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A proven winner and respected mentor, Dino Babers was named the 30th head football coach at Syracuse University on Dec. 5, 2015. He owns a 55-35 (.611) career record and boasts more than 30 years of experience in the profession.
     
Known for his innovative, ultra-fast offense, Babers is in his fourth season on the Syracuse sideline. His tenure has featured record-setting production, as well as a return to prominence for the program after a 10-3 campaign in 2018.
     
Since his arrival on campus, Babers has reshaped the culture of Orange football by fostering an atmosphere of fairness, family and accountability. An adherence to those core values has allowed Syracuse’s assistant coaches, staff and student-athletes to reach their full potential. 
     
In December 2018, Syracuse Director of Athletics John Wildhack ensured the growth of the Orange would continue under Babers by announcing a contract extension that keeps the veteran coach at the helm of the program well into the future.
     
GROWING THE ORANGE
Babers planted the seeds of Syracuse’s revival during his first season in 2016. The Orange knocked off a ranked opponent for the first time in four years, toppling ACC Coastal champion Virginia Tech at the Dome. Additionally, he commanded an offense that set or tied more than 40 school records, including new season standards for pass completions (332) and passing yards (3,855).
     
Babers’ second campaign also featured a signature win, as Syracuse handed 2017 College Football Playoff semifinalist Clemson its only defeat of the regular season. The Orange topped the second-ranked Tigers, 27-24. The triumph was on par with the Orange’s historic upset of No. 1 Nebraska more than 30 years prior and captured the attention of the nation.
     
Those flashes of success proved to be harbingers of what was to come in 2018, as Babers guided the Orange to the seventh double-digit win season in program history. The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Team of the Year, Syracuse went from four wins to 10 and and posted a 6-2 conference record to finish second to national champion Clemson in the ACC Atlantic Division. The six-win increase matched the 1987 squad for the second-largest improvement from one year to the next in team history, and equaled Florida and Baylor for the best turnaround by a Power-Five team from 2017 to 2018.
     
The Orange opened the season with four straight wins and ended it with triumphs in six of their last seven games. Their 6-1 closing stretch included a 34-18 victory over West Virginia in the Camping World Bowl, the Orange’s first postseason appearance since 2013. Along the way, Syracuse protected its home field by going 6-0 in the Dome, returned to the national polls for the first time in 17 years, and made its debut in the College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings.
     
Syracuse rose to as high as No. 12 in all three polls during the week of Nov. 11, the program’s highest ranking since 1998, and closed the season at No. 15 in the final AP and Amway Coaches polls.
     
For his efforts, Babers was named the AFCA Region 1 Coach of the Year, the third time in seven seasons he was voted the top coach in the region by his peers in the American Football Coaches Association. A finalist for three 2018 national coach of the year awards, Babers received co-ACC Coach of the Year honors from the Associated Press and was selected as the ECAC Coach of the Year.
     
Babers’ vision for all three phases working together fueled the breakthrough. The Orange featured an electrifying offense, a tenacious defense and superb special teams. Offensively, the Orange ranked 11th nationally in scoring (40.2 ppg) and set the school records for most plays (1,063) and most points scored (523). They tied the all-time program mark with 62 total touchdowns, including a record 38 rushing scores. In 13 games, Syracuse scored 50+ points a school-record five times and topped 40 points on eight occasions.
     
Syracuse’s opportunistic defense served as the perfect complement to the team’s high-flying offense. The Orange ranked in the top 10 nationally in five defensive categories: turnovers gained (3rd - 31), interceptions (5th - 18), fumbles recovered (5th - 13), sacks (6th - 3.31 per game) and third-down defense (7th - .286). They also totaled a school-record 43 sacks.
     
A special teams unit led by All-ACC punter Sterling Hofrichter and unanimous All-American and Lou Groza Award-winning kicker Andre Szmyt completed the trifecta. 
     
Szmyt, who led the NCAA in nearly every kicking category, and safety Andre Cisco, who tied for the national lead in interceptions, were the third and fourth Orange players, respectively, to earn All-America honors under Babers. To put that achievement perspective, Syracuse had one All-American in the 14 years prior to Babers’ arrival.
     
Receivers Amba Etta-Tawo and Steve Ishmael were Babers’ first two Orange All-Americans. Quarterback Eric Dungey and receiver Ervin Philips are additional examples of players who flourished with Babers’ guidance.
     
In 2016, Etta-Tawo left an indelible stamp on the program. He set 10 school receiving records in his one year with the Orange. He was an All-ACC First Team choice and was named to four All-America teams.
     
The following season, Ishmael picked up where Etta-Tawo left off. Ishmael ranked second in the FBS in receptions per game (8.8) and catches (105). He also finished in the top 10 in receiving yards per game (4th - 112.2) and total receiving yardage (7th - 1,347). Like Etta-Tawo, Ishmael was an All-ACC First Team choice and an All-American, earning recognition from nine outlets, including four NCAA consensus selectors (Walter Camp Football Foundation, FWAA, Sporting News, Associated Press).
     
Philips caught 179 of his school-record 223 passes in the two seasons he played for Babers. In 2017, Philips and Ishmael combined for an ACC-record 194 catches to close their careers ranked No. 1 and No. 2 on the program’s all-time receptions list.
     
A four-year starter who played three of his collegiate seasons for Babers, Dungey finished his Orange career as the holder of 25 school records. Among the most prominent are the all-time Syracuse marks for passing yards (9,340) and total offense (11,333 yards).
     
Overall, 18 of Babers’ Syracuse pupils have earned All-ACC honors with five – Ishmael, Etta-Tawo, Hofrichter, Cisco and Szmyt – being named to the first team.  
     
Fifteen of his former Orange players have gone on to sign NFL contracts, including Dungey and draft choices Zaire Franklin and Chris Slayton.

MAKING THE FALCONS FAST     
Babers took over the Bowling Green program in 2014 and led the Falcons to an 18-9 record in his two years there, including victories over three Big Ten teams (Indiana - 2014; Maryland, Purdue - 2015). The Falcons went 8-6 in Babers’ first season and captured the MAC East Division championship with a 5-3 league mark. Bowling Green lost the MAC title game to Northern Illinois, but rebounded for a 33-28 win versus South Alabama in the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl, BGSU’s first bowl victory since 2004.
     
In 2015, Bowling Green was 10-3 under Babers and 7-1 against MAC competition to win the MAC East once again. The Falcons got the better of MAC West champion Northern Illinois in the league title game to win BGSU’s second conference championship in three seasons. Babers presided over one of the most explosive offenses in the country, as the Falcons ranked in the top 10 nationally in first downs (1st - 389), total offense (4th - 546.8 ypg), passing offense (5th - 366.8 ypg), third-down conversion percentage (5th - .502) and scoring (6th - 42.2 ppg).
     
Babers mentored 17 All-MAC performers at BGSU, including 11 in 2015. Falcons quarterback Matt Johnson was the recipient of the 2015 MAC Vern Smith Leadership Award winner, presented to the conference’s top football player, and earned MAC Offensive Player of the Year honors. In addition, Johnson finished second nationally in passing yards (4,946), touchdown passes (46) and fifth in passing yards per game (353.3). He set the MAC single-season record for touchdown passes and eclipsed Ben Roethlisberger’s conference record for the most passing yards in a season.
     
Another of Babers’ charges – Roger Lewis – also had a standout 2015 campaign. Lewis, now an NFL receiver for the Tennessee Titans, finished second in the FBS in receiving yards (1,544), third in touchdown catches (16) and fifth in receiving yards per game (110.3). He became the first Falcon since 1994 to earn All-America honors from the Associated Press (third team) and received second-team honors from the FWAA.
 
EXCELLENCE AT EASTERN ILLINOIS
Babers excelled in his first head-coaching position, leading Eastern Illinois to a 19-7 record in two seasons, including a 14-1 mark against Ohio Valley Conference foes. His 2012 and 2013 Panther teams won the conference championship and earned FCS playoff berths. For his work, Babers was named the Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year and the AFCA Region 3 Coach of the Year after both seasons.
     
In 2013, the Panthers finished 12-2, including an 8-0 conference record, and reached the FCS quarterfinals. The Panthers were ranked as high as No. 2 in the polls and led the nation in total yards (589.5) and points per game (48.2). EIU averaged 372.4 yards passing per contest and 217.1 yards a game rushing on its way to outscoring its opponents, 636-270. The offense was diverse with four different receivers totaling at least 700 yards and eight touchdowns apiece, and two running backs who combined for 2,539 rushing yards.
     
One of those receivers was 2012 Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year Erik Lora, who set league single-season records with 136 receptions and 1,664 receiving yards. Lora followed up his stellar season with 123 catches for 1,544 yards and a conference-record 19 touchdowns in 2013.
     
Upon his arrival at EIU in 2012, Babers took a Panthers team that had finished last in the Ohio Valley Conference in 2011 and led them to a first-place finish with a 6-1 league mark. It was just the fourth time in OVC history that a team went from worst to first in the span of a season.

THE $138 MILLION MAN
The cornerstone of Babers’ Eastern Illinois teams was quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who won the Walter Payton Award (FCS Heisman Trophy) after throwing for 5,050 yards and 53 touchdowns as a senior in 2013. Garoppolo, now the starter for the San Francisco 49ers, passed for 8,873 yards and 84 scores in his two seasons with Babers to transform himself into a second-round draft pick. After spending his first three NFL seasons with the New England Patriots, Garoppolo was traded to the 49ers in 2017. He signed a $137.5 contract with San Francisco in February 2018, making him one of the league’s highest-paid players.

PROFESSIONAL BUILDING BLOCKS
Prior to taking the helm at Eastern Illinois, Babers spent four seasons at Baylor in various capacities. Before that, he worked for four years at UCLA as assistant head coach, running backs coach and wide receivers coach.
     
A native of San Diego, California, Babers has also made assistant coaching stops at Pittsburgh, Texas A&M, Arizona, San Diego State, Purdue, Northern Arizona, UNLV and Eastern Illinois. He began his collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant at Hawaii in 1984. Babers spent the next two seasons in a similar position at Arizona State before landing his first full-time job at Eastern Illinois in 1987. 
     
Babers’ time at both Texas A&M and Arizona included stints as offensive coordinator. In 1998, he directed an Arizona attack that ranked in the top 20 in scoring offense (15th) and total offense (18th). The Wildcats were 12-1 that season and finished fourth in both polls.
     
Babers has coached or recruited more than 60 NFL players, including 31 draft picks, three Pro Bowlers (Lance Briggs, Matt Slater, Josh Gordon) and 2000 All-Pro selection Az-Zahir Hakim.
     
Thirteen of his protégés have been picked in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft, including six in the first two rounds. Arizona running back Trung Canidate was the first-round choice of the St. Louis Rams in 2000. Wide receivers Brian Alford (Purdue), Will Blackwell (San Diego State), Dennis Northcutt (Arizona), Josh Gordon (Baylor) and Jimmy Garoppolo were selected in the second round.
     
A 1984 graduate of the University of Hawaii with a bachelor’s degree in education, Babers started at three different positions (outside linebacker, strong safety, running back) for the Warriors during his collegiate career, while earning All-Western Athletic Conference Academic honors. As a senior, he served as Hawaii’s special teams captain and was the squad’s leading rusher.
     
Babers tried out for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League before an injury in training camp ended his playing career.
     
Babers, who received his master’s degree in education administration and supervision from Arizona State in 1987, and his wife, Susan, have four daughters – Breeahnah, Tasha, Jazzmin and Paris. Jazzmin was a member of the Texas A&M volleyball team from 2012-16. She is married to former Orange offensive lineman Koda Martin. Breeahnah married Vincent Palmieri in June 2018.

THE BABERS FILE
Experience: 36th season/4th at Syracuse
Hometown: San Diego, Calif.
Alma Mater: Hawaii '84
Family: wife, Susan; daughters, Breeahnah, Tasha, Jazzmin and Paris

PLAYING EXPERIENCE
College: Hawaii (1979-83)
Pro: Columbia Lions (CFL - 1984 free-agent signee)
 

HEAD COACHING RECORD
Year	School	Record	Conf.	Championships/Postseason
2012	Eastern Illinois	7-5	6-1	OVC Champions/FCS Playoffs (First Round)
2013	Eastern Illinois	12-2	8-0	OVC Champions/FCS Playoffs (Quarterfinals)
2014	Bowling Green	8-6	5-3	MAC East Division Champions/Camellia Bowl Champions
2015	Bowling Green	10-3	7-1	MAC Champions/GoDaddy Bowl
2016	Syracuse	4-8	2-6
2017	Syracuse	4-8	2-6
2018	Syracuse	10-3	6-2	Camping World Bowl Champions
Totals	7 seasons	55-35 (.611)	36-19 (.655)

 

COACHING LEDGER
Years	School	Position
1984	Hawaii	Graduate Assistant
1985-86	Arizona State	Graduate Assistant
1987	Eastern Illinois	Running Backs
1988-89	UNLV	Special Teams Coordinator/Running Backs
1990	Northern Arizona	Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Backs
1991-93	Purdue	Wide Receivers
1994	San Diego State	Wide Receivers
1995-96	Arizona	Wide Receivers
1997	Arizona	Running Backs
1998-2000	Arizona	Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2001-02	Texas A&M	Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2003	Pittsburgh	Running Backs
2004-05	UCLA	Wide Receivers
2006	UCLA	Running Backs
2007	UCLA	Asst. Head Coach/Running Backs
2008	Baylor	Wide Receivers
2009-11	Baylor	Special Teams Coordinator/Wide Receivers
2012-13	Eastern Illinois	Head Coach
2014-15	Bowling Green	Head Coach
2016-present	Syracuse	Head Coach

POSTSEASON COACHING EXPERIENCE
1985 Holiday Bowl
1987 Rose Bowl
1997 Insight.com Bowl
1998 Holiday Bowl
2001 Galleryfurniture.com Bowl
2003 Continental Tire Bowl
2004 Las Vegas Bowl
2005 Sun Bowl
2006 Emerald Bowl
2007 Las Vegas Bowl
2010 Texas Bowl
2011 Alamo Bowl
2012 FCS Playoffs (First Round)
2013 FCS Playoffs (Quarterfinals)
2014 Camellia Bowl
2018 Camping World Bowl

PROMINENT PLAYERS COACHED
Arizona State
Darryl Clack (Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns)

Purdue
Brian Alford (New York Giants, Miami Dolphins)

San Diego State
Az-Zahir Hakim (St. Louis Rams, Detroit Lions, New Orleans, San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins)
Will Blackwell (Pittsburgh Steelers)

Arizona
Lance Briggs (Chicago Bears)
Trung Canidate (St. Louis Rams, Washington Redskins)
Mike Lucky (Dallas Cowboys)
Brandon Manumaleuna (St. Louis Rams, San Diego Chargers, Chicago Bears)
Dennis Northcutt (Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions)
Andrae Thurman (New York Giants, Houston Texans, Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers, Tennessee Titans)
Bobby Wade (Chicago Bears, Tennessee Titans, Minnesota Vikings, Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins)

UCLA
Kahlil Bell (Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears, New York Jets, Green Bay Packers)
Matt Slater (New England Patriots)

Baylor
David Gettis (Carolina Panthers, Washington Redskins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Winnipeg Blue Bombers - CFL)
Josh Gordon (Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots)
Terrance Williams (Dallas Cowboys)

Eastern Illinois
Jimmy Garoppolo (New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers)
Kamu Grugier-Hill (New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles)
Erik Lora (Minnesota Vikings, Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions)

Bowling Green
Jude Adjei-Barimah (Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Diego Fleet - AAF)
Matt Johnson (2015 MAC Offensive Player of the Year)
Roger Lewis (New York Giants, Tennessee Titans)
D.J. Lynch (New England Patriots)
Gabe Martin (Arizona Cardinals, New Orleans Saints)

Syracuse
Jamal Custis (Kansas City Chiefs)
Eric Dungey (New York Giants)
Amba Etta-Tawo (Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Giants, Houston Texans, Birmingham Iron - AAF)
Zaire Franklin (Indianapolis Colts)
Steve Ishmael (Indianapolis Colts)
Chris Slayton (New York Giants)