Syracuse Football: Ranking best SU coach at producing NFL talent

Dino Babers

• 2015-present, Syracuse

Syracuse football hasn’t been in this good of shape in a very long time. Dino Babers finally broke through in 2018 with a 10-3 season after back-to-back 4-8 campaigns. He’ll have to prove 2018 wasn’t a fluke and it was simply the start of something truly special on the hill.

Unlike the other two coaches on this list, Dino has prior head coaching experience at the collegiate level. So we’ll have a larger sample size of what Babers’ prowess is delivering talent to the NFL. We’ll go in chronological order:

Dino got his first head coaching opportunity in 2012 with Eastern Illinois after spending nearly 30 years honing his craft at a variety of other programs. He went 19-7 in two years and produced one NFL player during his time:

• 2014 NFL Draft:
  • Jimmy Garoppolo, QB, second round (62nd overall)
    • After backing up future Hall of Famer Tom Brady from 2014-17, he was traded to the San Francisco 49ers and became the highest paid quarterback in all of football.

After Dino’s stint with Eastern Illinois, he was hired by Bowling Green. He spent another two years with the Falcons and went 18-9, but despite the on-field success, he did not have a player selected in the NFL Draft.

Now finally getting to his latest and current job with the Syracuse football squad. In December of 2015, Dino Babers was hired by the Orange and has had success on and off the field.

• 2017 NFL Draft:
  • No Syracuse players were taken in the 2017 NFL Draft. That’s only the third time that has occurred since 1976.

• 2018 NFL Draft:
  • Zaire Franklin, LB, seventh round (235th overall)
    • They say good things come to those who wait and that was certainly the case for the Indianapolis Colts. Franklin not only made the 53 man roster, but he even started a few playoff games, not too bad for a seventh-round pick.

• 2019 NFL Draft:
  • Chris Slayton, DL, seventh round (245th overall)
    • The same can be said for Slayton, we’ll have to wait and see if he can have the same success as his former teammate.

Now we haven’t really mentioned any undrafted free agents who have had potential success in the pros because that is slightly more difficult to track. But since we’re fresh off the NFL Draft we can do a quick report on all the undrafted free agents following the 2019 NFL Draft:

• Koda Martin
  • Only spent one season at Syracuse, but made a huge impact and the Los Angeles Chargers felt the same.
• Cody Conway
  • Cody Conway was a grinder and earned his chance with the Tennessee Titans.
• Jamal Custis
  • Didn’t realize his potential until his senior season, but better late than never. That hustle earned him the highest guaranteed dollar amount by any UDFA wide receiver in the last two years.
• Eric Dungey
  • You can’t say enough good things about Eric Dungey as a football player or a human being. All he asked for was an opportunity and the New York Giants gave him one, we’ll see what he does with it.

While Ravian Pierce (Cleveland Browns, Buffalo Bills) and Dontae Strickland (Arizona Cardinals) earned rookie minicamp invitations.

So who was the best Syracuse coach at producing NFL talent? We’ll let you be the judge with our Twitter poll! Let your voice be heard and share your thoughts in the comments below!