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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

April 26, 2017

Dino Babers

Greensboro, North Carolina

DINO BABERS: Well, really brief, I thought we had a fantastic spring. We stayed away from all major injuries. It was a spring of going back through and doing the little things over and over again, letting the young men get more comfortable in the second year of the offense, second year of the defense, and then of course we're going to have a new special teams coordinator. So I thought that went extremely well, and I thought they're ready for the next phase, which is finishing up on finals and getting ready for the summer.

Q. What did you see in terms of the defense's progression during spring ball and especially the pass rush?
DINO BABERS: Well, I think that all of those defensive linemen are back. We didn't lose anybody. I thought we hired a defensive line coach. We separated the defensive line, so we got more emphasis there with two coaches, one coaching the ends and one coaching the tackles. I think that they worked very well today, and I think with all the young men coming back, twice as much emphasis on that part of it, I thought they did a much better job of getting to the passer and having -- when they had opportunities for one-on-ones, bringing them home for sacks and pressures on the quarterback.

Q. To look at Amba Etta-Tawo, obviously he's not on the team right now and through the spring, but what can you say about the upcoming NFL Draft and what a team would be getting by getting him?
DINO BABERS: You know, I think the proof is in the pudding with Amba. You're getting someone that's 4.4, 4.3 track time, verified out of high school, a huge body for a wide receiver and a giant catch radius. He's gone against the best competition there is in the ACC, and he's made plays against everybody. For him to put up the numbers that he put up with eight weeks of the starting quarterback and four weeks of our backup I just think has been amazing. We've heard everything from the top to the bottom on him. People are all over the place with him. But I talked to him four days ago and his mind is in the right spot, and he's ready for very positive things to happen, and if not, then he'll be ready to work his way from the bottom and prove to everybody that his one year here wasn't a fluke. So we're all pulling for him, and we all wish him the best.

Q. And as far as you coming out of the spring, I know you spoke a little bit on the defense, but overall the plan that you set in place last year and where it's gotten to at this point, what can you say about where the plan is compared to where you would like it to be with how the players have reacted to it?
DINO BABERS: You know, I think we're right where we need to be. We're a little bit behind offensively, just again, from the moving from an option-based offense to the stuff that we want to do with the quarterbacks and the O-line and the skill people that we have in the upper class that was recruited for another style of play, but I thought all those young men are adapting well. They're giving us their best, and I think that we may be a tad behind, but I think we're where we need to be.

Q. Dino, I counted at least five new staff positions that have been added since you started. There might be more. But I wondered what are the next one or two investments you think the school needs to make to kind of continue the progress you've started?
DINO BABERS: Are you referring to with the facilities? I didn't hear the first part of your question. Your sound went out on me.

Q. Sorry about that. So I mentioned I've seen at least five new staff positions that have been added since you started. Kind of just in general, what are the next one or two investments you think the school needs to make to kind of help you out?
DINO BABERS: Well, I'm not going to go public on that. I talk to John Wildhack all the time. We have an open door, revolving door when it comes to things like that. I think the biggest thing is that we were really, really far behind, obviously, and when you look at the top people in the conference, the Florida States, the Clemsons, and what they have available to them compared to where some of the schools that are not so far up at the top, I think it's a huge disadvantage for us.

And if you're really serious about being competitive in the ACC, if you're really serious about winning it, you may not need to have everything that they have, but there's definitely some things that they do up there at those other schools that we need to be involved in, and I think that John does a great job of sifting through some of the fat, so to speak, and the things that we really, really do need. He's done a great job of getting it for us.

Q. People have talked a lot about Alabama having like a staff of 92 or whatever it is. Are there a couple peer schools that you look at and you say, well, we can't be Alabama or Clemson but we need to be at this level at least?
DINO BABERS: You know, I always try to -- if you want -- our whole business is based off of W's and L's, and I have to play those guys every year, the Clemsons, the Florida States, and if they get to put a loss on my schedule, that's not fair if I don't think -- if you don't give me an opportunity to compete with them. So I don't look at it that way, that hey, so and so school has this so we're like them so that's what we should have. If you want to be the best and you want to compete against the best, then give us the opportunity to play them, and if some of the stuff is fluffed, I get it. If some of the stuff is real advantages, if you want to beat them, then you've got to level the playing field to give us an opportunity to give us a chance.

Q. I know the passing game gets plenty of attention. The running game you tinkered with a little bit this spring and you've got some new recruits coming in in the fall. Where do you see the ground game at at this point for us, and do you feel like for the offense to be as successful as you want it to be, there needs to be some noteworthy improvement over the production you got in that area last year?
DINO BABERS: Well, I think there's no doubt that we need to be better in the run game. You just can't go back and throw the ball every single snap and be consistently good. You're only going to be occasionally great, and that's not good enough. I think the physicality of the game, any time that you can run the football, that means you're winning the physical battle in the game, and if you win the physical battle there's a very good chance and most likely that you're going to win the football game unless turnovers or something else comes into play, so we're working hard on not only running the football but making sure we're able to stop the run, and to me those are still the keys minus turnovers and special teams are the two main keys to winning football games.

Q. Obviously we have the NFL Draft coming in and Syracuse has a strong tradition of putting guys into the league, but in the last couple years only the punter has been drafted. I'm wondering, is it more effective for you to tout to recruits that you coached and developed, guys like Garoppolo and Kendall Wright and Terrance Williams or that Syracuse developed Donovan McNabb and Marvin Harrison?
DINO BABERS: I think it's a combination of both. I think Syracuse has got one of the richest traditions in the past of any University in the country. You put Syracuse's past up against Navy, Notre Dame, anybody, you know. But I think obviously some of those names are way back there and some of the kids don't really recognize some of the names that we're talking about, and I think it needs to be a combination of both, that you can come here and do the things that other people have done in the past at Syracuse University when we're talking about the football team, and then along the way, I've coached some people that have done some things in the NFL, they're doing some things around college football, and you need to have a blend of all that when you're talking to recruit because not only do they need to have an appreciation for the past but they also -- the millenial crew, they only think about things that have happened recently, and thank God that we have some guys recently that have done some things in the National Football League that they can relate to.

Q. You said you stayed away from all major injuries this spring. Does that include Aaron Roberts once you got a chance to check him out?
DINO BABERS: Well, I don't want to say all that stuff over an open line. You can give me a call later on. But I do believe that Aaron will be fine.

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