Dino Babers, until recently, was the coach of Syracuse Orange. He was fired from Syracuse this month, ending his 8-year tenure at the university. His dismissal came after the program’s 31-22 loss at Georgia Tech in Week 12 of the 2023 college football season.
This season, the team has struggled to replicate its previous form. The team is 13th in the Atlantic Coast with a 5-6 overall record (1-6 in the conference) and has lost six of its last seven games, according to Sportskeeda last Sunday.
“I appreciate everything Dino, his wife Susan, and their family have done over the last eight years for Syracuse Athletics, Syracuse University and most importantly, our student-athletes,” athletic director John Wildhack said in a statement.
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“Thanks to Dino’s leadership, our student-athletes have performed at the highest levels in the classroom, have dedicated countless hours to supporting our communities and have gone on to achieve great success, both professionally and personally.”
Babers was first hired by the Orange from Bowling Green in 2015 after he went 18-9 and won a Mid-American Conference championship. Although the Orange team has terminated Babers’ contract, it came with a cost.
Sportskeeda reported that the contract termination penalty is between $8 million – $9 million as part of Babers’ contract buyout. He reportedly signed a contract extension with the team in 2018 that ran through the 2024 season. The details of the contract extension included a salary increment amounting to $3.5 million from $2.1 million.
Babers’ record at the Syracuse Orange football team includes a 41-55 overall record across eight years. He also led the team to just two bowl trips and two winning seasons. What is more, he holds the fifth-most wins in program history.
His best season with the team was in 2018 when Syracuse went 10-3 and won a bowl game. Also, he won the AP ACC Coach of the Year award that season. Unfortunately, his stay at the Orange came to an end this season after the program lost six of its last seven games.
