You're letting it sucker too much. Do you want that? There shouldn't be any dead wood. Is there a disease, holes, or damage anywhere?

I'm also seeing your gutter emptying right at the base of the fig. In ground figs that old don't need that much water. That could be a source of any problems.

It's definitely not too late to prune

and I'm with A J regarding the suckering

is that old wood all dead, I can't tell from the pic

personally I would cut down all the older wood and select 2-3 strong young shoots, tip them and get rid of the rest

It's severe but from there you will be able to train it the way you like and get a lot of growth this year

You may also want to provide it some protection in the winter and you'll get less die back

Thanks for the feedback. Although you can;t quite see it in the picture, the gutter has a diverter that channels most of the water down the hill just below the fig.

All of the old wood is not completely dead but it really does not seem to put out much in the way of green or shoots any more. Some but not many. Perhaps this year, it really has died off completely. I can perhaps take better photos when I get home this evening and it's in the light.

So what I'm hearing, then, is to cut back any suckers at the ground, cut all of what appears to be dead wood out of the center, and only leave 2-3 of the largest, healthiest-looking remaining shoots coming out of the center.

During a heavy rain, you may misjudge just how much the "little bit" of rain can actually be. I'd go out there with an umbrella and double check that.

I'd try to find out what caused the old growth to die back. Seems a waste if you train new suckers and the get the same fate 2-3 years down the road.

Here are a few pictures in the fading light of this evening if it helps any with diagnosis/advice. And I will make sure that diverter extend out to below the plant.

Thanks again,

-Steve

Looks like there is some nice growth in the centre and multiple strong upright shoots

so yeah I'd get rid of all the old branches and train some fresh ones

I definitely think that winter protection in your zone would be very beneficial as well

I would call those trunks gone just from the amount of open cracks.

Cut them at as low to the ground as possible, prune suckers down to the amount you want, and wait for new growth.

or

Call it a loss; root some of the sucks for a new area or locate am identified, recommended fig variety for your area.

Ok, I went to town on the old wood. I did lose a few of the most dead-center new upright branches as collateral damage. I figure I've got nothing to lose by trying to revive it - it's on a back corner of the house by the vegetable garden and so not harm to have it look scrubby for a while. If this fails, I'll just dig it up and start over.

So now, should I tip what's left, or remove even more of the new growth that remains? (An earlier post indicated taking it down to 2-3 shoots. And yes, I know I still need to extend the downspout diverter.)

Looking good!

Yes I would select a few of the more upright ones and tip them for a bush or allow them to continue a little higher to form a half standard

its also worth noting that the old stumps may also resprout soon, you'll get strong growth from those shoots