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The Dino Babers Era is official now that Syracuse Orange spring practice is underway. The coaches and team took to the Ensley Athletic Center to begin 2016 with a fresh start and an eye towards the future. Coach Babers, apparently, is also bringing some serious Dad vibes to the festivities.
The first big news from spring ball: Dino Babers is, apparently, a fan of Santana. Blasted "Smooth" through the IPF to open Day 1.
— Stephen Bailey (@Stephen_Bailey1) February 23, 2016
Give Dino Babers your heart. Make it real. Or else forget about it.
Babers also put his first stamp on the program by changing up the colors of the practice jerseys.
Also notable: a color change in practice jerseys. Offense and specialists wear orange, defense wears white and quarterbacks wear black.
— Stephen Bailey (@Stephen_Bailey1) February 23, 2016
No platinum, at least.
As far as how tough the day was going to be...not that tough.
Syracuse head coach Dino Babers on Day 1 of spring ball: "They'll probably never be this fresh again."
— Stephen Bailey (@Stephen_Bailey1) February 23, 2016
Syracuse head coach Dino Babers said pads will go on in practice No. 3 on Sunday. Helmets came on a couple times today from what I saw.
— Stephen Bailey (@Stephen_Bailey1) February 23, 2016
SU coach Dino Babers: "They don’t know exactly what to do right now. Once they figure out what to do, they’ll be able to move a lot faster."
— Stephen Bailey (@Stephen_Bailey1) February 23, 2016
Of course the big story for now is going to be whether or not Babers is officially going to annoint Eric Dungey as the starting quarterback headed into the 2016 season. He would not do any such annointing on this day.
Dino Babers on Eric Dungey: "I can’t predict the future. I just know that he was out there today and looked good."
— Matt Schneidman (@matt_schneidman) February 23, 2016
When asked to clarify Dungey's status in regards to the idea that he's one hit away from losing eligibility, Babers stayed on point:
"You're one car accident away from having a concussion. I can't predict the future. I just know that he was out there today and he looked good."
Not quite Roger Goodell's "couches are dangerous" line but he's right about the future.
Here's some footage of the day's practice with Rob Thomas crooning in the background. There's something slightly too perfect about the song choice for Syracuse Football, I must say...