By: Alec Nederveld
When Dino Babers took over Syracuse in 2016, he promised an exciting offense that would not huddle. A much-needed breath of fresh air for a once-proud program that has been in the abyss after firing Paul Pasqualoni in 2004, a career 107-59-1 coach who was coming off back-to-back 6-6 seasons. Since then, Syracuse has only had five seasons with six or more wins.
The Greg (lovingly referred to as Gerg) Robinson era was disastrous. Ten wins, half of them vacated, were all Robinson could muster in four full seasons. On the way out, he read “The Little Engine Who Could“.
Doug Marrone started to turn the program around, winning eight games and the Pinstripe Bowl twice in four seasons. Unfortunately for the Orange, he left for the Buffalo Bills job. Leaving the Orange to promote DC Scott Shaffer. He won seven games and the Texas Bowl in 2013, won a combined seven more games in 2014 and 2015, and was fired.
Early Promise
Before he took over the Syracuse position, Babers spent two years at Bowling Green and two more at FCS Eastern Illinois before that. All four seasons ended in a winning record, and three ended in a conference championship. Before that, he spent three years at Baylor under Art Briles, where he learned the no-huddle offense.
Coach Babers considered 81 plays and 554 yards slow in his first game at the helm, a 33-7 win over FCS Colgate. Overall, his inaugural season wasn’t amazing, but it was a major rebuild schematically, and there was hope. The Orange upset #17 Virginia Tech 31-17, bringing one of three legendary post-game speeches from Babers.
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To cap off the season, the Orange ran 106 plays, accumulated 668 yards, and scored 61 points with their backup quarterback. Unfortunately, Pittsburgh scored 76. Despite the 4-8 record, the future looked bright on the hill.
2017 again finished with a 4-8 record, but it was a better-looking 4-8. Syracuse played LSU in Death Valley close. Ditto to #8 Miami and #12 Florida State on the road. More importantly, the Orange beat #2 Clemson 27-24.
The end of the year saw an ugly collapse. After taking a 38-21 lead on Wake Forest, they lost that game 43-64. With 56-10 and 42-14 losses to end the season, the Orange ended on the wrong note. At this point in his career, Babers was 0-8 after the bye week with an average loss of 26.6 points.
The 2018 season is why Dino Babers has a job. It was a put-up or shut-up year, and while progress had been made, results were needed on the field. They absolutely delivered. A 10-3 season brought the best record since 2001 and the highest AP ranking (12) since 1998. Senior QB Eric Dungey finished with 3,622 total yards and 33 total touchdowns. S Andre Cisco had seven interceptions as a true freshman.
The season included a dominating, season-defining 30-7 win over Florida State in week three, delivering another amazing speech. The year was capped off by defeating #15 West Virginia 34-18 in the Camping World Bowl. Syracuse was back, so I thought.
Lost Urgency
To me, the guy who made those energizing speeches is gone. Babers is older, now 62, but he has a fraction of the energy he had in the past. There is to be said for staying calm on the sidelines, but I think he is too calm. The same coach who promised an up-tempo offense is lifeless.
The most recent game against Virginia Tech displayed this. Both teams were coming off a bye, separated record-wise by one game, and the Hokies were only around 3-point favorites.
Coming out of the game, Syracuse looked flat. They didn’t pick up a first down until the second quarter, and the Hokies put up sixteen points during that time frame with an aggressive offense. Multiple deep shots were taken, and they ran trick plays to energize the team and home crowd.
At halftime, the game was 30-3. The final score was 38-10, yet it felt worse, in large part due to the many backups the Hokies played and them running out the clock.
Let’s take a look at what Babers’ offense did:
- Go 0-9 on Third Down
- Rush for zero (0) yards
- Pass for 137 yards
At least there were no turnovers(?)
Still, when you’re an offensive head coach whose defense is better and has been for a couple of years is telling. Again, being adaptable to change is a good thing, but this reformation isn’t.
Hot Seat Warming Once Again
Calls for Babers to be fired have been out since 2020. They picked up significantly after losing three games to cap off a 5-7 season in 2021, as well as the aforementioned 2022 and current 2023 collapse. He has been a consistent face of hot-seat talk, and I assume our coach speculator Mike Huesmann will have a “Vultures Circling” piece on him soon, similar to this one on Arkansas.
Despite all the negativity, you have to cut Babers some slack and understand this is a tough job. Winning in Syracuse, New York, is not an easy task. It is far from a recruiting hotbed. It is a college city that cares about basketball first and will cheer the football team when they’re good. The facilities, despite ongoing renovations, are subpar. The administration’s support is questionable at best.
What Babers can control is his team’s discipline. Syracuse has consistently been one of the most undisciplined teams under his tenure. The Orange were the most penalized team in 2022. They were 125th in 2019. With the exception of 2017, Syracuse has ranked 97th or lower in penalties every year under Babers.
Another issue has been time management. Against Clemson in 2022, Syracuse was down three and just got a stop to bring up fourth down. Babers let twenty-five precious seconds run off the clock before calling TO. After getting the ball back down six, Garrett Shrader forced an interception with 15 seconds left.
In 2021, also against Clemson, Syracuse was down 17-14 with the ball at the Tiger 30-yard line. There were 43 seconds left, and the Orange were facing a 4th and 1. Babers chose to kick a field goal, which was no good. If it was made, however, Clemson would have gotten a chance to win in regulation.
Also, in 2021, Babers decided he wanted to go for two – and the win against #19 Wake Forest. RB Sean Tucker scored with 21 seconds left to make it a 33-34 game. However, Babers couldn’t get his team lined up in time and ate a delay of game penalty. Syracuse lost 40-37 in overtime.
Uninspired Coaching
Recently, it looks like Babers is just trying to keep the score close instead of going for the win. With a tough four-game stretch of Clemson, at North Carolina, at Florida State, and at Virginia Tech, he expected to lose all four games and wanted to keep the score respectable. To end the season, the Orange host Boston College, play Pittsburgh at Yankees Stadium, go to Georgia Tech, and host Wake Forest. With making a bowl game still being the expectation, Babers’ goal was to keep his job, and then win two of the last four.
Down 24-3 to Florida State with 5:14 left in the third quarter, Babers cowardly kicked a field goal (which was missed) on 4th and 11. Against Virginia Tech, down 23-0 in the second quarter facing a 4th and 7, he sent K Brady Denaburg on the field again.
Even if Syracuse went for it and scored, it wouldn’t have made a difference. The Orange were handled throughout both games. But at least try to win. Show some faith in your team.
What’s Next
Dino Babers is now 40-53 at Syracuse. Against ACC teams, he is 18-43. After the bye week, 10-23 (4-22 without 2018). His time should be up now. Will it? While Babers’ contract is unknown, it is speculated to expire after the 2024 season. I think AD John Wildhack will keep Babers for the year and retain him for 2024 if the Orange make a bowl game, maybe even if they go 5-7.
As a long-time Syracuse fan, I have great memories of the early years under Dino Babers, specifically in 2018, but it’s time for him to go. For Syracuse Football to stay relevant, a new coach is needed. Who that will be? I have no clue. Just somebody, anybody who will try to win games and finish seasons strong.
