Syracuse Football: Dino Babers won’t lose George Munger award to Dabo

Syracuse football head coach Dino Babers has received a ton of accolades for his 2018 season, but one coach continues to intercept his praise.

A question was asked earlier this season, when will Syracuse football head coach Dino Babers finally get the praise he deserves?

Since that point:

• Babers was robbed of ‘ACC Coach of the Year’
• A few days later he subsequently received half of the prestigious ‘ACC Co-Coach of the Year’ by the Associated Press.
• Dino was also named a finalist for the Dodd trophy, “which recognizes coaches of programs that excel in scholarship, leadership and integrity, both on and off the field” per official press release.

Now Dino Babers is receiving another national honor. Babers has been elected as one of six finalists for the George Munger Coach of the Year award:

"“Babers joins Bill Clark (UAB), Brian Kelly (Notre Dame), Mike Leach (Washington, State), Jeff Monken (Army West Point) and Nick Saban (Alabama) as finalists for the award, which is presented by the Maxwell Football Club.”"

At least this time he won’t lose this award to Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney. Swinney won the ACC Coach of the Year award from the conference and earned half of the honor from the Associated Press.

While there are plenty of worthy candidates on this latest award list, it’s finally time for Babers to earn his due for the job he did in 2018.

This can’t be said enough times, Syracuse was projected to finish last in the ACC Atlantic, they ended up finishing second behind Clemson (and nearly beat the Tigers).

The Orange were ranked (and are still ranked) in the top 25 for the first time in over 17 years. Syracuse was ranked in the College Football Playoff (all six different versions) throughout the season.

Plus here are some other interesting nuggets from this Syracuse  season from the official press release:

"“Syracuse boasts one of the most opportunistic defenses and complete special teams units in the country. The Orange are in the top 10 nationally in third-down defense (6th – .281), fumbles recovered (t-3rd – 13), interceptions (t-5th – 17), turnover margin (t-3rd – +1.17) and turnovers gained (t-1st – 30). In ESPN’s special teams efficiency ratings, Syracuse is tied for sixth nationally and ranks second among Power-Five teams with mark of 68.8.Offensively, Syracuse is second in the ACC in scoring offense (40.8) and third in total offense (468.8). The Orange have scored at least 50 points a school-record five times, and have scored 40+ points in eight of their 12 regular-season contests.”"

On top of all that, Syracuse earned a place in the Camping World Bowl which annually is awarded to the second best team in the ACC.

Syracuse has five more wins in 2018 then they had in 2017, with a chance for a 10th win vs old Big East rival West Virginia. That task got significantly easier with the news that senior quarterback Will Grier and star offensive lineman Yodny Cajuste won’t be participating in the bowl with their eyes set on the 2019 NFL Draft.

If Babers doesn’t win this award this season, he’ll never win it. What more could he have done? Win a game at Clemson that he dominated for 58 minutes of the contest? He lost to the ACC Coastal champions in overtime (Pitt). And the other loss? To the No. 3 team in the College Football Playoff (Notre Dame) with Eric Dungey out for the majority of the game.

Final nugget, speaking of Dungey, Babers masterfully dealt with one of the biggest quarterback controversies in the country by maximizing the situation between Dungey (the veteran) and Tommy DeVito (the hot shot youngster) and getting nine wins out of this unit. While also preserving Dungey and allowing him to start every game this season and finish a season for the first time in his Orange career. I think it’s time for Babers to get his just due.

For those wondering who you should yell at if things don’t go Dino’s way again, here are the details about who is voting and when a winner will be announced:

"“Voting for the recipient of this year’s Munger Award opens Tuesday. Eligible voters include NCAA Bowl Subdivision head coaches and football sports information directors, Maxwell Football Club members and selected national media. The winner will be announced on Jan. 3, 2019, and the award will be formally presented at the 82nd Maxwell Awards Gala on March 8, 2019 at the Tropicana Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J, per the press release.”"