All this buzz on the turf for Syracuse lacrosse almost has us forgetting about the return of Syracuse football this fall. Fran Brown’s sophomore year has a lot of expectations, and gets underway with a noon clash against Tennessee down in Atlanta. But as much as 2025 will have to offer, 2026 might have even more. ESPN’s Craig Haubert released his top 25 rankings for 2026 recruiting classes earlier today, and the Orange are ranked very highly.
Haubert has Syracuse ranked as the 7th-best recruiting class in the country, only behind Texas A&M, Clemson, Penn State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and USC. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that this is some high praise for SU, and Fran Brown continues to be as advertised when it comes to getting players to the 315.
According to the ESPN 300, Syracuse has just one player ranked in the country’s best, which would be DE Kamron Wilson. The 6-foot-5, 210-pound edge rusher from Florida certainly brings some prowess and size to the Syracuse defensive line, alongside 15 other hard commits in just May of 2025. 247 Sports has two SU commits ranked as four-star prospects, those being WR Amare Gough from Virginia and edge rusher Jarius Rodgers from Florida. While the quality of players brought in by Coach Brown is impressive, you can’t overlook the quantity of players as well, being so far out from 2026.
In the article detailing the rankings, Haubert writes, “The Fran Brown era in Syracuse certainly isn’t boring.” Compared to what ‘Cuse fans have gone through with this football program the past few years, 2025 and on are expected to skyrocket the culture of SU football onto the same level as the elites mentioned earlier. It’s only a matter of time before the off-field success translates onto the field, and SU is in a prime position to make some noise.
