It was mere percentage points that separated Steve Angeli and Rickie Collins for the starting Syracuse Orange quarterback job.
“It was extremely hard,” said Syracuse football head coach Fran Brown. “I was up for a long time just trying to figure this out.”
Syracuse announced on Monday that Angeli had won the starting job. Collins was named the starter in early April. However, a battle immediately started when Angeli transferred from Notre Dame to the Orange later that month.
Angeli’s operation of the
offense and his leadership gave him the slight edge in the end as Brown named him the starter after Syracuse’s second scrimmage of preseason training camp.
“A lot of the guys gravitated towards him,” said Brown. “He makes his business to make personal relationships with everyone.”
Brown didn’t provide many details on how he told Angeli and the team about his decision. It did sound like Brown at least told Angeli and Collins at the same time.
Brown also admitted Angeli’s previous experience at Notre Dame did play a part in the decision. He had 72 more pass attempts than Collins did at LSU. Angeli was Notre Dame’s starter in the 2023 Sun Bowl. Most notably, he played in a scoring drive for Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff against Penn State last season.
“That was a big drive for that program,” said Brown. “I’m hoping that I can give them that same boys that he had there when he goes in.”
Collins now misses out on the starting job after earning the role at the end of spring training camp. Brown has now worked on keeping Collins focused, knowing that he could be needed to step in at any moment for the Orange.
“Rickie’s all about helping us win,” said Brown.
But, as Brown has continuously preached, he’s chosen his right-hand man. The de facto second leader on the team is now known. Now the program can further focus on the task ahead, which is to prepare for the 2025 season to start next week.
“I’m happy that our team knows who’s the leader of the football team and who they get to follow,” said Brown.
