Syracuse football has had a rough go of it on the field in the 2025 season, but the Orange staff continues to crush things on the recruiting trail in the 2026 class and beyond.
Dating back to late last month, the 'Cuse has flipped a 2026 three-star defensive lineman from Penn State, while another Nittany Lions pledge will officially visit the Hill in late November. More recently, earlier this week, the Syracuse football coaching staff flipped a 2026 four-star defensive back from Florida State, and the 'Cuse is trying to flip a 2026 four-star linebacker/edge rusher from Miami.
In the case of the latter two players noted above, they hail from the country's most talented state in high school football, Florida. All in all, the Orange has 30 verbal pledges in its 2026 cycle, and eight of these prospects hail from the Sunshine State.
The 'Cuse has shot up to eight pledges in 2027. Three of them are from Florida. Also, not too long ago, the Orange got on the board with its 2028 class, and the team's first commit is from - you guessed it - Florida.
Syracuse football may not be good in 2025, but that isn't hurting its recruiting.
Recently, when the 'Cuse has had home games at the JMA Wireless Dome, a lot of verbal pledges and recruiting targets have been on the SU campus for visits. Now, as Syracuse football prepares to play at No. 18 Miami on Saturday afternoon, the Orange is stuck in a five-game losing streak.
The 2025 campaign has been a brutal one for the program. Yes, losing the starting quarterback has proven a big reason why, but let's also keep in mind that the 'Cuse 2025 roster is extremely young, the schedule has been quite challenging, and Syracuse football lost a lot of key veterans from a season ago.
I'm not making excuses. I'm stating facts. And what I find frustrating is that some of my fellow Orange fans keep making silly comments on social media, suggesting that because the team is struggling this term, most or all of the squad's pledges are going to de-commit. Candidly, these fans need to be clued in a bit.
For one, Syracuse football commits recognize that this season has been disastrous, but they also know 2026 and beyond will be better. The team's quarterback situation will work itself out, and the future looks bright.
Plus, these commits want to play for head coach Fran Brown and his top-flight assistants, a staff that includes numerous terrific recruiters. One bad season doesn't diminish the culture that Brown is building in Central New York with the Orange program.
Syracuse football had a top-40 national class in 2024. In 2025, it was top 45. Currently, the team's 2026 cycle is No. 23 overall via the industry-generated 247Sports Composite, which represents the Orange's highest-rated class in the history of the modern recruiting services era. In 2027, the 'Cuse is No. 6 nationally.
This season has been a bummer. It truly has. But it's not negatively impacting the Orange's recruiting efforts. Not one iota.