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Report: Dino Babers will not return as Arizona offensive coordinator

On3 imageby:Dan Morrison•12/02/24•

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Dino Babers
Dino Babers - © Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Arizona Wildcats are parting with offensive coordinator Dino Babers, according to a new report.

2024 was Babers’ first season with Arizona. He came to the Wildcats after spending the previous eight seasons at Syracuse as the head coach of the Orange. There, he joined a first-year staff with the Arizona program, led by Brent Brennan as the school’s new head coach. Brennan had previously been a GA on staff at Arizona when Babers was the offensive coordinator in 2000.

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However, it was a difficult season for Arizona, going just 4-8 a year after finishing 10-3. With that, Brennan and the Wildcats are looking to shake things up.

The offense, led by Babers, was an easy place to look for change. The Wildcats entered the season with one of the best quarterback and wide receiver combinations in the country, led by Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan. In particular, McMillan is expected to be a high NFL Draft pick as a wide receiver. Still, even with all of that talent, Arizona finished the season just 115th in scoring offense, averaging 21.8 points per game. They also averaged just 354.5 yards per game, which was good for 98th in total offense.

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There had been some writing on the wall that things weren’t going as well as Arizona or Babers would have liked in 2024. In particular, the decision to move Babers from calling plays and giving that role to tight ends coach Matt Adkins made it clear there were some issues.

This decision also comes shortly after it was announced Brent Brennan would be given a second season to figure things out after taking a major step backward in his first year. It was his first year in a five-year contract. However, Brennan was hired by athletic director Dave Heeke, who was fired himself less than a week after he introduced Brennan.

Over the course of his time at Syracuse Dino Babers had just two winning seasons, finishing below .500 in six of his eight seasons there. However, he did manage to put together a 10-win season and AP Top 25 finish in 2018. Prior to Syracuse, he coached Bowling Green and Eastern Illinois, both of which he led to two winning seasons each.

Before Babers became a head coach, he was an offensive assistant at several schools. That included time at Baylor, UCLA, Pitt, Texas A&M, and Arizona among others. While at Arizona, he coached under Dick Tomey.