If you thought Syracuse’s QB1 drama was over before it even started, well… you might wanna grab some popcorn. The Orange just wrapped a dream 2024 under rookie head coach Fran Brown — 10 wins, Holiday Bowl fireworks, Kyle McCord breaking records (34 tuddies, 4779 yards) like they were cheap plastic toys. McCord’s off to the NFL now, already tossing preseason picks right against the Bengals. And just when it looked like LSU transfer Rickie Collins had the job in the bag, Steve Angeli rolled into town with unfinished business.

Steve Angeli bailed from South Bend after losing the spring battle to CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey. Angeli didn’t leave Notre Dame’s national title runner-up squad just to hold a clipboard again. He wanted a real shot. And Syracuse — with its wide-open QB race — looked like the perfect landing spot.

He kept it real in an August 8 sit-down with Jordan Capozzi, where the host hit him with the big one: What went down at Notre Dame? Angeli didn’t sugarcoat it. “Yeah, it’s tough when you go through that and you have those conversations. It’s, you know, it’s a tough situation, but thankfully I have a great support system around me—family, everyone that helps outside of my circle,” he said. He leaned on family and his tight circle to push through the disappointment. And once the decision was made? Straight to the portal, straight to Cuse.

There’s another twist: Angeli’s ties to the Orange run deep.

He’s basically honorary Campanile family at this point. Coached by Nunzio’s (QB coach) dad as a Bergen Catholic freshman, by Vito Campanile in high school, and now reunited with Nunzio himself at Syracuse. Steve Angeli opens up about his relationship with coach Fran and coach Companile: “Fran, I’ve known back all the way through recruiting—Coach Fran, he’s been recruiting me for a while, so I knew about him. Obviously, he’s a legend in New Jersey. I was joking around with Coach Nuns yesterday, I said I’m probably one of the few players that have been coached by three Campanelis, ’cause my freshman year I was coached by Coach Nunzio’s dad, then I was coached by Coach Veto in high school, and then now Coach Nun. So they’re honestly like family to me now. They’ve been with me through everything, and now finally being able to be here and being coached by Coach Nunzio, Coach Nixon, everyone that’s in the program has really been special for me.”

Beyond coaches, Angeli already knew a chunk of the roster from high school ball. Some he played against, some he played with. That kind of familiarity ain’t nothing — especially for a QB trying to win a locker room in a hurry. He calls it “really familiar”; I’d call it walking into a house party where everyone already knows your name. And while he didn’t exactly put up PlayStation stats at Notre Dame, Angeli’s résumé has some heat.

Remember the 2023 Sun Bowl? His first start: 15-of-19, 232 yards, three TDs, zero picks in a 40–8 beatdown of Oregon State. The 2024 Blue-Gold Game? Angeli completed 17 of 25 passes for 228 yards and 2 touchdowns, leading the Blue Team to a 28-21 victory. Then there was the 2025 Orange Bowl, stepping in for an injured Riley Leonard and going 6-of-7 in a clutch pre-halftime drive against Penn State. The man literally thrives under big lights.

Now, it’s him versus Collins. Leader type versus gunslinger. Experience versus Arm talent. And the whole thing’s about to boil over in camp.

Coach Fran spills QB tea

Syracuse has more holes to fill than a leaky roof — four O-line starters gone, no leading rusher, top receivers out, key defenders graduated. But none of it matters if they don’t figure out who’s taking snaps when they open against Tennessee on Aug. 30. Fran Brown’s keeping it tight. Last year, Kyle McCord was QB1 before camp even started. This year? Not so simple.

“One is super talented as an arm thrower (Collins), the other one is a natural quarterback leader (Angeli), and it just depends on what our team needs. So we got a couple weeks. We got two scrimmages. We’ll find out who’s gonna be the guy,” Brown said. Translation: it’s wide open.

How will he decide? Brown says it’s about the numbers — and the reps. Who’s getting it done with the ones and twos, who the team gravitates toward, and who’s living the culture. “You could be a cool guy and everybody will be around you, but you’re not doing the things the right way,” he said. In other words, don’t be all drip and no substance.

College football insider Andy Staples is leaning toward Steve Angeli for the job. The word out of camp is both QBs are sharp, both getting love from teammates, and both making coaches think twice. But the calendar’s ticking. Fran’s got less than three weeks to name his starter. And when he does? Whoever wins that QB1 tag won’t just be replacing Kyle McCord. They’ll be stepping into a season where the bar is sky-high, the fanbase is hungry, and Tennessee’s defense is waiting in Atlanta to test every inch of their game.