Syracuse football is trying to flip 4-star DB Tedarius Hughes, a Florida St. commit

Syracuse football head coach Fran Brown and his top-flight staff aren't backing down from anyone, whether it's a fellow Atlantic Coast Conference program or any other heavyweight around the country.

Case in point, 2026 four-star defensive back Tedarius Hughes, who is verbally pledged to Florida State, will take an official visit to the Orange during the weekend that begins on June 6, according to a post on X from Rivals.com national analyst John Garcia Jr.

As Garcia noted, the 6-foot-3, 180-pound Hughes, who hails from the Sunshine State, does have upcoming official visits scheduled to ACC members Florida State and Miami. The Seminoles, two seasons ago, were awesome, but FSU stunk this past term.

The Hurricanes, meanwhile, were among the ACC's best squads in the 2024 campaign, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that the 'Cuse stunned Miami last November in the regular-season finale.

Syracuse football will host Florida State commit Tedarius Hughes, a 4-star DB, on an official visit.

Hughes, who attends South Dade Senior High School in Homestead, Fla., and has unofficially visited the Hill in the past, received a scholarship offer from the Orange on January 24, 2024, according to his X page. In early July of last year, he verbally committed to FSU after having the 'Cuse in his top three.

When I wrote this article, within the 2026 cycle, On3 placed Hughes in the top 200 overall, the top 15 at safety and within the top 30 in Florida. At the time of this writing, both the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking had Hughes inside the top 400 nationally of his class.

As I've noted on many occasions of late, Syracuse football coaches are recruiting the state of Florida extremely hard these days. The Orange has landed numerous commitments across its 2025, 2026 and 2027 cycles from high school prospects who reside in the Sunshine State.

To that end, on the weekend that begins June 6, the 'Cuse will also host 2026 four-star defensive back and top-150 national prospect Ayden Pouncey on an official visit, he disclosed via his X account.

The 6-foot-3, 175-pound Pouncey, a standout at Winter Park High School in Winter Park, Fla., included Syracuse football in his top 10 about a month ago.

It's an exciting time for the Orange program, as an abundance of commits and recruiting targets plan to take official or unofficial visits to Central New in the coming months. See below for a few more examples.