Dino Babers
Dino Babers went 78–71 as a head coach, 2012–2023, at Eastern Illinois, Bowling Green and Syracuse. Share
Two seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 2012–13 at Eastern Illinois. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 78–71 career
- Seasons
- 12
- Schools
- 3
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Jul 19, 1961
- Alma mater
- Hawai’i
- Best season
- 2015 10–4
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Eastern Illinois * | 7–5 | 1st | NCAA Division I First Round L | 25 | |
| 2013 | Eastern Illinois * | 12–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I Quarterfinal L | 4 | |
| 2014 | Bowling Green | 8–6 | 1st (East) | Camellia Bowl W | ||
| 2015 | Bowling Green | 10–3 | 1st (East) | GoDaddy (not coached) | ||
| 2016 | Syracuse | 4–8 | T–6th (Atlantic) | |||
| 2017 | Syracuse | 4–8 | 7th (Atlantic) | |||
| 2018 | Syracuse | 10–3 | 2nd (Atlantic) | Camping World Bowl W | 15 | |
| 2019 | Syracuse | 5–7 | 6th (Atlantic) | |||
| 2020 | Syracuse | 1–10 | T–14th | |||
| 2021 | Syracuse | 5–7 | T–6th (Atlantic) | |||
| 2022 | Syracuse | 7–6 | T–3rd (Atlantic) | Pinstripe Bowl L | ||
| 2023 | Syracuse coached 11 of 13 games | 5–6 |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
Players he coached
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 25 | 5–20 | 20% |
| Against top-10 teams | 10 | 1–9 | 10% |
| Against rivals | 27 | 14–13 | 52% |
| Conference games | 81 | 32–49 | 40% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 3 | 2–1 | 67% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 33 | 15–18 | 45% |
| At home | 61 | 34–27 | 56% |
| On the road | 53 | 21–32 | 40% |
| At neutral sites | 9 | 4–5 | 44% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 51 | 36–15 | 71% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 72 | 23–49 | 32% |
His own 123 games on file, 2014–2023, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pat Narduzzi 2016–2023 | 2–6 | Pittsburgh | 8 | |
| Dabo Swinney 2016–2023 | 1–7 | Clemson | 8 | |
| Dave Clawson 2016–2022 | 2–5 | Wake Forest | 7 | |
| Dave Doeren 2016–2022 | 2–5 | NC State | 7 | |
| Steve Addazio 2016–2019 | 2–2 | Boston College | 4 | |
| Jeff Hafley 2020–2023 | 2–2 | Boston College | 4 | |
| Scott Satterfield 2019–2022 | 1–3 | Louisville | 4 | |
| Justin Fuente 2015–2021 | 2–1 | Memphis, Virginia Tech | 3 | |
| Hugh Freeze 2019–2021 | 2–1 | Liberty | 3 | |
| P.J. Fleck 2014–2022 | 1–2 | Western Michigan, Minnesota | 3 |
Dino Babers’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Boston Collegeseries | 8 | 4–4 |
| Pittsburghseries | 8 | 2–6 |
| Clemsonseries | 8 | 1–7 |
| Louisvilleseries | 7 | 2–5 |
| NC Stateseries | 7 | 2–5 |
| Wake Forestseries | 7 | 2–5 |
| Florida Stateseries | 7 | 1–6 |
| Western Michiganseries | 5 | 4–1 |
How he was hired
- Hired by Syracuse for the 2016 season from Bowling Green, where he was head coach.
Power-conference head-coaching hires since 2010, with each coach’s previous job and ties to the school as collected by hand from Wikipedia: Hiring facts: M. Schuckers, cfb_coach_analytics.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Hawaii | Graduate assistant | |
| 1985 | Arizona State | Graduate assistant | |
| 1987 | Eastern Illinois | Running backs coach | |
| 1988–89 | UNLV | Special teams and running backs coach | |
| 1990 | Northern Arizona | Special teams and defensive backs coach | |
| 1991–93 | Purdue | Wide receivers coach | |
| 1994 | San Diego State | Wide receivers coach | |
| 1995–96 | Arizona | Wide receivers coach | |
| 1997 | Arizona | Running backs coach | |
| 1998–2000 | Arizona | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2001–02 | Texas A&M | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2003 | Pittsburgh | Running backs coach | |
| 2004–05 | UCLA | Wide receivers coach | |
| 2006 | UCLA | Running backs coach | |
| 2007 | UCLA | Assistant head coach and running backs coach | |
| 2008 | Baylor | Wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| 2009–11 | Baylor | Special teams and wide receivers coach | |
| 2012–13 | Eastern Illinois | Head coach | |
| 2014–15 | Bowling Green | Head coach | |
| 2016–23 | Syracuse | Head coach | |
| 2024 | Arizona | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Dick TomeyHawai’i, Arizona
- John CooperArizona State
- Bob SpooEastern Illinois
- Wayne NunnelyUNLV
- Steve AxmanNorthern Arizona
- Jim CollettoPurdue
- Ted TollnerSan Diego State
- R.C. SlocumTexas A&M
- Walt HarrisPittsburgh
- Karl DorrellUCLA
- DeWayne WalkerUCLA
- Art BrilesBaylor
- and 1 more
Assistants who became head coaches
- Sean LewisKent State, San Diego State
- Sterlin GilbertMcNeese
- Tom KaufmanMarietta
- Brian WardBowling Green, McPherson
- Steve StanardNebraska Wesleyan
- Rocky LongNew Mexico, San Diego State
Worked under (13)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dick Tomey | Hawai’i | 1984 | Graduate assistant | |
| John Cooper | Arizona State | 1985 | Graduate assistant | |
| Bob Spoo | Eastern Illinois | 1987 | Running backs coach | |
| Wayne Nunnely | UNLV | 1988–89 | Special teams and running backs coach | |
| Steve Axman | Northern Arizona | 1990 | Special teams and defensive backs coach | |
| Jim Colletto | Purdue | 1991–93 | Wide receivers coach | |
| Ted Tollner | San Diego State | 1994 | Wide receivers coach | |
| Dick Tomey | Arizona | 1995–2000 | 1995–96: wide receivers coach; 1997: running backs coach; 1998–2000: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| R.C. Slocum | Texas A&M | 2001–02 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Walt Harris | Pittsburgh | 2003 | Running backs coach | |
| Karl Dorrell | UCLA | 2004–07 | 2004–05: wide receivers coach; 2006: running backs coach; 2007: assistant head coach and running backs coach | |
| DeWayne Walker | UCLA | 2007 | Assistant head coach and running backs coach | |
| Art Briles | Baylor | 2008–11 | 2008: wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator; 2009–11: special teams and wide receivers coach | |
| Brent Brennan | Arizona | 2024 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (6)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sean Lewis | Eastern Illinois, 2012–13: inside receivers and tight ends coach; Bowling Green, 2014: wide receivers coach; 2015: co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Syracuse, 2016–17: co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Kent State, San Diego State | |
| Sterlin Gilbert | Eastern Illinois, 2012–13: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Bowling Green, 2014: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Syracuse, 2020–21: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | McNeese | |
| Tom Kaufman | Eastern Illinois, 2012: linebackers coach; 2013: special teams and linebackers coach; Bowling Green, 2014: special teams and linebackers coach; 2015: special teams and defensive line coach; Syracuse, 2016: special teams and linebackers coach | Marietta | |
| Brian Ward | Bowling Green, 2015: defensive coordinator; Syracuse, 2016–19: defensive coordinator | Bowling Green, McPherson | |
| Steve Stanard | Syracuse, 2017–19: defensive ends coach | Nebraska Wesleyan | |
| Rocky Long | Syracuse, 2023: defensive coordinator | New Mexico, San Diego State |
Other assistants under him (11)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Kim McCloud | Eastern Illinois, 2012–13: defensive coordinator; Bowling Green, 2014: defensive coordinator; 2015: assistant head coach and wide receivers coach; Syracuse, 2016–17: assistant head coach and wide receivers coach; 2018: assistant head coach and cornerbacks coach; 2019: cornerbacks coach | |
| Matt Mattox | Eastern Illinois, 2013: offensive line coach; Bowling Green, 2014: co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| Nick Monroe | Bowling Green, 2014–15: defensive backs coach; Syracuse, 2016–17: defensive backs coach; 2018–21: safeties coach; 2022: defensive passing game coordinator and safeties coach | |
| Mike Lynch | Bowling Green, 2015: co-offensive coordinator; Syracuse, 2016–17: co-offensive coordinator; 2018–19: offensive coordinator | |
| Adam Gristick | Syracuse, 2016: defensive quality control; 2017: graduate assistant | |
| Lanear Sampson | Syracuse, 2016–17: graduate assistant and quality control coach; 2021: wide receivers coach | |
| Matt Johnson | Syracuse, 2017: offensive quality control | |
| Tony White | Syracuse, 2020–22: defensive coordinator | |
| Jason Beck | Syracuse, 2022: quarterbacks coach; 2023: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Mike Johnson | Syracuse, 2022–23: wide receivers coach | |
| Robert Anae | Syracuse, 2022: offensive coordinator |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
How he coached
Babers’s teams went for it on 22% of fourth downs and on 35% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 51% of plays and took 22.8 seconds a play, 2014–2023.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 14 g | Bowling Green | 23 of 132 17% | 32% | 52% | 19.5 | −0.03 | |
| 2015 14 g | Bowling Green | 30 of 95 32% | 47% | 56% | 20.2 | +0.20 | |
| 2016 12 g | Syracuse | 26 of 111 23% | 40% | 57% | 21.2 | −0.01 | |
| 2017 12 g | Syracuse | 38 of 125 30% | 49% | 57% | 20.5 | −0.01 | |
| 2018 13 g | Syracuse | 18 of 117 15% | 23% | 47% | 22.3 | +0.03 | |
| 2019 12 g | Syracuse | 29 of 117 25% | 40% | 50% | 22.8 | 0.00 | |
| 2020 11 g | Syracuse | 18 of 102 18% | 30% | 57% | 24.5 | −0.25 | |
| 2021 11 g | Syracuse | 18 of 97 19% | 26% | 42% | 26.7 | +0.03 | |
| 2022 12 g | Syracuse | 12 of 80 15% | 19% | 51% | 26.7 | +0.06 | |
| 2023 13 g | Syracuse | 20 of 98 20% | 33% | 40% | 25.3 | −0.03 | |
| All 124 g | 232 of 1074 22% | 35% | 51% | 22.8 | 0.00 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.