Top national recruiting analyst John Garcia Jr. of Rivals.com says that Syracuse football is off to a fast beginning with its 2026 class.
In a recent article, Garcia detailed five Atlantic Coast Conference schools that are off to hot starts in the 2026 cycle, including the Orange. To date, head coach Fran Brown and his top-flight staff have hauled in at least nine verbal pledges in this class, including several commitments over the past week or so.
Here's what Garcia wrote: "The Orange's recruiting momentum has carried into the New Year under Fran Brown as it looks to follow up a top-40 recruiting haul. Syracuse is in the top 20 at the moment thanks to a league-best nine verbal commitments, led by four-star offensive tackle Javeion Cooper. ... The commitment list already spans the nation with California and Florida represented along with more conventional pipeline areas such as New Jersey and Pennsylvania. January has brought five new members of the class thus far and there could be more on the way before February begins."
It's an interesting point that Garcia brings up regarding Syracuse football's 2026 class and the geographic breakdown of the team's verbal pledges so far. Three commits hail from Florida, two from Delaware and then one each from New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania and California.
This speaks to the recruiting prowess of Brown and his assistants. Yes, they will always focus on the traditional recruiting markets along the Northeast Corridor, but Orange coaches are recruiting numerous other states hard, such as Florida, California, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas and Ohio, among others, and Canada.
Syracuse football is crushing things so far with its 2026 class.
On January 27, the 'Cuse scored a verbal pledge from four-star edge Jarius Rodgers out of Fleming Island High School in Fleming Island, Fla. Multiple recruiting services rate him as four stars.
When I wrote this article, 247Sports had Rodgers at No. 174 overall, No. 17 at edge and No. 22 in Florida within the 2026 cycle. The industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking, at the time of this writing, placed him at No. 251 nationally.
Two days earlier, on January 25, Central New York native Steven Pickard Jr. also verbally committed to Syracuse football. The 2026 three-star offensive lineman is out of the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
Most of the Orange's other 2026 verbal commits are three stars, although offensive tackle Javeion Cooper of Melbourne Central Catholic in Melbourne, Fla., is rated four stars by various recruiting Web sites. Cooper, per On3, is No. 182 nationwide, No. 16 at offensive tackle and No. 27 in Florida within the 2026 class.
On Friday evening, when I penned this story, the Syracuse football 2026 cycle arrived at No. 13 overall via the industry-generated 247Sports Composite, No. 18 from Rivals.com and No. 25 according to the On3 Web site.