As the Syracuse Orange look to replace Kyle McCord, it's been a revolving door for Fran Brown's team when it comes to finding a clear replacement. In the first transfer portal window, Syracuse brought in LSU Tigers transfer Rickie Collins whom Fran Brown named the starter after he impressed. Collins being named the starter didn't prove to be the end all be all as Steve Angeli entered the transfer portal after it was clear he wasn't landing the Notre Dame job, joining Syracuse's room.
During fall camp, Rickie Collins and Steve Angeli battled it out for the starting job but, in the end, it proved to be the Notre Dame transfer that won the starting gig.
Sources: Syracuse has named Notre Dame transfer Steve Angeli the starting quarterback, and he’ll debut for the Orange against No. 24 Tennessee in the opener in Atlanta. Angeli, a redshirt junior, narrowly beat out LSU transfer Rickie Collins, who played well during camp. pic.twitter.com/ax2mgUOEkm
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 18, 2025
In his career thus far, Steve Angeli is 58-80 passing (72.5%) for 772 yards and 10 touchdowns with just one interception. When Riley Leonard left the Penn State game with injury, it was Angeli who was tasked with filling in and he did a solid job taking care of the football allowing the Fighting Irish to advance to the National Championship Game.
On the other side of this equation, it's hard not to feel terrible for how this entire situation played out for Rickie Collins. The LSU transfer came to Syracuse hoping to finally jump into a starting role and was named the starter this Spring before Steve Angeli transferred in. Now Rickie Collins will wait behind Angeli hoping to make an impact otherwise, he may be on the move again next offseason.
The Syracuse Orange now have their starting quarterback and can move from camp into preparing for the 2025 season. The Orange open the season with a tough matchup against 24th ranked Tennessee which could prove to determine how the year shakes out after a promising 1st season under Fran Brown.
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