Steve Angeli, the transfer from Notre Dame, will be Syracuse football's starting quarterback in week one of the upcoming season, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported on Monday. I confirmed this news via a source on Monday morning as well.
The 6-foot-3, 212-pound Angeli, a redshirt junior from Westfield, N.J., beat out LSU transfer Rickie Collins, who was named the Orange's starting signal-caller in April by head coach Fran Brown. That announcement, though, was before Angeli elected to transfer from the Fighting Irish to the 'Cuse.
Notre Dame transfer Steve Angeli has won the starting job at Syracuse, per ESPN sources. Here's the full ESPN story, including an opening match-up against Tennessee where both starting quarterbacks transferred to their school *after* spring practice. https://t.co/mw6oyKYJ2T
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 18, 2025
Syracuse football's 2025 season opener is on Saturday, Aug. 30, against No. 24 Tennessee in Atlanta. The Volunteers have also named their starting quarterback, and he is UCLA transfer Joey Aguilar.
A huge congrats to Steve on winning the starting QB job on the Hill. I'd also like to give props to Rickie, who has played well in preseason camp. The Orange, over the weekend, conducted its second scrimmage, and Brown indicated that he would make a decision about the quarterback spot after that scrimmage.
Syracuse football has two talented quarterbacks who vied for the starting role.
While Angeli will start in week one, make no mistake about it. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Collins, a redshirt sophomore from Baton Rouge, La., is entirely capable of running the Orange's offense in 2025, too.
Could we see both quarterbacks get reps throughout the upcoming campaign? Absolutely. I also have a lot of respect for Collins and Angeli because they each have handled this exciting quarterback competition during preseason camp with class and dignity.
Brown did recently say that the starting quarterback position was Collins' spot to lose, because he's been with the team longer. Collins transferred to the Orange during the winter portal window, whereas Angeli came on board amid the spring portal cycle.
Thamel reported that Angeli "narrowly beat out" Collins. Both have limited experience at the college level, although Angeli did play well on a national stage this past season during a College Football Playoff semifinal win for Notre Dame over Penn State.
The Fighting Irish, which fell to Ohio State in last season's CFP title game, is No. 6 in the preseason Associated Press top-25 poll. Syracuse football will travel to Notre Dame in the 2025 campaign on Saturday, Nov. 22.
In national transfer rankings this off-season, both Angeli and Collins were ranked as high-three-star prospects and in the top 25 at their position. Each was a four-star prep recruit. Angeli played at Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, N.J., where his head coach was Vito Campanile. Campanile is the brother of Nunzio Campanile, the Orange's offensive associate head coach/quarterbacks coach.