The maturation of Dino Babers as a Head Coach

[orangepassion]

It's taken longer than most of us have wanted, I think Dino has gradually matured as a head coach.
This started with:

• Making the decision to fire his DC midseason and bring in a new Defense.
• Letting go of some of his assistants who were underperforming (Kim McCloud, looking at you).
• Bringing in another QB to immediately compete (First Cade Fortin, then Shrader)
• Not accept penalties. I have heard him give excuses for penalties for years-he still does at times. But for the first time, after the Albany game, it appears he started to be less accepting of it. It has been much better the last couple of games.
• Having Shrader start. I don't know about you, but I was shocked. I'm sure it was very difficult for him, because I think he felt very loyal to TD.
• Not putting up any more with me-first players. It might be a coincidence, but Howard and Taj putting their name in the portal after me-first conduct makes me think he's finally realized he can't let this type of behavior go on.

Next things to work on:

• Finding a way to get your best young Offensive players on the field. The Defensive coaches have done it over the years-he needs to find a way to work some of them in.
• End of half/game clock management. Has been a problem for years.
• Get back some of his offensive swagger

 

[elimunelson]

It's taken longer than most of us have wanted, I think Dino has gradually matured as a head coach.
This started with:

• Making the decision to fire his DC midseason and bring in a new Defense.
• The next was letting go of some of his assistants who were underperforming (Kim McCloud, looking at you).
• Bringing in another QB to immediately compete (First Cade Fortin, then Shrader)
• Not accept penalties. I have heard him give excuses for penalties for years-he still does at times. But for the first time, after the Albany game, it appears he started to be less accepting of it
• Having Shrader start. I don't know about you, but I was shocked. I'm sure it was very difficult for him, because I think he felt very loyal to TD.
• Not putting up any more with me-first players. It might be a coincidence, but Howard and Taj putting their name in the portal after me-first conduct makes me think he's finally realized he can't let this type of behavior go on.

Next things to work on:

• Finding a way to get your best young Offensive players on the field. The Defensive coaches have done it over the years-he needs to find a way to work some of them in.
• End of half/game clock management. Has been a problem for years.
• Get back some of his offensive swagger

We're all pulling for him. Obviously. I always welcome change if change is needed. The football has not performed well at all. It's actually been very bad. I hold Dino accountable. Result oriented biz and his results stink. now the culture may also rot and he's figuring that out and doing something about it. That's fantastic news. I really hope it pays off and we find 3 wins because that'll be on Dino righting the ship this year.

 

[GoSU96]

There is coaching going on, the penalty explosion was been snuffed out.

there weren’t any snap issues that I saw vs FSU

for better or worse he’s made a radical change to play complimentary football and pick the qb that fits a slow down run heavy style.

the erosion in pass production is very concerning

 

[upperdeck]

The fact that we went for 4th down is the first sign of trust in the oline again.. when we start making it we will have something.

 

[tipphill]

dino is not good game day coach. period. he has cost us dearly with poor recruiting, poor decision making on game day, as well being too stubborn. i believe he is in over head. i prefer he says nothing. do i want him to succeed???absolutely---if not wildhack needs to take action. PLEASE hire a recruiter, i don't care if he or she can coach---we need a coach mac type for that job ---- gawd love ya.

 

[upperdeck]

There is coaching going on, the penalty explosion was been snuffed out.

there weren’t any snap issues that I saw vs FSU

for better or worse he’s made a radical change to play complimentary football and pick the qb that fits a slow down run heavy style.

the erosion in pass production is very concerning

i think passing gets better as we evolve in what works. cant make all the same throws now so thats an adjustment that will only get better and we need a TE..

 

[ForeverOrange]

dino is not good game day coach. period. he has cost us dearly with poor recruiting, poor decision making on game day, as well being too stubborn. i believe he is in over head. i prefer he says nothing. do i want him to succeed???absolutely---if not wildhack needs to take action. PLEASE hire a recruiter, i don't care if he or she can coach---we need a coach mac type for that job ---- gawd love ya.

I can agree with the first sentence. I don't agree he is in over his head though. He has had some really good wins over teams that he had no business beating. And as far as recruiting, I think it's time to let that pipe dream go. Every coach we get seems to have a problem with recruiting. Sometimes you have to look in the mirror and face the facts, we're just not that attractive to big time recruits. I think Dino and staff has done an excellent job identifying 3-star talent to be playmakers here. This is where we have to stay consistently good.

 

[syrBossHogg]

Clock management is still his biggest weakness, want to see him get better at that. And I'm not sure I'm ready to call the penalty issue fixed since it's only been two games, but I hope the lack of flags continues.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

dino is not good game day coach. period. he has cost us dearly with poor recruiting, poor decision making on game day, as well being too stubborn. i believe he is in over head. i prefer he says nothing. do i want him to succeed???absolutely---if not wildhack needs to take action. PLEASE hire a recruiter, i don't care if he or she can coach---we need a coach mac type for that job ---- gawd love ya.

That was 35 years ago. Times have changed. Ask Nebraska

 

[bigmike]

I felt during the FSU game the team displayed tremendous discipline. Several times FSU players shoved Syracuse players at the end of plays, or slightly after the whistle, in what I believe were attempts to draw personal foul infractions. To the team’s credit they did not bite a single time.

 

[Cuseregular]

That was 35 years ago. Times have changed. Ask Nebraska

Eggxactly

 

[orangepassion]

I can agree with the first sentence. I don't agree he is in over his head though. He has had some really good wins over teams that he had no business beating. And as far as recruiting, I think it's time to let that pipe dream go. Every coach we get seems to have a problem with recruiting. Sometimes you have to look in the mirror and face the facts, we're just not that attractive to big time recruits. I think Dino and staff has done an excellent job identifying 3-star talent to be playmakers here. This is where we have to stay consistently good.

I think it depends on the position. We've recruited DB, LB, and RB well. We've struggled more with the other positions. I think White coming on to help Monroe and Ferri was helpful for the current Freshman class, which I think is a very strong one. Looking forward, it'll be more difficult to recruit as long as there's question marks to the HC situation.

 

[Pyle]

I'm not saying anything ground breaking here. Changing coaches sucks. I started following the Lions in 1991. My family followed them before that but that's when i started really paying attention. That was the Wayne Fontes Era. Since then I've been treated to 9 different head coaches(not counting interims, just actual hires). With each one of them came all the talk. With each one of them except Caldwell(Schwartz gets a mini-pass) came the double-digit losses. Every 3-4 years, we get the hype, we get the promises, we get the bad pressers, we get the losses. The new savior is 0-4 and looks like he can't coach his way out of a flag game. I'm at the point even if Dino doesn't get to 6 this year, unless the team implodes I'm already seeing improvement over the past two seasons and that's enough not to spin the freaking roulette wheel again.

 

[Trueblue25]

Nobody should be rooting for, or want, Dino to fail.

Dino failing is awful for Syracuse football.

I agree I do see improvements as well and I hope it continues. Id love for this to work.

 

[AngryOtto]

I do not think anyone wants DB to fail. He has made some big changes. There are still some issues, clock management being the big one. If he forms the O around GS skill set we could finally start seeing a real improvement in the O.

 

[javadoc]

It's taken longer than most of us have wanted, I think Dino has gradually matured as a head coach.
This started with:

• Making the decision to fire his DC midseason and bring in a new Defense.
• Letting go of some of his assistants who were underperforming (Kim McCloud, looking at you).
• Bringing in another QB to immediately compete (First Cade Fortin, then Shrader)
• Not accept penalties. I have heard him give excuses for penalties for years-he still does at times. But for the first time, after the Albany game, it appears he started to be less accepting of it. It has been much better the last couple of games.
• Having Shrader start. I don't know about you, but I was shocked. I'm sure it was very difficult for him, because I think he felt very loyal to TD.
• Not putting up any more with me-first players. It might be a coincidence, but Howard and Taj putting their name in the portal after me-first conduct makes me think he's finally realized he can't let this type of behavior go on.

Next things to work on:

• Finding a way to get your best young Offensive players on the field. The Defensive coaches have done it over the years-he needs to find a way to work some of them in.
• End of half/game clock management. Has been a problem for years.
• Get back some of his offensive swagger

I like, well said.

Biggest problem, IMO, was "sticking by certain people too long" in multiple roles.

I would add to your excellent list, to look outside his coaching-comfort-security-blanket for offensive input.

I would also find a coach to replace with a known, ace recruiter. But please, not Schmidt.

 

[tipphill]

That was 35 years ago. Times have changed. Ask Nebraska

i was referring to recruiting. he could adjust to any environment----he was a very likable and political guy.

 

[HSPORANGE]

i was referring to recruiting. he could adjust to any environment----he was a very likable and political guy.

Just like he said that was 35 years ago...kids and landscapes have changed.

 

[kingtidge]

No one is perfect and Dino and clocks have issues.

Also, for the life of me, I don't understand how or why he retained Gilbert after last season.

 

[Shrmdougluvr]

He's a 60-year-old man who has been a head coach for about a decade, and a coach for 37 years. Are we really looking for him to "mature" at this point? Seems to me that he is fully-realized. But, a wise man football coach once said, "It is better to be green and growing than red and rotten."

Also, found it interesting that he was a special teams coordinator at Baylor.

 

[SUFan44]

I honestly think recruiting, outside the QB position, is OK. Not great, but OK.

Defensively we have the horses to compete. Unfortunately, games are decided on the offensive end these days.

Need to figure out what we are as an offensive football team and go for it. I give credit to Babers for changing his approach based on personnel - this is clearly not the style he is used to playing.

But what happened to Orange Is The New Fast? Isn't that was he was hired for?

 

[CanadianSU]

The thing with Dino is that his in game management has always been relatively suspect yet he still had that huge season.

 

[tipphill]

Just like he said that was 35 years ago...kids and landscapes have changed.

just like i said mac could adjust to the circumstances --l

 

[tipphill]

The thing with Dino is that his in game management has always been relatively suspect yet he still had that huge season.

emphasis on huge(dungey) season

 

[cusefan88]

He needs to sit down and watch his players play Madden.