When he took over as head coach, Scott Shafer immediately went to work keeping Syracuse’s recruiting class intact in the wake of Doug Marrone’s departure to the Buffalo Bills. For the last month, Shafer and his new assistant coaches criss-crossed the country, convincing some recruits to stick with the Orange, and others to join.

The dizzying process is finally at its conclusion.

Syracuse’s 20 commits in the Class of 2013 will sign their Letters of Intent on National Signing Day on Wednesday. Nine of the 20 have three-star ratings from Scout.com, and among them are two quarterbacks who could be the Orange’s starter next season. The class stretches West to California and South to Florida. Even with the losses of two key commits, Syracuse’s recruiting class remains strong.

There was no guarantee SU’s group of signees would resemble Marrone’s group of commits, since other schools tried to sway them to reopen their recruitments. When Marrone left and took several assistant coaches with him, including offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, uncertainty about SU’s recruiting class hovered over the program.

“We have a lot of people coming in trying to poach them and take advantage of the situation,” Shafer said at a press conference last month. “That’s the fight that we’re ready for.”

Shafer hired George McDonald to be his offensive coordinator. McDonald is known as one of the top recruiters in the country. He spent the last two seasons as the wide receiver coach at Miami (Fla.), so he knows the South Florida area well, and it’s an area where Syracuse has recruited successfully in the past.

The Orange has four commits from Florida, including Tyler Provo, the younger brother of former SU tight end Nick Provo.

Syracuse did suffer losses. Highly touted quarterback Zach Allen from Temple (Texas) High School flipped his commitment from Syracuse and joined Texas Christian. Augustus Edwards, a running back from Tottenville High School on Staten Island, decided to visit other schools, including Florida State and Miami.

But Shafer and McDonald earned the pledges of several talented prospects. Corey Cooper, a three-star wide receiver from Raleigh, N.C., committed to Syracuse on Jan. 27. Cooper had offers from Illinois, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina State, Oklahoma State, South Carolina and Tennessee, among others, according to Scout.com.

For a team losing its starting wide receivers, Cooper could step right into a key role.

“He uses his hands, catches the ball extremely well away from his body,” Cooper’s high school coach Clarence Inscore said. “He runs a really good route.”

While Syracuse ended up losing out on Allen, it still has commits from East Pennsboro Area (Pa.) High School quarterback Austin Wilson and Jersey Community (Ill.) High School quarterback Mitch Kimble. Wilson committed to Marrone and remained committed to the Orange, but Kimble was one of the first offers the new Syracuse staff made.

Kimble’s high school coach, Dave Jacobs, said Shafer called Kimble on a Sunday and made him an offer. Jacobs said Shafer told Kimble he and his staff evaluated 17 quarterbacks on film and chose Kimble as their top choice.

“He’s got everything that they’re going to need in their system and then some,” Jacobs said. “No. 1, as the leader of a football team, I think character is a huge part of the leadership qualities and he certainly has that. … I mean physically, character-wise he’s there.”

Kimble will compete for the starting spot with Wilson, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound signal caller Scout.com gave two stars. Wilson also had a scholarship offer from Eastern Michigan.

Syracuse also has six commitments from junior college players, including Wayne Williams, a three-star defensive tackle from ASA College for Excellence in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Orange had tapped into the junior college system during Marrone’s tenure as former SU assistant coach. John Anselmo spent years coaching in the JUCO ranks, and recruited them successfully while with Syracuse.

Six players have already signed their Letters of Intent to be early enrollees at Syracuse, including three-star prospect Darius Kelly, a safety from Pima (Ariz.) Community College. He was committed to Marshall until Syracuse made him an offer and he flipped to the Orange.

The other three-star prospect in the group is defensive end Trevon Trejo, who played at Golden West College in California.

Overall, Syracuse has 20 commits preparing to make their decisions official on Wednesday when they sign their Letters of Intent. All of the recruiting done by Marrone and his staff, and then Shafer and his staff, concludes when all of their recruits sign the dotted line.

That’s when the prospects can finally break open the playbook and learn Syracuse’s systems.

“One thing I do know is that you never know until Signing Day,” Shafer said. “That’s an absolute.”

Published on February 6, 2013 at 1:25 am

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