3 takeaways from Syracuse football’s Aug. 18 practice

Syracuse took one large step closer to the start of the season on Monday. The Orange named Steve Angeli the starting quarterback for their week 1 game against Tennessee on August 30.

The announcement came after a camp-long battle between Angeli, a Notre Dame-transfer and LSU-transfer Rickie Collins.

After the decision Monday morning, SU head coach Fran Brown and Myles White, who serves as the passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach, addressed the media.

Here are three takeaways from the media session.

How Angeli won the job

Entering fall camp, Angeli was the new quarterback in the room. Collins had been named the starting quarterback in the spring, but following Angeli’s arrival to SU in the portal after spring practice, the position was a competition again.

Angeli won the starting role after a few weeks of fall camp. The 6-foot-3 signal caller’s leadership and experience of winning at Notre Dame stuck out, among other things, Brown said.

“It just came down to a little bit of operation, just being able to run the operation the best,” Brown said. “…It was extremely hard. I was up for a long time just trying to figure this out.”

White, who played in the NFL, noticed similarities between Angeli and Eli Manning in terms of their composure. Angeli keeps teammates at even keel pace, which is unique, White said.

“You can see there's a little bit of a calming confidence that he has and carries,” White said. “That's a strength of his, and it shed through through camp.”

Next steps for Collins

Collins lost the battle for the starting job, but he will still be expected to contribute to the Orange in other ways.

While Collins will have to watch from the sidelines, he told Brown that he wants Angeli to be the best version of himself, Brown said.

“Rickie is all about helping us win,” Brown said.

Brown drew comparisons to the quarterback situation SU had last season. Michael Johnson Jr. was the backup to Kyle McCord, and he contributed to the Orange’s success by helping McCord on the sidelines and in their own time.

Collins still has three years of eligibility remaining entering the 2025 season.

“Rickie played his tail off, and I think he's got a really bright future ahead of him.” White said. “The best thing about Rickie is he's a really resilient kid, and he's going to continue to work to get better every single day.”

Special Teams and Cornerback update

Syracuse held a second scrimmage last weekend. It provided the coaches a glimpse into some of the position battles as camp winds down.

Iowa-transfer kicker Tripp Woody out-performed returning kicker Jadyn Oh over the weekend, Brown said.

“Jadyn Oh was winning for a while, but Tripp lately has been more so just on point on doing the right thing,” Brown said.

Oh is excelling at kickoffs while Woody is succeeding more on field goals, Brown said.

In the long snapping competition, Ethan Stangle is winning over Brown’s son, Fran Brown Jr. However, the younger Brown is doing well at long snapping on field goal attempts.

Former SU kicker Dave Jacobs (1975-78) has attended practice to help the special teams unit, Brown said.

Brown also announced that freshman two-way player Demetres Samuel Jr. will start at cornerback.

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