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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, how did we go from a defense that was chasing Western Michigan players into the end zone to a defense that wouldn’t allow Florida State to get going?”
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.)
Matt said that enthusiasm for the football team is building and Coach said he was seeing more orange and blue everywhere.
On this week’s preparation: “We need to get back to basics, stay focused and play one game at a time.” (At least we’re back to the basic clichés- but that’s why they are clichés. They’re true.) “If focused we might be OK when all is said and done.”
On Joe Morris: “I’ve met Jim Brown and even at his age he’s still a huge guy. I’ve met Floyd Little and Rob Konrad. Little Joe is not that big – but he’s strong. Anytime you can get someone who runs over the Dallas Cowboys- Hooray!”
He mentioned that the UCONN coaches will be really motivated because four of them have SU connections. Coach said he had read the newspaper article on Randy Edsall with interest.
Liam in Pompey congratulated the coach on the big win and praised his ability to get players excited with those locker room speeches. He invited him to comment on the Florida State and Connecticut games. Coach said that he’d coached against Randy Edsall when Bowling Green played Maryland, (and won 48-27), and he has a great deal of respect for Coach Edsall and what he’s accomplished. Their quarterback, David Pindell, “reminds me of Eric Dungey. He throws velocity and touch and can out-run defensive backs. Kevin Mensah had 560 yards rushing last year and is already halfway there. (296 yards in 55 carries)….in the spread, you never know what is going to happen.
They asked two trivia questions: (1) Whose SU rushing record did Joe Morris break? and (2) What was the #1 song on the billboard charts when the Dome opened on September 20, 1980.
I called in my question and invited them to ask Coach McCloud the same things. HCDB: “We played a lot more assignment football and played it correctly. Also, we didn’t miss tackles. Runners rarely break through the line untouched just because of the blocking. Somebody has to make a mistake. The ball was getting thrown over our heads – we needed to be playing deeper. Also, and this might seem like a strange thing to say, but I think the Western Michigan offensive line was better than the Florida State offensive line.”
Matt noted that Connecticut was leading the country in 10+, 20+ and 30+ yard plays given up but that Syracuse was tied for the lead in 50+ yard plays given up: 5, four against Western Michigan and one against Wagner.
A caller whose name I didn’t get wanted to know why Florida State was cramping up and we weren’t. Coach says it wasn’t all that bad at the Dome- more like 80 degrees rather than 100. He has his team drink a carton of milk and then fill it with water and drink that. “Then relieve yourself and if it doesn’t come out looking like lemonade, you are properly hydrated.” Matt said that the ‘cramp count’ was FSU 5, SU 0. Dino: And they’re from Florida, where it’s really hot….”
A caller named Joe wanted to know how much Dino recruits Ohio kids, since he coached at Bowling Green. DB: “It’s a long drive. We recruit the Cleveland area but Cincinnati not so much unless we have contacts with someone there. It’s not a big launching pad for us.” Matt pointed out that that’s a big area of Louisville and that Boston College some has a pipeline to the Cincinnati area.
Matt asked Coach to describe how he recruited Jarveon Howard, commenting that he didn’t think SU had ever gotten a player from Mississippi before. “We were looking for running backs. We started locally and worked our way out not liking what we were seeing until we saw Jarveon. We contacted him and visited him. He had his own hand-made barbell set in his front yard- he couldn’t afford to buy one. He lifted 375 three times before he ever got in our weight room. I’d like to be able to compare him to Joe Morris when Joe came here. Joe was very strong.” Matt: “Joe Morris was the Massachusetts state sprinting champion.” DB: “Oh. Jarveon couldn’t do that.”
Dino gave us this inside information: “When a player wants to come out of the game, he can. It’s up to him to make sure his replacement gets in there and he doesn’t have to wait for a coach to tell him to get back in the game- he can put himself in. Just don’t upset tempo or somebody will be mad at you.”
“Opening on the road against Western Michigan was difficult but if you don’t stub your toe and now you have three straight home games so you have a chance to get off to a fantastic start.”
John in Baltimore lauded our special teams- the best since the 90’s. Then he asked if there was any thought about having Dungey sit out the Connecticut game. Also- should we use the spread at the goal line instead of the jumbo package? Dino: “When you bring everybody in you leave the defenders furthest away from the ball unblocked. The spread doesn’t thin the box that much. And if you run, you have to run the quarterback. We showed what we could do running the quarterback in the first game. We wanted to save the owies so our quarterback could be a good thrower as well as a runner.”
When Andre Szymt finally missed a field goal, Coach, told him “You’re not perfect but don’t miss again.” He feels that Sterling Hofrichter is an NFL class punter and could have a long career there. “I’ve coached 3-4 of those guys.” Matt Keller for the first time snapped one high. Holder Nolan Cooney saved the play and Keller “tried to hide among the other players”. Coach found him and Keller said “I hoped you wouldn’t notice”. Dino responded, “you’re crazy”. (I guess it’s not just kickers who are crazy.)
Matt asked coach to describe how his front four was playing. “They are all playing well. We have that manchild in the middle. Josh Black has played well. Alton Robinson does more than the stats say. Not all his hits on the quarterback are counted. And it’s great to have Kendall Coleman back from injury. It’s really nice to get a rush with 4 guys.” Matt said that Syracuse was #2 in the country in 3rd down defense and has more interceptions than in all of last season, (6 to 4). But we had good numbers this time last year and couldn’t sustain it. DB: “Last year, we had major injuries, especially on the back end. You can survive that if you have good depth in the unit where the injuries occur.”
Freshman receiver Ed Hendrix, who had been considered by many the best of the new receivers, has bene shut down for the year due to a leg injury. “He’s going to be a good player. He’s got a lot to learn. I told him to take care of the academics and we’ll see you in January.”
Mary in Tampa noted we were using starting players on special teams. Kielan Whitner, Ravian Pierce and Jamal Custis were mentioned. Was it due to a lack of depth or does the coach just want his best players out on the field? Coach it was both those things and something else you might not think of. “Whitner, Pierce and Custis are all seniors. And, if they get on a pro roster but aren’t drafted in the first two rounds, they are going to be asked to play special teams in the pros and they will need training and experience doing so.”
Coach Kim McCloud, who is an “Assistant Head Coach” and also coaches the defensive backs. Matt asked him how things were going and he said “So far so good, except for one bad quarter. When you are so far in front, the only way to lose is big plays. You have to keep them in front of you. We have done a better job since.” What went wrong in Kalamazoo? “Guys got greedy. Eyes were not looking at the right place.”
He discussed the young talent at D-back: Cisco, Williams, Melifonwu and Coley. “They will contribute more and more as we go along”. Chris Fredrick “made a great interception”. Scoop Bradshaw is “athletic, very quick and heady. He’s our most consistent corner. He plays the weakside and sees the most speed.” (Bradshaw is consistent, in a way, IMO.)
Connecticut’s receivers include “Hergy (Malaya), is an explosive, bigger (6-1 208) receiver. Kyle Buss plays the inside slot and gets a lot of play-action.”
Coach McCloud played in the CFL at Saskatchewan. “I get cold just thinking about it.”
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, how did we go from a defense that was chasing Western Michigan players into the end zone to a defense that wouldn’t allow Florida State to get going?”
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.)
Matt said that enthusiasm for the football team is building and Coach said he was seeing more orange and blue everywhere.
On this week’s preparation: “We need to get back to basics, stay focused and play one game at a time.” (At least we’re back to the basic clichés- but that’s why they are clichés. They’re true.) “If focused we might be OK when all is said and done.”
On Joe Morris: “I’ve met Jim Brown and even at his age he’s still a huge guy. I’ve met Floyd Little and Rob Konrad. Little Joe is not that big – but he’s strong. Anytime you can get someone who runs over the Dallas Cowboys- Hooray!”
He mentioned that the UCONN coaches will be really motivated because four of them have SU connections. Coach said he had read the newspaper article on Randy Edsall with interest.
Liam in Pompey congratulated the coach on the big win and praised his ability to get players excited with those locker room speeches. He invited him to comment on the Florida State and Connecticut games. Coach said that he’d coached against Randy Edsall when Bowling Green played Maryland, (and won 48-27), and he has a great deal of respect for Coach Edsall and what he’s accomplished. Their quarterback, David Pindell, “reminds me of Eric Dungey. He throws velocity and touch and can out-run defensive backs. Kevin Mensah had 560 yards rushing last year and is already halfway there. (296 yards in 55 carries)….in the spread, you never know what is going to happen.
They asked two trivia questions: (1) Whose SU rushing record did Joe Morris break? and (2) What was the #1 song on the billboard charts when the Dome opened on September 20, 1980.
I called in my question and invited them to ask Coach McCloud the same things. HCDB: “We played a lot more assignment football and played it correctly. Also, we didn’t miss tackles. Runners rarely break through the line untouched just because of the blocking. Somebody has to make a mistake. The ball was getting thrown over our heads – we needed to be playing deeper. Also, and this might seem like a strange thing to say, but I think the Western Michigan offensive line was better than the Florida State offensive line.”
Matt noted that Connecticut was leading the country in 10+, 20+ and 30+ yard plays given up but that Syracuse was tied for the lead in 50+ yard plays given up: 5, four against Western Michigan and one against Wagner.
A caller whose name I didn’t get wanted to know why Florida State was cramping up and we weren’t. Coach says it wasn’t all that bad at the Dome- more like 80 degrees rather than 100. He has his team drink a carton of milk and then fill it with water and drink that. “Then relieve yourself and if it doesn’t come out looking like lemonade, you are properly hydrated.” Matt said that the ‘cramp count’ was FSU 5, SU 0. Dino: And they’re from Florida, where it’s really hot….”
A caller named Joe wanted to know how much Dino recruits Ohio kids, since he coached at Bowling Green. DB: “It’s a long drive. We recruit the Cleveland area but Cincinnati not so much unless we have contacts with someone there. It’s not a big launching pad for us.” Matt pointed out that that’s a big area of Louisville and that Boston College some has a pipeline to the Cincinnati area.
Matt asked Coach to describe how he recruited Jarveon Howard, commenting that he didn’t think SU had ever gotten a player from Mississippi before. “We were looking for running backs. We started locally and worked our way out not liking what we were seeing until we saw Jarveon. We contacted him and visited him. He had his own hand-made barbell set in his front yard- he couldn’t afford to buy one. He lifted 375 three times before he ever got in our weight room. I’d like to be able to compare him to Joe Morris when Joe came here. Joe was very strong.” Matt: “Joe Morris was the Massachusetts state sprinting champion.” DB: “Oh. Jarveon couldn’t do that.”
Dino gave us this inside information: “When a player wants to come out of the game, he can. It’s up to him to make sure his replacement gets in there and he doesn’t have to wait for a coach to tell him to get back in the game- he can put himself in. Just don’t upset tempo or somebody will be mad at you.”
“Opening on the road against Western Michigan was difficult but if you don’t stub your toe and now you have three straight home games so you have a chance to get off to a fantastic start.”
John in Baltimore lauded our special teams- the best since the 90’s. Then he asked if there was any thought about having Dungey sit out the Connecticut game. Also- should we use the spread at the goal line instead of the jumbo package? Dino: “When you bring everybody in you leave the defenders furthest away from the ball unblocked. The spread doesn’t thin the box that much. And if you run, you have to run the quarterback. We showed what we could do running the quarterback in the first game. We wanted to save the owies so our quarterback could be a good thrower as well as a runner.”
When Andre Szymt finally missed a field goal, Coach, told him “You’re not perfect but don’t miss again.” He feels that Sterling Hofrichter is an NFL class punter and could have a long career there. “I’ve coached 3-4 of those guys.” Matt Keller for the first time snapped one high. Holder Nolan Cooney saved the play and Keller “tried to hide among the other players”. Coach found him and Keller said “I hoped you wouldn’t notice”. Dino responded, “you’re crazy”. (I guess it’s not just kickers who are crazy.)
Matt asked coach to describe how his front four was playing. “They are all playing well. We have that manchild in the middle. Josh Black has played well. Alton Robinson does more than the stats say. Not all his hits on the quarterback are counted. And it’s great to have Kendall Coleman back from injury. It’s really nice to get a rush with 4 guys.” Matt said that Syracuse was #2 in the country in 3rd down defense and has more interceptions than in all of last season, (6 to 4). But we had good numbers this time last year and couldn’t sustain it. DB: “Last year, we had major injuries, especially on the back end. You can survive that if you have good depth in the unit where the injuries occur.”
Freshman receiver Ed Hendrix, who had been considered by many the best of the new receivers, has bene shut down for the year due to a leg injury. “He’s going to be a good player. He’s got a lot to learn. I told him to take care of the academics and we’ll see you in January.”
Mary in Tampa noted we were using starting players on special teams. Kielan Whitner, Ravian Pierce and Jamal Custis were mentioned. Was it due to a lack of depth or does the coach just want his best players out on the field? Coach it was both those things and something else you might not think of. “Whitner, Pierce and Custis are all seniors. And, if they get on a pro roster but aren’t drafted in the first two rounds, they are going to be asked to play special teams in the pros and they will need training and experience doing so.”
Coach Kim McCloud, who is an “Assistant Head Coach” and also coaches the defensive backs. Matt asked him how things were going and he said “So far so good, except for one bad quarter. When you are so far in front, the only way to lose is big plays. You have to keep them in front of you. We have done a better job since.” What went wrong in Kalamazoo? “Guys got greedy. Eyes were not looking at the right place.”
He discussed the young talent at D-back: Cisco, Williams, Melifonwu and Coley. “They will contribute more and more as we go along”. Chris Fredrick “made a great interception”. Scoop Bradshaw is “athletic, very quick and heady. He’s our most consistent corner. He plays the weakside and sees the most speed.” (Bradshaw is consistent, in a way, IMO.)
Connecticut’s receivers include “Hergy (Malaya), is an explosive, bigger (6-1 208) receiver. Kyle Buss plays the inside slot and gets a lot of play-action.”
Coach McCloud played in the CFL at Saskatchewan. “I get cold just thinking about it.”
