Syracuse football’s recent recruiting haul tells a very different story than the one fans have seen on the field in a lot of seasons.
Yes, the Orange have had their struggles. But under third-year head coach Fran Brown, the program has clearly changed its profile on the recruiting trail, and that matters. Syracuse has already put together its highest-rated 2024 and 2026 classes in the modern recruiting services era, and the 2027 group could wind up being the best of the bunch before all is said and done.
That rise has shown up not just in the Northeast, but in places like Florida too. Across Syracuse’s 10 most recent recruiting classes, from 2019 through 2028, the Orange have landed a run of high-end commitments and signees that would have been hard to imagine not long ago.
The headliner in the 2028 class is Omari Lawson, a four-star offensive tackle from Zarephath Academy in Jacksonville, Fla. He committed to Syracuse in October 2025, and the 6-foot-6, 260-pound lineman sits inside the top 125 nationally in both the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and the industry-generated Rivals Industry Ranking.
The 2027 class is already making noise, too, thanks to Elijah Kimble. The four-star running back from Canisius High School in Buffalo, N.Y., committed to Syracuse earlier this month in July 2026. At 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds, Kimble is the Orange’s highest-ranked pledge in that cycle, and he chose Syracuse over scholarship offers from nearly 40 other programs, including Indiana, the reigning College Football Playoff national champion.
Then there’s Calvin Russell III, the biggest name in Syracuse’s 2026 class. The five-star wide receiver from Miami Northwestern Senior High School is currently injured, but his ranking says plenty about the level Brown and his staff are reaching.
The 6-foot-5, 195-pound Russell is Syracuse’s highest-ranked signee in more than two decades. In the 2026 cycle, 247Sports had him at No. 31 overall, No. 3 among wide receivers and No. 3 in Florida.
Syracuse also got a major boost in 2025 from Demetres Samuel Jr., a four-star defensive back/wide receiver from Heritage High School in Palm Bay, Fla. His recruitment took a few turns: he first committed to Syracuse, then flipped to Florida, and later flipped back to SU. As a 17-year-old true freshman in 2025, the 6-foot-1, 195-pound Samuel was one of the best freshmen in the country.
Brown’s first season in charge in 2024 ended with a 10-3 record and a bowl victory, and Kyle McCord was a huge reason why. The four-star transfer quarterback from St.
Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia came to Syracuse from Ohio State and delivered immediately. In his lone season on the Hill, the 6-foot-3, 218-pound McCord set Atlantic Coast Conference and Syracuse single-season records with 4,779 passing yards, while throwing 34 touchdowns against 12 interceptions.
The Orange have also hit on players who weren’t flashy recruiting wins at the time but turned into major production. Oronde Gadsden II arrived in the 2021 class as a three-star wide receiver from American Heritage Schools in Plantation, Fla., and later moved to tight end.
The 6-foot-5, 236-pound Gadsden became a two-time All-ACC first-team selection. In 2024, he caught 73 passes for 934 yards and seven touchdowns and earned Associated Press All-America third-team honors.
In 2025, as a rookie with the Los Angeles Chargers, he had 49 catches for 664 yards and three touchdowns.
Sean Tucker fits the same mold. The three-star running back from Calvert Hall College High School in Towson, Md., was not a heavily touted recruit, but he became one of Syracuse’s best backs.
In 2021, the 5-foot-10, 205-pound Tucker was a first-team All-American after setting the school’s single-season rushing record with 1,496 yards and 12 touchdowns. His 3,182 career rushing yards at Syracuse rank No. 3 in program history.
He has since settled into a role with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he has totaled 651 rushing yards, nine rushing touchdowns, 152 receiving yards and two receiving scores over three NFL seasons.
Syracuse has had only two 10-win seasons, in 2018 and 2024, and since 2010 the program has reached seven bowl games and won five of them. But the recruiting momentum Brown has built gives the Orange a different kind of footing heading into 2026 and beyond.
In Other News...
Syracuse Transfer Suddenly Drawing Buzz As Camp Nears
Noah Meyers is arriving in Syracuse with a chance to carve out a real role right away, and that alone makes him worth watching as camp approaches. The Western Kentucky transfer brings a proven receiving profile to the tight end room, coming off a season with 30 catches and three touchdowns, and he fits the broader push Fran Brown and his staff have made to add transfer depth and more immediate impact across the roster.
For Syracuse, the intrigue is less about whether Meyers belongs and more about how quickly he can turn that rsum into playing time once the competition heats up. He enters a room with several other options, and the Orange are still sorting out who can emerge as a reliable presence in the passing game, so Meyers has a clear opening if he can translate his production into consistency in a new offense. [Read more 🡒]
Syracuse Fans Finally Have A Real Read On McNamaras Recruiting Board
The AAU circuit has finally given Syracuse fans a clearer look at where Gerry McNamara and his staff are spending their time, and the answer has been all over the summer calendar. With the Nike EYBL, Adidas 3SSB and Under Armour Association seasons now wrapped, the Orange have had chances to evaluate a wide range of targets while also checking in on prospects who kept winning and advancing deep into playoff runs. McNamara was on hand at several events, watching players such as J'Lon Lyons, Lewis Uvwo and Moussa Kamissoko as the recruiting board started to come into focus.
The next few months should bring even more clarity, with some of those recruits expected to make official visits to Syracuse. Lyons is among the names drawing the most attention, while Uvwo and Kamissoko look like the kind of high-end talents that can shape a class if the Orange stay in the mix. Syracuse also has its eye on younger prospects and other live-period targets, which means this evaluation phase is far from over even if the summer tournaments are done. [Read more 🡒]
Syracuse Recruiting Momentum Shows Up In Peach Jam Title Run
The Peach Jam 16U title game put a Syracuse-heavy spotlight on one of the summers biggest stages, with Team Final from Philadelphia and Team CP3 from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, meeting in a matchup that featured several Orange targets on both sides. Team Final came away with the championship, and the game gave Syracuse fans another look at Rowan Phillips, Logan Chwastyk and Carter Smith, all of whom already hold scholarship offers from the Orange, while Mason Collins represented the other side with his own Syracuse offer in hand.
Carter Smith was the most eye-catching of the bunch in the title game, filling the box score with a near-triple-double effort that underscored why Syracuse is in the mix. The broader takeaway for the Orange is hard to miss: the recruiting board is showing up in high-level summer basketball, and these are the kinds of games that can shape how the staff keeps sorting through its options as the 2028 class starts to come into focus. [Read more 🡒]