The 5 storylines that will shape the Syracuse football offseason heading into 2026

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Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse will be preparing for its third season under Fran Brown this offseason and, like any team that is among the worst in Power-Four college football, there are some big-picture questions to answer.

Unlike most teams that perform this poorly, there isn’t a question of whether the head coach will return. But Brown will face lots of choices that shape Syracuse next season and beyond.

Here are the five biggest things to follow as the offseason approaches.

Will Syracuse keep its standout freshmen?

Brown has brought in Syracuse’s best recruiting classes in recent memory, but it comes at a time when high school recruiting seems to matter less than it ever has.

The combination of player compensation and the ability to transfer annually has made it so that the sport’s biggest spenders can reload each year and recruits are far less likely to remain in one place for their entire careers.

Is Brown’s belief that he can build talent at Syracuse primarily through traditional high school recruiting methods going to work?

Or is it going to be an uphill battle that sees the Orange lose its most promising young players year after year?

The answer to that question is going to play a huge role in Brown’s tenure. After all, if you can’t keep your best players late into their careers when they are going to be their best, there’s much less value in being an elite high school recruiter.

Last year provided some worrisome signs.

Three of Syracuse’s top returners chose to leave, including two players most would have labeled among the team’s most promising freshmen in defensive lineman Maraad Watson and defensive back Marcellus Barnes. Syracuse also lost receiver Trebor Pena. Money seemed to play some role in all three decisions.

To Brown’s credit, Syracuse likely landed upgrades to both Barnes (Chris Peal) and Pena (Johntay Cook) via the transfer portal, and Watson did not break out as an impact player at the University of Texas.

None of Syracuse’s departures via the transfer portal performed well enough for the Orange to look like it should have broken the bank, making Brown’s assessments look savvy.

But the losses did hurt the Orange. Syracuse’s struggling defensive line could use Watson. Without Barnes and Jayden Bellamy, the lack of depth at defensive back caused a void at the nickel position.

The best freshmen on this year’s team are already performing at a high level in the ACC, so keeping them will be more important, more difficult and more telling.

So far, the signs are positive.

Defensive back Demetres Samuel Jr. has said he plans to return, as have three other starters on my list of 10 players Syracuse must retain.

Linebacker Antoine Deslauriers said late last month that he is focused on the current season.

Those decisions will serve as early indicators about whether Brown’s approach has a chance to work at Syracuse in the modern age of college football.

How much change will there be on the coaching staff?

Brown said on Monday he expects both of his coordinators to return but that is a two-way street.

Both offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon and tight ends coach Nunzio Campanile interviewed with NFL franchises last offseason, while defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson was rumored to be a candidate for the head coaching job at Temple.

The school did not make Robinson and Nixon available to reporters this week.

Brown has already fired wide receivers coach Myles White and shuffled Campanile and Michael Johnson Sr.

Syracuse’s offensive coaches probably won’t be in as much demand as they were last year, but the offense was working fine until Steve Angeli went down with an injury.

There’s reason to consider turnover on both sides of the ball, where both of Syracuse’s units rank toward the bottom of the ACC in scoring and total yards.

Syracuse has a young defensive staff and has maintained a veteran defensive coach in a support role over the course of the year, first with Kevin Coyle (now defensive coordinator at UCLA) and now with former UMass head coach and veteran defensive mind Don Brown, who has worked primarily with SU’s defensive backs so far.

Will Syracuse and Brown agree to a contract extension?

There was a time not so long ago when Brown was discussed as a candidate to leave Syracuse for the Penn State head-coaching job after this season.

The ugly end to this season ended that chatter and likely makes Brown unpalatable at college football’s elite programs for the moment.

The difficult finish probably flips the question in the other direction. Brown’s had one excellent year and a season that looked like it could have been a good one until injuries struck at quarterback.

That’s a reasonable effort at Syracuse and probably warrants a contract worth more than the one he received when he was a completely unproven commodity as a head coach. But it also means his two-year stint as a head coach is poised to result in a record of just a touch over .500.

Will this year’s struggles make Brown more likely to sign an extension at a number that is friendly for the Orange? Will Syracuse choose to make Brown prove himself in Year 3 before extending him?

Those will be interesting conversations between athletic director John Wildhack and Jimmy Sexton, Brown’s agent.

When will Steve Angeli return at full health?

Quarterback Steve Angeli said he will be back at Syracuse next season, and Fran Brown said he expects Syracuse’s quarterback to be one of the best in the country.

That likely ends any conversation about whether Syracuse is worried about his torn Achilles tendon enough that it would bring in another potential starter via transfer.

This was always the most likely path for Syracuse. Trying to replace Angeli because he was injured would have been a cold-blooded and risky decision, although not a completely unreasonable one.

It appears the Orange plan is to bring in a capable backup to compete with any young returners and trust Angeli’s rehabilitation process. Bringing in a backup that is a good player but also content sitting behind Angeli will be a tricky needle for the coaching staff to thread.

A recovery from a torn Achilles tendon is time consuming and could impact the team’s preparation for next year. Brown and Angeli both say he is on track to participate in spring practice but that would be a very fast timetable.

Angeli suffered the injury on Sept. 20. The final spring games held nationally earlier this year came during the first week of May. Recovery from the injury usually takes between six and 12 months.

It’s possible Angeli will miss some time traditionally dedicated to developing chemistry with receivers. Transfer receivers might be slightly less likely to come to Syracuse knowing his health is a question mark.

The Orange, though, appears to have plenty of receiver talent, and Angeli was leading the country in passing yards at the time of his injury without the benefit of spring practices last year.

The greater concern is whether Angeli will be as good as he was before the injury when next season starts.

How will Syracuse plan to use its two-way players?

Syracuse has a number of players who appear capable of playing both sides of the ball, and decisions about how to involve them moving forward are likely to impact the team’s approach in the transfer portal.

Syracuse lacks depth at both tight end and linebacker, the two positions played by Jamie Tremble. Brown seemed to indicate that Elijah Washington-Baker is the team’s future tight end with Dan Villari set to graduate.

Given that Washington-Baker has played just 39 snaps and caught one pass this season, it’s likely Syracuse will want to at least look at other options. That could be Tremble or it could be through the transfer portal.

If Tremble is going to be an option at tight end, Syracuse is going to need to hit the portal even harder for talent at linebacker.

Cornerback Demetres Samuel Jr. was billed as a two-way player during training camp, but his focus has been heavily on the defensive side of the ball during his first season and he has thrived with that approach.

Syracuse will have to decide if it wants Samuel to focus on that side or if he can play a bigger role on offense with more experience. The answer could impact how much the Orange wants to pay its wide receivers this offseason.