D
emetres Samuel Jr. woke up and read the warning messages on his phone. It was Aug. 30 in Atlanta, hours before Syracuse’s 2025 season opener against then-No. 24 Tennessee. As he geared up to make his SU debut, Samuel’s group chat with his mentors buzzed.
Heritage High School (Florida) football coach Mykel Benson and former Heritage strength coach Frantz Polimice are two of Samuel’s closest allies. They text him words of encouragement before every game. Be you. Today’s your day. Be the best. But ahead of the 17-year-old true freshman cornerback’s first-ever battle against an SEC opponent, his mentors advised caution.
“You’re going to get tested,” Benson told him. “It’s a big game, and you’re a 17-year-old kid. If I’m a coach, I’m attacking you to see how you’re going to respond.”
“He knew it was coming, too,” Benson added.
Samuel left high school a year early because he thought it was too easy. Soon, he was desperately sprinting in the open field to catch Volunteers wide receiver Braylon Staley — who dusted Samuel on a go-route for a 73-yard touchdown.
He didn’t know it yet, but that was the embarrassment Samuel needed. Polimice said the game slowed down for him as a result of the play. Then the kid went on to lead the FBS with seven pass breakups over the first four weeks of 2025.
Samuel may be 17, yet in his true freshman season, he’s established himself as a cornerback that offenses would be wise to avoid. Opponents quickly got the memo. He hasn’t faced more than four targets since Oct. 4 against SMU. Over his first 10 career games with Syracuse, Samuel ranks first among all true freshmen with eight pass breakups and boasts a 76.5 coverage grade, per Pro Football Focus, the seventh-best mark of freshmen corners.
Now, he’s a national freshman of the year award semifinalist.
Opposing offenses targeted Samuel 30 times across his first four games. Few cornerbacks across the country were tested more in that span.
The 17-year-old got bullied and stood up to the teasing. It’s why, even in a down year for Syracuse football, Samuel’s rapid development into a star is keeping hope alive for the Orange’s immediate future.
“He may be young, but he definitely moves like a vet,” Syracuse sophomore defensive back Braheem Long Jr. said. “Maybe because of his age, a lot of quarterbacks were targeting him early on. But him being humble allowed him to keep prospering to the very best.”
And as a pillar of SU’s young core, Samuel takes pride in performing better than his age suggests.
“We’re going to take the team over; it’s going to be our football team (soon),” Samuel said on Nov. 8 in Miami about Syracuse’s young roster. “We’re trying to do everything we can to lead everybody on the field. Even though we’re young, I think we’ve got some pretty talented guys, so we just gotta apply ourselves.”
Demetres Samuel Jr. confers with teammate David Omopariola during Syracuse’s 38-3 loss to Duke on Sep. 27. Since his rough debut against Tennessee, Samuel has accrued one interception and seven pass breakups. Leonardo Eriman | Photo Editor
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In the parking lot outside Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, over 30 loyal patrons swarmed the celebrity they’d waited all day to see.
On Nov. 8, Syracuse took on Miami, and though Syracuse lost 38-10, it was a long-awaited homecoming for Samuel. The Palm Bay, Florida, native went to high school just over two hours from the state-of-the-art stadium. His parents, Demetres Sr. and Kristal Samuel, were in attendance. So were Benson, Polimice and a legion of past teammates who yearned to take a sentimental picture with him.
They didn’t care about the loss; they were just juiced from watching Samuel bring down Miami receiver Malachi Toney — one of his former high-school rivals — for a tackle-for-loss.
Loyalty is everything to Samuel. Sure, he’s a flashy prospect who plays both sides of the ball and drives a blue Mercedes-Benz around campus, but he’s always gravitated toward those who’ve been with him every step of the way.
That’s why he’s staying at Syracuse.
Natural questions arose whether Samuel would remain with the Orange amid their disappointing 3-7 campaign. In this era, nobody is safe from the transfer portal. And Samuel is as exciting a prospect as it gets. The cornerback/wide receiver has tallied an interception, caught a pass, returned a few punts this season and ranks among the nation’s leaders in pass breakups. Who wouldn’t want Samuel?
You’d have to imagine SEC programs would come calling. But Samuel said that doesn’t matter.
As he told syracuse.com on Nov. 8, “I’m here.” He’s locked in for another season with Syracuse head coach Fran Brown — who Polimice said is a “father-figure” of sorts for Samuel. Brown also spoke about his adoration for Samuel, who he believes is a cornerstone of the Orange’s program and a necessary beacon of energy for a team that’s gone through dark times in 2025.
“I love coaching him, because we have a lot of fun together,” Brown said.
Polimice also confirmed Samuel’s intentions to remain at SU.
“(Samuel) and his family are great people, and they’re going to stay. They’re going to stick it out no matter what, win or lose,” Polimice said. “He was one of the highest-rated guys to come to Syracuse in a while, and I believe that he’s trying to pave the way for other guys to do the same.”
Samuel was confronted with a similar scenario in high school. Entering his junior year at Heritage High School, the two-way phenom fielded offers from IMG Academy, Cocoa High School and The First Academy — three perennial Florida state title contenders.
Polimice, who remains one of Samuel’s closest confidants, said it would’ve been easy for Samuel to leave Heritage. Polimice would’ve understood, too. Same with Benson.
Even after he mulled over possibly attending a famous program like IMG or going to TFA’s high-class facility in Orlando, Samuel felt that Heritage was home, Polimice said. He told Polimice he had unfulfilled goals with the Panthers. Plus, Samuel felt Heritage gave him the best chance to develop into a Division I player.
Benson met with Demetres Sr. in his office before the 2024 season. When Samuel’s father left the room, the head coach wore a wide smile on his face.
“At the end of the day, he told me it was up to (Samuel) Jr. And he wanted to stay around,” Benson said. “Demetres (Jr.) just trusted us, and he trusted the process. We laid it down to him, ‘Your biggest thing right now is to get to the next level and be prepared.’ That’s what we thought we could provide for our kids. We want to win, but we want to prepare these guys to get to (Division I) and play right away.”
So when it comes to Samuel’s 2026 roster status, don’t worry.
“He’s the brand of Syracuse, man,” Polimice said.
Demetres Samuel Jr. dons a suit as he makes his way through Syracuse’s campus prior to a contest. Despite being just 17 years old, Samuel has emerged as a pillar of SU’s defense. Leonardo Eriman | Photo Editor
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Samuel first discovered PFF grades after SU’s season-opener, when he saw posts from experts judging his performance against Tennessee. He was surprised to see such a quick assessment of how he played, Benson said. It agitated him initially. But after Samuel called Benson to talk over what went wrong versus Tennessee — a game where he allowed 98 yards and tallied a 41.2 PFF coverage grade — improving his grades became a form of motivation.
Samuel hasn’t had a bad game since.
The numbers concur: Samuel is one of the best true freshman corners in college football. He allows receptions on 53.7% of targets thrown in his direction. His 77.0 PFF defensive grade ranks seventh in the nation among freshman cornerbacks. He also boasts a 74.4 rush-defense grade, per PFF, which is the nation’s eighth-best mark for freshman corners. Samuel’s breakout game occurred versus Colgate on Sept. 12, when he racked up three pass breakups, skied in the air for an end zone interception and had five tackles.
“Throughout the year, you can just tell that he’s studying the film and taking control of his situation,” Benson said of Samuel. “And just being there, being present.”
SU redshirt sophomore cornerback Chris Peal said he was stunned when he realized a 17-year-old would be sharing a positional group with him. However, after seeing how he starkly improved post-Week 1, he now thinks Samuel is as wise as they come. Samuel’s veteran-esque work ethic is part of why.
“He’s waking up early in the morning, doing the same things he was doing before he got to Syracuse; working on his technique, footwork, getting in the weight room, doing anything there is for him to sharpen his craft,” Polimice said of Samuel. “He keeps getting bigger, stronger and faster.”
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If you bottled Samuel’s confidence, the glass would shatter into a million pieces. He possesses a rare blend of groundedness and self-assurance — he’s not afraid to say he’ll lock you up, but he’ll be the first to admit his defeat when applicable.
After Week 1, though, the individual losses have come few and far between. As it turns out, Samuel has been mentally predicting his successes.
Samuel and Peal share rooms on most of Syracuse’s road trips. The night before kickoff, the two usually sit together and watch film from their opponent’s previous game. They meticulously dissect it, looking for holes in their offensive game plan that they can exploit and scout out receiver matchups they know they can dominate.
Samuel, however, takes it up a notch. He often pauses the tape, puts himself in the position of a defender in the video and imagines how he would’ve made a better play. Jumping routes for interceptions, making shoestring tackles behind the line of scrimmage; Samuel runs a series of highlight-reel-worthy plays through his head in these moments of pure manifestation.
Peal’s taken a page out of his book. Now, they imagine themselves making plays together, feeding off each other’s strengths. For any situation, “We’re ready to go,” Peal said.
Samuel has acted on his thoughts to deliver a few monumental moments this year — like his first-career pick in the Dome and his seven-yard TFL against Miami — and Peal said that happens even more regularly behind closed doors. Once he activates his powers of manifestation more consistently, there’s no telling what Samuel can do for Syracuse in the future.
“You can see it in practice,” Peal said. “He’s thinking of intentionally making these plays, and when they happen, knowing certain routes they run and knowing when he can do something.”
“He’s levels ahead of it,” Peal added.
Photograph by Lars Jendruschewitz | Senior Staff Photographer
Published on November 20, 2025 at 12:00 am