T
he 2024 campaign is one Syracuse couldn’t replicate if it tried. The stars aligned above the Orange’s football program in a way that hasn’t been seen too often throughout the team’s history. In its first year under head coach Fran Brown, SU rattled off a 10-3 season, punctuated by a stunning upset victory over Miami and a Holiday Bowl win over Washington State.
Led by program-changing transfers like quarterback Kyle McCord and edge rusher Fadil Diggs, as well as career years from do-it-all running back LeQuint Allen Jr. and X receiver Jackson Meeks, last season was one of the greatest teams in Syracuse’s history.
Brown notched the most wins for an SU first-year head coach since 1991. The triumphant season made the previous eight years under former head coach Dino Babers seem like a distant memory; it proved hiring Brown is, in fact, the move that will bring SU sustained success on the gridiron.
But almost all of the Orange’s key players who spurred the program’s revitalization are now in the NFL. With that significant of a talent dropoff, there wasn’t much Brown could do to reload his roster to be on par with 2024’s group.
Though Brown infused the 2025 Orange with loads of talent, this season is much more about developing and retaining the current roster while maintaining the program’s culture before welcoming in historically good recruiting hauls in 2026 and 2027. It’s a rebuilding year. Syracuse has gotten clearly worse at the quarterback position and lacks pass rushing depth, making the Orange vulnerable to a second-year slump to begin Brown’s tenure.
“You guys already said we weren’t going to win a lot of games, and we got the hardest schedule in the world, so I’m really not focused on the stories or any of that,” Brown said to the media after training camp practice on Aug. 18, likely referencing the 2025 Atlantic Coast Conference Preseason Poll, which predicts the Orange to finish 12th in the conference.
Brown doesn’t want to admit 2025 is a rebuilding year for Syracuse. But, it is. And that’s OK.
The Orange have seen a massive recruiting boom since the conclusion of last season, highlighted by 2026 five-star wide receiver Calvin Russell (Florida) becoming SU’s third-ever five-star commit. Per 247Sports, Syracuse currently boasts the No. 23 overall 2026 recruiting class and the No. 4-ranked 2027 recruiting haul. There’s also the freshman class, which features two-way sensation Demetres Samuel Jr. and 6-foot-7 left tackle Byron Washington.
That brings us to 2025. Ahead of Brown’s second year at the helm, the Orange got ravaged by NFL Draft entrees and players hitting the portal unexpectedly, such as Maraad Watson, Trebor Peña — both of whom transferred in April — Marcellus Barnes Jr. and Jayden Bellamy. They lost nearly every single starter from 2024. By that point, there simply wasn’t enough time for Brown to fully replenish Syracuse’s talent.
It brought in consequential transfer portal additions like Texas receiver Johntay Cook and Georgia corner Chris Peal as well as a pair of quarterback options in Steve Angeli and Rickie Collins. But besides that, finding new starters through the portal was slim pickings.
In college football’s modern landscape, where teams are expected to replenish starting-caliber talent by using the transfer portal, Syracuse didn’t do enough to bridge the talent gap between this year and last. Simply elevating last year’s backups won’t be enough for SU to match another double-digit win campaign.
Fran Brown oversees Syracuse’s spring game. Brown and the Orange were active in the transfer portal this offseason, adding two viable quarterback options in Rickie Collins and Steve Angeli. Leonardo Eriman | Photo Editor
Last year’s Orange was a team led by sure things. This year’s group is led by question marks.
Angeli, who spent his last three years at Notre Dame, enters his first collegiate season as the day-one starter. Though he has racked up over 20 appearances in live action in his two-year career, the biggest point of experience Angeli has is his cameo to end the first half of last year’s College Football Playoff Semifinal against Penn State. He tossed for 44 passing yards on 6-of-7 completions, coming off the bench cold to steady the Fighting Irish to a field-goal drive.
Notre Dame beat PSU by 27-24 that night, with Angeli’s successful two-minute drill serving as the difference.
It’s clear that hint of experience could’ve thrust Angeli slightly above Collins — who only threw seven career pass attempts at LSU from 2023-24 — in SU’s preseason quarterback battle.
“Without that drive I’m not sure those guys make it all the way like that. That was a big drive for (Notre Dame),” Brown said on Aug. 18 of Angeli’s CFP drive with Notre Dame. “I’m hoping I can give him the same poise that he had (at ND) when he goes in (here).”
It’ll also be interesting to see how much of a leash Angeli has to begin the season. If the Orange start out 3-3 before they go on a mid-October bye week, how much pressure will there be to start Collins?
As the old adage goes: When you have two quarterbacks, you have zero.
No matter who’s under center, the pieces around it are also far less experienced. The Orange lost three of the ACC’s top receiving threats from last season, and while Darrell Gill Jr. looks to be a promising No. 1 option, the rest of the group is all question marks; even Cook, who couldn’t tally a season over 150 yards in two years at Texas.
And on defense, an Orange unit that ranked in the bottom-30 in the nation in tackling grade last year, per Pro Football Focus, lost its two most sure-handed tacklers, Marlowe Wax and Justin Barron. Defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson and Co. have rethought the program’s tackling philosophy and brought in a few NFL greats to serve on their coaching staff: Hall of Famer Dwight Freeney and Muhammad Wilkerson.
Getting new minds in the building is beneficial, but the fact remains that the Orange did not add enough experienced players to their defense. SU’s secondary is extremely young and thin after losing Barnes, Bellamy and Jaeden Gould to the portal, with its main responding addition being Peal’s transfer from Georgia. Plus, not a single pass rusher on the Orange has tallied over 5.0 sacks in a Division I season before.
Losing budding stars who were expected to be present, like Peña and Watson, while replacing them with guys who haven’t played much D-I football makes 2025 a clear rebuilding season for Syracuse. The expectation should still be a bowl game. Yet, strenuous challenges loom on the Orange’s 2025 schedule, including road matchups at No. 4 Clemson, No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 10 Miami, as well as a neutral-site battle versus No. 24 Tennessee to open the campaign.
There is no shortage of question marks for Syracuse this year. Every element and obstacle Syracuse faces in 2025 is harder than 2024. The team’s priority should be retaining the gold mine that awaits it in the future — back-to-back top-flight recruiting classes in 2026 and 2027. If Brown can keep the ship steady and make sure his homegrown talent stays in town, 2025 will be a success, even if — and when — the Orange see a year-to-year wins drop off.
So, keep a realistic mindset when projecting what Syracuse could accomplish this season. Especially when the real concern is whether or not SU can keep Brown away from blue-blood programs by signing him to a lucrative extension at the end of the year.
Cooper Andrews is a Senior Staff Writer at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at ccandrew@syr.edu or on X @cooper_andrews.
Photograph by Angelina Grevi | Staff Photographer
Published on August 28, 2025 at 12:03 am