Up next in 10
Elijah Kimble committing to Syracuse Orange football isn't just another recruiting victory.
It's a statement.
D.A. explains why this commitment could be remembered as one of the defining moments of the Fran Brown era.
🍊 Syracuse beat powerhouse programs including Ohio State Buckeyes football, Indiana Hoosiers football, and North Carolina Tar Heels football under Bill Belichick to land one of the nation's premier running backs.
🍊 Kimble has already rushed for more than 5,000 yards during his high school career and projects to be a centerpiece of Syracuse's future backfield.
🍊 This is proof that Fran Brown's recruiting vision is becoming reality.
🍊 After five-star receiver Calvin Russell broke through, this is no longer a one-off.
It's becoming a trend.
🍊 And perhaps most importantly, the No. 1 recruit in New York staying home to play for Syracuse is a massive statement about where the program is headed.
D.A. breaks down why Orange fans should believe this is the beginning of a completely different era for Syracuse football.
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0:00
All right, look, I'm on vacation. It's
0:02
the 4th of July, and yet I feel the need
0:05
to weigh in on the Elijah Kimball
0:08
commitment for Syracuse. Why? Well,
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number one,
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I'm a Syracuse alum, and a Syracuse
0:12
football fan, and it's been a long time
0:15
since Syracuse football fans could be
0:17
really excited, dating back to when I
0:19
was in school, like the McNabb era, late
0:22
'90s, early 2000s. But, this is
0:24
significant beyond just the football
0:27
field, because
0:29
when you look at Fran Brown's hire,
0:32
the hope was he could coach. The
0:36
expectation was he can recruit. And the
0:40
recruiting was going to always have to
0:43
be there for him to really make a
0:47
footprint, an imprint, in the college
0:49
football. Syracuse has had a couple of
0:52
decent seasons over the last 25 years,
0:54
but nothing really to get too crazy
0:56
about, a random nine-win season, or a
0:58
10-win season, but it always dropped
1:00
off. It was always an anomaly.
1:02
When you recruit well,
1:05
then you're talking about stringing
1:07
together
1:08
significant seasons, and Elijah Campbell
1:11
is a rarity.
1:13
He's the number one recruit in the state
1:16
of New York that decided to stay home.
1:19
For years, for decades, maybe longer,
1:25
the number one recruit in New York state
1:28
would go to Ohio State, to Michigan, to
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Notre Dame.
1:35
Instead,
1:36
this is the first time in a really long
1:39
time that player decided to stay and
1:43
play in-state for Syracuse, and that's
1:45
massive. Because the state of New York
1:47
doesn't always turn out a lot of great
1:49
high-end four- and five-star talent.
1:52
But, when you got one like Kimball, you
1:55
got to lock it down, and he's done it.
1:58
This is the second part about this
1:59
commitment.
2:00
Calvin Russell is a five-star recruit,
2:02
wide receiver, dynamic playmaker. We
2:05
haven't yet really seen him on the field
2:07
for Syracuse, but was an important
2:09
commitment as Fran Brown began to build
2:11
out the depth and the talent via
2:13
recruiting.
2:14
Calvin Russell felt like the anomaly.
2:17
Five-star kid, first time in a million
2:19
years that's happened for Syracuse.
2:22
Now you're stringing together five stars
2:25
with four stars and kids being recruited
2:28
by programs much larger than Syracuse.
2:32
When you look at Elijah Campbell,
2:34
that's a kid that Syracuse had to beat
2:37
Ohio State too,
2:39
Indiana,
2:41
Bill Belichick and North Carolina,
2:43
Oregon.
2:45
Those are major power brokers in college
2:49
football, and Syracuse has never won
2:51
those battles, not for 25, 30 years.
2:55
So for Fran Brown to line up
2:58
face-to-face, eye-to-eye with Ohio
3:01
State,
3:02
who's one of the most powerful brands in
3:04
college football,
3:05
one of the biggest NIL deals and
3:08
wealthiest pockets you're going to find
3:10
in college football,
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a team that has just won a national
3:13
championship in recent years,
3:16
to line up against them and Indiana, who
3:19
just won a national championship, that
3:21
was just the the bell of the ball months
3:24
ago,
3:26
to go up against Bill Belichick, who has
3:28
six Super Bowl rings as a head coach and
3:30
two more as a defensive coordinator,
3:33
to line up against those coaches, those
3:35
programs, those those staffers,
3:37
and be able to convince a Syracuse or a
3:41
New York kid Syracuse is where you got
3:44
to be,
3:45
is massive. It's monumental. You can't
3:48
even put a value on it because Elijah
3:50
Campbell has run for 5,000 yards already
3:53
in his high school career. He's got
3:54
another senior year to do it. He's class
3:56
of '27.
3:58
His numbers are going to be
3:59
astronomical. He's going to be one of
4:00
the best New York State football players
4:02
in the last decade.
4:05
But it's not just on the football field.
4:07
He should be great on the football field
4:09
as well. And if he runs for 1,500 yards
4:11
and 19 touchdowns for Syracuse in a
4:13
couple of years,
4:14
all the better.
4:16
But this is actually about more than
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that. This is about creating the
4:19
footprint
4:21
of a of a program that is winning big
4:25
battles. Is winning battles against
4:28
elite competition. Is convincing kids
4:31
that have a lot of great options, this
4:34
is the place to be.
4:36
Hasn't been that way in a long time. In
4:38
a really long time. When you look at
4:40
Fran Brown, doesn't necessarily win the
4:42
press conference. He's not a guy that's
4:44
got a dynamic voice or personality. He's
4:47
got some really savvy ways of using
4:49
marketing. But he's not a guy that's
4:52
going to blow you away with what he
4:53
says. It's what he does. The fact that
4:55
what he does is getting a guy like
4:57
Elijah Kimball is absolutely huge.
5:00
Absolutely huge. So, big ups to Fran
5:03
Brown. Big ups to the program. This is a
5:06
10-win team 2 years ago. 10 wins. Last
5:09
year fell on hard times because of the
5:10
Steve Angeli injury.
5:12
But when you look at this program and
5:14
you look at the upswing that could
5:15
potentially happen, Kimball's not going
5:17
to be in the mix until next year, '27.
5:20
It's looking like the arrow's pointed
5:23
up. So, that's a huge thing and just the
5:25
trajectory of getting guys like this,
5:28
you can't you can't even put a a value
5:30
on it or an adjective on it cuz it is
5:31
that important. This kid is dynamic,
5:34
reportedly also a great kid, which is
5:36
huge as well. You see him in that
5:38
Syracuse hat with the the chain and his
5:39
whole family wearing orange stuff. You
5:41
can't put a price tag on the value of
5:43
that moment. That's a battle won
5:46
head-to-head with those schools, which
5:48
is actually more important than what
5:50
happens in NIL. Cuz Syracuse is not
5:51
going to be able to outspend in NIL Ohio
5:53
State. So, Fran Brown's got to be able
5:56
to, if he's going to battle with those
5:58
programs for talent, do it by developing
6:01
a relationship at the high school level.
6:04
And maybe Kimball comes in bigger
6:06
paycheck. That may happen. But at least
6:08
for now, you're seeing on the recruiting
6:11
trail big, huge, massive wins for
6:15
Syracuse and Fran Brown. Brown
6:19
has already delivered
6:21
this newly energized approach to
6:24
recruiting and delivering on those types
6:27
of players. This is a huge addition for
6:30
Syracuse on many levels, and the least
6:32
of which might actually be on the field.
6:34
Now, if Kimball becomes
6:36
a 1,500-yd back with, you know, 21
6:39
touchdowns, that's amazing. But the fact
6:42
that this is setting the groundwork for
6:45
offseasons in the future to be able to
6:47
win those guys, cuz those guys have
6:49
already been won before, the Calvin
6:50
Russells, the Elijah Kimballs, that is
6:53
worth
6:54
its weight in gold
6:56
and even more perhaps
6:59
than what Kimball does on the field,
7:00
because then that's that's after
7:02
offseason, recruiting class after
7:04
recruiting class. Syracuse before
7:06
Kimball in a 2026 class was a top five
7:09
ACC-ranked class alongside Clemson,
7:13
Florida State, Miami. If you're swimming
7:16
in those waters in the ACC, clearly what
7:19
needed to happen for a head coach to
7:21
come into the program and elevate it to
7:23
a new level. This is the place to be if
7:24
you're a Syracuse fan such as myself.
7:26
Make sure you're subscribed to the
7:27
YouTube channel, because we are going to
7:29
break down every single game this
7:31
football season. After every game, we've
7:33
got a a huge video breakdown. And of
7:35
course, all the offseason news like this
7:37
one. So, make sure you're subscribed.
7:39
It's It's vacation, and I'm still
7:41
breaking down Syracuse. That's how big
7:43
this thing is. It's Syracuse football in
7:45
middle of July, early July. It actually
7:48
is a huge moment. That's important. That
7:51
never happens, right? So, I'm going to
7:53
go back to the pool. I'm going to go
7:54
back to having a cocktail. I'm going to
7:55
go back to the grill. Have a happy 4th
7:57
of July, everybody. If you're Syracuse
7:59
fan, this is a huge, wonderful, enormous
8:03
Independence Day. Make sure you're
8:04
subscribed to listen to me on Bad Dog
8:06
Sports Radio. Seri- I should say
8:08
SiriusXM channel 82 and Syracuse
8:11
coverage right here on this YouTube
8:12
channel. I'll see you later. Have a good
8:14
weekend.
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