Another fall is upon us.

This year marks year eight with Dino Babers leading the charge on the SU Hill. It’s been a tenure that has been filled with highs and lows.

But SU looks to build on a season that saw them bowl eligible for the first time since 2018. There are familiar faces on the staff. There are new faces, as well, that bring familiar concepts to the team.

Let's go back a year ago.

Going into 2022, Dino Babers was thought to be a coach on the hot seat. But it’s incredible how much can change in a year. Babers led the Orange to the Pinstripe Bowl, and their first winning season since 2018.

“We had success last year," SU Athletic Director John Wildhack said. "You want to build off of it. You know, you want to get better. That's the goal of every single person you know who works in the football operation. I think there's momentum around the program, so we want to build on that momentum, and I think we can.”

Babers has multiple years remaining on his contract. He didn’t say exactly how many. His approach is one season at a time, knowing anything can happen.

“I think that attitude of every year is fresh, every year is new. You don't know if you're going to have a year after this year. You know, go to work, cross the T's, dot the I's and get after it," Babers said. "I've always had that attitude. That's the attitude we're going to have this year.”

Going into 2023, the Orange return a core group of players, even after losing what Babers called NFL talent to the transfer portal.

“We've got to find a way to handle that," Babers said. "We got to find a way to bounce back from that. And then we also have to find a way to keep those players with us so everybody else can't take advantage of our culture.”

It ultimately falls on the coaches. Even after replacing both offensive and defensive coordinators in the offseason, Babers feels he has a strong staff starting with Jason Beck filling the roll of offensive coordinator left by Robert Anae.

“I think that (Beck) has a fantastic room with him," Babers said. "Everybody in that offensive room has been an offensive coordinator before. They're very cohesive. They're working together. And I think that we're going to see some stuff that we've never seen before. I'm excited for that room.”

On the other side, Rocky Long, widely considered the grandfather of the 3-3-5 defense, takes over a defense that finished 21st in total defense a year ago.

“I can't wait to see our kids when they see, how do I say this, Rocky Long 2.0, I guess. They got a 1.0 version of him, but they didn't get the 2.0 version of him," Babers said. "And that's coming to a theater near us.”

But when it’s all said and done, there’s only one thing that matters.

“Winning," Babers said. "Success is always winning.”

“We have success in 2023 and beyond, I hope coach Babers is here for a long time," Wildhack added. "He wants to be here. We want him to be here. We're going to do everything we can to support him.”