Dino Sean Babers (born July 19, 1961) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach who is the current head football coach at Syracuse University. He was head coach at

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...

from 2014 to 2015. Prior to that, Babers had been head coach at Eastern Illinois University. Babers grew up in California and played football at the

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa The University of Hawaii at Mānoa (University of Hawaii—Mānoa, UH Mānoa, Hawai'i, or simply UH) is a public land-grant research university in Mānoa, a neighborhood in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is the flagship campus of the University of Haw ...

Playing career

Babers was born in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

, grew up in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, and attended the

University of Hawaii at Manoa A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

(1979–1983) where he played

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

and defensive back on the football team.

Coaching career

Babers began his coaching career as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respo ...

at Hawaii in 1984. From there, Babers coached at numerous schools highlighted by offensive coordinator positions at both

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

as well as an assistant head coach position with

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

. 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 The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

both times, led by quarterback

Jimmy Garoppolo James Richard Garoppolo (born November 2, 1991), nicknamed Jimmy G, is an American football quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Eastern Illinois, where he set the school r ...

, 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 A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

following the departure of previous Falcons' coach

Dave Clawson David Paul Clawson (born August 16, 1967) is an American football coach and former player. He currently serves as the head football coach at Wake Forest University, where he was named the 2021 ACC Coach of the Year. Clawson previously served a ...

to Wake Forest. Babers led

to the 2015

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great L ...

(MAC) championship. On December 5, 2015, Babers became the head coach at Syracuse. After a 10-win season in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

, Babers received a contract extension through the 2023 season.

Head coaching record

* Babers resigned before bowl game

References

External links

Syracuse profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Babers, Dino 1961 births Living people American football defensive backs American football running backs Arizona State Sun Devils football coaches Arizona Wildcats football coaches Baylor Bears football coaches Bowling Green Falcons football coaches Eastern Illinois Panthers football coaches Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football coaches Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football players Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football coaches Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches Purdue Boilermakers football coaches San Diego State Aztecs football coaches Syracuse Orange football coaches Texas A&M Aggies football coaches UNLV Rebels football coaches UCLA Bruins football coaches Players of American football from San Diego Players of American football from Honolulu African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople