Syracuse football fans have finally put their money where their mouth is for Dino Babers. Here are all the details and what this means for the future.
Since Dino Babers has stepped foot here in Syracuse he has preached belief without evidence. Suggesting to fans both old and young that he will deliver a winner to Orange Nation, but he needed their faith.
That faith was tested in the first two years of the Babers’ experience with the Orange going 4-8 in each of those seasons. There were glimmers of hope with Syracuse taking out a top-25 team in Virginia Tech and then following that up with a massive upset of the Clemson Tigers in the Carrier Dome.
Yet there was still a level of uneasiness when you took a gander at the overall coaching record. Then BOOM it finally happened. Syracuse had a 9-3 regular season that they capped off with a Camping World Bowl victory to reach double-digit wins for the first time since 2001.
Everything seemingly went right for Syracuse:
- Eric Dungey started every game this past season for the first time in his career.
- The Orange had arguably the best special teams unit in the entire country highlighted by their relatively unknown placekicker Andre Szmyt winning the Lou Groza award.
- While 10-3 was special, Syracuse was this close from being in the College Football Playoff. This is no April Fools’ joke either:
- Syracuse went to Death Valley and dominated the Tigers for 99 percent of the game before letting it slip away in the final moments.
- The Orange were up big on Pittsburgh before letting that game slip away in overtime.
- While the only game the Orange were never really in was vs Notre Dame, but Eric Dungey got hurt early in the game.
Despite all of that success, there were some lackluster attendance performances down the stretch in the Carrier Dome. But after seeing what the team did in their trip to Orlando for the bowl game and Babers finally getting that contract extension, it seems like Syracuse fans have come around.
Per an official Syracuse press release:
"“More than 4,000 new season tickets have been sold for Coach Dino Babers’ upcoming fourth season, which ranks among the largest one-year sales increases on record at Syracuse. Existing supporters are also staying engaged with the Orange. This year’s season-ticket renewal rate is above 90 percent.”"After all the success Syracuse had this past season, it’s heartwarming to see Orange Nation back up what they’ve been begging for: a winner. For much of the 21st century, Syracuse has been a mediocrity in football. Which has driven away the fanbase with many of them suggesting they won’t return until they see something worth investing in. It appears we’ve finally reached that day and cheers to a bright future in Orange.