For the first time since December’s national signing day, Syracuse head coach Dino Babers addressed the media about recent commitments and staff hirings. Five others have signed with the Orange since Dec. 18, raising the Class of 2020 total from 18 to a final number of 23. 

“There’s no doubt about it: We really like the way the class finished,” Babers said.

Here are some takeaways from the press conference.

3-3-5 and a DC? 

Last night, reports surfaced that Arizona State’s defensive coordinator Tony White was leaving the Sun Devils for the same position at Syracuse. Despite a write-up on the ASU Athletics website and a Twitter profile change from White, SU Athletics has not released a statement confirming the hiring. On Wednesday, Babers didn’t either.

“I cannot confirm nor deny that statement,” Baber said. “We’re gonna have to do that due process, I think that’s the correct term.”

The cautious posturing likely results from the chain of tumultuous events at the coaching role ever since Brian Ward was fired after a Nov. 2 loss to Boston College. Steve Stanard finished out the season as interim coordinator, but then San Diego State’s Zach Arnett was hired in early January — and SU Athletics confirmed.

Just 11 days later, Arnett and his 3-3-5 defensive scheme flipped and took the same role at Mississippi State. White, though, also primarily uses the 3-3-5, which Babers referred to as “aggressive.” But Babers declined to comment further on Arnett’s decision to flip.

“I’m gonna handle this question the way I would a recruit that doesn’t come to school here,” Babers said. 

Two signed QBs, two Garoppolo references

In less than two weeks, Syracuse bulked up its quarterback depth chart with the commitments of Dillon Markiewicz and JaCobian Morgan — both likely to compete for the backup spot behind Tommy DeVito. When referencing the pair, Babers dropped multiple comparisons to San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, whom Babers coached at Eastern Illinois and watched play in last Sunday’s Super Bowl.

Garoppolo started with the identical number of recruiting stars (three) that both recent SU commits entered SU with. “Maybe it’s a coincidence,” Babers chuckled. But he also pointed out their height. Both Markiewicz and Morgan are 6-foot-4. Garoppolo is 6-foot-2.

“Even though from a star standpoint they may have not matched what people feel their criteria was, but from physical characteristics…we think we’ve got two quality guys,” Babers said.

Goodbye Trishton

Shortly after the 2019 season ended, leading receiver Trishton Jackson declared for the 2020 NFL Draft. He was the Orange’s third 1,000-yard receiver in four seasons, becoming DeVito’s go-to target on deep balls and intermediate routes.

That leaves Taj Harris (37 catches, 559 yards, two touchdowns) as SU’s top returning target for 2020. Under Sterling Gilbert, though, Babers said he expects “a lot of fire” in the new offense, adding that it’ll be easy for Gilbert to blend in because of past coaching relationships. That, in turn, should translate to success on the field and another clear-cut No. 1 option for targets, Babers said. 

“If we’re lucky, we’ll be talking about somebody else (next year),” Babers said. “How hard it is to replace that guy.”

The other commits

Just two months ago, Syracuse announced 18 of its commits for the Class of 2020. As of Babers’ press conference, that number had extended to 23. Early Wednesday morning, 3-star safety Ja’Had Carter selected Syracuse over Texas Tech, South Carolina and Florida Atlantic, boosting an SU secondary that already returns Trill Williams and Andre Cisco. Chase Atkinson, also a 3-star defensive back, signed too.

And when the two quarterbacks — Markiewicz and Morgan — signed, the Orange officially reached its final number of 23.

Published on February 5, 2020 at 5:50 pm

Contact Andrew: arcrane@syr.edu | @CraneAndrew