Syracuse Football: Dino Babers said “Orange Forever” and he meant it

Syracuse football head coach Dino Babers said “Orange Forever” at the Georgetown game Saturday and he proved that he really meant it.

A huge sense of relief is felt from Orange Nation on Thursday morning. That’s because late Wednesday night the news broke that Dino Babers had agreed to a long term deal with Syracuse University.

With Syracuse being a private university, the terms and details of the contract were not released. Although Sports Illustrated reported that the initial contract was six years in length (which would’ve went through 2021). So if that’s true, then add a couple more years on top of that with the new extension.

Here are some highlights from Syracuse Athletic Director John Wildhack speaking with the media on Thursday morning:

"The extension discussions began in November with key board members.This was a professional negotiation between Dino Babers and Syracuse. Wildhack reiterated that they wanted to get this deal done before December 19th (before National Signing Day).Wildhack said they studied the market and did their homework on getting this contract right.The University will not make the details of the contract public, but Wildhack reiterated that there’s a commitment between both sides."

So what does the extension mean?

• Commitment
  • With this extension being announced and the reported numbers that are leaking out, it seems like Syracuse Athletic Director John Wildhack is committed to the football program more so than any other Athletic Director we can remember in recent history.
• Stability
  • Knowing that Dino Babers is here to stay for the foreseeable future, means stability on several fronts. Recruits now know Dino isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, which means there’s a sense of stability. That goes for recruits that were on the fence and recruits that have recently committed.
  • Loyalty
    • I strongly believe that if Dino Babers was thinking of leaving in the near future, he wouldn’t have signed a long term contract extension. So Dino showed loyalty to Syracuse by signing this deal and Wildhack and the Orange did the same thing by extending Babers before they had too.

    "Interestingly enough when was the deal consummated between Babers and Wildhack? According to Chris Carlson of Syracuse.com, “Wildhack and Babers’ agent’s discussions began a month ago and that they came to a verbal agreement on Saturday, before SU’s basketball game with Georgetown.”"

    Knowing that fun fact means Babers knew (at least verbally) that he was signing with Syracuse for the long haul prior to making his halftime speech at the Carrier Dome in the Syracuse vs Georgetown game.

    You can check out the full video on the Inside the Loud House Facebook page here or below via Dan Tortora Broadcast Media, LLC on Twitter:

    Who’s House?! @CoachBabersCuse speaks to fans during #Syracuse vs #Georgetown game before @CWBowl (Video by Dan Tortora Broadcast Media, LLC)#Cuse #Syracuse #Ohana #community #family #WhoseHouse #OurHouse #CNY #OrangeNation #football #sports #collegefootball #CuseFamily pic.twitter.com/2GoxrD9pYV

    — DT Sports Media (@CallDT) December 8, 2018

    I was there for the Syracuse vs Georgetown game on press row at halftime when Dino Babers made his speech. It’s now interesting to re-watch the video knowing Babers knew his status before stepping up to the microphone. His words have even more meaning now:

    "“We need to show the entire country what “Orange Forever” means. We’re going to need full support down there in Orlando for the Camping World Bowl.”"

    Some people can read or hear that and think oh he’s just promoting the bowl game Syracuse is in at the end of the month. But the rest of the room can see that Babers said “Orange Forever” after signing his contract and he meant it.