Despite new head coach Fran Brown and his staff only taking over the Syracuse football program in early December of last year, they quickly managed to put together a 2024 class that is in the top 40 at the high school level and in the top 30 via the transfer portal.
As stellar as they did in 2024, Brown and his assistants could be poised to do even bigger things with their 2025 cycle, which is already off to a fast start.
When running back/athlete Bo MacCormack from Massachusetts verbally committed to the 'Cuse on Friday, that gave the Orange at least nine verbal pledges to date among high school juniors.
At the time of this writing on Saturday evening, the Syracuse football 2025 class checked in at No. 15 around the country, according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite. This 'Cuse cycle was also inside the top 40, per both Rivals.com and the On3 Web site.
Now, to be fair, these team rankings will ebb and flow as others haul in more commits. These ratings also factor in both how many commits a squad has, and the individual rankings of those pledges. So the Orange's 2025 class will fluctuate based on additional commits it lands, as well as what other programs do in this cycle.
Let's check out some player rankings of various Syracuse football 2025 commits.
Here were the Orange's nine verbal pledges in the 2025 class when I wrote this article:
•RB/athlete Bo MacCormack of the Buckingham Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge, Mass.
•Quarterback Luke Carney of the Dallas Christian School in Mesquite, Texas
•Defensive end/athlete Jaylen Pray of the Brunswick School in Greenwich, Conn.
•Athlete Jordan Gibbs of Longwood High School in Middle Island, N.Y.
•Offensive lineman Byron Washington of DeSoto High School in DeSoto, Texas
•Athlete/defensive back Marcus Upton of Winslow Township High School in Atco, N.J.
•Wide receiver Darien Williams of the Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse
•Defensive back Javon Lawrence of North Rockland High School in Thiells, N.Y.
•Edge Sharlandiin Strange of Cheltenham High School in Wyncote, Pa.
Per 247Sports, all of these 'Cuse commits are three stars. MacCormack is unranked by that recruiting service, but this young man as a junior tallied 2,150 all-purpose yards and 31 total touchdowns.
Rivals.com has Carney as four stars and in the top 25 at quarterback nationally. Strange is rated four stars by Rivals.com and the No. 20 strong-side defensive end. He is also four stars and in the top 300 nationwide, according to ESPN.
The industry-generated 247Sports Composite, in its national rankings, includes Upton, Williams, Lawrence, Strange, Pray, Washington and Carney.
Washington is the No. 52 offensive tackle, per Rivals.com. Pray is the No. 4 prospect in Connecticut, according to 247Sports. Gibbs checks in as the No. 2 player in New York, per 247Sports.
Speaking of the Empire State, several recruiting Web sites rank Williams as the No. 1 prospect in that state within the 2025 class. Lawrence, per multiple recruiting services, is the No. 4 player out of New York state.
Upton, on the 247Sports Web site, is listed as the No. 28 safety and the No. 13 prospect from New Jersey.
Geographically speaking, among these nine Syracuse football verbal commits, three are from New York, two are from Texas, and one each hails from Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut.
With numerous highly ranked juniors having scheduled unofficial or official visits to the Hill in the coming weeks or months, the Orange could see its already excellent 2025 class expand even further.