College football hot seat: 10 head coaches feeling the heat in 2021
5. Dino Babers (Syracuse)
For a brief time, Dino Babers and Syracuse appeared to be the closest team to being a rival to Clemson in an ACC that has not produced much opposition for the Tigers.
A stunning upset against Clemson in 2017 set up Syracuse for a 10-3 season the following year as the Orange almost pulled off another shocker against the Tigers in 2018. It was Syracuse’s best season in almost two decades, and as a result, Babers was named AP ACC Coach of the Year.
Since then, the falloff has been precipitous. Syracuse went 5-7 in 2019 and 1-10 last year which is enough to instantly put any coach on the hot seat.
Related Story. Syracuse Football: Game-by-game predictions for Orange in 2021. light
The problem for the Orange has been offense as Syracuse ranked No. 125 out of 127 teams in the country in yards per game last season. Part of the issue was a lack of experience and depth notably after quarterback Tommy DeVito suffered an early season-ending injury. Still, Babers has an offensive background so their struggles have been surprising.
Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack recently came out in strong support of Babers saying,
"“Am I going to call it a make-or-break year? No I’m not. The proverbial hot seat, to use your word, it’s already out there. He’s not on the hot seat, so take all that chatter and just eliminate it.”"
However, Wildhack did go on to say that he expects “to see significant improvement in our record.”
That likely means a bowl game should be the expectation for 2021.