Looking ahead to the 2025 season, when on paper the Orange has an extremely challenging docket, Syracuse football head coach Fran Brown and his top-flight staff will have to replace several key standouts at the edge and linebacker positions.
I'm talking about star players such defensive end Fadil Diggs, linebacker Justin Barron and linebacker Marlowe Wax Jr., all of whom received All-ACC honorable mentions during the 2024 season and have professional aspirations in the NFL.
Now, the Orange will have some returnees and incoming freshmen at the edge and at linebacker for 2025. But the 'Cuse, this week, also picked up a veteran linebacker/edge who had been competing for a fellow Atlantic Coast Conference school.
David Reese, a redshirt senior outside linebacker at California who has one season of college eligibility left, announced on his Instagram page that he will transfer to Syracuse football. The 'Cuse graphic revealing his Orange pledge listed the 6-foot-2, 240-pound Reese as an edge rusher.
A huge congrats and welcome from Orange Nation to David!
Cal redshirt senior LB David Reese, who has one season of eligibility left, said on Instagram he will transfer to Syracuse football. Reese is a 3-star transfer. While in high school in Florida, he was a 4-star, top-150 overall player and held a 'Cuse offer. Welcome, David! 🎯🧡
— InsideTheLoudHouse (@LoudHouseFS) February 4, 2025
Syracuse football has landed 3-star transfer linebacker/edge David Reese.
Per his bio on the Cal athletics department Web site, Reese in 2024 was a seventh-year player. He has been granted two redshirt seasons and one Covid waiver.
During his collegiate career, Reese has suited up for Southeastern Conference member Florida and then California. In 2023, for Cal, noted college football expert Phil Steele had Reese on his All-Pac 12 Conference fourth team, when he tallied 36 total tackles, 8.0 tackles for a loss, 6.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, three pass breakups and four quarterback hurries.
Multiple recruiting services rate Reese as a three-star transfer prospect. On the On3 Web site, he is listed at No. 558 overall and No. 56 at edge in off-season transfer rankings.
Reese, who hails from Fort Pierce, Fla., spent his first three years at Fort Pierce Central High School before having a standout senior season at Vero Beach High School in Vero Beach, Fla. As a member of the 2018 recruiting class, Reese checked in as four stars, No. 126 nationally, No. 4 at inside linebacker and No. 27 in Florida, according to Rivals.com.
.@FPCFootball 2018 ATH David Reese picked up offers from #Syracuse and #Louisville today. @_reese5 @CoachShafferFPC #TCPrepZone
— Jon Santucci (@JonSantucci) January 29, 2016
Per a post on X, Reese was offered a scholarship by the Syracuse football staff in late January of 2016.
At this juncture in the off-season, the Orange has secured commitments from at least seven college transfers. A cycle ago, the 'Cuse had a larger class of college transfers, but in the 2025 cycle, Syracuse football has 35 pledges at the high school level, which is the most in the country and hovering around the top 40 overall.