Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski
Babers Era Begins
12/7/2015 10:37:00 AM | Football
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – "Close your eyes for me. Close your eyes and visualize this. You're in the Carrier Dome. The house is filled. The feeling is electric. The noise is deafening. You have a defense that is relentless. You have a special teams (unit) that has been well-coached. You have an offense that will not huddle and you have a game that is faster than you've ever seen on turf.
"Open your eyes. That is going to be a reality. That is going to be Syracuse football."
With that, Dino Babers painted for those at his introductory press conference, plus those watching on television or via the Internet, a clear picture of his vision.Â
A full Ferguson Auditorium was greeted by Floyd Little, the former Syracuse standout who has earned membership in the College and Pro Football Halls of Fames, and is special assistant to Director of Athletics Mark Coyle. Syracuse recently hired Coyle, who chaired the football coaching search and made opening remarks before introducing Babers as the program's 30th head football coach on Monday, Dec. 7.
"When we started this process two weeks ago, I wanted to make sure we found the best fit for Syracuse football," Coyle said. "How I define best fit is someone with honesty and integrity. I wanted someone who would be focused on our students and the welfare of those students. I wanted someone who is innovative and has an exciting brand of football and is committed to winning. I'm confident that we found that person in Coach Babers.
"I want to publically thank Coach Babers, his wife Susan and their children for believing in us. I'm so appreciative that you believe in Syracuse and I promise that we'll do special things together."
Babers answered one of the questions on the minds of many in Orange Nation early in his presentation.
"Why Syracuse? Why not Syracuse?," Babers asked. "The tradition here is unbelievable. Unbelievable. We are talking about 44. We are talking about Jim Brown, Ernie Davis and Floyd Little. Heck, I know 39 – Larry Csonka.
"The tradition here is unbelievable and the fan support – we need to give them what they deserve."
To the best of his recollection, Babers has only been in New York state once – when Bowling Green won at Buffalo, 28-22, on Oct. 3 of this year. He's not concerned about his lack of familiarity with the Empire State.
"If you hire good recruiters, they can recruit anywhere," Babers said. We will have representation from the northeast but, again, I think anytime you are recruiting around a great academic institution you need to start in your backyard. We need to take care of the state of New York. We need to get over to New Jersey. We need to start to work Philly. We need to shoot down that corridor – Pittsburgh, Chicago, Detroit and then we have to head back down and take care of Florida and cross our T's and dot our I's. We are always going to start close to home and work our way out."
Babers singled out three primary mentors – Homer Smith, a former head coach at Davidson, Pacific and Army who was a renowned offensive coordinator at UCLA, Alabama and Arizona; Dick Tomey, Babers' head coach at Hawaii who also led programs at Arizona and San Jose State; and Art Briles, the current head coach at Baylor who had Babers on his staff for four seasons. Together, Babers and Briles helped revitalize Baylor football, turning a struggling program into a national title contender and one that earned a reputation for its fast-paced, high-scoring offense.Â
Baylor's success helped Babers earn his first head coaching job at Eastern Illinois in 2012. He was named Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year twice, and his 2013 offense led the FCS in points per game (48.2) and yards per game (589.5). Babers coached quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who was presented with the 2013 Walter Payton Award, the FCS equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.
His hiring at Bowling Green in 2014 ignited another quick turnaround. The Falcons were 8-6 and earned a bowl-game victory in 2014. This past season, the Falcons have put together a 10-3 record which includes a 34-14 victory against Northern Illinois in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) championship game last Friday. Bowling Green also received another bowl invitation, this time to the GoDaddy Bowl against Sun Belt representative Georgia Southern.
With the formalities of his introduction now out of the way, Babers now turns his focus to the current members of Syracuse's squad, building his staf, and hitting the recruiting trail.
Babers was joined at the press conference by his wife, Susan, and two of his four daughters – Jazzmin and Paris.
For complete coverage of Syracuse and Syracuse football, follow us on Facebook (Syracuse Orange& Syracuse Football), Twitter (@Cuse & @CuseFootball), Instagram (@CuseFootball) and watch exclusive video content on Cuse TV.Â
"Open your eyes. That is going to be a reality. That is going to be Syracuse football."
With that, Dino Babers painted for those at his introductory press conference, plus those watching on television or via the Internet, a clear picture of his vision.Â
A full Ferguson Auditorium was greeted by Floyd Little, the former Syracuse standout who has earned membership in the College and Pro Football Halls of Fames, and is special assistant to Director of Athletics Mark Coyle. Syracuse recently hired Coyle, who chaired the football coaching search and made opening remarks before introducing Babers as the program's 30th head football coach on Monday, Dec. 7.
"When we started this process two weeks ago, I wanted to make sure we found the best fit for Syracuse football," Coyle said. "How I define best fit is someone with honesty and integrity. I wanted someone who would be focused on our students and the welfare of those students. I wanted someone who is innovative and has an exciting brand of football and is committed to winning. I'm confident that we found that person in Coach Babers.
"I want to publically thank Coach Babers, his wife Susan and their children for believing in us. I'm so appreciative that you believe in Syracuse and I promise that we'll do special things together."
Babers answered one of the questions on the minds of many in Orange Nation early in his presentation.
"Why Syracuse? Why not Syracuse?," Babers asked. "The tradition here is unbelievable. Unbelievable. We are talking about 44. We are talking about Jim Brown, Ernie Davis and Floyd Little. Heck, I know 39 – Larry Csonka.
"The tradition here is unbelievable and the fan support – we need to give them what they deserve."
To the best of his recollection, Babers has only been in New York state once – when Bowling Green won at Buffalo, 28-22, on Oct. 3 of this year. He's not concerned about his lack of familiarity with the Empire State.
"If you hire good recruiters, they can recruit anywhere," Babers said. We will have representation from the northeast but, again, I think anytime you are recruiting around a great academic institution you need to start in your backyard. We need to take care of the state of New York. We need to get over to New Jersey. We need to start to work Philly. We need to shoot down that corridor – Pittsburgh, Chicago, Detroit and then we have to head back down and take care of Florida and cross our T's and dot our I's. We are always going to start close to home and work our way out."
Babers singled out three primary mentors – Homer Smith, a former head coach at Davidson, Pacific and Army who was a renowned offensive coordinator at UCLA, Alabama and Arizona; Dick Tomey, Babers' head coach at Hawaii who also led programs at Arizona and San Jose State; and Art Briles, the current head coach at Baylor who had Babers on his staff for four seasons. Together, Babers and Briles helped revitalize Baylor football, turning a struggling program into a national title contender and one that earned a reputation for its fast-paced, high-scoring offense.Â
Baylor's success helped Babers earn his first head coaching job at Eastern Illinois in 2012. He was named Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year twice, and his 2013 offense led the FCS in points per game (48.2) and yards per game (589.5). Babers coached quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who was presented with the 2013 Walter Payton Award, the FCS equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.
His hiring at Bowling Green in 2014 ignited another quick turnaround. The Falcons were 8-6 and earned a bowl-game victory in 2014. This past season, the Falcons have put together a 10-3 record which includes a 34-14 victory against Northern Illinois in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) championship game last Friday. Bowling Green also received another bowl invitation, this time to the GoDaddy Bowl against Sun Belt representative Georgia Southern.
With the formalities of his introduction now out of the way, Babers now turns his focus to the current members of Syracuse's squad, building his staf, and hitting the recruiting trail.
Babers was joined at the press conference by his wife, Susan, and two of his four daughters – Jazzmin and Paris.
For complete coverage of Syracuse and Syracuse football, follow us on Facebook (Syracuse Orange& Syracuse Football), Twitter (@Cuse & @CuseFootball), Instagram (@CuseFootball) and watch exclusive video content on Cuse TV.Â
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