Flip to Syracuse football by 4-star, top-125 national prospect bolsters 2025 class

Never, ever count out Syracuse football first-year head coach Fran Brown when it comes to recruiting.

Brown, as he gets ready to lead the Orange (3-1) into a prime-time, Friday night showdown in Las Vegas against No. 25 UNLV (4-0), came to the Hill after most recently serving as the defensive backs coach at Georgia.

In February of this year, 247Sports named Brown its No. 1 national recruiter of the year for the 2024 cycle, and I can see why. Brown had plenty of recruiting success at Georgia and at other prior collegiate stops, and he's faring well in this regard with the 'Cuse, too.

Case in point, in late March, 2026 four-star athlete/defensive back Demetres Samuel Jr. verbally committed to the Orange, a massive get for Brown and his staff. But then in late July, the 6-foot-2, 185-pound Samuel said he wanted to remain in the Sunshine State for college, so he flipped to Southeastern Conference member Florida while reclassifying up to the 2025 cycle.

No worries. Brown and his assistants never stopped their pursuit of Samuel, who is a highly ranked standout at Heritage High School in Palm Bay, Fla. And in recent days, per media reports, Samuel flipped back to Syracuse football from the Gators.

Like I said. When it pertains to a recruiting battle, Brown is always in the mix. Always. Oh, and a big welcome back to Demetres from 'Cuse Nation!

Syracuse football recently scored a monumental pledge from a highly touted senior.

Samuel, following his flip back to the Orange, becomes the team's highest-ranked verbal commit in the team's 2025 class. He is a consensus four-star prospect, according to the primary recruiting services.

Currently, On3 is the most bullish on him, placing Samuel at No. 123 nationally, No. 11 at safety and No. 22 in talent-rich Florida within the 2025 cycle.

When I wrote this column on Tuesday, the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking had him at No. 207 overall, No. 18 at safety and No. 32 in Florida. Via the industry-generated 247Sports Composite, Samuel was No. 242 around the country, No. 21 at safety and No. 38 in Florida.

According to several analysts, including Rivals.com and Yahoo Sports national recruiting director Adam Gorney, Samuel took a visit to the Hill last weekend and was in attendance as Syracuse football defeated non-conference foe Holy Cross, 42-14, this past Saturday afternoon at the JMA Wireless Dome.

To date, the Orange now possesses at least 29 verbal pledges in its 2025 class. Buoyed by the commitment from Samuel, this Syracuse football cycle is No. 34 overall from Rivals.com and No. 36 nationally via the 247Sports Composite.