For the second straight week, SU football lost a big recruit to a powerhouse school. And once again, Syracuse fans had to face a harsh reality: The Orange has a lot to offer to prospective athletes on the gridiron, but nowhere near what schools like Notre Dame and Clemson have for blue-chippers.
- Listen to the Fresh FizzCast: Inside the Chad Kelly decision
Team Fizz breaks down why Syracuse was outdueled for Buffalo quarterback Chad Kelly’s services in the latest Fresh FizzCast. And Craig Hoffman tells much of the story in two sentences.
“All signs point to that Kelly wanted to play big time SEC/ACC football. Clemson has an SEC atmosphere. It is bonkers down there for a football game.”
That seems to be the main reason why the ‘Cuse continues to lose Kelly and other major recruits to bigger schools, although Doug Marrone still deserves some credit for getting his program in the hunt in the first place.
Officially, the Orange cracked Kelly’s top seven list. But as The Fizz reported over the weekend, the QB may have just included the Orange as a favor to the school.
Hoff and I disagree about whether Orange Nation should consider that as a positive.
Hoffman: “If SU was just in it until the end for Chad Kelly as a profile boost, Chad you weren’t doing us any favors bro. Coming here would have been nice. Keeping us in until the end just to drag us along and to try to do a favor. Unless it lands us the next guy and they say, ‘Chad Kelly almost went there.’ Because what 18-year-old kid says ‘you know what, the last 18-year-old kid almost went there’?”
Kanell: “At the end of the day, Ishaq Williams, Chad Kelly, David Perkins, Syracuse being in the discussion for an extended period of time for all those guys is a good thing. There are future recruits looking at these sorts of races. There are fans from all the power conferences and power schools across the country that heard Syracuse’s name a little more because it was in the hunt for those guys. The more publicity a school gets, it might not impact anything directly, but it does increase the chances that Syracuse can land a recruit in the future.”
Alex Plavin also joins the FizzCast, and he dissects just how long ago Kelly made up his mind. ‚ÄúBig Steve‚Äù Neikam, who has been in contact with Kelly‚Äôs high school coach throughout the process, adds his thoughts on Kelly’s priorities in choosing a school.
Finally, The Fizz welcomes in special guest Pete Yanity, who is the voice of the Clemson Tigers. When Yanity provided the main reason why the Buffalo prospect chose Clemson, it was a description that sounded awfully familiar to Orange fans.
“[Kelly] pointed out that he was going to be far away from home for years, and he needed to go to a place where he felt like it was a family atmosphere.”
So it turns out SU isn’t the only place that can boast a “family atmosphere.” And at least for now, atmosphere being equal, bigger southern schools will continue to beat out Syracuse for recruits like Chad Kelly.
Posted: Andrew Kanell
