Driving Competitive Excellence in a New Era of College Athletics
9/13/2024 12:00:00 PM | Football
Dear Alumni, Fans, Supporters and Friends:
Are you excited for a new era of Orange Football? We kicked off the "Fran Brown Era" with two-straight wins to open the season. I, for one, am pumped about the rest of the season, and I hope you are too!
Let me tell you about our 2024 team and how you can support Syracuse Athletics competitive excellence.
It's a Great Time to be Orange
The Orange community has embraced and celebrated Coach Fran Brown, his staff and the impressive roster of student-athletes he has assembled. Syracuse brought the nation's ninth-ranked transfer portal class, including standouts Kyle McCord, Fadil Diggs and others, and the highest-rated freshman recruiting class in program history since the advent of recruiting service rankings. The incoming talent pairs with returning All-ACC standouts Marlowe Wax, LeQuint Allen, Oronde Gadsden II and Justin Barron.
The student-athletes have worked tirelessly throughout a successful and highly competitive fall camp and their hard work paid off these first two weeks.
Driving Competitive Excellence in a New Era of College Athletics
The national landscape of college athletics has changed dramatically in recent years. Nowhere is the change more prevalent than in the area of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL). Simply put, in order to compete and be successful on the field and court to the standard we expect here at Syracuse, we must be competitive in NIL. We've taken aggressive action to develop avenues to support our student-athletes through NIL, but the time is now to take this to a new level. Syracuse University partners with three NIL organizations that are actively supporting our programs' abilities to recruit and retain some of college athletics' most elite student-athletes:
- Athletes Who Care (AWC)Â is a not-for-profit charity that was founded by two Syracuse University trustees to provide support to other charities in our Syracuse community. AWC has contracts with over 80 student-athletes to provide over 4,000 hours of charitable services this year. Gifts to AWC are tax deductible.
- SU Football NILÂ works to create endorsement contracts between corporate sponsors and the most recognizable student-athletes in Orange football, who can participate in events, media and other advertising for the sponsor.
- Orange United allows for businesses to contract directly with our student-athletes. Donors can contribute to their specific sport of interest and have the option of a subscription component featuring curated content.
Our partnership with these organizations immediately strengthens our competitive excellence while affording our student-athletes valuable opportunities to give back and gain real-world business experience.
How You Can Support Orange Athletics
Excited for the new season? Interested in supporting Orange Athletics? Here are three easy ways:
- Research and give to one (or more!) of the three partners I highlighted above. Your gift to any of these organizations increases Syracuse University's competitive edge in NIL.
- Make a gift to the Syracuse Athletics Opportunity Fund. Your tax-deductible gift provides resources to support our athletic department's immediate programmatic needs.
- Buy tickets and cheer your heads off! We have new seats this fall and need them filled so the Loud House is louder than ever.
As we boldly move into this new era of Syracuse Athletics, the difference between success and competitive excellence will be the support of every fan, alumni, donor and friend to the University. Please check out Coach Fran Brown's video below and see how you can become a part of Syracuse Athletics competitive excellence.
I can't thank you enough for your support and look forward to seeing you in the Dome this season.
Go Orange!
John Wildhack '80
Director of Athletics
