Paul Pasqualoni’s name belongs in any real conversation about Syracuse football in the 1990s, and The Athletic made that clear by slotting him 17th on its list of the decade’s top 20 head coaches.
The ranking placed Pasqualoni between Mack Brown and LaVell Edwards, a fitting spot for the man who kept the Orange winning at a level Syracuse fans remember well. The Athletic’s writeup leaned right into that reality: “Yes, kids, Syracuse football used to win consistently.
Never more consistently than between 1987 and 2001 under Dick MacPherson, then Pasqualoni. He went 10-2 in his first two seasons, 1991 and 1992, and never had a losing season during the decade.
The 1998 season had massive potential with senior Donovan McNabb at quarterback and included a win at Michigan, but it started with a crushing 34-33 loss to eventual national champ Tennessee and ended with a loss to Florida in the Orange Bowl.”
That 1998 team had the kind of ceiling Syracuse has spent years trying to get back to, even if the finish left plenty of what-ifs on the table. Pasqualoni’s decade-long run was defined by steady success, not just one spike year, and that consistency is exactly what made his place on the list feel deserved.
At the top of The Athletic’s rankings were Bobby Bowden, Bill Snyder, Steve Spurrier, Tom Osborne and Barry Alvarez.
And for Syracuse, the bigger takeaway is hard to miss: since Pasqualoni was fired, no coach who followed has matched what the Orange did in the 1990s. The question now is whether Fran Brown can be the one to bring Syracuse back to that level.
In Other News...
EA Sports Just Sent Syracuse Fans A Surprising Message About 2026
EA Sports is back with a new college football release on Wednesday afternoon, and Syracuse is once again part of the games wider offseason conversation. NCAA Football 27 has been showing fans how the Orange stack up in the virtual world, with the familiar mix of roster buzz and rating debates that always seem to follow a big video game reveal. The title is already available through an early-access trial, with full purchase options coming July 9 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
For Syracuse fans, the appeal goes beyond nostalgia. These ratings offer an early look at how the Orange are being viewed heading into the 2026 conversation, and they also give supporters another talking point while they wait for actual football to arrive. The games quarterback pecking order, along with the rest of the roster build, is the kind of detail that can spark plenty of debate even before the season begins. [Read more 🡒]
Syracuses Re-Offered Big Man Is Already Stirring Familiar Frustration
Even with Syracuse already in the mix, the path for Caleb Ourigou keeps getting crowded. The 6-foot-10, 215-pound Queens native remains one of the more interesting big men on the board, and his stock has only grown as a top-60 national prospect and top-10 center who has been productive for NY Rens on the EYBL circuit. He has the kind of profile that naturally keeps programs watching closely, especially with his offer from Syracuse and the possibility that he could move up from the 2027 class.
Jamie Shaw of Rivals added another layer to the recruitment this week, projecting Arkansas to land Ourigou with a 60 percent confidence rating. The big man has already been on the road to Kentucky, UConn, BYU and Arkansas, which underscores how active his process has become as schools track whether he will re-classify to 2026. For Syracuse, the timing matters almost as much as the talent, and this is one of those recruitments where the next move could reshape the board quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Former Syracuse Star Hit With Another Brutal Setback
Kyle Freemans path has already been defined by stops and starts, and now the former Syracuse forward is dealing with another discouraging setback as he continues his college career at St. Johns. Rick Pitino recently revealed that Freeman was injured during a summer workout, adding another difficult chapter for a player Syracuse fans knew all too well because of the injuries that interrupted his time in orange.
Freemans health has been a recurring storyline ever since his college days, when foot issues repeatedly slowed him at Syracuse before his move to a rival Big East program. For St. Johns, the news complicates a roster plan that had counted on him, and for Syracuse fans it is another reminder of how much promise has been shadowed by the physical toll of the game. [Read more 🡒]