Syracuse football could be ACC title contender ‘in the next year or two,’ expert says

A recruiting expert says that while the Syracuse football 2024 class has flown a bit under the radar on a national scale, this Orange cycle could have a high ceiling.

‘Cuse head coach Fran Brown, the former defensive backs coach at Georgia, officially took the reins of the Syracuse football program in early December.

In a short period of time, Brown and his top-notch coaching staff have assembled a stellar 2024 class, comprised of talented high school seniors and college transfers.

For some context, this ‘Cuse 2024 cycle isn’t among the elites in college football, but it is rated significantly higher than other recent Orange classes under former head coach Dino Babers.

The Syracuse football 2024 cycle may have a high ceiling, an expert says.

In a recent article, Cory Lemer, the associate editor of mikefarrellsports.com, looked at several college squads whose 2024 recruiting classes weren’t super highly ranked but hold a lot of promise.

One of those schools, I’m pleased to say, is the ‘Cuse. As Lemer noted, the Orange’s 2024 cycle includes numerous four-star prospects, both among high school seniors and college transfers.

Lemer writes in part that Brown “will have to continue stacking talent from the prep levels in future classes, but between their early prep recruiting, and their loaded transfer portal class, Fran Brown’s new-look Orange program could be primed to compete for ACC titles in the next year or two.”

I totally agree with Lemer’s assessment. In fact, I wrote an article not too long ago where I opined that Syracuse football – based on the guys returning, the team’s 2024 recruiting class, the newly assembled coaching staff, and the squad’s manageable schedule for next season – could potentially make a run at the top tier of the Atlantic Coast Conference standings in the 2024 term.

I know, I know. I’ve got Orange-colored glasses on. All good. I also said I think that if things fall into place, perhaps it’s not out of the question that Syracuse football could contend for a spot in the College Football playoff, which in the upcoming stanza will expand from four participants to 12.

Naturally, that’s somewhat of a bold statement, given that the ‘Cuse is a combined 13-13 over the past two terms, although the Orange has made consecutive bowl games for the first time in more than a decade.

On Saturday night, fast-rising 2024 defensive back and wide receiver Ibn McDaniels from Elizabeth High School in Elizabeth, N.J., pledged to the ‘Cuse. Then on Monday, former four-star Alabama defensive lineman Isaiah Hastings said he would transfer to Syracuse football.

As it currently stands, those pledges give the Orange a total of 32 commitments in its 2024 class, including 20 high school seniors and 12 players via the transfer portal.

Here are the national rankings of the Syracuse football 2024 cycle, at the time of this writing:

247Sports Composite

High school senior class: No. 37
Transfer class: No. 17

On3 Industry Ranking
High school senior class: No. 52
Transfer class: No. 11

Rivals.com
High school senior class: No. 38
Transfer class: No. 15