Syracuse Football: Current, former players react to Duce Chestnut entering portal

Cornerback Duce Chestnut, who was a freshman All-American for Syracuse football and played two seasons on the Hill before heading to the Southeastern Conference, said via his X page that he is officially in the NCAA’s transfer portal.

The 5-foot-11, 205-pound Chestnut, in the 2023 season, played in four games for SEC school LSU, meaning that he could take a redshirt this season and have two years of collegiate eligibility left.

Whether the new Orange coaching staff, led by head coach Fran Brown, might have an interest in Chestnut is unclear to me at this time.

After Chestnut posted on social media that he was in the transfer portal, several current and former ‘Cuse players responded, appearing to be in support of a possible return by Chestnut to the Orange.

We’ll have to see how things pan out now that he’s in the portal.

Duce Chestnut was excellent in his first season with Syracuse football.

In his first season with the ‘Cuse, Chestnut led the team with three interceptions. Per his bio on the SU Athletics Web site, he was named a freshman All-American by multiple national media outlets.

During that 2021 campaign, Chestnut had the second-most passes defended in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He was the runner-up for ACC defensive rookie of the year and was named to the All-ACC third team.

In 2022, as a sophomore, Chestnut received an All-ACC honorable-mention nod. While at LSU in 2023, he spent time “away” from the team, per media reports.

For the Tigers, he appeared in four games, registering six total tackles, four solo tackles, two assisted tackles, one tackle for a loss, one pass defended and one interception.

Chestnut was a member of the 2021 recruiting cycle out of Camden High School in Camden, N.J. Rivals.com, in that class, rated him as four stars and the No. 25 cornerback nationwide, while several other recruiting Web sites had Chestnut as three stars, a top-50 cornerback and a top-10 prospect from New Jersey.

Brown and new ‘Cuse defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson, who is currently the interim head coach and co-defensive coordinator at Texas A&M, are long-time friends who grew up together in Camden.

Brown, it should be noted, replaced Dino Babers as the head coach of Syracuse football after most recently serving as the defensive backs coach at SEC powerhouse Georgia.

I’ve seen a lot of Orange fans chime in via social media about Chestnut being in the portal, with some fans wanting to see him return to the ‘Cuse, while others are not in that camp.

Chestnut, as first reported by Syracuse.com, had been involved in an off-the-field incident that resulted in sophomore running back LeQuint Allen Jr. being suspended by SU, although the university and Allen reached a settlement in the matter, enabling Allen to play in the 2023 season.

Looking ahead to the 2024 term, the Orange’s secondary has seen some guys enter the portal, including sophomore Jeremiah Wilson and redshirt freshman Quan Peterson. Redshirt senior Isaiah Johnson has exhausted his collegiate eligibility.

Junior Alijah Clark and redshirt freshman Jayden Bellamy are expected back. Junior Justin Barron said via his X page on Christmas Day that he was returning to Syracuse football for his senior year.

Within its 2024 class, the Orange has a high school senior commit in three-star defensive back Braheem Long from Camden High School, and three-star Buffalo sophomore safety Devin Grant is transferring to the ‘Cuse.