In the next 10 years, Syracuse will contend for a New Year’s Six bowl. Even I had a hard time talking myself into writing that. Ten years ago, when Zach Berman, then-assistant sports editor at The Daily Orange, made the same argument, he leaned on the fact that SU was in a Power 5 conference.

The reason SU can do it this time is simple: It has a seemingly competent coach. Head coach Dino Babers runs a next-level spread offense, and Babers has proven himself as a recruiter. In his first full class, Babers reeled in the second player Syracuse has ever had ranked in the ESPN 300 and the first player SU has had ranked in the ESPN 150.

It doesn’t really matter if ESPN150 quarterback prospect Tommy DeVito pans out because his recruitment creates a perception that Syracuse is growing beyond its long-term futility. In all likelihood, the now-high school senior will redshirt a year behind Eric Dungey and then spend his redshirt freshman year behind the current SU signal-caller.

By then, SU will have already built two recruiting classes — Babers said it’ll take two or three classes to fill out the roster to where he wants it — and parsing out perception and reality for one player won’t make much of a difference. The larger point: Syracuse will be a better program for it. As long as Babers doesn’t see a better opportunity elsewhere (that’s not impossible, both Texas and Baylor could put “Hiring Now” signs in their respective windows at the end of this season) he should be at Syracuse for a minimum of three years and likely longer if the team can get back to a bowl game this season.

Competing for a New Year’s Six bowl likely means being one of the top 16 teams in the country, a place Syracuse hasn’t been since finishing No. 14 in 2001. Getting back to a bowl game would probably be a sizable feat at this point.

Although he inherited a program whose foundation has been crumbling for years, Babers has pushed Syracuse to 4-5 this season. That’s something of an accomplishment in itself given the low expectations put on the Orange. Syracuse’s roster has limited talent on defense, spotty talent on offense and injuries on both sides, yet Babers has milked that talent for all it has.

Daivon Ellison, who was largely expected to be a rotational player this season, has had the best stretch for a Syracuse defensive back this season between the South Florida game and now. Freshmen Josh Black and Kendall Coleman have played OK with starting minutes at defensive end. Even Colin Byrne, who struggled at times this season, has played decent when you consider these are his first snaps at center.

Babers said at the beginning of the season that this would be his toughest rebuild yet. That’s more forethought than a coach readying to leave after a few quick years of success would give. And in fairness to Babers, he has yet to leave a program before he brought it back to where it had been or further.

Bowling Green has, however, been both a cautionary tale and a selling point. After Babers left, so did many of his most talented players. Even with some of his team left over, Bowling Green dropped to 2-8 in its first 10 games of the 2016 season, its first without Babers.

“The biggest thing you have to remember is in any transition,” Babers said, “you’re changing terminology, you’re changing a style of offense, you’re changing a style of defense, different players coming in and going out, in the transition you may lose people academically. … There’s a lot of reasons why things happen.

“I felt like we were in good shape, I’m sure (former SU head coach Scott) Shafer felt like he was in fantastic shape, and as most coaches do when they leave a program, they think they leave it better than they find it, but that’s not for me to judge, you guys can decide that stuff.”

As long as Babers stays, the system should work for SU and that will be enough to put the Orange in contention for a major bowl.

Chris Libonati is an Asst. Sports Editor at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at cjlibona@syr.edu or @ChrisLibonati.

Published on November 11, 2016 at 1:38 pm