Bowling Green head coach Dino Babers will be the next head coach at Syracuse. He’s spent the last four seasons as the head man at Eastern Illinois (2012-13) and Bowling Green (2014-15). Here are five quick facts about the 54-year-old who will fill the vacancy.

1. Success grooming quarterbacks

In 2013, Babers coached EIU quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to the Walter Payton Trophy, FCS’s equivalent of the Heisman. Garoppolo had 5,050 yards and 53 touchdowns in 2013 and 8,873 yards and 84 touchdowns in two seasons under Babers. He was taken in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots and currently serves as Tom Brady’s backup.

Last season, Bowling Green quarterback Matt Johnson suffered a season-ending hip injury in the Falcons’ season-opener. In 2015, he led the country in regular-season passing yards. His 4,465 yards through the air are 182 more then Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ total. Johnson, a senior, also has a 43-to-8 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

Next season, Syracuse is expected to return quarterback Eric Dungey, along with walk-on Zack Mahoney and sophomore Austin Wilson. The Orange is also bringing in Rex Culpepper and Lindsey Scott as Class of 2016 commits.

2. Bringing Baylor to Syracuse

Babers served as the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator for the Bears in 2008. From 2009-11, he was Baylor’s special teams coordinator and wide receivers coach for an offense led by current Washington Redskins signal-caller Robert Griffin III.

The Bear’s high-powered offense put up 45.3 points per game in 2011 and Babers carried the style to EIU, where the Panthers put up 36.5 points per game and 48.2 points per game in his two seasons. Bowling Green put up 34.8 points per game last year without Johnson and 43.4 per game with him this year.

The Orange posted 27.3 points per game this season, only 17.1 in 2014 and 22.7 in 2013. Babers’ offensive-minded approach can only help a team scrapping to emerge from the depths of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

3. Past stops

Here’s a list of Babers’ 16 coaching jobs before getting the head job at Syracuse

1984 – Hawaii (graduate assistant)
1985 – Arizona State (GA)
1987 – Eastern Illinois (running backs)
1988-89 – UNLV (special teams/RBs)
1990 – Northern Arizona (ST)
1991-93 – Purdue (wide receivers)
1994 – San Diego State (WRs)
1995-97 – Arizona (WRs/RBs/quarterbacks)
1998-2000 – Arizona (offensive coordinator/QBs)
2001-02 – Texas A&M (OC/QBs)
2003 – Pittsburgh (RBs)
2004-07 – UCLA (asst. head coach/RBs/QBs)
2008 – Baylor (WR/recruiting coordinator)
2009-11 – Baylor (ST/WRs)
2012-13 – Eastern Illinois (head coach)
2014-15 Bowling Green (HC)

4. What he said this week

Earlier this week, 247 Sports reported that Babers would be the next head coach at Central Florida. He refuted that on Monday, saying “I am not going anywhere, OK. I have no secret deals, no above deals, no verbal deals. I have no deals.” He expressed the sole focus of preparing for Friday’s Mid-American Conference title game against Northern Illinois. Syracuse target and ex-Oregon offensive coordinator Scott Frost eventually took the UCF job.

After a USA TODAY report linked Babers to Syracuse on Thursday, he released the following statement: “I am focused on Bowling Green State University and our goal of winning a MAC championship.” It didn’t refute the rumors like his earlier statement about UCF did, but it didn’t confirm anything either.

Now, he’s reportedly hired as SU’s next head football coach.

5. Almost giving up

“I always lived my life from a very young age to be a head football coach,” Babers told The Daily Orange in 2013. “It was something that I always worked and strived to be. But after I left UCLA, I kind of gave up on that.”

Babers was involved in a life-threatening car crash while coaching at Baylor. It gave him a new outlook on life, one that made him not want to give up on football.

Now, he’s the head coach at a Power 5 school.

Published on December 5, 2015 at 11:50 am

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman