "He's building a strong culture and foundation and has had a lot of success here through two seasons. I'm looking forward to coming here and building upon that. It's bittersweet to leave my alma mater Bowling Green, but I'm excited for the next chapter with the Syracuse football family."

Bayer spent the last four seasons at Bowling Green, coaching both special teams (2022-25) and tight ends (2023-24). In his tenure with the Falcons, Bayer helped develop tight end Harold Fannin Jr. into a consensus All-American and NFL Draft pick, as well as coached multiple specialists to become semifinalists for both the Lou Groza Award (national placekicker of the year) and Ray Guy Award (national punter of the year). This past season, he helped return man Cameron Pettaway become a Freshman All-American after leading the nation in kickoff return average.

"Alex Bayer is a really good football coach," Brown said. "He played football at a high level, getting an opportunity to play in the National Football League and special teams means a lot to him. He says he got that opportunity in the league because he dominated on special teams.

"He sees special teams in a different way. His teams have been top-three in the country in blocks over the last three years. He just loves competing on special teams and he gets the best out of all the players. I think we haven't been able to do that over the last two years on special teams – but he demands guys play on teams, demands that guys play hard and demands that coaches treat the special teams just as importantly as they treat their position."

His tenure also includes stops at Valparaiso (2021), Wake Forest (2019-20) and Otterbein (2016-18).

Pettaway set a school record in kickoff return average (33.0 yards per return) in addition to leading the nation in the category. The Falcons' special teams success began right from the start, as Bowling Green returned the opening kickoff for a score, becoming the first program to open back-to-back seasons by returning the opening kickoff of the year for a touchdown, accomplishing the feat in both 2024 and 2025. BGSU also had success in the kicking game, as Jackson Kleather finished the season ranked second in the MAC and 23rd nationally in field goal percentage, earning him a spot as a Groza Award semifinalist.

In 2024, Bayer was a nominee for the Broyles Award after coaching Fannin to one of the greatest seasons by a tight end in FBS history. Fannin became Bowling Green's first consensus All-American. He shattered FBS single-season records for receptions and receiving yards by a tight end, and became the first tight end in FBS history to be named a conference's overall MVP when he received the MAC's top honor.

All in all, Fannin set 10 FBS records in 2024 and led all FBS players in over 20 statistical categories. Fannin was selected in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns.

During the same season, punter John Henderson was a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award and as a team, the Falcons ranked inside the top-25 nationally in kickoff returns, averaging 23.32 yards per return.

In his first season overseeing the Falcons' special teams in 2022, Bayer made an immediate national impact as Bowling Green emerged as one of the most disruptive special teams units in the country. The Falcons ranked second nationally with five blocked punts. The unit was spearheaded by PaSean Wimberly, who led the nation with three blocked punts and was honored as the National Special Teams Player of the Year.

Bayer's first season adding tight end responsibilities was in 2023, where he helped Fannin break out, ranking sixth nationally and first in the MAC among tight ends with 623 receiving yards and added six touchdowns. His 44 receptions led the MAC and ranked 12th nationally among tight ends.

Bayer spent one season as the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at Valpo in 2021, where his unit blocked nine kicks, which led the country. Valpo was the only team in all of Division-I college football (both FCS and FBS) to block nine kicks during the season. During a game at San Diego, Valpo tied a conference record for blocked kicks in a single game with three. Brett Bittner blocked three kicks during the season, finishing as one of just six players in the FCS nation with three or more. Under Bayer's tutelage, punter Ben Niesner averaged 43.2 yards per punt, which ranked third in program history and kicker Brian Bartholomew tied a single-season program record with 12 made field goals.

Bayer arrived at Valpo after serving as a special teams analyst at Wake Forest during the 2019 and 2020 seasons. During Bayer's time at Wake Forest, placekicker Nick Sciba earned first-team All-America honors and was a two-time semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award (2019, 2020). Sciba left Wake Forest (2018-21) as the NCAA, ACC and Wake Forest record holder with 34 consecutive made field goals.

Bayer also previously spent time as an offensive graduate assistant at Otterbein University from 2016-18.

A former tight end at Bowling Green, Bayer was a two-time All-MAC selection and finished his career with 115 receptions for 1,543 yards and 10 touchdowns. He owned the BGSU school record for career receptions by a tight end until he led Fannin to break his records.

Bayer was a member of the Falcons' 2013 MAC Championship team, where he hauled in a season-high seven catches for 124 yards in the MAC title game to help defeat No. 14 Northern Illinois. He later went on to play in the East-West Shrine Game. Bayer went on to play for the St. Louis Rams and San Diego Chargers over two seasons in the NFL.

Bayer and his wife, Molly, have two sons, Briggs and Brody.

Syracuse University Athletics

Related News

Related Videos