Syracuse has fired football coach Dino Babers with one game remaining this season, the school announced Sunday. Here’s what you need to know:
- Babers has spent eight seasons with the Orange and amassed a 41-55 record.
- Syracuse has gone 5-6 (1-6 in conference play) this season.
- The Orange lost 31-22 to Georgia Tech on Saturday and need one more win to become bowl-eligible. They face Wake Forest next weekend.
- Nunzio Campanile will coach against Wake Forest, Syracuse athletics director John Wildhack said in a statement, adding that a national search to identify Babers’ successor is underway.
Is this a surprise?
Not at all. The Orange made just two bowl games in eight years. The past several seasons have been defined by hot starts and disastrous finishes. The 2021 team started 3-1 but finished 5-7. The 2022 team started 6-0 but finished 7-6. The 2023 team started 4-0 but sits at 5-6.
This has proven to be a difficult job, and Syracuse has trailed behind its peers in the NIL space, with Babers saying he was unable to keep depth in the program in the age of NIL/transfer portal. Can it turn around? The next coach will have a lot of work to do. It has one 10-win season since 2002. The Orange were once a great program in the 1980s and 1990s, at the forefront of offensive football in many ways. But that’s a long time ago. It has been unable to reclaim the glory. — Chris Vannini, college football staff writer
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Who could get the job?
Based on conversations with industry sources, some potential names to watch for the job include Toledo coach Jason Candle, Holy Cross coach Bob Chesney, Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden, New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien, Florida State offensive coordinator Alex Atkins and Colorado offensive coordinator Sean Lewis. — Vannini
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What they’re saying
“Thanks to Dino’s leadership, our student-athletes have performed at the highest levels in the classroom, have dedicated countless hours to supporting our communities and have gone on to achieve great success, both professionally and personally,” Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack said.
“As we embark on a change in leadership at the helm of Syracuse Football, on behalf of Syracuse University I thank Coach Babers for his leadership, character and dedication, and wish him well in his future endeavors.”
Backstory
Syracuse hired Babers, 62, before the 2016 season and signed him to a new contract after the 2018 season. He led the Orange to only two winning seasons during his tenure, going 10-3 in 2018 and 7-6 in 2022. Syracuse appeared in bowl games both seasons and won the 2018 Camping World bowl game but lost last year’s Pinstripe Bowl.
No ACC school has qualified for fewer bowl games than Syracuse over the past eight seasons.
Babers’ 41 wins during his tenure rank as the fifth-most in program history.
Required reading
(Photo: Brett Davis / USA Today)