Demetres Samuel Jr. is looking to establish himself as Syracuse’s newest two-way star at just 17 years old.
Page 10
Page 4
HIS TIME
After transferring in from Notre Dame, Steve Angeli is ready to become Syracuse’s next star quarterback.
BEAT WRITER PREDICTIONS
After a resurgent 2024 season, our beat writers predict if SU can replicate that success in 2025.
Page 6
GO-TO GUY
Darrell Gill Jr. will lead Syracuse’s receiving corps in 2025, three years after being overlooked in high school.
Page 11
REBUILDING YEAR
With how much talent Syracuse lost, our beat writer says 2025 is bound to be a rebuilding year for SU.
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DEAR READERS,
Syracuse football enjoyed a resurgent season in 2024 under first-year head coach Fran Brown, winning 10 games and claiming its first Bowl win in six years. The Orange were led by transfer quarterback Kyle McCord, who set the ACC single-season passing yards record.
In 2025, Brown’s roster looks different. Out is McCord, in is Notre Dame transfer Steve Angeli. Alongside the new signal caller are two-way freshman phenom Demetres Samuel Jr. and top returning receiver Darrell Gill Jr., each striving for big seasons of their own.
The Daily Orange’s 2025 Football Guide has all you need to know before Brown and Co. try to replicate their success this season.
Thanks for reading,
NOAH NUSSBAUM
2 EASY
A17-year-old Demetres Samuel Jr. is college football’s next 2-way phenom
By Cooper Andrews senior staff writer
fter a Syracuse football training camp practice on Friday, Aug. 8, an exhausted Demetres Samuel Jr. jogged away from the team’s midfield huddle. For the freshman who plays both cornerback and wide receiver, practice sessions typically end with him panting for extra air. He’d just finished another afternoon splitting time between receiver and corner drills, preparations for his plan to, one day, play every down of every game.
All gas, literally no breaks.
“It’s funny because I’m in the corner room all day with my guys. We lock it in, we watch film, then we talk trash to the receivers every day,” Samuel said, recounting a typical day for him at SU’s fall training camp. “And then I always know when I go to offense, now it’s my turn to trash talk the corners.”
The 17-year-old yearned to be in an ultracompetitive environment like this. It’s why Samuel left Heritage High School (Florida) a year early; he felt high school football was too easy for him. Now, with the daily regimen SU head coach Fran Brown has instilled, he says his legs devolve into mush following each practice — in his eyes, the ideal post-workout state.
What’s taken Samuel’s teammates and coaches aback is how well he’s held his own against guys who are, at times, half a decade older than him.
Frankly, Samuel doesn’t think Division I football is that hard.
“Obviously, I’m in college now, but I’m adjusting very well, as you can probably see,” Samuel said, before unleashing a maniacal giggle.
Samuel isn’t even old enough to vote, but the wunderkind believes he’s ready to conquer college football. After an illustrious high-school career in Florida, where he won back-to-back district titles and became a top-20 prospect in the state, ESPN named Samuel as one of 2025’s top 10 incoming freshmen and On3 as a True Freshman All-American. After reclassifying to the 2025 class, he became SU’s highest-rated freshman of the recruiting cycle.
There is nothing Samuel can’t do on the gridiron. Coaches and teammates say he runs like a deer, boasts the strength of an ox and has the stamina of a rabid dog. He possesses a level of pure athleticism and gravitas that few players in Orange football history have arrived onto the scene with — a genera tional talent if there ever was one.
Before his highly-anticipated freshman season, where Brown said Samuel will start at cornerback and see time at wide receiver, Samuel is primed to take the mantle from reigning Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter as the sport’s next two-way star.
Syracuse players and coaches are already gush ing over the potential the swiss army knife has to take the college football world by storm.
“He’s just a dog. That’s all I can say. Just a dog,” senior defensive back Devin Grant said of Samuel. “You can’t even tell that he’s 17 years old.”
“That kid’s so talented. There’s not a lot (for him) to work on,” wide receivers coach Myles White said.
“I don’t really have to worry about anything over there with him,” said redshirt soph omore cornerback Chris Peal, SU’s presumed No. 1 corner.
Once Demetres Sr. learned his son was serious about wanting to be a professional football player, he ensured Samuel centered his life around achieving that goal. As the fifth-youngest child of six siblings, there were no shortcuts in the Samuel household.
Demetres Sr. took his kids on runs around the neighborhood. He’d make them do 100 pushups a day. As Samuel entered high school, that number increased to 200 pushups a day. Every morning before school, this was his routine. By the end of each week, he’d accumulate over 1,000 pushups to satisfy Demetres Sr.’s wishes.
But Samuel never complained. His father wanted to teach him the immense sacrifice it takes to reach football’s highest level, but it seemed like Samuel innately understood that.
“Once you set a standard, you can never go below that,” Demetres Sr. tells his son. “You need to go higher than that standard.”
Interceptions Samuel had in his first year at Heritage High School
Samuel has taken his father’s words to heart. He wants to be the best at everything. Not only did he dominate Florida’s youth football scene, he would school his family members at any board game of his choosing. Samuel developed a knack for winning every single game of “Uno” — the reason why he dons No. 1 on his jersey today, Kristal said. His endless motor helped him become an all-district track runner as a sophomore in high school, posting a scintillating 10.52s 100-meter time and a 23.24s 200-meter.
“It’s not just on the football field; it’s all the time,” Kristal said of her son’s competitive fire. “‘Uno,’ ‘Monopoly,’ anything he can get his hands on, he makes sure that he wins and lets you know about it.”
When Samuel played little league football in his hometown of Palm Bay, Florida, Heritage High School football head coach Mykel Benson often watched his games. Benson saw the same player then as he sees now: one with a deadly combination of intelligence and speed.
Samuel’s parents, Demetres Sr. and Kristal, said their son was the lone kid on the field who could read both an opposing offense and defense. When Samuel was 10, his team’s coach got suspended for one game, forcing Demetres Sr. into action as the acting coach. Demetres Sr. started his son at quarterback and ran a zone-read offense. Samuel ran for five touchdowns. On the other end, he suffocated the opposing offense by constantly meeting rushers in the correct gap.
“There was never a time we weren’t working out together,” Samuel said.
Other days, they’d hit the grass and work on Samuel’s change of direction at cornerback, or Polimice would have him run sprints to bolster his stamina for a two-way workload. They’d even watch film together, honing in on Samuel’s presnap identification of man versus zone defense.
Polimice hardly refers to himself as Samuel’s trainer. Most of the time, he says, Samuel pushes him to get out of bed in the morning. It’s an “iron sharpens iron” dynamic Polimice hadn’t experienced before with another player.
“He was getting a step ahead of the game because he was working extra while everybody else was just relaxing,” Polimice said. “He was doing two-a-days every single summer, every offseason. He’s a person who’s never satisfied.”
By the end of his junior year of high school, Polimice forged Samuel into a lean 6-foot-1, 190-pound weapon who could outrun speedy receivers and muscle his way through brawny linebackers. It wasn’t a difficult archetype for Ben son and his staff to find a role for.
Defensively, Heritage cre ated a position for Samuel’s skillset called the “warrior,” former Heri tage quarterback Jackson Sum merall said. Roaming between safety and cornerback, Samuel completed whatever the most aggressive possible assignment was on any given play, whether that’s playing man coverage on a No. 1 receiver or blitzing a quar terback in a late-down situation.
Continuing to exceed his father’s standard, Samuel transferred to Heritage High School entering his sophomore year, wanting to carve out a spot on one of Florida’s top programs. Benson said Samuel came in with strong athletic tools but had a fairly scrawny stature.
Then came Frantz Polimice.
Heritage’s former strength and conditioning coach immediately saw Samuel’s potential. From the moment he heard rumblings about Samuel possibly transferring to Heritage, he couldn’t wait to start working with him.
When those rumblings become reality, Polimice took Samuel under his wing, helping develop the freshman from a raw talent into a pure specimen.
“He was playing off just athleticism at the time that he came in,” Polimice said of Samuel. “I just took on the role of being his mentor. I was like, ‘I see something in him,’ and I knew he knows what it takes to get to the next level.”
Polimice said Samuel soaked in every ounce of knowledge he provided and quickly mastered a grueling daily routine the coach cultivated for him in the summer of 2023.
Every day was a full-body workout. No lower-body or upper-body nonsense. Polimice made sure Samuel’s entire body was on fire after each session.
Dumbbell jumps, back squats, single-leg split jumps and plenty of drills to improve Samuel’s hip mobility — the two spent all morning pushing each other to complete their reps. Then they’d eat lunch before parting ways, since Polimice had to serve clients at his personal gym. Samuel would usually conduct another solo workout during this time. In the evenings, he’d rejoin Polimice for a 6 p.m. workout session, averaging 2-3 workouts per day.
There’s a palpable “aura” Samuel carries with him, Benson said, that attracts other teammates to follow his every move.
Samuel’s pull was so strong in high school that, after he reclassified from 2026 to 2025, virtually every upperclassman on Heritage’s program transferred out. Even Polimice moved to West Boca Raton High School as its football team’s DBs coach, a job he says he only received because of Samuel’s notoriety. Most teammates couldn’t bear finishing their careers at Heritage without Samuel, who they saw as an irreplaceable void.
In 2023, his first season at Heritage, Samuel racked up five interceptions and 19 solo tackles while primarily playing defense. By his second and final year with the program, rival quarterbacks wouldn’t even bother to test the dangerous waters of Samuel Island — he didn’t nab a single pick as a junior.
“He was always going to make a big play,” Benson said of Samuel. “Nobody could run around on him.”
He’s just a dog. That’s all I can say. Just a dog. You can’t even tell that he’s 17 years old.
Devin Grant syracuse defensive back
Samuel’s awe-inducing track numbers and ability to swarm the field defensively inspired Benson to mold him into a two-way player. At the end of Samuel’s sophomore year, he got sporadic run on offense, acting as a gadget deepball receiver. He caught six passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns, which led to an increase on offensive snaps the following year, where he totaled over 300 receiving yards.
On the first ball Summerall threw to Samuel in the 2024 season, they connected on a goroute, and the receiver housed it to the end zone. For the quarterback, that exact play happened countless times throughout practices and games.
“I could throw the ball as far as I wanted to,” Summerall said of when he targeted Samuel, “And he would always go get the ball. He’ll make it look so easy.”
He evolved into a human cheat code. Midway through his sophomore season, Benson figured he might as well send Samuel out to return a punt. On Samuel’s first-ever high-school punt return, he weaved through the opposing defense and brought it back for a touchdown. In Heritage’s 2024 season opener, Samuel delivered another punt-return touchdown in the school’s 44-0 win over Palm Bay.
“His first step of explosion off the ground is crazy,” Polimice said of Samuel’s punt-return ability. “He was destroying those kids.”
Benson said anytime Samuel steps on the field, you can see he’s the best player out there.
“He always had a confidence that he’s the best on the field,” said Summerall, who has since transferred to John Carroll Catholic (Florida). “And that’s the confidence you want — you want your receiver to know that he’s the best on the field and as a defensive player, you want (the opponent) to know that no one is receiving any passes.”
On Brown’s first visit to Heritage to meet Samuel, he already knew all about the twoway’s oozing athletic potential. But he didn’t realize the teenage Samuel contains the brain of an NFL veteran.
Brown, Samuel and Benson began the meeting by breaking down game film. It was a way for Brown to test Samuel’s ball knowledge, but it quickly became more of a showcase. Samuel effortlessly analyzed every coverage of every play. After the meeting ended, Brown told Benson he’d never seen a player lead a film breakdown session until finding Samuel. “That’s what’s going to continue to make him have success at the next level,” Benson said of Samuel’s IQ. “The game is very slow for him now.”
When Samuel and Brown spoke on the phone about a Syracuse offer, the head coach presented the highly-touted recruit with a three-year plan.
He told Samuel he could play immediately at Syracuse, the first step of Brown’s mission to make Samuel an NFL Draft pick after his junior year. The goal is for Samuel to get selected in the first round of the 2028 NFL Draft as a 20-year-old. He would be one of the youngest first-round picks ever.
Even with Southeastern Conference giants like Alabama, Auburn and Florida — which churn out NFL players — begging for Samuel’s commitment, he saw Syracuse as a place where he could prove his value instantly.
Samuel and his family said Brown presented himself as “real” to them, offering guidance rather than a traditional recruiting “pitch.” He offered Samuel a future he couldn’t refuse, one where he’d grow into the face of the program.
“If you come here, you’re going to be the No. 1 player in the nation,” Brown told Samuel.
“After that first conversation, I knew he was different from everybody else,” Samuel said of Brown.
Polimice, who stays in touch daily with Samuel, traveled to Syracuse in late May to visit his prodigy. Samuel had started spring work on SU’s campus. Polimice said he watched a few drills the Orange’s defense conducted, mostly simple exercises going over fundamentals and learning about defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson’s secondary alignments.
When Samuel came over to greet Polimice, the coach could barely contain himself.
“Yo, you know you were like, prepared for this stuff already?” Polimice told him.
Samuel’s face lit up into a beaming smile.
“I already know, coach, this stuff is easy,” Samuel responded. “We’ve been doing this for the last two years.”
The great mystery surrounding Samuel is his everlasting quest of finding a challenge. Football has been too easy for him. There’s still plenty of time for Samuel to undergo the ups and downs of a typical player’s college career. Samuel is anything but a typical player, though. For now, he remains limitless. Until he leaves, so is Syracuse.
ccandrew@syr.edu @cooper_andrews
HIS TIME
By Aiden Stepansky senior staff writer
Steve Angeli gets flashbacks when he hears the voice of his quarterbacks coach. To Angeli, the similarities are “insane.”
He views it as your typical Italian guy from New Jersey. No, it’s not Vito Campanile, his former head coach at Bergen Catholic High School (New Jersey). But it’s Nunzio, Vito’s younger brother. His voice has become Angeli’s added layer of comfort within college football’s most tumultuous process.
“It’s crazy, I hear some stuff and I get déjà vu,” Angeli said. “I’m like, ‘Am I back being 14,15 years old in high school?’”
Following three years as Notre Dame’s backup quarterback, Angeli took a leap of faith into the spring transfer portal. He left a quarterback competition with the national runner-ups after some “tough conversations” and jumped into another at Syracuse despite the Orange naming LSU transfer Rickie Collins their starter in April.
Angeli’s New Jersey roots and a deep connection with the Campanile family led him to Syracuse over other Power Four offers. And after winning the quarterback battle in fall camp, he’ll jumpstart Fran Brown’s second year helming the Orange in their season opener against No. 24 Tennessee.
To many around New Jersey high school football, Angeli’s been known for years. But to the national audience, Jan. 9 marked his formal introduction.
17-1
Bergen Catholic’s record in Angeli’s junior and senior year
The Fighting Irish trailed Penn State 10-0 in the CFP Semifinal nearing the end of the first half. As it drove down the field, ND starter Riley Leonard was hit by defensive lineman Dvon J-Thomas in the backfield, with the back of his helmet hitting the ground. He was shaken up, thrusting Angeli into action.
Angeli felt ready for the moment. Wide receiver Deion Colzie said Angeli was poised, controlling the game’s pace. Wide receiver Jayden Thomas thought the team was confident in Angeli, no matter what Penn State’s ferocious defense threw at him. Leonard knew Angeli could hold down the fort.
“When he went in (against Penn State), he’s just always been that guy to come in, not say a word, just put his head down and go to work,” Leonard said. “And that’s just who he is.”
He shouldn’t be treated or seen as a transfer quarterback. He should be seen as one of the most loyal guys in college football.
Riley Leonard former notre dame qb
Angeli carved through the Nittany Lions, going 6-for-7 for 44 passing yards to lead a field goal drive entering the half. The score ignited the Fighting Irish, leading to their 27-24 victory.
Vito said he was slouched over on the couch and quickly moved to the edge of it once Angeli entered. Wide receiver coach Ron Carti was on the phone with Vito, both discussing how the performance was nothing new for their star quarterback. Former BC linebacker John Fiore III noted that the team’s old group chat erupted with text messages about Angeli’s play. The performance also caught the attention of multiple members of Syracuse’s staff.
Angeli earns an offer from
Steve Angeli entered the transfer portal in April. His New Jersey roots led him to Syracuse.
Nunzio could tell Angeli wasn’t overwhelmed by the environment. Offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon joked he was partially upset due to his ties to Penn State. But Brown knew if Angeli ever entered the transfer portal, he would “be on him.”
He recruited Angeli with Nunzio at Rutgers. Brown remembers Angeli not answering the phone. The two joke about it now, but Angeli was busy becoming a star.
Angeli’s childhood quarterback coach, Matt Bastardi, estimates he lost just one game as a starter since fifth grade. He attended the prestigious Bergen Catholic, over 45 minutes away from his home in Westfield, to compete. Angeli was with the varsity team as a freshman and split time with senior Andrew Boel as a sophomore.
Entering his junior season as the starter, running back Ryan Butler said Angeli set up practice sessions multiple times a week during the COVID-19 pandemic to build a rapport with his receivers. His connection with Vito contin ued to blossom, too.
Fiore recalls weekly film sessions between Angeli and Vito to break down opponents. Both Nunzio and Vito had attended Angeli’s games since seventh grade, as Butler remembers. Nunzio was Bergen Catholic’s head coach before Vito took over, allowing him to know Angeli. The relationship was capped with a perfect 12-0 2021 season and a Group A New Jersey State Championship.
Despite connections to Nun zio and offers from top Big Ten schools, Angeli chose Notre Dame to continue his college career. His great uncle, Pete Berezney, played for the Fighting Irish in the 1940s. Though beyond the family connection, he grew close with offensive coordinator Tommy Rees.
ND went through a coaching change following Angeli’s commitment, but he stayed with the Fight ing Irish as Rees stayed on board. The current Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator said Angeli’s recruitment was “interest ing” due to COVID-19 restric tions. They built a relationship through Zoom. Angeli, with the help of his older brothers, Jack and Nicholas, sent film of him throwing through different apparatuses and simu lated a pass rush with pool noodles. Rees was impressed.
When Angeli arrived on campus for spring practice, Rees remembers a particu lar play where Angeli sprinted to his left, flipped his hips, backpedaled and threw a far crossing route on the money. Angeli had arrived.
“I just remember thinking ‘holy sh*t,’ Rees said. “If he can make that, I think we’ve got (a) pretty good player here.” Angeli, however, never really got his shot.
As a freshman, he grew under junior Drew Pyne. Pyne took the starting spot from Tyler Buchner after two games following a season-ending injury. Both from the Northeast, Pyne said the two were “like-minded” and Angeli attended every meet ing, went through game scripts the night before and watched film as if he was the starter. Both Pyne and Buchner departed after the season. But so did Rees, who left for Alabama.
As Rees left, the Fighting Irish brought in Atlantic Conference transfers the next two years to run the show. it was Sam Hartman from Wake Forest. Angeli said Hartman immediately took him under his wing, becoming a mentor. two became best friends, and Angeli’s role remained the as the year prior. Hartman opted out of the Sun Bowl, giving Angeli his and only — college start. He completed 15-of-19 attempts three touchdowns to lead Notre Dame past Oregon 40-8. But the performance wasn’t enough to get starting job as the Fighting Irish brought in Leonard
Leonard said he felt the two were “50/50” for the starting job throughout camp. Though Leonard was unsurprisingly named the starter ahead of the season and ran with the role. zie thought, despite Leonard being a year Angeli was well respected as the longest tenured quarterback in the room. Leonard bounced
“We considered him at Notre Dame an statesman,” Colzie said of Angeli. “He always
As Leonard moved the NFL, it seemed last be Angeli’s job ing his redshirt season. ND bring in a veteran time around, instead creating a competition between Angeli, shirt freshman CJ and redshirt sophomore Kenny Minchey. Thomas, who departed for Virginia in the winter transfer tal, thought Angeli be the starter. But ard said he truthfully didn’t know what happen after seeing three excel in 2024.
The trio battled throughout the spring. Just days after spring game, Dame head coach cus Freeman said he ed to cut the quarterback competition to two players entering the fall. He said have conversations to determine what’s best for the program. few days later, Angeli entered
“I had a moment toward the of spring ball where I had conversations at the place at before, and had to have tough conversations,” Angeli “I understood that making a and entering the portal, as transfer, would have been the opportunity for me…It’s business. It’s business. Everything happens for a reason. It’s business.” When Angeli committed it ran a pro-style system, one Rees thought Angeli fit naturally. When turning to Leonard new offensive coordinator Denbrock, it looked for a mobile option under center.
Fighting Irish’s turn to Carr like a return to the pro style.
June 22, 2019 Aug. 17, 2020 Feb. 17, 2021 March 4, 2021
Angeli earns an offer from Notre Dame
Angeli commits to Notre Dame
Nunzio Campanile and Rutgers
Angeli earns an offer from Syracuse
Coast First, Hartman mentor. The the same first — attempts with Oregon State get the Leonard “50/50” Though starter role. Cololder, tenured bounced ideas elder knew moved on to seemed to at enterjunior didn’t veteran this instead competition Angeli, redCJ Carr sophomore Thomas, Virginia transfer porwould Leontruthfully would seeing all 2024. battled spring. after the Notre Marwantquarterback players they’d determine program. A entered the the end some I was some Angeli said. a move a grad the best business. happens to ND, one that naturally. under Mike more center. The Carr looks
Kyle McCord’s numbers in his sole year at Syracuse
4,779 passing yards 34 TDs
Nunzio Campanile: Bergen Catholic coach from 2010-18
Vito Campanile: Bergen Catholic Coach from 2019-present
Steve Angeli: won Group A New Jersey State Championship in 2021 with Bergen Catholic
Fran Brown: born in Camden, NJ
Fran Brown: Rutgers Defensive backs coach from 2020-21
772
Angeli’s career college stats
It’s business. It’s business. Everything happens for a reason. It’s business.
Steve Angeli su quarterback
Angeli graduated from Notre Dame. He made the best of his opportunities. And it was time for a new chapter.
“It’s different than any other transfer in the country. He shouldn’t be treated or seen as a transfer quarterback,” Leonard said. “He should be seen as one of the most loyal guys in college football, because he did stick with Notre Dame for so long and gave it every chance that he could.”
Carti remembers Angeli being calm through the transfer portal process as he navigated between some Southeastern
Conference and Big Ten offers. Even with interest from other schools, though, Syracuse was his only visit. And he learned more about it from the Bergen Catholic community.
Angeli played alongside Jayden Bellamy and Jaeden Gould at BC, all ranking as top players in the state. Bellamy and Angeli’s friendship grew as freshmen at Notre Dame while rooming together. Gould began his college career at Nebraska but transferred to Syracuse for the 2023 season. Bellamy did the same.
While both transferred out of Syracuse’s program at the end of the 2024 season, they helped Angeli understand Brown’s culture. Then his Northeast connections spoke for themselves.
“I can’t thank the Campanile family enough for all their help,” Angeli said. “Having coach Nunzio as my coach, I love him to death. He’s been absolutely everything for me.”
“Having so many ties to New Jersey, I think it was something that really sparked Steve’s interest,” Vito said. “He saw the value of what Syracuse accomplished last season.”
What the Orange accomplished was their greatest passing season ever. Scooping Kyle McCord, also a New Jersey quarterback neglected by a top program, out of the transfer portal proved to be a rapid success in Nixon’s offense. Angeli scrimmaged
against McCord and St. Joseph’s Prep (Pennsylvania) when he was younger, and saw his record-breaking season from afar.
When Angeli entered the transfer portal, he spoke with McCord to understand SU’s returning cast and system. It felt like a perfect match based on their similar play styles and cerebral, pocket passing.
“I had a lot of belief that we could do what they were able to do last year,” Angeli said. “Replicate that.”
Angeli now has the opportunity to do just that. Brown said he doesn’t want his new starter to be McCord. He wants Angeli to be the best version of himself. Angeli was chosen due to his ability to “operate the best.” He met with assistant coaches over Zoom in the offseason to learn the playbook before getting live reps in fall camp.
Brown has already echoed to Angeli the importance of understanding the history of the position at Syracuse. Don McPherson, Donovan McNabb. Now McCord. Angeli says it’s one of the greatest honors of his life.
And whether Angeli’s hearing the words of Brown, Nixon, Nunzio or even thinks it’s Vito at times in his helmet, he’s finally got his shot to lead the way.
amstepan@syr.edu
@AidenStepansky
Angeli appears in ND spring game Angeli commits to Syracuse
GO-TO GUY
By Zak Wolf senior staff writer
Darrell Gill Jr. was ready to give up his dreams of playing Division I football. It was January of Gill’s senior year, and his recruitment wasn’t picking up steam. It hadn’t even started.
When you put up over 1,000 receiving yards with 12 touchdowns at a powerhouse like Atascocita High School (Texas), that typically wouldn’t be a problem. For Gill, it was. Division II schools came knocking, though Gill wasn’t interested. He refused to place a financial burden on his mother, Vertina. A full scholarship was the only satisfactory measure.
That’s why Gill was prepared to attend Texas State as a triple-jumper and highjumper while running the 200-meter in track and field.
Little did Gill know, over 1,600 miles away from his hometown of Atascocita, the trajectory of his recruitment would change his life forever.
Three years after his football future was in doubt, Gill is now Syracuse’s top receiver. The days as a little-known, unranked recruit with two Football Subdivision offers are behind him. Though his numbers from last season — 31 receptions, 570 yards and two touchdowns — don’t jump off the page, with Oronde Gadsden II and Jackson Meeks graduating and Trebor Peña’s shocking transfer to Penn State, somebody has to be Steve Angeli’s go-to target. Gill is ready for that task.
“Darrell just has a real natural ability to just be patient,” Vertina said. “He knows how to seize the opportunity when it’s presented.”
Gill would’ve never ended up at SU without the help of Patrick Truesdale, the head of Bayou City Preps, a Houston-based recruiting service. Before Gill’s senior season at Atascocita, Vertina was introduced to Truesdale through a mutual friend, who knew Darrell was struggling with his recruiting. Still, his recruitment remained stalled until Truesdale crossed paths with thenSyracuse wide receiver coach Michael Johnson at a coach ing conference in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Johnson said he was look ing for high school receivers. Without hesitation, Truesdale showed him Gill’s highlights. Johnson was hooked. Truesdale sched uled a phone call with Gill’s fam ily, and within a week, Johnson watched Gill work out on Atascocita High School’s turf. Johnson was impressed with Gill’s body control and speed in both football and track practice and felt that with the right coach ing, he’d be a great fit for the Orange.
By the end of the month, Gill received a scholarship offer after taking an official visit to SU. Days earlier, he’d obtained his first FBS offer from Washing ton State, but Gill and his family hit it off with Johnson. Gill said John son was one of the “first people to believe in him,” and on Feb. 1, 2023, he committed to Syracuse.
“I’m big on present value and future value,” said Johnson, now SU’s tight ends coach. “I think, the present value is where players are when you see them, and then the future value is when you see them two years after you coach
Despite nearly giving up on football, Darrell Gill Jr. is SU’s top receiving threat
Syracuse 2024 receiving
1,393 570
Yards left
Losing yards
Darrell Gill’s yards
3,417
area. Gill’s only problem? He could only show his senior tape.
After much roster turnover, Darrell Gill Jr. is Syracuse’s top receiver remaining from last season 2
4,810 total yards in 2024
him. And I thought that (Gill’s) future value and his upside was going to be great.”
It wasn’t always smooth sailing at Syracuse. Gill was buried on the depth chart as a freshman and recorded just seven catches, while Syracuse finished 6-7. Dino Babers was fired, and Fran Brown was hired in November 2023. As customary with any new coach in the transfer portal era, players under the previous regime might be phased out.
Initially, that’s what happened with Gill, but he wouldn’t budge. Brown even asked Gill to play cornerback, a position he hadn’t played since middle school. Gill was blunt, telling Brown he only wanted to play receiver. Brown obliged, as long as Gill learned the playbook and listened to the coaches’
Standing up to Brown was bold, but Vertina said she and Gill’s father, Darrell Sr., always told their son to be a man of his word. Gill said his goal was to become a star receiver at Syracuse, and he was
“I have a plan in my head, so I got to stay about it. I’m committed to the plan,” Gill said. “So when the plan becomes action and I’m on course, I can’t go off
In spring 2024, Gill was in a slump. Meeks noticed it right away. He told Gill, “Greatness doesn’t come in one big chunk, you have to nibble at it.” Meeks always strived to improve at one thing in every practice, and he wanted Gill to think similarly.
“It changed the way I viewed everything,” Gill said. “It changed the way I received and perceived information to where I can actually use it in my everyday life.”
When the season began, the results weren’t instant.
Meeks, Peña and Gadsden stole the spotlight, but Gill’s flashes were evident. Meeks remembers a practice in early October where Gill caught five go-balls and couldn’t be stopped. He knew Gill’s breakout was coming.
On Nov. 23, 2024, against UConn, it happened. Despite Kyle McCord being the most proficient passer in the country, Gill only had 17 catches for 235 yards through 8 appearances.
Gill nearly doubled that against the Huskies, hauling in nine catches for 185 yards. It was the best day for a Syracuse receiver since Steve Ishmael’s 187 yards against Boston College in 2017. Gill’s encore came at the Holiday Bowl, where he had 145 yards on four receptions. Within three games, Gill went from being an afterthought to a reliable deep ball threat.
When he truly believes it, fills it with all of the energy in his body, then he’ll be a superstar.
Fran Brown su head coach
“In order for you to become a confident athlete, you got to go make plays, you’ve got to accomplish things. And (Gill’s) starting to do that.” Johnson said. “He did a little bit last year. So this is his breakout year, where he can go out now and make more plays.”
The theme surrounding Gill is that he just needs a chance. It dates back to his time at Atascocita, where he also waited his turn.
He entered high school standing 6 feet, 145 pounds, per Atascocita head coach Craig Stump. His wiry frame forced him to play on the freshman team, but his straight-line speed and leaping ability provided a pathway to earning varsity snaps, Stump said.
By the time he finished high school, Gill ran the 200-meter in 21.92 seconds and had a 42-inch vertical. The building blocks were always there; he just needed to get stronger.
Gill rarely missed offseason lifting sessions and over three years added 30 pounds of muscle. As a sophomore, he was the leading receiver on junior varsity, leading to his first taste of varsity the following year. However, with all-district performers and future D-I prospects like Chase Sowell (Iowa State) and Keith Wheeler (Houston Christian), Gill’s targets were limited.
Atascocita offensive coordinator Joshua Stump said Gill always trusted the process. He wasn’t result-oriented and knew his time would come if he kept his head down.
Once Gill got his chance at Atascocita, he flourished. He blew by cornerbacks and even if they stuck with him, Gill would haul in any 50-50 ball tossed his way, according to Stump, adding he’s never coached someone who could jump like Gill.
By the halfway point of the season, Truesdale felt Gill was a bona fide Power Four recruit. He said Gill was outperforming nationally ranked receiving prospects in the
Stump, who was a D-I assistant for over a decade, said schools rely less on senior film nowadays with the transfer portal becoming more prevalent. He added that 10 years ago, someone with Gill’s trajectory would’ve earned at least a dozen offers. Instead, Gill was left scrambling, though in the end it worked out when Syracuse came calling.
“I was hoping that something would happen for him because he deserved it,” Stump said. “You see a lot of guys that don’t deserve it. It was just good to see that it did work out for him, that now he got to make the most of it.” Stump now uses Gill as an example to younger players on how to wait for the right opportunity. That’s why Gill was quick on his feet when Peña’s out-of-the-blue transfer portal entry happened on April 15.
Syracuse was already losing 51% (2,476 yards) of its receiving production with the departures of Meeks, Gadsden and LeQuint Allen Jr. With Peña gone, that number increased to 71%. Out of nowhere, Gill became Syracuse’s No. 1 receiver.
Peña’s absence doesn’t mean SU’s receiving room lost its depth. It added Texas transfer Johntay Cook, while Justus Ross-Simmons had a healthy offseason. Meanwhile, redshirt freshmen Jaylan Hornsby and Emanuel Ross are also looking to break through.
Each of them will presumably jockey for targets, but right now, Gill’s leading the pack. Hornsby said Gill texts the receivers’ group chat 30 minutes before each team meeting, making sure they’re not late. He’s also spent ample time with younger receivers after practice, reviewing routes and catching balls on the jug machine. Gill admitted the role took some getting used to because he’s more of a lead-by-example player, but he’s filled the void perfectly.
Vertina said during the offseason that some Big Ten and Big 12 schools reached out to Gill’s agency, Athlete Advantage, to see if he would transfer. Gill wanted no part of it. Syracuse was one of the only schools to give him a chance, and he wasn’t going to turn his back on it.
Darrell just has a real natural ability to just be patient. He knows how to seize the opportunity when it’s presented.
Vertina Gill gill ’ s mother
Gill’s maturation hasn’t gone unnoticed. Brown said the receiver is “at the time of his life where he can go and get it.” The second-year head coach described it as “scary” because Gill knows his potential. Brown said it’s up to him and wide receiver coach Myles White to put Gill in a position to succeed. If Brown’s learned anything about Gill, it’s that he’s not easily fazed. From nearly giving up football to almost having to transfer and change positions, before finding himself yearning for targets, the roadblocks in Gill’s career have been plentiful. Though each one has shaped him into the player he is today. Now Gill’s ready to explode. “When he truly believes it, fills it with all of the energy in his body,” Brown said. “Then he’ll be a superstar.” zakwolf784254@gmail.com @ZakWolf22
Darrell Gill’s FBS offers out of high school
BEAT WRITER PREDICTIONS
Beat writers split on if SU will clinch 4th consecutive bowl appearance
Fran Brown’s first season brought Syracuse back to national relevance. The Orange reached 10 wins and won a bowl game for the first time since 2018, finished the year ranked No. 20 in the nation and saw four players get selected in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The 2024 season is now in the rearview mirror, and SU’s second year under Brown will determine whether that success was just a flash in the pan or not. The Orange take on three top-10 teams and eight who received at least one vote in the Preseason AP Poll. With a grueling schedule and new faces leading the way, what do Brown and Co. have in store for an encore?
Here’s how our beat writers think Syracuse football will fare in 2025:
2025 football schedule
Away
AIDEN STEPANSKY
MVP: YASIN WILLIS X-FACTOR: PASS RUSH
A reconstructed roster and one of the hardest schedules in the country significantly lowered the expectation compared to a year ago. While Brown is only satisfied with championship contention, a 6-6 record would be extremely impressive under these circumstances. Director of Athletics John Wildhack would be practically forced to extend Brown immediately, placing him among the top earners in the conference.
I do believe we will see Rickie Collins start at least a few games at some point, making it difficult to select Steve Angeli as my MVP. Instead, the Orange will showcase their seismic increase on the offensive line and establish a running game fit to Yasin Willis’ powerback abilities. No matter what struggles this squad faces in 2025, I don’t think many will be on the offensive side.
What could lead to SU’s downfall this season is a faulty defensive line. Their linebacker room carries question marks, though I believe they’ll be serviceable with Gary Bryant III and tackling improvements. The defensive line, however, could be pitiful after losing Fadil Diggs and failing to truly replace him in the transfer portal.
Syracuse’s season will be a year of splits. Go 2-2 in the first four games with losses to Tennessee and Clemson. Win 2-of-4 against Duke, SMU, Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech. Either defeat Bill Belichick at home or upset Miami again. And close the season with a loss to Notre Dame and a win over BC.
Brown won’t be happy, and he’ll say he’s still got tons of work to do. But six wins would be historic, giving SU a fourth consecutive bowl appearance for the first time since the Paul Pasqualoni days from 1991-2004. After all, that’s the era Brown repeatedly says he wants to get back to.
COOPER ANDREWS
Oct 04 at #16
Nov 08 at #10
Nov 22 at #6 Notre Dame
Nov 29 vs Boston College
HAMMER THE OVER 7-5 (5-3 ACC) ZAK WOLF
MVP: STEVE ANGELI X-FACTOR: DEMETRES SAMUEL JR.
I assure you this is not an endorsement to gamble on college sports. But I find it a tad interesting that Syracuse football’s win/ loss total is set at 5.5 for most mainstream sportsbooks, including BetMGM. If you were in the Wild West and had the time and money to throw down a few stacks on the Orange’s 2025 season win/loss total, I would advise you to responsibly hammer the over.
Let’s get one thing straight: SU will see a wins decrease this season. Their schedule is brutal. Difficult games include Week 1 versus No. 24 Tennessee, Week 4 at No. 4 Clemson and a Nov. 22 battle at No. 6 Notre Dame — all of which appear to be surefire losses.
The Orange made beneficial changes this offseason to offset the losses of Kyle McCord, Oronde Gadsden II, LeQuint Allen Jr. and others. But I still don’t see Syracuse’s relatively inexperienced group shocking a Southeastern Conference opponent nor a pair of powerhouses in nasty road environments.
However, I trust Angeli to steer SU in the right direction for most of the season.
Last season, offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon showed that, if he has an array of weapons at his disposal, he can instill an explosive West Coast offense centered around a quarterback who thrives making anticipation throws from the pocket. That’s Angeli’s game.
He looked like a seasoned veteran when he stepped into ND’s College Football Playoff Semifinal game against Penn State last campaign. With studs like Darrell Gill Jr., Johntay Cook, Willis and maybe a few sprinkles of two-way freshman Demetres Samuel Jr., constituting his offensive artillery, Angeli is well-positioned to lead Syracuse back to another bowl berth.
On paper, Syracuse missing a bowl game following a 10-win season would be a failure. But that’s not the case when you have the Orange’s schedule. It’s very plausible SU won’t win a game outside of the JMA Wireless Dome this season. Their “easiest” road game is probably against Georgia Tech, who some see as a dark horse Atlantic Coast Conference contender.
Syracuse benefited from a light schedule last season, and now they’re facing a different reality. If the Orange want to make it to a .500 record, they’ll have to go perfect at home. But it’s hard to foresee that happening. With trick games against North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Duke, SU is bound to slip up somewhere.
This is not an indictment on Brown or Syracuse’s roster. I actually like the way its offense is constructed. Angeli is a high-floor quarterback, and, with a deep receiving core led by Gill Jr. and Texas transfer Cook, he has plenty of options to throw to.
My problems lie with the defense. I don’t see where the pass rush production will come from. Relying on Denis Jaquez Jr. and David Omopariola — who’ve combined for four and a half career sacks — isn’t ideal. Even with experienced players like Duce Chestnut and Devin Grant in the secondary, its coverage can only hold up so long when there’s no pressure on the quarterback. Even if SU can put up points, it’s not going to be able to stop most teams it faces. If Brown somehow gets this team to win seven games, hand him a blank check. Eight games? Get the statue ready. But that won’t happen.
REBUILDING YEAR
By Cooper Andrews senior staff writer
The 2024 campaign is one Syracuse couldn’t replicate if it tried. The stars aligned above the Orange’s football program in a way that hasn’t been seen too often throughout the team’s history. In its first year under head coach Fran Brown, SU rattled off a 10-3 season, punctuated by a stunning upset victory over Miami and a Holiday Bowl win over Washington State.
Led by program-changing transfers like quarterback Kyle McCord and edge rusher Fadil Diggs, as well as career years from do-it-all running back LeQuint Allen Jr. and X receiver Jackson Meeks, last season was one of the greatest teams in Syracuse’s history.
Brown notched the most wins for an SU first-year head coach since 1991. The triumphant season made the previous eight years under former head coach Dino Babers seem like a distant memory; it proved hiring Brown is, in fact, the move that will bring SU sustained success on the gridiron.
But almost all of the Orange’s key players who spurred the program’s revitalization are now in the NFL. With that significant of a talent dropoff, there wasn’t much Brown could do to reload his roster to be on par with 2024’s group.
Though Brown infused the 2025 Orange with loads of talent, this season is much more about developing and retaining the current roster while maintaining the program’s culture before welcoming in historically good recruiting hauls in 2026 and 2027. It’s a rebuilding year. Syracuse has gotten clearly worse at the quarterback position and lacks pass rushing depth, making the Orange vulnerable to a second-year slump to begin Brown’s tenure.
“You guys already said we weren’t going to win a lot of games, and we got the hardest schedule in the world, so I’m really not focused on the stories or any of that,” Brown said to the media after training camp practice on Aug. 18, likely referencing the 2025 Atlantic Coast Conference Preseason Poll, which predicts the Orange to finish 12th in the conference.
Brown doesn’t want to admit 2025 is a rebuilding year for Syracuse. But, it is. And that’s OK.
The Orange have seen a massive recruiting boom since the conclusion of last season, highlighted by 2026 five-star wide receiver Calvin Russell (Florida) becoming SU’s third-ever five-star commit. Per 247Sports, Syracuse currently boasts the No. 23 overall 2026 recruiting class and the No. 4-ranked 2027 recruiting haul. There’s also the fresh -
man class, which features two-way sensation Demetres Samuel Jr. and 6-foot-7 left tackle Byron Washington.
That brings us to 2025. Ahead of Brown’s second year at the helm, the Orange got ravaged by NFL Draft entrees and players hitting the portal unexpectedly, such as Maraad Watson, Trebor Peña — both of whom transferred in April — Marcellus Barnes Jr. and Jayden Bellamy. They lost nearly every single starter from 2024. By that point, there simply wasn’t enough time for Brown to fully replenish Syracuse’s talent. It brought in consequential transfer portal additions like Texas receiver Johntay Cook and Georgia corner Chris Peal as well as a pair of quarterback options in Steve Angeli and Rickie Collins. But besides that, finding new starters through the portal was slim pickings.
In college football’s modern landscape, where teams are expected to replenish starting-caliber talent by using the transfer portal, Syracuse didn’t do enough to bridge the talent gap between this year and last. Simply elevating last year’s backups won’t be enough for SU to match another double-digit win campaign.
Last year’s Orange was a team led by sure things. This year’s group is led by question marks.
Angeli, who spent his last three years at Notre Dame, enters his first collegiate season as the day-one starter. Though he has racked up over 20 appearances in live action in his two-year career, the biggest point of experience Angeli has is his cameo to end the first half of last year’s College Football Playoff Semifinal against Penn State. He tossed for 44 passing yards on 6-of-7 completions, coming off the bench cold to steady the Fighting Irish to a field-goal drive.
Notre Dame beat PSU by 27-24 that night, with Angeli’s successful two-minute drill serving as the difference.
It’s clear that hint of experience could’ve thrust Angeli slightly above Collins — who only threw seven career pass attempts at LSU from 2023-24 — in SU’s preseason quarterback battle.
“Without that drive I’m not sure those guys make it all the way like that. That was a big drive for (Notre Dame),” Brown said on Aug. 18 of Angeli’s CFP drive with Notre Dame. “I’m hoping I can give him the same poise that he had (at ND) when he goes in (here).”
It’ll also be interesting to see how much of a leash Angeli has to begin the season. If the Orange start out 3-3 before they go on a midOctober bye week, how much pressure will there be to start Collins?
Andrews: 2025 is a rebuilding year for Syracuse. And that’s fine.
As the old adage goes: When you have two quarterbacks, you have zero.
No matter who’s under center, the pieces around it are also far less experienced. The Orange lost three of the ACC’s top receiving threats from last season, and while Darrell Gill Jr. looks to be a promising No. 1 option, the rest of the group is all question marks; even Cook, who couldn’t tally a season over 150 yards in two years at Texas.
And on defense, an Orange unit that ranked in the bottom-30 in the nation in tackling grade last year, per Pro Football Focus, lost its two most sure-handed tacklers, Marlowe Wax and Justin Barron. Defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson and Co. have rethought the program’s tackling philosophy and brought in a few NFL greats to serve on their coaching staff: Hall of Famer Dwight Freeney and Muhammad Wilkerson.
Getting new minds in the building is beneficial, but the fact remains that the Orange did not add enough experienced players to their defense. SU’s secondary is extremely young and thin after losing Barnes, Bellamy and Jaeden Gould to the portal, with its main responding addition being Peal’s transfer from Georgia. Plus, not a single pass rusher on the Orange has tallied over 5.0 sacks in a Division I season before.
Losing budding stars who were expected to be present, like Peña and Watson, while replacing them with guys who haven’t played much D-I football makes 2025 a clear rebuilding season for Syracuse. The expectation should still be a bowl game. Yet, strenuous challenges loom on the Orange’s 2025 schedule, including road matchups at No. 4 Clemson, No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 10 Miami, as well as a neutral-site battle versus No. 24 Tennessee to open the campaign.
There is no shortage of question marks for Syracuse this year. Every element and obstacle Syracuse faces in 2025 is harder than 2024. The team’s priority should be retaining the gold mine that awaits it in the future — back-to-back top-flight recruiting classes in 2026 and 2027. If Brown can keep the ship steady and make sure his homegrown talent stays in town, 2025 will be a success, even if — and when — the Orange see a year-to-year wins drop off.
So, keep a realistic mindset when projecting what Syracuse could accomplish this season. Especially when the real concern is whether or not SU can keep Brown away from blue-blood programs by signing him to a lucrative extension at the end of the year.
