Syracuse Football: ‘Cuse players hungry to win a lot in 2024, 5-star QB Kyle McCord says

Kyle McCord, who will spend his senior season in 2024 as the starting signal-caller for Syracuse football, says the Orange roster is filled with a lot of players who are hungry to win games and make some noise in the upcoming term.

The 6-foot-3, 215-pound McCord, who had a strong junior year at Ohio State before transferring to the ‘Cuse last month, discussed a range of topics in a recent ACC Network interview with ESPN reporters Andrea Adelson and David Hale.

McCord said it was “kind of a no brainer” for him to transfer to the Orange, given the trust factor he has with the newly assembled Syracuse football staff.

He hails from New Jersey, and numerous ‘Cuse coaches, including head coach Fran Brown, also come from the Garden State. In the ACC Network interview, McCord noted that he has known Brown, new offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon and offensive associate head coach/quarterbacks coach Nunzio Campanile all for a long time.

Once former Georgia defensive backs coach Brown was named to replace Dino Babers on the Hill, and McCord was officially in the NCAA’s transfer portal, Brown “was on me right away,” the quarterback says.

QB Kyle McCord thinks Syracuse football can have a stellar 2024 stanza.

The ‘Cuse recently began its winter workouts, and McCord likes what he’s seeing. He believes that the Orange has a ton of talent, a “really good culture,” and the team is “starting to come together.”

As he discussed, Syracuse football coaches have seen a lot of the squad’s best players from the 2023 season elect to return, such as running back LeQuint Allen Jr., defensive back Justin Barron, receiver Oronde Gadsden II and linebacker Marlowe Wax Jr., among many others.

Undeniably, the ‘Cuse has witnessed a bunch of guys hit the transfer portal and depart the program, which happens everywhere, and especially when there is a head-coaching change.

Yet as McCord alluded to, Brown and his staff have hauled in an excellent 2024 class, consisting of at least 20 high school seniors and 12 college transfers.

McCord, who threw for 3,170 yards and 24 touchdowns against just six interceptions as a junior for the Buckeyes, is without question a prized commitment for the Orange. He was a five-star recruit coming out of the St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia.

In national transfer rankings this cycle, several recruiting services rate McCord as a four-star, top-40 national prospect, as well as one of the premier signal-callers who was in the portal.

Various articles have come out since he transferred to Syracuse football, and national pundits have put out mixed results on just how good of a fit McCord will prove at the ‘Cuse.

Personally, I think that with McCord at quarterback, the Orange has a shot at making a serious run at the top tier of the Atlantic Coast Conference in the 2024 season, given what I view as a relatively favorable schedule for the program.

McCord will have numerous weapons at receiver, Allen is poised for another 1,000-yard rushing term, and the ‘Cuse defense is going to surprise some people with how good it could ultimately be.

It will prove critical for the Syracuse football offensive line to do a great job of giving him time to throw, something that wasn’t always the case in 2023.

Not too long ago, when on The QB Room podcast, McCord expressed optimism about the Orange’s outlook for the upcoming campaign. “There’s definitely an opportunity for us to go out and win some games,” he said.