Buckle up, Syracuse football fans. This will likely prove an interesting week.
Per a post on X from Chris Carlson of Syracuse.com on Monday night, first-year head coach Fran Brown says that he expects the NCAA's ruling to come this week on an appeal by record-setting senior quarterback Kyle McCord for a fifth season of collegiate eligibility.
Brown, naturally, wants McCord to win his appeal and return to the Orange for another term. At the same time, the 'Cuse head coach views McCord as one of the top quarterback options for the 2025 NFL Draft.
Fran Brown said on the ACC Network that he expects the NCAA ruling on Kyle McCord’s appeal for a fifth season of eligibility to come this week. Said he wants McCord back, also views him as a Top 5 quarterback among NFL Draft options.
— chris carlson (@ccarlsononSU) January 7, 2025
Trevor Sikkema, the lead NFL Draft analyst for Pro Football Focus ("PFF"), recently had a post on X where he placed McCord at No. 9 in his quarterback rankings for the 2025 NFL Draft, which will take place from April 24 to April 26 in Green Bay, Wis.
2025 NFL Draft Quarterback Rankings👀
— PFF College (@PFF_College) January 4, 2025
(Via: @TampaBayTre) pic.twitter.com/sz8ghkYIi2
Syracuse football fans, understandably, are eager to find out whether McCord could have the chance to suit up for the Orange in the 2025 campaign. Social media and chat rooms have been a lot of fun to read in recent days regarding McCord!
If quarterback Kyle McCord can come back to Syracuse football - wow.
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound McCord, a native of Mount Laurel, N.J., was a four-star transfer from Ohio State who, in the recently completed 2024 season, led the 'Cuse to a 10-3 record and a likely top-20 national ranking in the final College Football Playoff top 25.
McCord, who has been invited to play in the East-West Shrine Bowl on January 30 in Arlington, Texas, set numerous Atlantic Coast Conference and Syracuse football single-season records in his one stanza competing for the Orange.
Named to the All-ACC second team and the No. 10 finisher in the voting for this season's Heisman Trophy, McCord as a senior completed 66 percent of his passes for 4,779 yards and 34 touchdowns against 12 interceptions.
He threw for at least 300 passing yards in 12 of the team's 13 games in the 2024 stanza, and McCord is the first 'Cuse signal-caller to tally 4,000 passing yards in a single term.
In 2025, the Orange does have an intriguing quarterback room, although many of the team's QB options for the next stanza are underclassmen. Even with Syracuse football facing, on paper, a daunting schedule in its 2025 season, should McCord be granted a fifth campaign by the NCAA, that would be a game-changer for the program, given what he did on the field in 2024.