Transcript: Dino Babers Colgate Week Press Conference
Opening Statement
Babers: "We are excited to get started this season, we are excited to find out exactly where we are. I know a lot of people talk about the grind of one a day, but with me and I never believed in it being a grind, I believed it in being a find. You get to find out where you are at. We are going to get an opportunity to test ourselves against Colgate University, Coach Dakosty will have those guys ready there is no doubt about it. We are looking forward to getting ourselves back in the dome in front of our fans, seeing how crazy they can get this year. We need our 12th man if we are going to be able to get the things done that, we want to accomplish this year. One thing I want to get out to the media before we start questions, as a team we did go back and vote for our second set of captains. For special teams our second captain along with Justin Barron will be Brady Denaburg, with Marlowe Wax as our defensive captain, the second will be Isaiah Johnson and on offense with Garrett Shrader our second captain will be Damien Alford. With that I will close and open it up for questions."
Question: The biggest thing I am not seeing on here is Trebor Pena is that injury related or something else?
Babers: "Trevor has had a little owie and we are not sure if he will be available for us or not."
Question: For just the game or?
Babers: "For just the game, yes."
Question: J’Onre Reed looks like he won the starting center position, what did you see out of him that pushed him over the edge there?
Babers: "I would say that the competition has been extremely close between the both of them and I expect them both to play."
Question: Coach, what did you think of the opportunity of Donovan Brown and his chance to make a start against Colgate?
Babers: "You know I think any time you get a chance to Wally Pipp somebody, you know that is an opportunity to take advantage of and we think the world of Trevor and we know that he is an exciting player and when he is completely healthy, he is going to help us win games. But with someone else getting a shot to show us what they can do can be exciting."
Question: Obviously a guy like LeQuint who is stepping into that starting role this year after following Sean Tucker.
Babers: "He is very young but on the football field he is very mature. He plays with a lot of energy; a lot of excitement and he plays very clear. He does not make a lot of mistakes for someone as young as he is. We are looking forward to seeing how he does this year, along with the other running backs I don’t think it will be the other way it was with Sean Tucker for two years. I do think we have a good group and I think LeQuint is one of the members of that group."
Question: Do you expect Kalan Ellis to be healthy enough to play this week.
Babers: "We are going to have to see about that. He has an owie, he is still available, but I am not sure whether he will start or not."
Question: What were the decisions for Joe More and David Wohlabaugh to be that right side of your line?
Babers: "Well like I said, the biggest thing is they made it through camp. Ther are some guys that were out and in, we were going to mix some guys up so we could have the flexibility throughout season as guys go out and in on that offensive line. They were the guys who were at practice every day and when you are at practice every day normally you get better."
Question: What did you see from the new quarterbacks coach, Travis Fisher and how did you decide on that hire?
Babers: "Well first of all we are always trying to better ourselves. When we are always disappointed in something in ways, we are excited for their new opportunities, but one of the goals that I have always had as a coach that when you lose a member, how can you make your family better. You know you are not trying to stay the same, you are not crying over spilled milk, how can you make it better. We think that Coach Fisher’s NFL experience and the way he handles his football players on the football field and along with his ability to recruit excellent athletes to university, not only on the football field but fine academic people as well. We thought he would be a good addition to us."
Question: How has the transition been for Coach Beck going from Quarterbacks Coach to Offensive Coordinator?
Babers: "I think the transition has been smooth. He has a different personality that Robert Anae but the guys have really taken into him, and I think they have opened to him. I think they are really excited to go to work for him and see what he can do."
Question: Coach looking at the secondary there are a lot of moving pieces. How is this new to you to adjust all changes and how confident are you to bring them together like one?
Babers: "Well first of all we are going to find out based off of how they adjust on Saturday. Based off of the results, I’ll tell you how confident I am in them. These games are dangerous games, I have been on the other end of them. It is one of those things where the kids are excited, you guys are excited, and I am sitting here, and I am not excited at all. I am worried. You are talking about an opponent who is very close to us, has a lot of knowledge. I am sure they know more about us than they know about many teams. We are going to play the game and hopefully we are going to be okay, but it is not a game that I go sleep easy on the night before. These games really bother me."
Question: On top of that you are heavily favored. You are supposed to be a team able to beat Colgate. How do you prepare for your players to go against a team?
Babers: "You know you get your team focused on themselves, to focus on us. We know what our standards are, we know what they need to be to compete at the highest level. If we meet those standards, we are going to be okay. The issue is when you play a team like these guys think it will be easy and it's not going to be easy. Guys think they eat different foods than you, that they don’t lift weights, that they don’t tackle and like they can’t catch balls. Every time you step onto the football field you can get hurt and you need to stay locked in, so those things don’t happen to you."
Question: What is Shrader’s status going into this game? Is he going to be on a snap count. Is he still at ease back from shoulder surgery?
Babers: "Nope, all that stuff is done with. It is time to play football and he’ll be ready."
Question: Is the plan to play Garrett for the full game?
Babers: "Well, if we must play him for the full game that is not going to be great for me, we would like to think that we won’t have to play him for the full game, but we are going to play to win."
Question: Would it be ideal for where he is at health wise for him not to play the full game?
Babers: "We will play the game to win."
Question: Not too many times you have a three-year starting Quarterback, and you have that with Garrett. How can you rely on that maturity to guide the offense this year?
Babers: "I think you are talking about a guy who has been a captain for two years, a guy that a team has completely followed, and I think he has shown how courageous he is on a football field. I think that we can feel relaxed that he is our Quarterback and that he will lead the team the right way with a bunch of maturity."
Question: With Garrett is he throwing the ball as well right now as he did last year?
Babers: "I think so."
Question: Coach Babers last time you played Colgate was in 2016, your first game as a head coach here at Syracuse. Do you have any fond memories of the last time you played Colgate?
Babers: "I cannot get past the covid blockage in my mind. There is life before covid and then there is life after covid. No, I can’t really remember back to 2016. I know we won four games and that was one of them. I believe we beat Virginia Tech so that was good, but I can’t remember back to 2016. I am focused on 2023."
Question: How has this defense changed under Rocky Long?
Babers: I think more than anything you are going to see in game adjustments. As fast as we get to him and as fast as he makes changes, he is a library of knowledge and I think that is going to be the biggest difference. This is what we do in games, when we figure out exactly what they are doing so we can try and get an opportunity to stop them.
Question: Is Stefon going to play on Saturday?
Babers: "I see Stefon playing a lot, but right now Leon is playing better so that is why he is in front. I don’t think we have seen the last of Stefon and I look forward to him unleashing and showing people who he can be again."
Question: Is there an amount of time you would like your starters to play?
Babers: "Again, I think you must play that by ear, it is not mathematical like that. We have got to see how the game goes and we are trying to play as many people as we can. The way we go about games in the ACC we don’t get a lot of opportunities where we can play a lot of people and I am just trying to play people early, so we can make sure in games four-five-six-seven that you are playing and practicing the right people and not find out that you are wrong in a game. We are going to try and play with as many people as we can, but we are always going to play to win."
Question: Talking about Colgate what is the plan against the two headed rushing attack they have?
Babers: "Hopefully find a way to stop the run and then not throw deep balls over our head. I mean their quarterback is really good, their system is good. I am sure they are going to be pulling out all the stops. As that quarterback goes, they go. They have all of the ingredients and hopefully they don’t start cooking against us. This is a quality team with a lot of experience coming back."
Question: You talk about Rocky Long and his in-game adjustments, how do you think he will do with someone like Juston Barrom who moves all around the field?
Babers: "He has his ways of dealing with individuals because he has been doing it a long time and I think that the young men have gravitated towards him, and they are excited to play for him."
Question: When did you realize that Kevon Darton could do the job in the middle with that kind of size?
Babers: "Results, he just plays like a guy who is not really that tall with a chip of his shoulder for never being that tall. He’s proved to all tall guys that short guys can play too. You don’t believe it on tape but when you are in person, you believe it."
Question: In terms of captains, how excited are you to see that group of guys get the leadership this year?
Babers: "You know it is a quality group and the teams that go far are player led not coaches led and those guys are leaders. Everything that they have done on and off the field since 2022 they have done just that. I think the team did a fine job picking out the people who may not be as popular but the ones that you want to follow."
Question: You talked about that 12-man, and this is the second straight year you have started off at home. How much has that impacted the lockeroom?
Babers: "I think the biggest thing is that there are so many new individuals who haven’t been in the dome. We went into the Dome, and some were taking pictures at practice, and I was like what are you guys doing but many have not been in there before. I am excited for the opportunity to see it filled up and see what kind of home advantage we actually have. I think it is going to motivate and especially those new guys that there is no place like, ‘Dome’."
Question: Going back to Coach Beck being the new OC, do you see yourself as a guy with more hands on the first couple of games?
Babers: "He will be up in the box calling the plays and he did fine in the bowl game, and I am sure he will do here as well."
Question: Is there a moment last year that Coach Beck made an in-game adjustment that you were really proud of?
Babers: "Again, I go back to the bowl game, Coach Beck called the bowl game and I thought he did a fantastic job at anticipating things. For me that cemented the deal on how well he performed at the bowl game."
Question: What are your thoughts about the possible expansion of the ACC?
Babers: I won’t even talk about that stuff it is way above me. I am locked in Colgate.
Question: "What is the word on Terry Lockett will he get any time this week?
Babers: Yes, absolutely."
SUPPORT ALL SYRACUSE
SUBSCRIBE TO ALLSYRACUSE.COM NOW TO GET ACCESS TO EXCLUSIVE INSIDER CONTENT
FREE ALL SYRACUSE NEWSLETTER TO GET THE LATEST ORANGE UPDATES SENT TO YOUR INBOX
JOIN THE ALL SYRACUSE FORUMS FOR FREE AND DISCUSS THE ORANGE WITH OTHER FANS AND OUR STAFF
