Dylan Donahue, Adrian Autry and Taylor Gait. Now add Eric Coley to the list of SU athletes playing under their fathers on the Hill. The Fayetteville-Manlius product announced his commitment on Twitter yesterday, becoming the fifth recruit in the Class of 2017. One of the men Coley will play under is defensive end coach Vinson Reynolds or, as Coley calls him, “dad.” The Orange won the top 2017 athlete in the state’s commitment over Rutgers, Bowling Green, Army and Boston College. He is the first defensive back to commit for the Orange in 2017.
Coley is a 6’0, 185-pound defensive back/wide receiver who is transferring from Portage Northern High School in Michigan to Fayetteville-Manlius for his senior season before coming to Syracuse. While at Portage, Coley saw time at both quarterback and cornerback, but projects to play a defensive back position in college. However, given his history as an effective signal caller in high school, don’t count out Coley on the offensive end. He is noted for his elusiveness with the ball and ability to explode in the open field according to Scout.com.
The three star recruit possesses great quickness and plays a very physical brand of football, both traits that will fit very well in Dino Babers’ scheme. Coley is very quick to the ball and exhibited great block shedding at cornerback. At the moment, defensive back is a youthful position for the Orange with the majority of the first two strings being sophomores or younger. However, some of the cluster will be cleared out by the time Coley enters his sophomore and junior years. Although he won’t play directly under his father, Coley and Reynolds figure to be key parts in rebuilding a defense that finished seventh in the ACC in interceptions and tenth in sacks.
