Louisville football: Who is Syracuse head coach Dino Babers?

Sep 2, 2016; Syracuse, NY, USA; Syracuse Orange head coach Dino Babers shakes hands with tight end Josh Parris (89) before a game at the Carrier Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 2, 2016; Syracuse, NY, USA; Syracuse Orange head coach Dino Babers shakes hands with tight end Josh Parris (89) before a game at the Carrier Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports /
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Louisville football will be squaring off against Syracuse and newly hired head coach Dino Babers next Friday night.

Louisville football will be faced with their first ACC opponent of the 2016 season on the road next Friday evening. Syracuse struggled last season winning only four of their 12 games and finishing 2-6 in the ACC. The Orange will be looking to get back to playing bowl-eligible football under first year head coach Dino Babers.

According to Athlon Sports, “Babers is replacing Scott Schafer who finished 14-23 at Syracuse in three seasons as the head coach”. The Cardinals killed the Orange last year in Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium, as they were able to pull away 41-17.

Babers has had a lot of success so far in his career as a coach. While at Baylor, he coached current NFL players Kendall Wright, Terrance Williams, and Josh Gordon. According to Syracuse Athletics’ official website, “Babers has coached or recruited more than 40 NFL players, including 29 draft picks, three Pro Bowlers (Lance Briggs, Matt Slater, Josh Gordon) and 2000 All-Pro selection Az-Zahir Hakim.”

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Babers also was a former collegiate and professional football player as well. He played for Hawaii from 1980-1983 and professionally for the CFL’s Columbia Lions in 1984.

He has been a head coach in college football since 2012. After taking the job at Eastern Illinois, he finished 19-7 in two years with the program. After Eastern Illinois, he took the head coaching position at Bowling Green where gave the University a 18-9 record over his two seasons before taking the Syracuse job.

He brings an uptempo no-huddle offense to the Orange this season. Syracuse quarterback Eric Dungey should thrive in this system, as it will allow him to play at a high level all season. This will be important for Syracuse as they look to beat Notre Dame, Louisville, Clemson and Florida State this season. If Syracuse wins six games this year, it will be largely attributed to Babers’ uptempo offensive attack.

It’s apparent that Babers has been very successful wherever he has been in his career. This seems like a great hire for a Syracuse program looking to keep up with the other top-notch football teams in the ACC. This should be a great marriage for both parties.

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