Syracuse Football: Despite rough fall term, many 2021 commits locked in

Syracuse football is struggling in the current stanza, but that isn’t causing 2021 commits to think about de-committing from the Orange.

With Syracuse football now 1-4 after a home loss to non-conference opponent Liberty over the weekend, the Orange is facing the possibility of a winless rest of the season, particularly with games at No. 1 Clemson and No. 3 Notre Dame still to come.

Naturally, that has some ‘Cuse fans calling for head coach Dino Babers to get fired, although personally I don’t think we’re quite at that point.

Still, given the Orange’s woes, recruiting analyst and journalist Michael McAllister reached out to a bunch of commits in the Syracuse football 2021 class to gauge their opinions on the state of the ‘Cuse program.

At least for now, it doesn’t seem that the Orange’s start to the 2020 stanza is affecting the commitments of these high-school seniors, according to this really cool piece by McAllister, who is the publisher of SyracuseOnSI.

Let’s take a look at some of the responses, because they’re really fascinating and show how passionate numerous recruits are about the ‘Cuse squad.

When asked if the Syracuse football performance to date in the 2020 campaign impacts his recruitment status, three-star quarterback Justin Lamson said, “Nope.”

Said cornerback Duce Chestnut, rated as three or four stars depending on the recruiting service, “Definitely doesn’t affect my commitment to Cuse. Yes it’s been a rough start but that’s due to injuries and the circumstances they are playing through. With the coaching staff we have, I can see them turning it around.”

Offensive tackle Enrique Cruz, also ranked either three or four stars, said, “I’m still fully committed to Syracuse. I think this year is just a down year.”

Three-star defensive lineman/linebacker Derek McDonald said, “I’m not worried about the start to the season. I believe in the coaching staff, and I’ve seen some really good flashes of how good the defense can look. I’m excited for our class to get up there because I think we can turn things around.”

Three-star defensive lineman Jatius Geer put it simply, saying “I’m locked in 100%.”

Three-star running back Josh Hough said, “No it doesn’t. They are working with a lot of injuries right now, plus they had a really great recruiting class this year. Those issues are temporary.”

Finally, three-star offensive lineman Wes Hoeh added, “Makes me even more excited to get there and hopefully make an impact to the team.”