Syracuse football has officially confirmed the hire of Sterlin Gilbert as the new offensive coordinator and QB coach. Here are all the details.
Last weekend Syracuse football announced they had hired a brand new defensive coordinator in Zach Arnett. Later that day reports also surfaced that the team had also hired Sterlin Gilbert, but that news hadn’t been confirmed by the University.
Several days have gone by without any update which has understandably put some Orange fans on edge, but finally, the University has confirmed it through a press release.
"“Syracuse head football coach Dino Babers named Sterlin Gilbert offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach on Thursday. Gilbert brings 17 years of experience to the Orange. He has run offenses and coached quarterbacks at the FBS, FCS and high school levels, and was most recently the head coach McNeese State University in 2019,” per the press release."
Last season Mike Lynch held the offensive coordinator position and Kirk Martin held down the quarterback coach position. Their future status was not addressed in the press release and when we reached out to the Syracuse Athletic Department for clarity they said this:
"“There’s no update on their status, but what we can say for sure is Mike won’t coordinate the offense and Kirk won’t coach the quarterbacks.”"
Dino Babers released a statement through the University on the hiring of Sterlin Gilbert:
"“I’m very much looking forward to working with Sterlin again. He runs a very balanced offense. In seven seasons as a college coordinator, he’s had five 1,000-yard rushers, including D’Onta Foreman who went over 2,000 yards at Texas. At the same time, his starting quarterbacks have averaged more than 3,500 yards passing and 26 touchdowns per season.”"
A statement was also provided by Sterlin Gilbert through the press release:
"“Coach Babers runs a first-class program. I’m excited to reunite with him,” Gilbert said in a press release. “Everything at Syracuse is about family and enhancing the players athletically as well as academically. I’m ready to get to work with them.”"
This announcement has reunited Dino Babers and Sterlin Gilbert who have previously worked together at two different spots: Eastern Illinois (2012 through 2013) and at Bowling Green (2014).
After a down year in 2019 where the team fell to 5-7, Dino Babers will try to reinvigorate an offense that captivated college football back in 2018 which was punctuated by a 10-3 season.