Syracuse is the New New Jersey… as Christian planned all along…
Quarterback was going to be an issue entering 2024 for the Syracuse Orange. With Garrett Shrader leaving, none of the internal options inspired much confidence. Fortunately, that problem just got a lot more manageable.
Kyle McCord, starting quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes in 2023, is now heading to ‘Cuse.
— Kyle McCord (@kylemccord16) December 17, 2023
Syracuse.com’s Brent Axe was the first to report the news, and ESPN’s Pete Thamel also reported it today prior to McCord’s official post.
Hailing from Mount Laurel, New Jersey, Kyle was a five-star prospect out of St. Joseph’s Prep in Philly. He is currently listed as a top ten quarterback in the portal this season by 247Sports.com. His first two years at Ohio State were spent behind current Houston Texans quarterback CJ Stroud. Just days after leading the team to a 11-1 record on the year, the only loss being to Michigan in the final game of the season, McCord entered the transfer portal to complete his last season of eligibility outside of Columbus.
McCord had 3,170 passing yards and 24 touchdowns to just six interceptions this year. To put that in comparison, Garrett Shrader passed for 1,686 yards and 13 touchdowns with six picks in the last campaign. The last time the Orange has a signal caller with a stat line like that was Ryan Nassib in 2012, when he went for 3,749 yards, 26 TDs, and 10 interceptions. That was also the only time in program history where a quarterback has thrown for over 3,000 yards, and 26 passing touchdowns is the program’s single-season record.
This is definitely the biggest coup of the Fran Brown era at Syracuse (which has been all of three weeks). Combined with other moves this weekend, including Georgia cornerback transfer Zeed Haynes, who committed to the Orange Saturday evening, this hints to another monumental recruiting weekend as the Orange head into National Signing Day this Wednesday. McCord is the highest ranked member of the recruiting class, including both traditional recruits and transfers. He becomes the third highest rated player to don the Orange in the “recruiting era” behind Cecil Howard and Johnnie Morant, both from the early 2000s.
With a single year of eligibility, McCord immediately becomes the clear favorite to take the helm as the heir apparent to Shrader for the 2024 season. He joins a quarterback room that currently consists of Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, Braden Davis and Luke MacPhail and will likely be joined in the 2024 recruiting class by Jakhari Williams, a three-star quarterback from Georgia who is verballed to the Orange.
Welcome to the #FRANchise.