NFL
By: Rick O’Donnell
Well, there ya have it. It’s a wrap on this year’s Syracuse Orange football team and it was a season that fans would like to forget. This year went off the rails so quickly but it almost seemed inevitable. What it comes down to is the old cliche: “trust the process.” Recruit and reset will be the focus this offseason but don’t expect SU to stay down for long. There are plenty of positives to come out of this year despite an 8-game losing streak to end the season.
Bright Future Ahead
Despite a lopsided loss to a 1-10 Boston College team to end the season, Syracuse has some positives to take away. Usually, when a team goes on an 8-game slide, star players want out as fast as possible, especially in college football with the new transfer portal. That doesn’t seem to be the case for the Orange. Plenty of playmakers have already committed to returning, as have the recruits who committed to the team for next year. Fran Brown was brought in for his ability to recruit and so far it’s proving to be his strength. He’s getting guys to commit to the program despite this year’s struggles.
Spoiled Too Soon
The one thing Syracuse fans have to remember is, this was never going to be a quick fix. This program has hovered around average to mediocre for years. You cannot turn around a team in a season. Sure it can happen when teams like Colorado or Syracuse did it last year, or even the New England Patriots this year. However, these are lightning-in-a-bottle moments. The longevity isn’t always sustainable.
That’s why both Fran Brown and Deion Sanders are where they are right now. They brought in talent to get fans on board and excited about the product. Now, they have to take that 1 year of exciting football and start to turn the team over. More of the last regime’s players will either finish their careers or move on from the program. Year 3 will more than likely tell you just how successful a coach like Fran Brown will be after a bad season. How does he and the team handle adversity and then correct it?
Comeback Season
The biggest upset this season wasn’t shown on any scoreboard. No, that happened with the loss of quarterback Steve Angeli. Angeli was leading the country in passing yards, following closely in the footsteps of his predecessor, Kyle McCord. When he went down to end his season, that’s where it all went downhill. Bad break after bad break and there were times you could tell certain players gave up. That’s a key element to the Orange’s offseason. Whether it was the sprinting after a game or getting 70 hung on them by Notre Dame, there were moments you questioned the team’s drive.
While that initially sounds bad, pair those two together. If Syracuse can get Steve Angeli back to healthy and playing at the level he was it will be a great turnaround. Getting the right guys through the door won’t just be the catalyst for success and it could fall on Angeli. For a team to move on, get their guy right back in, and have him playing at a high level, it should boost Angeli’s confidence as a leader as well as the team’s willingness to let him lead. He could easily take on a much more commanding role under center and not even worry about a QB competition as he did this season.
It’s clear the Syracuse Orange needed a reset. It’ll come with new players, a few coaching shakeups, and a whole lot of recruiting. Luckily, it could easily be a bounce-back season under the right circumstances.
