Tag: Dino Babers

2023-2024 College Football Coaching Carousel

Texas A&M hires Duke’s Mike Elko as the coaching carousel continues to spin.

The end of the college football season is here and the coaching carousel is once again getting fired up. This season saw two early head coaching changes within the Big Ten to get an early jump on things, but more coaching changes are popping up as we close in on the end of another regular season around the nation.

We’ll keep track of all of the head coaching changes in our updated coaching carousel tracker to see what head coaches are out and who is replacing them. This will be updated daily as needed with the latest head coaching changes as jobs open up and are filled. As is so often the case in college football, one coaching vacancy being filled will lead to another opening popping up as a result.

As of Thursday, Dec. 8 there are 2 head coaching vacancies in college football, including 1 power conference job to fill. A total of 19 head coaching changes have been made this year.

Below is the updated chart for this year’s edition of the head coaching carousel in college football. After that is a bit more detail on each job opening, listed in alphabetical order.

Syracuse fires head coach Dino Babers

The Orange head coach lost six of his last seven games this season, and he won more than seven games just once in eight years.

Syracuse fired head football coach Dino Babers on Sunday, the university announced on Sunday. ESPN’s Pete Thamel first reported the expected firing.

Babers first took over as the Syracuse head coach for the 2016 season. He compiled the fourth-most wins by a head coach in program history with a 41-55 record across his eight seasons, including a 10-win 2018 campaign that saw the Orange rise as high as 12th in the College Football Playoff rankings. His Orange also went 1-10 in 2020, however, and have lost six of their past seven games this season after a 4-0 start.

“As we embark on a change in leadership at the helm of Syracuse Football, on behalf of Syracuse University I thank Coach Babers for his leadership, character and dedication, and wish him well in his future endeavors,” Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack said in a university statement announcing the decision.

Tight ends coach Nunzio Campanile will serve as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

8 college football coaches on the hot seat, including Houston’s Dana Holgorsen

Jimbo Fisher was the first major domino to fall in what could prove to be a wild coaching carousel.

In contrast with the chaos of the college football coaching market the last two years, it’s been a bit of a slow burn to start the 2023 carousel.

As the calendar turned to November, the only Power Five openings were Michigan State and Northwestern, both of which opened for non-football reasons. It looked like we could be heading for a relatively quiet cycle.

Then, a major domino fell. In what became something of a “Black Sunday” for college football coaches, Texas A&M decided to part ways with coach Jimbo Fisher (and pay the $76 million buyout that came with that decision).

Since then, we’ve seen a few more changes, including in the SEC West. Mississippi State fired first-year coach Zach Arnett just 11 games into his tenure after he took over last December after the death of coach Mike Leach.

In the Group of Five ranks, Boise State axed third-year coach Andy Avalos, and San Diego State (and former Michigan) coach Brady Hoke announced his retirement.

These were the first moves to be made, but if history is any indicator, they’ll be far from the last. Here are eight more coaches who find themselves on the hot seat with two weeks left in the regular season.

Syracuse head coach Dino Babers believes Clemson is still a ‘championship-caliber team’

Despite the Tigers’ tough start to the 2023 college football season, Syracuse head coach Dino Babers knows how talented Clemson is.

As many know, it has been an underwhelming start to the 2023 college football season for Dabo Swinney and the Tigers. 

Clemson (2-2, 0-2 ACC) has suffered two losses on the season, with both coming in the conference. In week 1, the Tigers fell 28-7 to Duke in a shocking upset, and in Week 4, the team failed to take advantage of a big opportunity, losing to Florida State 31-24 in overtime. 

Two losses sting, but the way they lost both games makes it worse. Clemson dominated the box score against both teams, but it wasn’t enough for the Tigers to win either game.

Week 5 awaits a matchup against an undefeated Syracuse team, with head and Orange head coach Dino Babers thinking very highly of the Tigers. During his press conference earlier this week, Babers stated how he believes Clemson is still a championship-caliber team. 

“I think they’re (Clemson) still a championship-caliber team,” said the Syracuse head coach. “They were six or twelve inches from winning their game this week (against FSU); beat them in every statistical category. They beat Duke in every statistical category… This is what they are. This is a championship, big-time football team coming in.” 

I’ve always been a fan of Babers, and reasons like this are why I consider him one of the better coaches in college football. Reading many people’s work from the Duke and Florida State games, it felt like many people didn’t watch the games, but rather reacted to the score and spewed. 

Babers can clearly identify how talented this team is and what they bring to the table when playing against them. When this Clemson team puts things together, they are as dangerous as they come.

Week 5 should be a good battle.

2023 college football coaches way-too-early hot seat watchlist

These are the coaches to monitor in the 2023 season.

As we gear up for the 2023 season later this year, the head coaches will take center stage. It just isn’t always good for the program leaders. Over the last several seasons we have seen plenty of movement among head coaches and 2023 could see a shakeup in the college ranks.

Last season we saw the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Wisconsin Badgers, Auburn Tigers, and Colorado Buffaloes all make changes. Plenty more moves followed their hiring to fill the vacancies.

While spring football is just getting underway, College Sports Wire is monitoring a handful of coaches who could be under fire this upcoming season with our way-too-early hot seat watchlist.

We kick it off in the Big 12 where another coaching move is likely to be made without the team making major progress in 2023.

A guess at which Clemson quarterback will Notre Dame face in two weeks

Who do you think they go with?

The focus this week will be on Syracuse, but one can’t help but look ahead to the tilt against Clemson. Yes, both the Orangemen and Tigers are ranked, but with Dabo Swinney’s team coming from behind to defeat Dino Baber’s squad this past weekend, the Tigers exposed some of Syracuse’s weaknesses.

One of them was their inability to put Clemson away, after leading 21-7 at the end of the second quarter, Syracuse didn’t score again and allowed the home team to mount a comeback. It wasn’t starter DJ Uiagalelei leading the second half charge, it was true freshman Cade Klubnik. That begs the question of who will start for Clemson in two weeks when they face the Irish.

Actions speak louder than words, especially in sports and while Uiagalelei has taken the majority of the snaps this year, it’s conceivable that Klubnik will get some playing time for the Tigers. What makes this tough for the Irish is that Clemson has an off week and could be preparing the freshman to make his first start.

If Swinney isn’t afraid to throw him to the fire against an undefeated Syracuse team, why would he be cautious against a Notre Dame team that has struggled? There are a few factors here, one is history and the other is location.

Uiagalelei torched the Irish in his second ever start two seasons ago, throwing for 439 yards with two scores through the air and one on the ground, no interceptions and guiding his visiting team to 40 points albeit in a loss in double-overtime.

The other factor that could sway Swinney’s decision is that the game is on the road. Does he want a Klubnik’s first start to be on the road?

Even with up and down play from his incumbent starter, if I was Swinney, I’d stick to how they got to 8-0, with Uiagalelei starting. The good news for him is that he knows if his starter struggles, there’s a capable back-up waiting in the wings. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out in a little under two weeks as they take on the Irish.

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Bad news for Syracuse

Syracuse head coach Dino Babers delivered some bad news on the injury front during his press conference Monday following the Orange’s 31-7 home win over Louisville on Saturday in the two teams’ season opener. Babers told reporters that both redshirt …

Syracuse head coach Dino Babers delivered some bad news on the injury front during his press conference Monday following the Orange’s 31-7 home win over Louisville on Saturday in the two teams’ season opener.

Babers told reporters that both redshirt senior fullback Chris Elmore and sophomore linebacker Stefon Thompson will miss the rest of the season with lower body injuries.

Thompson is a standout linebacker who earned a starting nod as a true freshman from the first game of the 2020 season. Last season, he started all 12 games at linebacker, finishing second on the team with 79 tackles, 6.0 sacks and 8.0 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles. His six sacks ties for the sixth-most by a sophomore in program history.

Elmore is a sixth-year player who has appeared in more than 50 games as a tight end/fullback/offensive lineman since 2016. He redshirted in 2021 after injuries shortened his senior campaign to just four games.

Clemson will play host to Syracuse at Death Valley on Saturday, Oct. 22.

Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.

Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. Visit Dear Old Clemson to find out how you can help!

Which college football coaches are joining Scott Frost on the hot seat

Who do you think will be joining Scott Frost on the hot seat in 2022?

We’ve talked before about the fact that Nebraska head football coach Scott Frost is on the hot seat. It’s no surprise to anyone. A 15-29 overall record and zero bowl games in four seasons will and should put you on the hot seat. So who are the other coaches that will join Frost with tenuous job security? ESPN senior writer Adam Rittenberg has put together a list highlighting the additional Power 5 coaches that need to win in 2022, or they could be looking for a new job. I have to say that I agree with almost every selection on this list. Scroll below and let us know what you think of the hot seat coaches heading into 2022.

Babers defends decision to kick late field goal against Clemson

Late in Friday night’s game against Clemson, Syracuse head coach Dino Babers had a decision to make. Syracuse had the ball on fourth-and-1 from the Clemson 30-yard line with 43 seconds remaining in the game, down by three points. Instead of …

Late in Friday night’s game against Clemson, Syracuse head coach Dino Babers had a decision to make.

Syracuse had the ball on fourth-and-1 from the Clemson 30-yard line with 43 seconds remaining in the game, down by three points. Instead of potentially going for it, Babers opted to try a 48-yard field goal with kicker Andre Szmyt, who became the Orange’s all-time leading scorer earlier in the game.

The rest is history as Szmyt missed short left, and the Tigers held on to win 17-14.

During his postgame press conference, Babers defended his decision to kick the field goal instead of going for it.

“We’re thinking about it, but the big thing is you’re kicking to play in overtime,” Babers said. “If you go fourth-and-1, I want to go. But if you go and you don’t make it, it’s crazy. What a game. You don’t want to end it on that, you want to play more. Once again, I felt like we had momentum based off of what was going on. If I knew what the outcome was, I might’ve done something else. But I never anticipated that.”

You can watch Baber’s full comments on the loss to Clemson and more in his postgame presser below:

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Syracuse’s Babers has a particularly fond memory of Swinney

It’s hard not to notice the four-letter names of the head football coaches at Clemson and Syracuse just a couple of letters from being carbon copies of each other. “Our first names start with the same letter,” Syracuse’s Dino Babers told reporters …

It’s hard not to notice the four-letter names of the head football coaches at Clemson and Syracuse just a couple of letters from being carbon copies of each other.

“Our first names start with the same letter,” Syracuse’s Dino Babers told reporters this week. “Kind of ends with the same letter, too.”

But that’s not what necessarily resonates the most with Babers when he thinks of Dabo Swinney.

Four years ago, with Clemson undefeated and ranked No. 2 nationally at the time, Babers’ team snapped the Tigers’ 11-game winning streak dating back to the previous season. Syracuse, which went on to win just three more games during the 2017 season, shocked Clemson at the Carrier Dome with a 27-24 win.

During their postgame handshake near midfield, TV cameras caught Swinney telling Babers, then in just his second year leading Syracuse’s program, “I’m so happy for you.” Then Swinney did something highly unusual for any opposing coach, much less one that had just lost the game.

It’s still fresh on Babers’ mind as the teams get set to renew their series Friday back at the same place.

“The last time we beat them, he came in and spoke to the team, which I thought was really cool,” Babers said.

Swinney made his way to Syracuse’s locker room to congratulate the Orange’s players on their win. Syracuse linebacker Zaire Franklin told ESPN after that game Swinney even took photos with some of them.

“That’s one of the classiest things I’ve seen in my life,” Franklin said, according to ESPN’s David Hale.

So it came as no surprise this week when Babers said he has a good relationship with Swinney. He also heaped more praise on Swinney when asked if there’s anything he admires about Clemson’s coach.

“I think he does it the right way,” Babers said. “I like his values. I like what his kids stand for. You can see he does a good job raising young men because I like, when they do their interviews, what come out of their mouths. I think they’re a family down there. I always appreciate programs like that.”

Syracuse (3-3, 0-2 ACC) hasn’t had much luck against Clemson (3-2, 2-1) since pulling off that upset. The 25th-ranked Tigers have won the last three games in the series by an average of 21.6 points, including a 41-6 victory in its last trip to the Carrier Dome in 2019.

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