Syracuse Football: New coaching hires, recruiting efforts have fans excited

New Jersey native Fran Brown was formally introduced by SU Athletics as the new head coach of Syracuse football this past Monday.

In the handful of days since then, it’s proven a whirlwind of fun things for the Orange program, in terms of additional coaching announcements, official visits lined up for the coming weekend, or scholarship offers doled out to highly rated prospects.

I have to say – I haven’t felt this much excitement around the Syracuse football team in a long time, and I’ve seen many fellow fans echo this sentiment on social media in recent days.

Naturally, how the Orange performs on the field in the 2024 season and beyond is what matters the most. However, as far as I can tell, there’s a buzz in the air surrounding the ‘Cuse, and that’s all kinds of awesome.

Let’s dive into some of the latest and greatest with Syracuse football.

Brown, most recently the defensive backs coach at Georgia, is not messing around on the recruiting trail at the onset, and he’s working to build out his coaching staff. Regarding the latter, here are some nuggets to pass along:

•Brown has confirmed that Texas A&M co-defensive coordinator and assistant head coach Elijah Robinson will serve as the Orange’s new defensive coordinator. Both Brown and Robinson grew up in Camden, N.J., and they’re longtime friends. They each have extensive recruiting ties to New Jersey and the entire Northeast region. At last glance, per 2024 national recruiter rankings from 247Sports, Brown arrived at No. 1 nationwide, while Robinson checked in at No. 10 around the country.

•According to media reports and social media posts, former Colorado defensive line coach Nick Williams is expected to serve as the Orange’s defensive ends coach. From what I’ve read about Williams, he’s a strong recruiter and excels in player development.

•Devin Redd, most recently the wide receivers coach at Delaware State, will serve as an assistant wide receivers coach at Syracuse football.

•Brown has confirmed that Nunzio Campanile, the Orange’s interim head coach and tight ends coach, will remain on the ‘Cuse staff, which pleases me.

•On December 4, ESPN’s Pete Thamel said via his X page that Syracuse football is eyeing Jeff Nixon as the Orange’s next offensive coordinator. Nixon, at present, is the running backs coach of the NFL’s New York Giants.

•On Wednesday, Matt Zenitz of 247Sports reported that Syracuse football is expected to hire back Khalil Ahmad as the team’s executive director of personnel and recruiting. Ahmad, who also has extensive recruiting connections in New Jersey and throughout the Northeast corridor, has been serving as Penn State’s recruiting coordinator for personnel and recruitment. He was previously the ‘Cuse director of high school relations under former head coach Dino Babers. Dennis Thomas, who is presently the Orange’s director of high school relations, is anticipated to remain on the SU coaching staff, per reports.

•On the recruiting front, this week, Syracuse football coaches have made scholarship offers to numerous four-star high school prospects. The list is long and keeps growing, so I invite you to check out Rivals.com and Sports Illustrated for more detailed information.

•I’m aware of at least seven four-star players in the 2024 cycle who are expected to take official visits to the Hill this coming weekend. They are safety Koy Beasley, cornerback Josh Philostin, cornerback Marcellus Barnes Jr., wide receiver Jaylan Hornsby, edge KingJoseph Edwards, wide receiver Emanuel Ross and running back Yasin Willis.

•In the wake of Brown, Robinson and others coming on board to lead the Syracuse football program, 2025 four-star offensive tackle Jaelyne Matthews said that the ‘Cuse is now one of the top suitors in his recruiting process. Matthews, a top-100 national prospect in the 2025 class, is a junior at Toms River High School North in Toms River, N.J.

•With all of this stuff going on, I feel like it’s been a little lost in the shuffle that the Orange (6-6, 2-6 in the ACC) will play American Athletic Conference member South Florida (6-6) in the Boca Raton Bowl on Thursday, Dec. 21, in Boca Raton, Fla. The kick-off is scheduled for 8 pm. I think it’s important to note that the ‘Cuse last played in bowl games in consecutive seasons during 2012 and 2013. I think this is a nice building block for Brown & Co. to utilize as the coaching staff is further developed and recruiting efforts continue onward.