Some people are not going to like this

[GoSU96]

But the Theme of the year is Survive in 25.

6-6 will be a big success this year.

The loss of returning starts, production, and leadership cannot be emphasized enough.

I believe this year is about building the core for next year. There is a lot of potential on the roster, but it’s a huge ask to expect a winning season against this schedule.

2026 is the year to thrive. ND, Clemson, SMU, Louisville, Cal, Toledo, New Hampshire at home. BC, Pitt, UNC, UVA, UConn on the road. Great home schedule, manageable road schedule. OL gels this year, find a Qb, influx of some high end depth in the 26 class and it could be an all timer.

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

I think real fans totally agree with you. Last years team has a lot of guys in NFL training camps this summer. Gill and Willis are ready to blow up. Pull off an upset or two and go to bowl sounds good to me.

 

[Chip]

But the Theme of the year is Survive in 25.

6-6 will be a big success this year.

The loss of returning starts, production, and leadership cannot be emphasized enough.

I believe this year is about building the core for next year. There is a lot of potential on the roster, but it’s a huge ask to expect a winning season against this schedule.

2026 is the year to thrive. ND, Clemson, SMU, Louisville, Cal, Toledo, New Hampshire at home. BC, Pitt, UNC, UVA, UConn on the road. Great home schedule, manageable road schedule. OL gels this year, find a Qb, influx of some high end depth in the 26 class and it could be an all timer.

I think people will be more realistic about it right now. But once the season starts and the games get dissected, they'll probably be a lot harsher.

Fran will project all the confidence in the world this season, and never for a second will anyone believe he's building for beyond 2025.

But he is, and you're right. 2026 will have a lot of pieces back (portal willing) and a much more favorable schedule.

As for 2025, enjoy any surprises and enjoy the venues. Oh and win all the Dome games please.

 

[dasher]

But the Theme of the year is Survive in 25.

6-6 will be a big success this year.

The loss of returning starts, production, and leadership cannot be emphasized enough.

I believe this year is about building the core for next year. There is a lot of potential on the roster, but it’s a huge ask to expect a winning season against this schedule.

2026 is the year to thrive. ND, Clemson, SMU, Louisville, Cal, Toledo, New Hampshire at home. BC, Pitt, UNC, UVA, UConn on the road. Great home schedule, manageable road schedule. OL gels this year, find a Qb, influx of some high end depth in the 26 class and it could be an all timer.

I couldn't agree with you more. 6-6 is fine. 7-5 would be a dream.

 

[richmondcuse03]

But the Theme of the year is Survive in 25.

6-6 will be a big success this year.

The loss of returning starts, production, and leadership cannot be emphasized enough.

I believe this year is about building the core for next year. There is a lot of potential on the roster, but it’s a huge ask to expect a winning season against this schedule.

2026 is the year to thrive. ND, Clemson, SMU, Louisville, Cal, Toledo, New Hampshire at home. BC, Pitt, UNC, UVA, UConn on the road. Great home schedule, manageable road schedule. OL gels this year, find a Qb, influx of some high end depth in the 26 class and it could be an all timer.

Realistically we are set up for 2026. I think deep down they know it. But they will never admit it. If they were going to punt they wouldn’t have gotten Angeli or Cook. Id love to see them pull off 7 pr 8 wins. I think they really believe we can have a special team in ‘26 with the youth they’re building. and a 6/7/8 win team this year sets us up very nicely. It’s nice we have a coaching staff that is building for the long term but still wants to win now too.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Realistically we are set up for 2026. I think deep down they know it. But they will never admit it. If they were going to punt they wouldn’t have gotten Angeli or Cook. Id love to see them pull off 7 pr 8 wins. I think they really believe we can have a special team in ‘26 with the youth they’re building. and a 6/7/8 win team this year sets us up very nicely. It’s nice we have a coaching staff that is building for the long term but still wants to win now too.

6 and a bowl appearance keeps us moving forward.

7 and you feel really confident about the future.

 

[anglerman]

My take is no one is a fortune teller and none of us really have a clue what this season will be like. It’s purely a guess, there are so many variables that no one has any idea about that are going to occur. I’m certain none of you was predicting 10 wins last year

 

[OCESIP]

In today's environment, projecting 2 year's out has too
many roster unknowns. Unless there's fundamental changes every program is subject to massive personnel moves each and every year.

 

[Frozen]

But the Theme of the year is Survive in 25.

6-6 will be a big success this year.

The loss of returning starts, production, and leadership cannot be emphasized enough.

I believe this year is about building the core for next year. There is a lot of potential on the roster, but it’s a huge ask to expect a winning season against this schedule.

2026 is the year to thrive. ND, Clemson, SMU, Louisville, Cal, Toledo, New Hampshire at home. BC, Pitt, UNC, UVA, UConn on the road. Great home schedule, manageable road schedule. OL gels this year, find a Qb, influx of some high end depth in the 26 class and it could be an all timer.

You’re entitled to your opinion.

 

[sufandu]

Fair or not, anything under 6 wins and last year will be percieved as a fluke. Hopefully we can scratch and claw our way to at least 6.

 

[ImperialOrange]

We entrenched Cuse fans subscribe to this.

Fran, the staff and the team? I really don't think they do. Times they are a changing... we beat the Vols in the opener and the flood gates of optimism open.

Fran is the guy... opposing fan bases know it. My Michigan die hard buddy text me last night about Russell before I even checked here. "Thought UM had him and the Fran stuffed us in a locker"

 

[sufan59]

We have a really high ceiling if development happens quickly. A lot of guys on this roster that have very high potential. What does have me intrigued is the break outs some guys had last season that was unexpected. We will find out soon enough. Just have to keep that fire and drive moving forward through good times and adversity.

 

[MadNY3]

6-6 would be good, but don’t think it can be described as a big success. It’s realistic and the likelihood we could lose recruits will be real after a fairytale first season.

Sophomore slumps are repeal and with this schedule, we will get a big reality check.

 

[GoSU96]

My take is no one is a fortune teller and none of us really have a clue what this season will be like. It’s purely a guess, there are so many variables that no one has any idea about that are going to occur. I’m certain none of you was predicting 10 wins last year

Really?

 

[UnknownOrange]

Ah yes hello, i am some people

This thread stinks. Mediocrity is not the goal or the expectation in my eyes. There is not a team on the 2025 schedule that I look at and think “well this is a loss”

 

[UnknownOrange]

We aren’t even TWENTY FOUR HOURS removed from (albeit a verbal) the biggest recruiting win in 20+ years

And we’re talking about going 6-6 and it being a “big success”

Dream bigger. It’s okay. I promise

 

[sufan59]

Ah yes hello, i am some people

This thread stinks. Mediocrity is not the goal or the expectation in my eyes. There is not a team on the 2025 schedule that I look at and think “well this is a loss”

Yeah that’s the spirit. This is the kind of post that Fran would put up on a bulletin board.

 

[Shenexon]

Well, while we have a huge challenge this year, I also believe we're going to compete. I have hope the defense is going to be better and it will have to be. It will be tough for the offense to be as productive as it was last year, but it could still be good. I'm a believer that Fran is going to put the team in a position to succeed, no matter if that means 6 wins or 10. I've had hope for a lot worse teams over the years, so will wait and see what Fran can do before admitting defeat.

 

[dwilmont44]

Ah yes hello, i am some people

This thread stinks. Mediocrity is not the goal or the expectation in my eyes. There is not a team on the 2025 schedule that I look at and think “well this is a loss”

You gotta actually read the schedule then

 

[sufan59]

If you read anywhere online everyone is waiting for either Syracuse to have a bad season and Fran to lose momentum or Syracuse to be so good, Fran gets poached by the highest bidder. Let’s prove these doubters wrong by winning a lot and taking more steps forward as a program with Fran! Let’s turn these doubters to join the bandwagon because they aren’t going to be able to stand rooting for a soon to be inferior program to Syracuse.

 

[OrangeTarheel]

Fran doesn’t strike me as accepting mediocrity. I completely get how 6-6 is a reasonable expectation for us but it won’t be for HCFB. We really seemed to turn a corner last year when the culture started taking hold and maybe even the players started showing their development a bit more.

Haven’t seen it mentioned elsewhere but it’s a big deal that our coaching staff stayed intact over the offseason. This is a huge year for player development - if the coaches succeed in that regard then that plus good depth give us a chance in every game.

Plus, beat Tennessee and we will spook some coaches who are already eyeballing this staff’s recruiting wins.

 

[sufandu]

Coaches and fans should always look at the potential of a season differently. The coach of my team should always expect to win the next game. Fans can look ahead to a whole season and be more tempered.

 

[David321]

I predicted 9-3 last year before game 1 started (my tailgate friends on here are my witness). This year I'm predicting 8-4.

It sounds aggressive and overly optimistic in light of the schedule, I know. But with the same returning coaching staff, and Angeli plugging in to the same run and shoot system, what would have been 7-5 now gets notched up one more win.

 

[AngryOtto]

I know we have been living through mediocrity for the last 20 years but that is not in Fran’s dna. I agree with others that I do not look at any team on the schedule and say it’s a loss. That use to be the situation.
We just got the biggest commit in over twenty years and people want to continue with doom and gloom. Enjoy the win and start being more positive.
It may be a difficult season we may run the table no one knows in July in the portal era.
Enjoy the ride and trust in Fran and the coaches. In less than two years they are accomplishing what most people were saying was impossible at Syracuse.
The narrative is changing time to get aboard the Franchise and believe.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

We lost a ton of talent on D, which was our weakness last year. Between having little faith in ERob and the talent lost, it is hard seeing the D being any better.

I suppose the STs can't be worse? We better hope so. Lots of potential room for improvement here.

Last year we were able to extend a ton of drives with big 3rd down conversions. When we lose all of those pieces that we did, we cannot expect similar results. The one area we can and will need improvement is the running game. That will be the key to our season IMO.

We were a play or two away from 7-5 last season against a much much much weaker schedule. The margin for error was very small. It worked in our favor and we got to 9 Ws. We will need things to break our way again this year just to get to 7-5 IMO.