Syracuse fires coach Babers after eight seasons

Pete Thamel, ESPNNov 19, 2023, 10:38 AM ET

Syracuse fired football coach Dino Babers on Sunday, ending his tenure at the university with a 41-55 record over the past eight seasons.

Syracuse tight ends coach Nunzio Campanile was named interim coach. He was previously the interim coach at Rutgers, leading the Scarlet Knights for eight games after Chris Ash was fired in 2019.

The Orange (5-6) have lost six of their past seven games, marking the second consecutive year that featured a precipitous slide to end the season. Last year, Syracuse lost six of its last seven games. His ACC record is 20-45.

With just one bowl appearance in the past five seasons, Syracuse has been battling apathy surrounding the program. That decline has come after Babers’ hallmark 10-3 season in 2018, which included a near-upset of No. 3 Clemson and a bowl win over West Virginia.

Babers’ recent struggles have highlighted what a difficult job Syracuse is, especially in the era of the transfer portal. Syracuse has lost several high-profile players in recent seasons to SEC and Big Ten schools, some of them leaving despite knowing they would play significantly less.

In his eight years, Babers had just two winning seasons.

Syracuse plays Wake Forest at home on Saturday, a game that would clinch bowl eligibility.

Babers, 62, came to Syracuse from Bowling Green (after the 2015 season), where he went 10-3 and won the MAC title. He brought a wide-open, tempo-based offense that found sporadic success before eventually evolving offensively.

In 10 full seasons as a head coach, Babers is 59-64.