SWC75
Bored Historian
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 34,513
- Like
- 67,192
Coach Babers’s first show this year show will be Wednesday night at 7PM because the first game is Friday, (the show will normally be two days before the next game). The show will originate from PressRoom Pub, located at 220 Herald Place in Syracuse's historic Herald Square, each week this season.
This article contains the schedule:
AmeriCU Dino Babers Show Moves to PressRoom Pub - Syracuse University Athletics
You can also listen to the show live each week on the Syracuse IMG Sports Network and Cuse.com. Wednesday's show will be on 99.1 FM and 97.7 FM, as well. The show will regularly air on 99.5FM (Syracuse) 99.1 FM (Utica) and 1200 AM.”
You can also get it on: Listen to The Jim Bohannon Show on WGVA on TuneIn
There hasn’t been any change in the phone numbers, which last year were 315-424-8599 (local) or 1-888-746-2873. You can call to ask questions or submit them via Twitter at: Syracuse IMG Sports (@CuseIMG) | Twitter
Or through Cuse.com, (the SU Athletic website):
Syracuse University
You can (or could last year, anyway), listen to a podcast of the show, probably the next day, at: Search results for babers | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn
I’ve been asked to continue doing the summaries, even by people who listen to the podcasts. I may focus on the major points, rather than trying to record everything.
My Question(s)
“Coach, in the last four years we are a combined 14-18 entering November. There were some encouraging performances in both the wins and losses but in each year we collapsed in November, going a combined 1-15. The issue was obviously depth. We’ve had another recruiting class. The returning players have had another year in your program. Do we now have enough depth to compete well for the full 12 games? “
The Show
(I sometimes re-arrange the comments so that statements made on the same subject are reported together, even if they came at different points of the show.)
Unlike last year I wasn’t playing miniature golf when I realized that, since the game was on Friday, the show would be on Wednesday. So I was there from the beginning of the show. Unfortunately, it took me 15+ minute to get through. At both numbers I would hear silence for a minute, then, finally a busy signal. Once I got a recording that my call could not be completed. I finally got through. But because I was focusing on getting through, (I had to turn the radio down when I tried) my notes on the early part of the show are a bit sketchy.
Matt opened by saying that the team had put in a lot of work and now we get to see how it all works out. Dino said they’d had “a lot of injuries but no big ones that will last all fall”. Matt wondered what he’s said to the team about opening on the road for the first time in Dino’s tenure. This is Coach’s third trip there, including his first ever game at Eastern Illinois. (He lost 21-52 on that occasion and won there three years later, with Bowling Green 41-17). “It’s a sunken bowl with an echo to it- a hostile environment. It will be a tougher game than I’d normally like. Their seniors have never had a losing season and they were in the Cotton Bowl….But sometimes you can get galvanized more on the road. We could have a solid start without distractions. Just us- Ohana- vs. the world.”
Was there a quarterback controversy? I didn’t get the full answer to this but it ended with “if people can’t sustain consistency, they deserve to be challenged”. I took that as a general statement that doesn’t necessarily mean that happened in this case.
Robert called in to ask about our bowl chances. DB: “I hope we take every week for what it is.”
Matt pointed out that WMU had had more NFL draft picks than we’ve had in recent years. DB: “They’ve had more talent than we’ve basically had.”
I finally got through to ask my question. DB: “We still need to get a little bit lucky in a couple areas. Our offensive and defensive lines have enough depth and they will carry the team…I really like our offensive line. We consider Sam Heckel, Evan Adams, Koda Martin, (didn’t quite get the fourth name) co-starters…. Those guys can block out the sun. We have good back-ups and can go 7-8 deep. We are drastically trying to make this no longer an issue. In about 1.5 years, this issue will not come up again.” (Again, his famous specificity. Remember when he said our players would ‘get’ this offense between the 4th and 6 games of the second season? We scored 26, 25 and 27 points in those games.) I told Coach that I would try to come up with a different question by then. He laughed.
Matt went over some of the younger players we have in the receiving corps and the defensive backfield, who said could have an immediate impact: Queeley, Hendrix, Sharod Johnson; Cisco, Williams, Melifonwu, Coley. Babers: “They need to seize the opportunity. Some young kids will have to play. Somebody will do something exciting and be a name here for a long time to come….We have some talented, talent defensive backs. Two freshmen are right there alongside guys who have been playing here for years. It will be a young, talented rotation.”
Matt said that if we can get explosive or even average runs from the running game, it would really get the offense going.
Kevin through a note at the restaurant said he loved the video of Kyle Kleinberg being told he’d been given a scholarship. Dino: “Scholarships have immense value. Kyle plays a lot of position: tight end, fullback, H-back, special teams, whatever we need. He never complains. I wish I could give one to everyone but I can’t.” he added that the turn-around here is slowed by two things: they want to give every an opportunity to get a degree see they don’t take scholarships away before players graduate. Other schools, (clearly he meant state schools but he did not make that distinction), can have large numbers of what Matt called “stud walk-ons”, but we can’t. Tom Osborne at Nebraska used to have 170 players on his roster. His walk-ons would have been scholarship players elsewhere. They all grew up wanting to play for Nebraska. With our type of (private) school, not that many parents can afford the tuition. Coach said we’ve been playing schools that had “a lot more football players”. Future schedules will have more teams “We can compete on equal terms with”.
Trivia Question: Western Michigan is in Kalamazoo. What MLB star came from there?
Dino described the Broncos: “Their coaches play to their personnel, which is to their credit. (They use schemes based on the personnel they have). They run zones, an outside zone and an inside zone. (Jamauri) Bogan is a tough runner. (LeVante) Bellamy ran a 4.33 laser, (the timing device, not him – or maybe both). They throw 25-30 times a game, mostly high percentage throws: play action, third down, sting you if you’ve got too many men in the box. “
“They have had injuries to the defensive line and their backfield. Their linebackers are young. They run the same style of defense as Michigan State, Pittsburgh and the new DC at Florida State. Theya re man-to-man on the outside, 7-9 guys in the box and exotic blitzes on third and long. It’s a style I’m used to – we used it where I played in college, (Hawaii).
Matt Park, knowing that FSU was our third opponent, said “We’d better get used to early conference games, even openers, in the future.
Dino’s final word: “We feel like we’re better and now we want to prove it.”
DC Brian Ward came on for the final few minutes: “We are ready to hit somebody else. Western Michigan has 2 of their top three rushers back. Bellamy had 100 yards on 7 carries in last year’s opener vs. USC, (actually 98 in 9 carries but still pretty darn good). Bogan is tough. Their quarterback started 7 games and they were 1-3 in the games without him. They stretch the field with one guy: (D’Wayne) Eskridge. We need to keep him in front of us.”
“The most consistent guys will start, week to week. We will lean heavily on the most experienced guys, (he mentioned several but the only one I got in my scribbled notes was Shy Cullen). I like our chances. I like how we match up against them.”
This article contains the schedule:
AmeriCU Dino Babers Show Moves to PressRoom Pub - Syracuse University Athletics
You can also listen to the show live each week on the Syracuse IMG Sports Network and Cuse.com. Wednesday's show will be on 99.1 FM and 97.7 FM, as well. The show will regularly air on 99.5FM (Syracuse) 99.1 FM (Utica) and 1200 AM.”
You can also get it on: Listen to The Jim Bohannon Show on WGVA on TuneIn
There hasn’t been any change in the phone numbers, which last year were 315-424-8599 (local) or 1-888-746-2873. You can call to ask questions or submit them via Twitter at: Syracuse IMG Sports (@CuseIMG) | Twitter
Or through Cuse.com, (the SU Athletic website):
Syracuse University
You can (or could last year, anyway), listen to a podcast of the show, probably the next day, at: Search results for babers | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn
I’ve been asked to continue doing the summaries, even by people who listen to the podcasts. I may focus on the major points, rather than trying to record everything.
My Question(s)
“Coach, in the last four years we are a combined 14-18 entering November. There were some encouraging performances in both the wins and losses but in each year we collapsed in November, going a combined 1-15. The issue was obviously depth. We’ve had another recruiting class. The returning players have had another year in your program. Do we now have enough depth to compete well for the full 12 games? “
The Show
(I sometimes re-arrange the comments so that statements made on the same subject are reported together, even if they came at different points of the show.)
Unlike last year I wasn’t playing miniature golf when I realized that, since the game was on Friday, the show would be on Wednesday. So I was there from the beginning of the show. Unfortunately, it took me 15+ minute to get through. At both numbers I would hear silence for a minute, then, finally a busy signal. Once I got a recording that my call could not be completed. I finally got through. But because I was focusing on getting through, (I had to turn the radio down when I tried) my notes on the early part of the show are a bit sketchy.
Matt opened by saying that the team had put in a lot of work and now we get to see how it all works out. Dino said they’d had “a lot of injuries but no big ones that will last all fall”. Matt wondered what he’s said to the team about opening on the road for the first time in Dino’s tenure. This is Coach’s third trip there, including his first ever game at Eastern Illinois. (He lost 21-52 on that occasion and won there three years later, with Bowling Green 41-17). “It’s a sunken bowl with an echo to it- a hostile environment. It will be a tougher game than I’d normally like. Their seniors have never had a losing season and they were in the Cotton Bowl….But sometimes you can get galvanized more on the road. We could have a solid start without distractions. Just us- Ohana- vs. the world.”
Was there a quarterback controversy? I didn’t get the full answer to this but it ended with “if people can’t sustain consistency, they deserve to be challenged”. I took that as a general statement that doesn’t necessarily mean that happened in this case.
Robert called in to ask about our bowl chances. DB: “I hope we take every week for what it is.”
Matt pointed out that WMU had had more NFL draft picks than we’ve had in recent years. DB: “They’ve had more talent than we’ve basically had.”
I finally got through to ask my question. DB: “We still need to get a little bit lucky in a couple areas. Our offensive and defensive lines have enough depth and they will carry the team…I really like our offensive line. We consider Sam Heckel, Evan Adams, Koda Martin, (didn’t quite get the fourth name) co-starters…. Those guys can block out the sun. We have good back-ups and can go 7-8 deep. We are drastically trying to make this no longer an issue. In about 1.5 years, this issue will not come up again.” (Again, his famous specificity. Remember when he said our players would ‘get’ this offense between the 4th and 6 games of the second season? We scored 26, 25 and 27 points in those games.) I told Coach that I would try to come up with a different question by then. He laughed.
Matt went over some of the younger players we have in the receiving corps and the defensive backfield, who said could have an immediate impact: Queeley, Hendrix, Sharod Johnson; Cisco, Williams, Melifonwu, Coley. Babers: “They need to seize the opportunity. Some young kids will have to play. Somebody will do something exciting and be a name here for a long time to come….We have some talented, talent defensive backs. Two freshmen are right there alongside guys who have been playing here for years. It will be a young, talented rotation.”
Matt said that if we can get explosive or even average runs from the running game, it would really get the offense going.
Kevin through a note at the restaurant said he loved the video of Kyle Kleinberg being told he’d been given a scholarship. Dino: “Scholarships have immense value. Kyle plays a lot of position: tight end, fullback, H-back, special teams, whatever we need. He never complains. I wish I could give one to everyone but I can’t.” he added that the turn-around here is slowed by two things: they want to give every an opportunity to get a degree see they don’t take scholarships away before players graduate. Other schools, (clearly he meant state schools but he did not make that distinction), can have large numbers of what Matt called “stud walk-ons”, but we can’t. Tom Osborne at Nebraska used to have 170 players on his roster. His walk-ons would have been scholarship players elsewhere. They all grew up wanting to play for Nebraska. With our type of (private) school, not that many parents can afford the tuition. Coach said we’ve been playing schools that had “a lot more football players”. Future schedules will have more teams “We can compete on equal terms with”.
Trivia Question: Western Michigan is in Kalamazoo. What MLB star came from there?
Dino described the Broncos: “Their coaches play to their personnel, which is to their credit. (They use schemes based on the personnel they have). They run zones, an outside zone and an inside zone. (Jamauri) Bogan is a tough runner. (LeVante) Bellamy ran a 4.33 laser, (the timing device, not him – or maybe both). They throw 25-30 times a game, mostly high percentage throws: play action, third down, sting you if you’ve got too many men in the box. “
“They have had injuries to the defensive line and their backfield. Their linebackers are young. They run the same style of defense as Michigan State, Pittsburgh and the new DC at Florida State. Theya re man-to-man on the outside, 7-9 guys in the box and exotic blitzes on third and long. It’s a style I’m used to – we used it where I played in college, (Hawaii).
Matt Park, knowing that FSU was our third opponent, said “We’d better get used to early conference games, even openers, in the future.
Dino’s final word: “We feel like we’re better and now we want to prove it.”
DC Brian Ward came on for the final few minutes: “We are ready to hit somebody else. Western Michigan has 2 of their top three rushers back. Bellamy had 100 yards on 7 carries in last year’s opener vs. USC, (actually 98 in 9 carries but still pretty darn good). Bogan is tough. Their quarterback started 7 games and they were 1-3 in the games without him. They stretch the field with one guy: (D’Wayne) Eskridge. We need to keep him in front of us.”
“The most consistent guys will start, week to week. We will lean heavily on the most experienced guys, (he mentioned several but the only one I got in my scribbled notes was Shy Cullen). I like our chances. I like how we match up against them.”
