Syracuse Fires Head Coach Dino Babers After Eight Seasons

Syracuse officially announced the firing of football head coach Dino Babers after eight seasons on Sunday.

Babers started his tenure in 2017 and accrued a record of 41-55 and 20-45 in the ACC. This included just two seasons over. 500, with his best season coming in 2018, as he finished 10-3 overall and 6-2 in the ACC and a No. 15 ranking in the AP Poll. He won ACC Coach of the Year for his efforts that season.

The Orange have struggled the past two seasons after good starts, beginning 6-0 in 2022 before finishing 7-6 and 4-0 this season before ending up 5-6. They have only won 23 games these past five seasons after that 10-win 2018 season.

Sryacuse announced that tight ends coach Nunzio Campanile will serve as interim for their final game against Wake Forest at home Saturday, Nov. 25 at 2 p.m. He also served as the interim in 2019 for Rutgers for their final eight games of the season, taking over from Chris Ash, and went 1-7, including 0-7 against Big Ten opponents.

Dino Babers was the fifth-longest serving head coach in the ACC, behind Clemson’s Dabo Sweeney (2009), NC State’s Dave Doeren (2013), Wake Forest’s Dave Clawson (2014) and Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi (2015).

This is the fourth Power Five coach to lose their job prior to the end of the 2023 season: Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M, Zach Arnett at Mississippi State and Mel Tucker at Michigan State.

Babers struggled against rival Pitt during his time at Syracuse, going 2-5 and losing all three games in Pittsburgh. He won the first matchup in 2017 and then at Yankee Stadium on Nov. 11. He would serve his final game as head coach on the road vs. Georgia Tech on Saturday, losing 31-22.

Some of the names that ESPN’s Pete Thamel suggested that may take the Syracuse job includes Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, James Madison head coach Curt Cignetti, brother of Pitt offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr., as well as former Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall.