Orange a Hit at ACC Kickoff

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Orange head coach Dino Babers was one of the breakout stars of the 2016 ACC Kickoff.

The first-year sideline leader, along with redshirt senior center Jason Emerich and junior linebacker Zaire Franklin, represented Syracuse at the league's annual media event Friday, July 22 at the Westin Charlotte Hotel. The trio participated in nearly seven hours of interviews with the more than 500 television, radio, print and online media members in attendance.

Topics ranged from preseason expectations to everyone's favorite Halloween costume and everything in between. Babers in particular made a splash, engaging reporters with a series of stories, including the last car he owned (a 1986 Cutlass Supreme) and the newsworthiness of former Pitt wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald's dropped passes in 2003 (Babers recalled two – one in practice and one during a game). He also compared the Syracuse football program to the character Jon Snow in the hit TV series Game of Thrones.

His outgoing nature and quick-witted anecdotes had Babers trending nationally on Twitter late Friday afternoon.

"Since I arrived at Syracuse University, I felt that we've been on a daunting journey for correctness and righteousness," Babers said. "I think these two young men behind me [Emerich and Franklin] represent some of the finer things we've got going on on offense and defense. What we're going to do is take their effort, take their precision and see if we can have that grow throughout our offense, our defense and our special teams.

"With their energy and a lot of other young men just like them working out right now back in Syracuse, New York, hopefully we can do some fantastic things this year in the ACC."

Babers, who carries a 37-16 (.698) career record into his fifth season as a head coach, certainly has some pieces that will make opponents uncomfortable. He inherits a team that returns 17 starters on offense and defense, along with kicker Cole Murphy and long snapper Matt Keller. This year's Orange bring back 92.6 percent of their rushing yardage, all of their passing yardage, and 87.6 percent of their receiving yardage from 2015. The leaders in every major statistical category except punting are back.

Defensively, Syracuse returns its top seven tacklers, including Franklin who led the unit with 81 stops a year ago, including 11 for a loss.

The Orange kick off the 2016 season against Colgate on Friday, Sept. 2 at 7 p.m. in the Carrier Dome and will play six home games in Babers' inaugural campaign.

Season tickets are on sale now online, by phone (888-DOMETIX) and at the Carrier Dome Box Office (Gate B). Tickets start at $99 ($16.50 per game) with lower-level seats in the end zones available for as little as $125.

Single-game tickets for all home games except Florida State are also on sale. Tickets to watch the Orange and Seminoles are scheduled to go on sale July 26. Tickets start at $20 for non-conference games, $25 for the Louisville and NC State games, and $30 for the Virginia Tech and Florida State contests.

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Syracuse University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Jason Emerich

Zaire Franklin

Matt Keller

Cole Murphy

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