Former Syracuse QB Rickie Collins transfers to Kennesaw State
Former Syracuse quarterback Rickie Collins transferred to Kennesaw State Thursday night. In one season with SU, Collins lost all five starts and threw 10 interceptions. Joe Zhao | Daily Orange File Photo
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Former Syracuse quarterback Rickie Collins transferred to Kennesaw State, On3 reported Thursday night. After transferring in from LSU, Collins produced a 6-10 touchdown-to-interception ratio while losing all five starts.
Collins was initially hand-selected as the heir apparent to Kyle McCord. He transferred in through the winter transfer portal and worked in spring camp as the starting quarterback with little competition. A hand injury forced Collins out of SU’s spring game, and in the process, Fran Brown picked up Notre Dame quarterback Steve Angeli to build a fall quarterback competition.
Angeli beat out Collins, though the LSU transfer stayed as the backup. He entered briefly versus Colgate and threw both a touchdown and an interception. Then, when Angeli went down with a season-ending Achilles injury, Collins finished out the win over Clemson.
Once taking over the starting reigns, Collins never found a groove. He lost four straight starts with little progress, and Brown took the starting job from him, demoting him to the third string. Following an even more abysmal performance from Joe Filardi and Luke Carney against UNC, Collins earned back the starting job versus Miami. The Hurricanes forced two interceptions, and Collins didn’t appear in the final two games of the season. He then entered the transfer portal hours before it opened.
Collins chose the Orange last offseason over Appalachian State and other options. Out of high school, he was initially committed to Purdue before flipping to his hometown school in Baton Rouge. Collins never carved out a role with Brian Kelly’s squad as Jayden Daniels starred in 2023 and Garrett Nussmeier took over the next two years.
With Collins’ departure from Syracuse, its quarterback room currently consists of Angeli, Rich Belin and freshman Zaid Lott. The Orange have hosted multiple quarterbacks on visits and will add one before the transfer portal closes.
Kennesaw State went 10-4 in its first season under Jerry Mack, and its quarterback, Amari Odom, hit the transfer portal. Odom visited the Orange on Jan. 5.
