sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to Beer Can Appreciation Day!
Where do you like the beer you drink to come from? Do you prefer draft, bottles, or cans? On January 24, 1935, Krueger's Finest Beer and Krueger's Cream Ale became the first beers to be sold in cans, and it is on this anniversary that we celebrate Beer Can Appreciation Day.
The American Can Company began working on canning beer in 1909, but they were not successful at the time. They found that carbonation was too much for cans, leading them to sometimes explode. They eventually found a remedy: coating the inside of cans as they did with kegs.
SU News
Woodlawn's David Omopariola works to pin Bel Air's Ian Nitz in the 220-pound championship match of the Class 3A North Region tournament at Aberdeen on Feb. 26. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)
David Omopariola leaves Woodlawn — and wrestling — early after earning football scholarship to Syracuse (baltimoresun.com; $; Clary)
When Oluwademilade Omopariola came to Baltimore from Nigeria in the seventh grade, he knew he had to make some friends, so he went to a field where kids were playing football.
“I felt like I could join them to make some friends,” said Omopariola, who goes by his middle name David. “When I did join, I fell in love with it. I just started growing such interest and passion for it.”
That passion helped the Woodlawn defensive end earn a Division I scholarship to Syracuse University, though that meant saying goodbye to another sport he grew to love.
The 6-foot-4, 225-pound edge rusher is rated a three-star recruit by 247Sports. He received his offer on Dec. 16 and finished in-school learning before the new year at Woodlawn, then headed for the Atlantic Coast Conference school on Jan. 13.
CJ Masterson, who was hired as Woodlawn’s football coach after the season and was the Dean of Students who helped Omopariola in the recruiting process, said Omopariola is able to take the final classes he needs to graduate online and can do so while at Syracuse.
“It is kind of intimidating when you go from a high school setting, where you are the guy, and now you are going to go play in college with essentially grown men,” Masterson said. “He had like one or two more classes he needed to take to complete his associate degree, so he is going to do that. He’s all about completing, not quitting, and seeing everything through to the finish.”
David Omopariola was a standout defensive end at Woodlawn and earned a Division I scholarship to Syracuse after only three varsity seasons. (Photo courtesy of David Omopariola)
The one thing he couldn’t finish at Woodlawn, however, was his outstanding wrestling career, where he went from a raw freshman who had never wrestled before to a fourth-place finisher at the state tournament as a junior. This season, he was the early favorite to win the 220-pound state title.
“The stars pretty much aligned for him,” Woodlawn wrestling coach Justin Wildy said. “He was talking to a couple of colleges and Syracuse came and was like,
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SU will hire former Rutgers assistant to coach TEs (report) (PS; Carlson)
The Syracuse football team will hire former Rutgers coach Nunzio Campanile to coach tight ends next season, according to a report by ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Thamel cited anonymous sources.
Campanile will take over a position group coached by offensive coordinator Robert Anae last season. While Oronde Gadsden II was listed as a tight end, he functioned as more of a wide receiver. The Orange has struggled to recruit and get production out of traditional tight ends in recent years.
Campanile had coached at Rutgers since 2018. He initially joined head coach Chris Ash’ staff coaching running backs before moving over to tight ends under Greg Schiano.
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Former Bergen Catholic coach, Rutgers assistant Nunzio Campanile headed to Syracuse (northjersey.com; Iseman)
Nunzio Campanile is headed north.
After five seasons on the Rutgers coaching staff, including separate stints as the interim head coach and interim offensive coordinator, Campanile is headed to Syracuse to become the Orange's tight ends coach, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported Monday.
Campanile, a member of one of the most respected New Jersey football families, previously was the head coach at powerhouse Bergen Catholic, which he led to a state championship in 2017.
Former Rutgers head coach Chris Ash added Campanile, a Fair Lawn native, to his coaching staff in 2018 as running backs coach. Campanile then took over as interim coach for the final eight games of the 2019 season following Ash’s firing.
Greg Schiano kept Campanile on the coaching staff as his tight ends coach upon his return to Piscataway for his second stint. After he fired offensive coordinator Sean Gleeson midway through the 2022 season, Schiano named Campanile his interim offensive coordinator.
Schiano said at the time that Campanile would essentially be auditioning for the full-time job, but he ultimately hired Kirk Ciarrocca as the offensive coordinator.
Campanile announced in a Twitter post on Jan. 10 that he had left Rutgers.
Syracuse under head coach Dino Babers has worked to rebuild its recruiting base in New Jersey, and adding Campanile, who led Bergen Catholic to a 60-28 overall record from 2010-17, could help that effort.
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Syracuse to Hire Nunzio Campanile as Tight Ends Coach (SI; McAllister)
Syracuse football is set to hire Nunzio Campanile as its tight ends coach, according to a report from Pete Thamel of ESPN. Campanile has been at Rutgers for the past several seasons, has extensive recruiting ties in New Jersey and is the former head coach of Bergen Catholic.
During his time with Rutgers, Campanile spent time as the tight ends coach, interim head coach and interim offensive coordinator.
More on his previous experience from his bio on Rutgers Athletics:
• A graduate of Paramus Catholic, Campanile spent the previous eight seasons as the head coach at Bergen Catholic, including winning a state title in 2017, after working as offensive coordinator at Don Bosco Prep from 2000-09.
• Campanile compiled a 60-28 (.681) record leading the Crusaders from 2010-17 as a perennial top-100 football national power.
• The team capped off the 2017 season by capturing the Non-Public, Group 4 title, the first state championship for the program since 2004, with a 44-7 triumph over St. Peter’s Prep that featured over 400 yards of total offense. Bergen Catholic went 10-2 overall with a nine-game winning streak to end the season, finishing 10-0 against New Jersey competition to earn the No. 1 ranking in the state.
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Syracuse Recruiting Roundup: Luke Moga, Hayden Lowe - The Juice Online (the juice; Sears)
There’s almost too much to talk about in the Syracuse football recruiting world this week, with the contact period being open from Jan. 12 – 28. The Syracuse coaching staff handed out more than 20 offers in the past week, and there are a few I wanted to highlight before I get to the full list of offerees (that I broke down by class for your reading convenience!).
Syracuse offensive coordinator Jason Beck offered several quarterbacks in the 2024 class, including Sunnyslope (AZ) High’s Luke Moga. The dual-threat quarterback holds about a dozen offers, including from Kansas, Arizona, Arizona State, and NC State. Our Wes Cheng caught up with him after the offer, and he said he has a great relationship with Beck. “I love how coach Beck not only loves me as a QB, but as a person and character,” Moga said. “My parents emphasized that when I was growing up, so it’s great to see all these coaches respect that.”
Staying in 2024, Syracuse offered Willie Goodacre from Denton (TX) High. Goodacre was previously recruited by new Syracuse offensive line coach Steve Farmer at Tulsa, and he talked to Cheng about the relationship. “Any man spends his Father’s Day recruiting you is a great dude,” Goodacre said.
The Juice on the Cuse Podcast · 2025 defensive lineman Hayden Lowe – 1/23/23
Two other 2024 prospects Cheng caught up with were Kankakee (Ill.) High’s Marques Easley and Monsignor Bonner (PA) ATH (TE/DE) Mylachi Williams. “It felt good,” Easley said about the SU offer. “I think it’s a vibe school.” Williams had this to say about his Syracuse offer: “It felt great to get another opportunity to play football at a high level.”
Meanwhile, wide receivers coach Mike Johnson was recruiting in California, and offered 2025 defensive lineman Hayden Lowe from Oaks Christian (Calif.). Washington, Pitt, Utah, Michigan, Boston College, Oregon State and Arizona are among his offers, and he joined Cheng on The Juice on the Cuse Podcast to talk about his Syracuse offer. “Syracuse has always been on my bucket list because my Mom loves that school,” Lowe said on this week’s The Juice on the Cuse Podcast. “It has great academic properties to it that I can utilize, and something that will be good for my future. I’m really blessed and honored to call that one of my offers.”
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2023 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Mikel Jones (LB – Syracuse) (fantasypros.com; Jones)
As the NFL season winds down, FantasyPros will be taking a look at early NFL draft scouting reports before the combine in March. Here’s a look at Mikel Jones.
Mikel Jones (LB – Syracuse)
6’1” – 224 lbs.
Background:
Four-star prospect who started four of twelve games as a freshman, totaling 384 snaps and ending up with 38-2.0-0.5 on the year. Stepped into a full-time starting role in 2020 and had 68 tackles, one sack, and four interceptions. Expanded his output to 109-12.0-3.0 in 2021 and finished with 84-7.0-4.0 in 2022.
Positives:
Team captain who’s highly regarded by coaches. Has a lot of muscle on his frame. Plays the game with toughness and solid instincts. Good pre-snap communicator. Reads keys faster than most other linebackers in the class; diagnoses quickly and doesn’t take many false steps in pursuit. Has pretty good suddenness to slip through congestion and get to the ball carrier. Thudding hitter, especially for his size. Has the stopping power to stonewall runners at the line. Appears to have better length than his size would indicate. Efficient wrap tackler who has made major strides in the area since his freshman year, missing just 6.7% (2021) and 9.3% (2022) of his attempts over the past two years. Sniffs out screens quickly. Shows some ability to carry opposing targets into the flat. Nice shoulder dip to work his way into the backfield as a pass-rusher.
Negatives:
On the small side for a pro linebacker. Not quite as athletic as is typical for a player with his size; works to get out to the sidelines, but doesn’t fly around the field. Tends to work around rather than through opposing blockers. Flexibility appears average at the best. Has to sell out to make some plays near the sidelines, limiting his ability to break down. Passing-down responsibilities were limited to very short zones, spying the quarterback, and blitzing; may not be able to work in man coverage against many pro players, either. Can close reasonably fast when schemed a straight path as a pass-rusher, but doesn’t bend easily.
Summary:
A productive, experienced player who has a good feel for the position, but who is relatively small for a pro linebacker and doesn’t have the speed and flexibility typical of more undersized options. Will probably be a middle-only linebacker at pro level, so may have to add additional functional strength to mix things up with blockers between the tackles, but could be hard to cut once he gets onto a roster because of his savvy and leadership skills. Probably more of a mid-round option who will begin his career on special teams.
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The Bills and Orange Started High But Ended Low – Orange Fizz – Daily Syracuse Recruiting News & Team Coverage (orangefizz.net; Admin)
September and October were the best of times along I-90. Syracuse began with four wins to open up the season, knocking around Louisville and UConn, then surviving Purdue and Virginia. Sure, some of it felt fluky, but Orange fans weren’t going to apologize for winning games after all the losing in recent years. What will next season bring? You can check out the offseason odds at PowerPlay.net.
The Bills also began the year going gangbusters. Buffalo crowned the season by destroying the defending Super Bowl champs 31-10 in Los Angeles, sullying banner night for the Rams. Then they took the sledgehammer to last season’s top seed in the AFC, the Titans, 41-7. By Halloween the Bills were 6-1 and looked like the best team in the AFC, maybe the entire league.
When the calendar flipped to October. Syracuse’s winning continued but it would start to fizzle. Wins over Wagner and a banged up NC State squad moved SU to 6-0, and that would be the high point. T-shirts were printed for the bowl eligibility, and then the bottom dropped out. Five straight losses ensued, and all of the breaks, stops, and big plays that defined the start of the season evaporated. The Orange didn’t look very much like winners anymore. Maybe the real Syracuse was somewhere in between the 6 straight wins and the 5 consecutive losses.
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Axe: Babers’ staff shakeup has made stability obsolete (PS; $; Axe)
Stability.
Syracuse University athletic director John Wildhack used that word in describing the appeal of recruits committing to play football for Dino Babers in an interview with syracuse.com back in December.
“I think how we can communicate to our recruits is this is a program that does have stability,” Wildhack said.
Wildhack also wisely made sure to put a disclaimer in that statement.
“Things can change in this business in a second,” Wildhack said. “As we sit here (Dec. 2), I think we have stability amongst our staff.”
A lot did change in 52 days.
Babers has seen half his coaching staff depart.
Stability? That’s now obsolete at Syracuse.
Former Syracuse passing-game coordinator and ace recruiter Nick Monroe insists we better get used to this.
“We have to understand and accept that this is now what college football is as opposed to just thinking, ‘Oh, the sky is falling,’ ” Monroe told syracuse.com in a recent exit interview.
Monroe is one of five assistants to exit Syracuse since the 2022 season ended.
The other four all left to take similar positions at other schools.
So why did five coaches suddenly have their heart strings plucked elsewhere?
White, believed to be the highest-paid assistant football coach SU had ever hired, insisted money wasn’t a factor.
“The money part of it was not the issue,” White said. “Syracuse, they are serious about keeping guys here.”
Losing five assistant coaches, half the staff, is extreme for a program that hasn’t seen a coaching overhaul at the top.
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ACC News
2022 ACC Bowl TV Ratings (RX; HM)
2022 ACC Bowl TV Ratings
Here are the final, official TV ratings numbers for the 2022-23ACC Bowl games:
source: College Football TV Ratings
Not great, not terrible. Of course there were no ACC teams in the playoffs and only one (Clemson) in any New Year's Six Bowl at all, so that hurt ratings. No games on or after New Year's Day hurt. Having 90% of the games on weekdays hurt (and the one that was on Saturday started at 11:00 am!)
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Friedlander: Rating the 10 most impactful ACC football transfers - Saturday Road (saturdayroad.com; Friedlander)
The 1st of 2 transfer portal windows closed last week, ending a free agent feeding frenzy throughout college football.
More than 1,000 players nationwide changed schools with more certain to come when the window opens back up for 2 more weeks at the end of spring practice in May.
While there’s a calm to the storm, it’s a good time to take stock of how the transfer market might impact the ACC in 2023.
Here’s a look at the 10 most impactful additions to conference teams:
Blades was credited with 11 tackles and a pass breakup while seeing action in all 11 games with 1 start, for the Hurricanes in 2022. It was a comeback season for him after sitting out 2021 with a health issue. Prior to that, he played in 49 games with 15 starts as a cornerback, amassing 93 tackles, 14 pass breakups and 4 interceptions.
The former 4-star prospect is the high school teammate of the Eagles’ projected starting quarterback in 2023, Emmett Morehead. He held offers from the likes of Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina and Miami, A first-time starter in 2022, Taylor saw action in all 10 of the Cavaliers games this season. He was much more effective as a pass blocker than a run blocker, allowing only 2 sacks in his 699 snaps.
Huzzie intercepted 6 passes, tied for the most nationally among FCS players, including a 38-yard pick-6 against Mars Hill. He also recorded 59 tackles, 16 pass breakups and 2.5 TFLs and added 3 interceptions and 76 tackles as a freshman in 2021. Huzzie has 3 years of eligibility remaining including his bonus COVID season.
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Who are the ACC's winners and losers in the transfer portal so far? (theathletic.com; $; Bitter)
It’s been the busiest transfer portal season to date, and it’s not over yet. But who are the winners and losers in the ACC so far? Let’s take a look:
They have a nice haul this year too, adding four players from The Athletic’s rolling best-available list. That’s headlined by Virginia cornerback Fentrell Cypress II, who was a second-team All-ACC pick in 2022 after tying for first in the league with 13 pass breakups.
Braden Fiske out of Western Michigan (59 tackles, 12 TFLs, six sacks) joins tackle Darrell Jackson Jr. (Miami) and end Gilber Edmond (South Carolina) as D-line additions, and Jeremiah Byers (UTEP) is one of the top offensive line options this cycle — a tough position to find in the portal.
Jaheim Bell (South Carolina) and Kyle Morlock (Shorter) are intriguing options at tight end. The Seminoles finished 2022 on an upward trajectory. This transfer group will only help their 2023 outlook.
Intraconference QB moves
A couple of schools didn’t go far to fill their quarterback vacancies.
Pitt will be the third college stop for local product Phil Jurkovec, who began at Notre Dame before playing three years at Boston College. He threw for 35 touchdowns in his run at BC but struggled last year in an Eagles offense that bottomed out. He could still be an upgrade over the departed Kedon Slovis, who was a sub-60 percent passer in his lone year at Pitt, with 10 touchdowns and nine picks.
NC State felt the transfer sting when Devin Leary left for Kentucky but landed a pretty nice replacement in UVa quarterback Brennan Armstrong, who reunites with his former coordinator Robert Anae. Those two were quite the combo with the Cavaliers, with Armstrong throwing for 4,449 yards and 31 touchdowns in 2021 before he proved a misfit for Tony Elliott’s new scheme. If he can return close to that form, the Wolfpack got a good one.
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Hard to get into these ACC schools (RX; HM)
Links, News, and Rumors - 2023 Jan 223 (RX; HM)
Links, News, and Rumors - 2023 Jan 223
It seems like Jeff Brohm is a breath of fresh air for the Cardinals...
From Louisville high school coaches respond to Brohm & staff visits posted on U of L Card Game:
The article reports on how local high school football coaches have responded to the new coaching staff very positively. The first player to flip from Purdue to the Cardinals was a Louisville native:
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Other
Rendering shows a concept for a waterfront community at Three Rivers Point in Clay.
Could Micron help Clay realize decades-old dream of a waterfront village? (PS; $; Moriarty)
Onondaga County’s most populous town has no town square, a focal point that would draw people for shopping, dining, and recreation – and give the town an identity.
But Clay does have a vision, now more than 20 years old, of creating a waterfront community that could serve as a town square. And Town Supervisor Damian Ulatowski thinks Micron Technology Inc.’s plans to build a huge computer chip plant in Clay, creating thousands of jobs, will help turn the vision into a reality.
Clay officials envision a development that would draw people from all over Central New York to stroll along a riverfront boardwalk, dine at waterfront restaurants, visit entertainment venues and bike miles of trails.
In other words, a place that would put Clay on the map.
“It’s something that could be a jewel of an attraction,” said Ulatowski, who was first elected to the Clay Town Board in 1999 and has been town supervisor since 2008.
It could also be a place where Micron workers might live, making an easy commute to work via bike, car or public transportation, he said. The new community would be only a few miles away from Micron’s new home.
If fully built out, the chip fabrication facility will create 9,000 Micron jobs, plus more than 40,000 jobs at vendors and other companies that would want to locate near it, according to Micron.
Those kinds of jobs numbers would create huge demand in Clay for new housing, boosting the town’s population, which currently stands at almost 61,000 people.
Town officials are predicting an influx of 20,000 new residents to Clay over the next decade. And they think they know where at least some of the new housing that will be needed for them could be built.
Since 2000, Clay has been planning for a waterfront community on land owned by the town at the confluence of the Oneida, Oswego and Seneca rivers.
“This is a story that we’ve wanted to tell, but it’s been nothing but a dream,” said Ulatowski, who added the town recently got another state grant to help refresh its plans. “Micron could take this from a dream to a reality.”
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Where do you like the beer you drink to come from? Do you prefer draft, bottles, or cans? On January 24, 1935, Krueger's Finest Beer and Krueger's Cream Ale became the first beers to be sold in cans, and it is on this anniversary that we celebrate Beer Can Appreciation Day.
The American Can Company began working on canning beer in 1909, but they were not successful at the time. They found that carbonation was too much for cans, leading them to sometimes explode. They eventually found a remedy: coating the inside of cans as they did with kegs.
SU News
Woodlawn's David Omopariola works to pin Bel Air's Ian Nitz in the 220-pound championship match of the Class 3A North Region tournament at Aberdeen on Feb. 26. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)
David Omopariola leaves Woodlawn — and wrestling — early after earning football scholarship to Syracuse (baltimoresun.com; $; Clary)
When Oluwademilade Omopariola came to Baltimore from Nigeria in the seventh grade, he knew he had to make some friends, so he went to a field where kids were playing football.
“I felt like I could join them to make some friends,” said Omopariola, who goes by his middle name David. “When I did join, I fell in love with it. I just started growing such interest and passion for it.”
That passion helped the Woodlawn defensive end earn a Division I scholarship to Syracuse University, though that meant saying goodbye to another sport he grew to love.
The 6-foot-4, 225-pound edge rusher is rated a three-star recruit by 247Sports. He received his offer on Dec. 16 and finished in-school learning before the new year at Woodlawn, then headed for the Atlantic Coast Conference school on Jan. 13.
CJ Masterson, who was hired as Woodlawn’s football coach after the season and was the Dean of Students who helped Omopariola in the recruiting process, said Omopariola is able to take the final classes he needs to graduate online and can do so while at Syracuse.
“It is kind of intimidating when you go from a high school setting, where you are the guy, and now you are going to go play in college with essentially grown men,” Masterson said. “He had like one or two more classes he needed to take to complete his associate degree, so he is going to do that. He’s all about completing, not quitting, and seeing everything through to the finish.”
David Omopariola was a standout defensive end at Woodlawn and earned a Division I scholarship to Syracuse after only three varsity seasons. (Photo courtesy of David Omopariola)
The one thing he couldn’t finish at Woodlawn, however, was his outstanding wrestling career, where he went from a raw freshman who had never wrestled before to a fourth-place finisher at the state tournament as a junior. This season, he was the early favorite to win the 220-pound state title.
“The stars pretty much aligned for him,” Woodlawn wrestling coach Justin Wildy said. “He was talking to a couple of colleges and Syracuse came and was like,
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SU will hire former Rutgers assistant to coach TEs (report) (PS; Carlson)
The Syracuse football team will hire former Rutgers coach Nunzio Campanile to coach tight ends next season, according to a report by ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Thamel cited anonymous sources.
Campanile will take over a position group coached by offensive coordinator Robert Anae last season. While Oronde Gadsden II was listed as a tight end, he functioned as more of a wide receiver. The Orange has struggled to recruit and get production out of traditional tight ends in recent years.
Campanile had coached at Rutgers since 2018. He initially joined head coach Chris Ash’ staff coaching running backs before moving over to tight ends under Greg Schiano.
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Former Bergen Catholic coach, Rutgers assistant Nunzio Campanile headed to Syracuse (northjersey.com; Iseman)
Nunzio Campanile is headed north.
After five seasons on the Rutgers coaching staff, including separate stints as the interim head coach and interim offensive coordinator, Campanile is headed to Syracuse to become the Orange's tight ends coach, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported Monday.
Campanile, a member of one of the most respected New Jersey football families, previously was the head coach at powerhouse Bergen Catholic, which he led to a state championship in 2017.
Former Rutgers head coach Chris Ash added Campanile, a Fair Lawn native, to his coaching staff in 2018 as running backs coach. Campanile then took over as interim coach for the final eight games of the 2019 season following Ash’s firing.
Greg Schiano kept Campanile on the coaching staff as his tight ends coach upon his return to Piscataway for his second stint. After he fired offensive coordinator Sean Gleeson midway through the 2022 season, Schiano named Campanile his interim offensive coordinator.
Schiano said at the time that Campanile would essentially be auditioning for the full-time job, but he ultimately hired Kirk Ciarrocca as the offensive coordinator.
Campanile announced in a Twitter post on Jan. 10 that he had left Rutgers.
Syracuse under head coach Dino Babers has worked to rebuild its recruiting base in New Jersey, and adding Campanile, who led Bergen Catholic to a 60-28 overall record from 2010-17, could help that effort.
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Syracuse to Hire Nunzio Campanile as Tight Ends Coach (SI; McAllister)
Syracuse football is set to hire Nunzio Campanile as its tight ends coach, according to a report from Pete Thamel of ESPN. Campanile has been at Rutgers for the past several seasons, has extensive recruiting ties in New Jersey and is the former head coach of Bergen Catholic.
During his time with Rutgers, Campanile spent time as the tight ends coach, interim head coach and interim offensive coordinator.
More on his previous experience from his bio on Rutgers Athletics:
• A graduate of Paramus Catholic, Campanile spent the previous eight seasons as the head coach at Bergen Catholic, including winning a state title in 2017, after working as offensive coordinator at Don Bosco Prep from 2000-09.
• Campanile compiled a 60-28 (.681) record leading the Crusaders from 2010-17 as a perennial top-100 football national power.
• The team capped off the 2017 season by capturing the Non-Public, Group 4 title, the first state championship for the program since 2004, with a 44-7 triumph over St. Peter’s Prep that featured over 400 yards of total offense. Bergen Catholic went 10-2 overall with a nine-game winning streak to end the season, finishing 10-0 against New Jersey competition to earn the No. 1 ranking in the state.
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Syracuse Recruiting Roundup: Luke Moga, Hayden Lowe - The Juice Online (the juice; Sears)
There’s almost too much to talk about in the Syracuse football recruiting world this week, with the contact period being open from Jan. 12 – 28. The Syracuse coaching staff handed out more than 20 offers in the past week, and there are a few I wanted to highlight before I get to the full list of offerees (that I broke down by class for your reading convenience!).
Syracuse offensive coordinator Jason Beck offered several quarterbacks in the 2024 class, including Sunnyslope (AZ) High’s Luke Moga. The dual-threat quarterback holds about a dozen offers, including from Kansas, Arizona, Arizona State, and NC State. Our Wes Cheng caught up with him after the offer, and he said he has a great relationship with Beck. “I love how coach Beck not only loves me as a QB, but as a person and character,” Moga said. “My parents emphasized that when I was growing up, so it’s great to see all these coaches respect that.”
Staying in 2024, Syracuse offered Willie Goodacre from Denton (TX) High. Goodacre was previously recruited by new Syracuse offensive line coach Steve Farmer at Tulsa, and he talked to Cheng about the relationship. “Any man spends his Father’s Day recruiting you is a great dude,” Goodacre said.
The Juice on the Cuse Podcast · 2025 defensive lineman Hayden Lowe – 1/23/23
Two other 2024 prospects Cheng caught up with were Kankakee (Ill.) High’s Marques Easley and Monsignor Bonner (PA) ATH (TE/DE) Mylachi Williams. “It felt good,” Easley said about the SU offer. “I think it’s a vibe school.” Williams had this to say about his Syracuse offer: “It felt great to get another opportunity to play football at a high level.”
Meanwhile, wide receivers coach Mike Johnson was recruiting in California, and offered 2025 defensive lineman Hayden Lowe from Oaks Christian (Calif.). Washington, Pitt, Utah, Michigan, Boston College, Oregon State and Arizona are among his offers, and he joined Cheng on The Juice on the Cuse Podcast to talk about his Syracuse offer. “Syracuse has always been on my bucket list because my Mom loves that school,” Lowe said on this week’s The Juice on the Cuse Podcast. “It has great academic properties to it that I can utilize, and something that will be good for my future. I’m really blessed and honored to call that one of my offers.”
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2023 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Mikel Jones (LB – Syracuse) (fantasypros.com; Jones)
As the NFL season winds down, FantasyPros will be taking a look at early NFL draft scouting reports before the combine in March. Here’s a look at Mikel Jones.
Mikel Jones (LB – Syracuse)
6’1” – 224 lbs.
Background:
Four-star prospect who started four of twelve games as a freshman, totaling 384 snaps and ending up with 38-2.0-0.5 on the year. Stepped into a full-time starting role in 2020 and had 68 tackles, one sack, and four interceptions. Expanded his output to 109-12.0-3.0 in 2021 and finished with 84-7.0-4.0 in 2022.
Positives:
Team captain who’s highly regarded by coaches. Has a lot of muscle on his frame. Plays the game with toughness and solid instincts. Good pre-snap communicator. Reads keys faster than most other linebackers in the class; diagnoses quickly and doesn’t take many false steps in pursuit. Has pretty good suddenness to slip through congestion and get to the ball carrier. Thudding hitter, especially for his size. Has the stopping power to stonewall runners at the line. Appears to have better length than his size would indicate. Efficient wrap tackler who has made major strides in the area since his freshman year, missing just 6.7% (2021) and 9.3% (2022) of his attempts over the past two years. Sniffs out screens quickly. Shows some ability to carry opposing targets into the flat. Nice shoulder dip to work his way into the backfield as a pass-rusher.
Negatives:
On the small side for a pro linebacker. Not quite as athletic as is typical for a player with his size; works to get out to the sidelines, but doesn’t fly around the field. Tends to work around rather than through opposing blockers. Flexibility appears average at the best. Has to sell out to make some plays near the sidelines, limiting his ability to break down. Passing-down responsibilities were limited to very short zones, spying the quarterback, and blitzing; may not be able to work in man coverage against many pro players, either. Can close reasonably fast when schemed a straight path as a pass-rusher, but doesn’t bend easily.
Summary:
A productive, experienced player who has a good feel for the position, but who is relatively small for a pro linebacker and doesn’t have the speed and flexibility typical of more undersized options. Will probably be a middle-only linebacker at pro level, so may have to add additional functional strength to mix things up with blockers between the tackles, but could be hard to cut once he gets onto a roster because of his savvy and leadership skills. Probably more of a mid-round option who will begin his career on special teams.
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The Bills and Orange Started High But Ended Low – Orange Fizz – Daily Syracuse Recruiting News & Team Coverage (orangefizz.net; Admin)
September and October were the best of times along I-90. Syracuse began with four wins to open up the season, knocking around Louisville and UConn, then surviving Purdue and Virginia. Sure, some of it felt fluky, but Orange fans weren’t going to apologize for winning games after all the losing in recent years. What will next season bring? You can check out the offseason odds at PowerPlay.net.
The Bills also began the year going gangbusters. Buffalo crowned the season by destroying the defending Super Bowl champs 31-10 in Los Angeles, sullying banner night for the Rams. Then they took the sledgehammer to last season’s top seed in the AFC, the Titans, 41-7. By Halloween the Bills were 6-1 and looked like the best team in the AFC, maybe the entire league.
When the calendar flipped to October. Syracuse’s winning continued but it would start to fizzle. Wins over Wagner and a banged up NC State squad moved SU to 6-0, and that would be the high point. T-shirts were printed for the bowl eligibility, and then the bottom dropped out. Five straight losses ensued, and all of the breaks, stops, and big plays that defined the start of the season evaporated. The Orange didn’t look very much like winners anymore. Maybe the real Syracuse was somewhere in between the 6 straight wins and the 5 consecutive losses.
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Axe: Babers’ staff shakeup has made stability obsolete (PS; $; Axe)
Stability.
Syracuse University athletic director John Wildhack used that word in describing the appeal of recruits committing to play football for Dino Babers in an interview with syracuse.com back in December.
“I think how we can communicate to our recruits is this is a program that does have stability,” Wildhack said.
Wildhack also wisely made sure to put a disclaimer in that statement.
“Things can change in this business in a second,” Wildhack said. “As we sit here (Dec. 2), I think we have stability amongst our staff.”
A lot did change in 52 days.
Babers has seen half his coaching staff depart.
Stability? That’s now obsolete at Syracuse.
Former Syracuse passing-game coordinator and ace recruiter Nick Monroe insists we better get used to this.
“We have to understand and accept that this is now what college football is as opposed to just thinking, ‘Oh, the sky is falling,’ ” Monroe told syracuse.com in a recent exit interview.
Monroe is one of five assistants to exit Syracuse since the 2022 season ended.
The other four all left to take similar positions at other schools.
- Tony White is the new defensive coordinator at Nebraska.
- Robert Anae is the new offensive coordinator at N.C. State.
- Mike Schmidt is the new offensive line coach at Mississippi State.
- Chip West is reportedly leaving to be cornerbacks coach at Wake Forest.
- Monroe is from Minnesota and is friends with Gophers DC Joe Rossi.
- White told syracuse.com his relationship with Nebraska coach Matt Rhule as well as a “family component” were what spurred him to make the transition.
- Anae’s son coaches at Campbell College in North Carolina, and he has grandchildren living in the state.
- Schmidt worked previously with Mississippi State coach Zach Arnett at San Diego State.
- West has ties to Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson and DC Brad Lambert.
So why did five coaches suddenly have their heart strings plucked elsewhere?
White, believed to be the highest-paid assistant football coach SU had ever hired, insisted money wasn’t a factor.
“The money part of it was not the issue,” White said. “Syracuse, they are serious about keeping guys here.”
Losing five assistant coaches, half the staff, is extreme for a program that hasn’t seen a coaching overhaul at the top.
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ACC News
2022 ACC Bowl TV Ratings (RX; HM)
2022 ACC Bowl TV Ratings
Here are the final, official TV ratings numbers for the 2022-23ACC Bowl games:
| Weekday | Time | Bowl | Game Matchup | Rating | Vwrs(M) |
| Friday | 8:00 PM | Orange | Clemson vs Tennessee | 4.6 | 8.59 |
| Friday | 3:30 PM | Gator | Notre Dame vs S Carolina | 3.1 | 5.77 |
| Thursday | 5:30 PM | Cheez-It | Florida St vs Oklahoma | 2.9 | 5.4 |
| Wednesday | 8:00 PM | Holiday | N Carolina vs Oregon | 2.15 | 3.97 |
| Friday | 6:30 PM | Gasparilla | Wake vs Missouri | 1.8 | 3.54 |
| Friday | noon | Mayo | NC State vs Maryland | 1.6 | 2.68 |
| Friday | 2:00 PM | Sun | Pitt vs UCLA | 1.5 | 2.76 |
| Thursday | 2:00 PM | Pinstripe | Syracuse vs Minnesota | 1.5 | 2.75 |
| Wednesday | 2:00 PM | Military | Duke vs UCF | 1.3 | 2.16 |
| Saturday | 11:00 AM | Fenway | Louisville vs Cincinnati | 1.1 | 1.96 |
source: College Football TV Ratings
Not great, not terrible. Of course there were no ACC teams in the playoffs and only one (Clemson) in any New Year's Six Bowl at all, so that hurt ratings. No games on or after New Year's Day hurt. Having 90% of the games on weekdays hurt (and the one that was on Saturday started at 11:00 am!)
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Friedlander: Rating the 10 most impactful ACC football transfers - Saturday Road (saturdayroad.com; Friedlander)
The 1st of 2 transfer portal windows closed last week, ending a free agent feeding frenzy throughout college football.
More than 1,000 players nationwide changed schools with more certain to come when the window opens back up for 2 more weeks at the end of spring practice in May.
While there’s a calm to the storm, it’s a good time to take stock of how the transfer market might impact the ACC in 2023.
Here’s a look at the 10 most impactful additions to conference teams:
10. Al Blades Jr., DB (Miami to Duke)
After 5 years at the school in which his father and namesake starred, Blades decided to leave Miami for what is officially his junior season. A former 4-star recruit played both safety and cornerback with the Hurricanes. He’ll likely be slotted as a safety with the Blue Devils to replace graduating starter Darius Joiner.Blades was credited with 11 tackles and a pass breakup while seeing action in all 11 games with 1 start, for the Hurricanes in 2022. It was a comeback season for him after sitting out 2021 with a health issue. Prior to that, he played in 49 games with 15 starts as a cornerback, amassing 93 tackles, 14 pass breakups and 4 interceptions.
9. Logan Taylor, OT (Virginia to Boston College)
Eagles coach Jeff Hafley addressed his team’s most glaring need with the addition of a physical, proven offensive lineman. Taylor is a 6-6, 300-pound tackle who comes to BC after playing 2 seasons at ACC rival Virginia.The former 4-star prospect is the high school teammate of the Eagles’ projected starting quarterback in 2023, Emmett Morehead. He held offers from the likes of Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina and Miami, A first-time starter in 2022, Taylor saw action in all 10 of the Cavaliers games this season. He was much more effective as a pass blocker than a run blocker, allowing only 2 sacks in his 699 snaps.
8. Alijah Huzzie, CB (ETSU to North Carolina)
After losing 6 defensive backs to the portal since the end of the season, Mack Brown and defensive coordinator Gene Chizik replenished their secondary by adding 3 veteran newcomers. The most impactful of the group projects to be Huzzie, a 5-11, 190-pound cornerback from East Tennessee State, where he earned first-team FCS All-American honors in 2022.Huzzie intercepted 6 passes, tied for the most nationally among FCS players, including a 38-yard pick-6 against Mars Hill. He also recorded 59 tackles, 16 pass breakups and 2.5 TFLs and added 3 interceptions and 76 tackles as a freshman in 2021. Huzzie has 3 years of eligibility remaining including his bonus COVID season.
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Who are the ACC's winners and losers in the transfer portal so far? (theathletic.com; $; Bitter)
It’s been the busiest transfer portal season to date, and it’s not over yet. But who are the winners and losers in the ACC so far? Let’s take a look:
Winners
Florida State
Mike Norvell seems to have this transfer thing down. The Noles have found big-time contributors in recent years, pulling All-ACC performers Jordan Travis, Johnny Wilson, Jammie Robinson, Jermaine Johnson II, Trey Benson and Jared Verse from the portal.They have a nice haul this year too, adding four players from The Athletic’s rolling best-available list. That’s headlined by Virginia cornerback Fentrell Cypress II, who was a second-team All-ACC pick in 2022 after tying for first in the league with 13 pass breakups.
Braden Fiske out of Western Michigan (59 tackles, 12 TFLs, six sacks) joins tackle Darrell Jackson Jr. (Miami) and end Gilber Edmond (South Carolina) as D-line additions, and Jeremiah Byers (UTEP) is one of the top offensive line options this cycle — a tough position to find in the portal.
Jaheim Bell (South Carolina) and Kyle Morlock (Shorter) are intriguing options at tight end. The Seminoles finished 2022 on an upward trajectory. This transfer group will only help their 2023 outlook.
Intraconference QB moves
A couple of schools didn’t go far to fill their quarterback vacancies.
Pitt will be the third college stop for local product Phil Jurkovec, who began at Notre Dame before playing three years at Boston College. He threw for 35 touchdowns in his run at BC but struggled last year in an Eagles offense that bottomed out. He could still be an upgrade over the departed Kedon Slovis, who was a sub-60 percent passer in his lone year at Pitt, with 10 touchdowns and nine picks.
NC State felt the transfer sting when Devin Leary left for Kentucky but landed a pretty nice replacement in UVa quarterback Brennan Armstrong, who reunites with his former coordinator Robert Anae. Those two were quite the combo with the Cavaliers, with Armstrong throwing for 4,449 yards and 31 touchdowns in 2021 before he proved a misfit for Tony Elliott’s new scheme. If he can return close to that form, the Wolfpack got a good one.
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Hard to get into these ACC schools (RX; HM)
Hard to get into these ACC schools
Which ACC schools are very hard to get into? Actually, there are quite a few of them...ACC Schools:
- Duke 6% (approximately 1/16.7)
- Notre Dame 15% (approx. 1/6.7)
- Georgia Tech 18% (approx. 1/5.5)
- Boston College 19% (approx. 1/5.26)
- North Carolina 19% (approx. 1/5.26)
- Virginia 21% (approx. 1/4.76)
- Wake Forest 25% (1/4.00)
- Miami 28% (approx. 1/3.57)
Links, News, and Rumors - 2023 Jan 223 (RX; HM)
Links, News, and Rumors - 2023 Jan 223
It seems like Jeff Brohm is a breath of fresh air for the Cardinals...
From Louisville high school coaches respond to Brohm & staff visits posted on U of L Card Game:
The article reports on how local high school football coaches have responded to the new coaching staff very positively. The first player to flip from Purdue to the Cardinals was a Louisville native:
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Other
Rendering shows a concept for a waterfront community at Three Rivers Point in Clay.
Could Micron help Clay realize decades-old dream of a waterfront village? (PS; $; Moriarty)
Onondaga County’s most populous town has no town square, a focal point that would draw people for shopping, dining, and recreation – and give the town an identity.
But Clay does have a vision, now more than 20 years old, of creating a waterfront community that could serve as a town square. And Town Supervisor Damian Ulatowski thinks Micron Technology Inc.’s plans to build a huge computer chip plant in Clay, creating thousands of jobs, will help turn the vision into a reality.
Clay officials envision a development that would draw people from all over Central New York to stroll along a riverfront boardwalk, dine at waterfront restaurants, visit entertainment venues and bike miles of trails.
In other words, a place that would put Clay on the map.
“It’s something that could be a jewel of an attraction,” said Ulatowski, who was first elected to the Clay Town Board in 1999 and has been town supervisor since 2008.
It could also be a place where Micron workers might live, making an easy commute to work via bike, car or public transportation, he said. The new community would be only a few miles away from Micron’s new home.
If fully built out, the chip fabrication facility will create 9,000 Micron jobs, plus more than 40,000 jobs at vendors and other companies that would want to locate near it, according to Micron.
Those kinds of jobs numbers would create huge demand in Clay for new housing, boosting the town’s population, which currently stands at almost 61,000 people.
Town officials are predicting an influx of 20,000 new residents to Clay over the next decade. And they think they know where at least some of the new housing that will be needed for them could be built.
Since 2000, Clay has been planning for a waterfront community on land owned by the town at the confluence of the Oneida, Oswego and Seneca rivers.
“This is a story that we’ve wanted to tell, but it’s been nothing but a dream,” said Ulatowski, who added the town recently got another state grant to help refresh its plans. “Micron could take this from a dream to a reality.”
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