Checking in on the state of Syracuse football heading into the 2020 season

While there are still a lot of questions around whether we’re actually getting a 2020 college football season — and especially whether said season will start on time — it IS mid-June, and that’s usually when news cycles start ramping up with kickoff less than three months out.

So following last week’s press call, Matthew Gutierrez’s “state of the program” piece on the Syracuse Orange appeared this weekend, featuring some quality insights on the team and some notes from Dino Babers himself.

The article’s behind a paywall, so won’t share too many more details. Will just say that Dino discusses recruiting quite a bit, and may or may not agree with the focus areas some of you have emphasized in your own comments about Orange talent acquisition.

That, plus the rest of your Syracuse-related links below:

Dino Babers wants Tommy DeVito to be more aggressive, compares 3-3-5 D to Jim Boeheim’s 2-3 zone (Syracuse.com)

“I told him the other day, I said, ‘I want you to be the guy that was driving the Ford in Ford vs Ferrari,’” Babers said on Jim Rome. “We want you to know everything there is to know about this offense and we want you to be aggressive. You’re in search for the perfect lap, you’re in search for the perfect game, the perfect throw, the perfect quarter. And we want to be aggressive in everything we do until it’s time not to be aggressive.”

Syracuse blends an uptempo approach with a patient philosophy (The Athletic)

Which version will SU prove to be in 2020 and beyond? Babers, 58, says the program sits someplace between 2018 and 2019. To Babers, the middle ground doesn’t qualify as success. So this offseason, he brought in new offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert and defensive coordinator Tony White, making a bet the additions will pay off in the long term.

Classes will use alternating attendance model to decrease in-person capacity (Daily Orange)

Under the hybrid instruction model, half of the students in classes with 60 students or fewer will attend in-person while the other half will join virtually, Interim Provost John Liu said in a SU News release. Students will alternate between in-person and virtual instruction on different days.

Andre Cisco voted top safety in the nation by Lindy’s (Cuse.com)

The recognition marks Cisco’s second first-team All-America nod of the preseason. He also earned the honor from Street & Smith’s. In Lindy’s position rankings, Cisco was picked ahead of Georgia’s Richard LeCounte and Oregon’s Jevon Holland, who were second and third, respectively. LeCounte joined Cisco on the publication’s preseason All-America first team.

Without Floyd Little, Colorado’s first NFL great, ‘there would be no Denver Broncos’ (Denver Post)

“Without Floyd Little, there would be no Denver Broncos,” said Tom Mackie, who co-authored Little’s 2006 autobiography, in a 2010 interview with the Post’s Mark Kiszla. “Either they don’t get picked up by the NFL in the merger or they move to Alabama and become the Birmingham Broncos.”

Syracuse’s Josh Black watches tweet go viral, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson responds (CNYCentral)

URI officially adds Carey from Syracuse (Providence Journal)

NWHL Roster Recap: June 13 (The Ice Garden)

Madison Square Garden’s aura is unmatched in New York (New York Post)