Spring Ball is Here

Official football practices and temperatures in the high 60s. Spring is definitely in the air in Central New York.

Head Coach Dino Babers and the 2021 Orange squad took to the practice field for day one of spring practice on Tuesday morning. The Orange began their day in the 6 o'clock hour and spent over two hours on the field in the Ensley Athletic Center.

We're BACK!

Spring ball, day 1 in the books. pic.twitter.com/yhmKzUYriR
— Syracuse Football (@CuseFootball) March 30, 2021

"It's an exciting morning," Babers said afterwards in his press conference. "There was a lot of energy and excitement… I've done it before and I know how much work we have to do, but it was fun to see the kids invested and ready to go."

The Orange welcome back the bulk of its roster this season, with a number of would-be seniors last year opting to utilize their extra year of eligibility in 2021. 'Cuse welcomes back the entirety of its offensive and defensive line units that started a year ago and will have another year to develop its young linebacker corps as well, where all of last year's starters also return.

"There's more people out for spring practice than we've had in the six years since I've been here and when more guys get here in the fall, it'll be the largest roster we've had and the depth is the best that it has been," Babers said.

Syracuse will have to replace some stars in the secondary as Ifeatu Melifonwu, Andre Cisco and Trill Williams all declared for the NFL Draft. The DB trio is all expected to be drafted at the end of April and Melifonwu and Williams showed why at 'Cuse's Pro Day two weeks ago.