Following the unexpected announcement 48 hours ago by Indianapolis Colts' offensive line coach assistant coach, Klayton Adams, who agreed to terms with ASU before deciding to stay put, the Sun Devils wasted no time in hiring a new offensive line coach. Mike Cavanaugh who heavily considered by Arizona State, is now set to be the last piece of the puzzle in the program's staff.

Cavanaugh has solely coached offensive lineman in his 30-plus year career, which includes 15 seasons of Power-Five experience. Most of that tenure was actually spent in the Pac-12, as he was part of the Oregon State staff for 10 seasons (2005-14). Before arriving at Syracuse in 2018, Cavanaugh followed Mike Riley from Corvallis to Lincoln and coached at Nebraska for three years.

Cavanaugh's work with the Orangemen's front five aided an offense that propelled Syracuse to a 10-3 record and a Camping World Bowl victory over West Virginia in 2018. The Orange ranked 11th nationally in scoring (40.2 ppg), tallied 50+ points a school-record five times and scored 40+ points in eight out of 13 games. In addition, the Orange scored a school-record 523 points and generated more than 6,000 yards of total offense for the second time in program history.

Cavanaugh’s presence paid immediate dividends in the run game. The Orange increased their rushing average by 37.7 yards per game from 2017 to 2018 and tallied a school-record 38 touchdowns on the ground. Two of Cavanaugh’s charges – left tackle Cody Conway and right tackle Koda Martin – received 2018 All-ACC honors and signed free-agent contracts with NFL teams after the season. Conway is a member of the Green Bay Packers, while Martin is with the Arizona Cardinals. A third member of that unit – guard Evan Adams – was a free-agent pickup by the Baltimore Ravens after the 2019 campaign.

Cavanaugh replaces another seasoned coach, Dave Christensen, who retired from coaching following the 2020 season.