Report: Syracuse fires head football coach Dino Babers after 8 seasons

Syracuse fired football head coach Dino Babers following a loss to Georgia Tech, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Tight ends coach Nunzio Campanile is expected to serve as interim head coach, per Thamel. Campanile did the same for eight games in 2019 for Rutgers upon the firing of Chris Ash.

Babers joined the program in 2016 as the head coach and finished his time 41-55 in nearly eight seasons. The Orange dropped to 5-6 with a 31-22 defeat at the hands of the Yellow Jackets.

Babers led the program to just two bowl games in his time as head coach. The standout year came in 2018, when Syracuse went 10-3 and finished No. 15 in the AP Poll.

However, the Orange haven’t been able to recapture that magic since. Outside of his 10-win season in 2018, Babers went 31-52 as head coach of Syracuse.

With Eastern Illinois, Bowling Green and Syracuse, Babers is 78-71 as a head coach.

Babers didn’t mince words earlier this year about NIL and the transfer portal affecting a program like Syracuse. Losing players in the portal stings for a program that is arguably just a middle tier ACC team.

“It’s the same old thing: Depth is gone,” Babers said in October. “Our depth is in the transfer portal. You know how many guys we lost. You know what schools they play at. Schools like us, we’re not going to have a lot of depth because it gets bought away.”

Syracuse lost 12 players to the portal this offseason, including standout defensive backs Duce Chestnut (LSU) and Ja’Had Carter (Ohio State). 

“Last year’s game (against Florida State) showed me exactly what name, image and likeness can do,” Babers said. “Because the year before that, we went down there, and they kicked for a field goal in the very last play to beat us.

“Two years before that, we went down there and were kicking for a field goal to tie them, and it got blocked. It showed me how quickly you can change a football team.”

Now without Babers, Syracuse will finish its season against Wake Forest Saturday at 2:00 p.m. ET. The Orange can salvage the year with a win, making them bowl eligible.