Introduction
Dino Sean Babers (born July 19, 1961) is an American college football coach. He was most recently the offensive coordinator for the University of Arizona. He was previously the head coach at Syracuse University from 2016 until 2023. He has also served as head coach at Bowling Green State University and Eastern Illinois University. Babers grew up in California and played football at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
Playing career
Babers was born in Honolulu, grew up in San Diego, and attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa (1979–1983) where he played running back and defensive back on the football team.
Coaching career
Babers began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Hawaii in 1984. From there, Babers coached at numerous schools highlighted by offensive coordinator positions at both Arizona and Texas A&M as well as an assistant head coach position with UCLA. After four years as an assistant at Baylor, on December 9, 2011, Babers was named as the new head football coach at Eastern Illinois University to replace Bob Spoo. In two seasons at Eastern Illinois, the Panthers made the playoffs both times, led by quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who was a second-round pick in the 2014 NFL draft.
On December 18, 2013, Babers was hired as the new head coach at Bowling Green following the departure of previous Falcons' coach Dave Clawson to Wake Forest. Babers led Bowling Green to the 2015 Mid-American Conference (MAC) championship.
On December 5, 2015, Babers became the head coach at Syracuse.
After a 10-win season in 2018, Babers received a contract extension through the 2023 season. Babers was fired from his role as head coach at Syracuse on November 19, 2023, one game before the end of the 2023 regular season. Babers had only two winning seasons during his eight years at Syracuse.
New University of Arizona head coach Brent Brennan hired Babers as offensive coordinator in February 2024. Brennan was a graduate assistant at Arizona during Babers' first tenure as offensive coordinator in 2000. Brennan moved play-calling duties to tight ends coach Matt Adkins early in the season. Babers' contract was not renewed following the 2024 season.
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches | AP/TSN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Illinois Panthers (Ohio Valley Conference) | |||||||||
| 2012 | Eastern Illinois | 7–5 | 6–1 | 1st | L NCAA Division I First Round | 25 | |||
| 2013 | Eastern Illinois | 12–2 | 8–0 | 1st | L NCAA Division I Quarterfinal | 4 | 4 | ||
| Eastern Illinois: | 19–7 | 14–1 | |||||||
| Bowling Green Falcons (Mid-American Conference) | |||||||||
| 2014 | Bowling Green | 8–6 | 5–3 | 1st | W Camellia | ||||
| 2015 | Bowling Green | 10–3 | 7–1 | 1st | GoDaddy | ||||
| Bowling Green: | 18–9 | 12–4 | |||||||
| Syracuse Orange (Atlantic Coast Conference) | |||||||||
| 2016 | Syracuse | 4–8 | 2–6 | T–6th | |||||
| 2017 | Syracuse | 4–8 | 2–6 | 7th | |||||
| 2018 | Syracuse | 10–3 | 6–2 | 2nd | W Camping World | 15 | 15 | ||
| 2019 | Syracuse | 5–7 | 2–6 | 6th | |||||
| 2020 | Syracuse | 1–10 | 1–9 | T–14th | |||||
| 2021 | Syracuse | 5–7 | 2–6 | T–6th | |||||
| 2022 | Syracuse | 7–6 | 4–4 | T–3rd | L Pinstripe | ||||
| 2023 | Syracuse | 5–6 | 1–6 | ||||||
| Syracuse: | 41–55 | 20–45 | |||||||
| Total: | 78–71 | ||||||||
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