Syracuse Football: Why a 4-star recruit could be cornerstone for program

So Syracuse football fanatics and Orange Nation, what do you guys wanna talk about? Syracuse men’s basketball beating Georgetown? Is the Syracuse women’s basketball team deserving of being in the top 25 or at least more votes than they’re getting now? Oh yeah, there’s a new head coach in charge of Syracuse football.

On Monday, December 4th, Syracuse University formally announced Fran Brown was hired as head coach. And Coach Brown quickly hit the ground running getting out in the community, talking to current players and hitting the road recruiting old-timers.

Ahh the recruiting though…am I right? Fran Brown was ranked the number one recruiter by various sources and has shown already he wants to do that at Syracuse. Amongst the recruits is a 6-foot-4, 230-pound DE/TE out of Georgia named KingJoseph Edwards. And in my eyes, the four-star Edwards could be the prize recruit if he chooses Syracuse football.

Now let’s be clear here. There are debates about how many stars he has and personally I don’t care. If the coaches say he’s a guy we want, he’s a guy I want in Orange. He has Syracuse football in his final three and on December 19th, he will choose between Cuse, Colorado and Florida State.

So if you are following social media, message boards or your buddy sitting at the local bar always wanting to talk sports, you likely know many recruits visited this past weekend. Coach Brown brought in several players considering Syracuse football to show them around and talk to them about their opportunities. And following some of these guys, one can’t help but feel like it was made to look like they got the red carpet treatment.

But as the title suggests and I hinted above, KingJoseph Edwards is a guy I’m personally interested in and think might be a very important piece. Coach Brown is going to want to win and attract more people from the community to care and Edwards is a guy who can help them do both.

Why a 4-star recruit could be a cornerstone for the Syracuse football program.

Edwards is a top-250 prospect as my buddy Neil Adler covered here, and is a guy who is determined to be successful on the field.

But he’s also a guy who I’ve watched handle criticism of not choosing other programs with class and patience when “fans” attempted to diminish his ability. This seems odd to me since not only Coach Brown is interested but so are Deion Sanders (Colorado) and Coach Mike Norvell (Florida State, who should be in the playoffs, btw) so I’ll trust them over JohnB16 on Twitter/X any day.

And he’s a guy who will embody Coach Fran Brown’s vision for the community as well. He’s held turkey drives, collects item for the homeless and others struggling and only wants to do more in that regards wherever he goes. Here in Syracuse, he’d be a valuable asset to local organizations and drives that could use more help or even bring his own touch to the community.

And in the community of Syracuse, there are many who think Syracuse may be out of touch with those who are nearby and struggling. They think athletes and students are too entitled and the university doesn’t care. There are also many in the community utilizing food banks, shelters, and local organizations just trying to get by.

By having a player like KingJoseph Edwards on the Syracuse football team, you’re bringing in a guy with talent on the field and one who will connect with many of those who feel unseen, are struggling and might start to care more about the program, the university and feel like someone genuinely cares.

And while Dino Babers was replaced for not winning enough so we know winning matters, we also know that to be successful in this area and attract people to games or simply to care, players like Edwards will be necessary in determining the future.

And you’ll also let that 8-year-old kid sitting in school right now with food security issues grow up seeing guys like him making a difference and believe in something more and maybe feel like someone cares and in return become a Syracuse fan for life.

So hopefully on December 19, KingJoseph Edwards chooses Syracuse football, where he can not only find a path to the NFL but also help build bridges in the local community and possibly be a leader in the locker room over time as well as being a cornerstone of the first recruiting class of Coach Brown’s tenure and hopefully for the team for the next 3-4 years in the ACC.