How Syracuse flipped 2026 QB Zaid Lott from North Carolina
2026 QB Zaid Lott flipped his commitment from North Carolina to Syracuse after the Tar Heels hired Bill Belichick. Courtesy of Keenan Lott
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Zaid Lott’s plan to start his collegiate career with North Carolina got foiled when the Tar Heels fired former head coach Mack Brown on Nov. 26, 2024. Eight-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick replaced Brown, so it seemed Lott would remain in good hands at UNC.
But Lott changed his mind when Syracuse head coach Fran Brown reached out about the 2026 quarterback recruit.
“(Fran Brown) said, ‘Look, if (Lott) was ever going to change his mind, I really want him to take a hard look at us,’” said Chad Grier, Lott’s coach at Providence Day School.
Lott listened. Fran Brown scheduled a Zoom with Lott, which included SU offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon and quarterbacks coach Nunzio Campanile.
“We got on that call, and (Fran Brown) met me with a great smile on his face,” Lott said. “That’s when I realized that I really felt like I was needed over here at my new home.”
After visiting Syracuse this spring, Lott flipped his commitment to the Orange on March 25. The three-star recruit, ranked the 68th quarterback in his class, according to 247Sports, said SU coaches built a relationship with him and pushed hard to earn his commitment. Lott — a junior at Providence Day School (North Carolina), where he racked up 2,869 passing yards and 29 passing touchdowns in 2024 — feels comfortable with Syracuse’s staff while eliciting excitement for SU’s 10th-ranked 2026 recruiting class.
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“With the coaching changes and the staff changes, it just didn’t feel like the same fit for me anymore. It just wasn’t the school that I committed to before,” Lott said. “Going to Syracuse, it feels great to be wanted.”
Lott committed to North Carolina in summer 2024, having started just one varsity game after playing in a 7on7 tournament in Chapel Hill. Mack Brown helmed UNC at the time, and Lott developed a relationship with then-offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey.
But North Carolina moved on from Mack Brown after it finished the 2024 regular season 6-6. Lott initially stayed committed to UNC after Belichick was hired in December 2024. He even visited the campus to meet the new coaching staff.
“I took the visit to Chapel Hill and noticed that it just wasn’t the same school that I committed to,” Lott said. “So, I realized that I should probably start looking at other places, and Syracuse was right there on my doorstep.”
A couple days later, Lott joined Nixon, Campanile and offensive assistant Manny Harris on a call to analyze Lott’s junior season film. They compared it to some of Syracuse’s plays from 2024. Lott’s father, Keenan, said Lott can throw from the opposite hash marks to the sideline, which Nixon mentioned he hadn’t seen in many high school recruits before.
Further into the spring, Lott and SU’s coaches stayed in close contact. Nixon, who served as an assistant head coach and filled in as an offensive coordinator with the Carolina Panthers from 2020-22, had worked with Grier’s son, Will, who was a Panthers quarterback in 2020. When Lott realized the connection, the bond strengthened between him and SU’s staff.
On March 21-23, Lott, his mother Ericka and Keenan visited Syracuse. Lott said he was welcomed to Syracuse with “open arms,” and everyone knew his name. He met SU’s coaches in person, who showed Lott continued support.
“Whenever we got to meet them in person, it just solidified everything from the prior conversations,” Keenan said.
Lott also met with an academic advisor and toured SU’s campus. Ericka and Keenan learned about the Syracuse 60 plan, which Fran Brown recently implemented to find players employment within 60 days after they graduate. This helped Lott decide to commit to Syracuse two days after his visit, Keenan said.
On March 25, Lott informed UNC he’d be decommitting and announced his decision on X. An hour later, he posted his verbal commitment to the Orange.
“I didn’t know that (Lott) would ever flip,” Grier said. “But I think coach Brown is just such a great coach, great guy, great recruiter. I think (Lott) responded to him really well and ( Campanile), ( Nixon), I think all those guys do a really good job.”
Lott will play one more season at Providence Day before enrolling at SU in January 2026. But he wouldn’t be heading to Syracuse if it wasn’t for Fran Brown and his staff making him a priority recruit in its 2026 haul.
“My plan is to give Syracuse a quarterback that loves to win, a quarterback that brings great leadership and is the heartbeat of the offense and the heartbeat of the team and just a great person in the community,” Lott said.
