How many players from Toledo will go to each school?
The college football transfer portal opens up later this week, and like most teams around the country, Syracuse is expected to gain some players and lose some others. Such is life in the current college football landscape. How impacted teams are by the portal, positively or negatively, will have a big bearing on how the 2026 season plays out.
With regards to the Orange, there is something very interesting to watch develop over the next few weeks: Where will players from Toledo go?
As was correctly noted by InsideTheLoudHouse, Syracuse now has multiple Toledo ties on the coaching staff that could draw players from the MAC power. Vince Kehres, who was previously the defensive coordinator at Toledo, is now the DC for the Orange. Perry Eliano is now the defensive backs coach for the Orange. He was just at Toledo as well.
But it's not that simple...
There will be other competition for Toledo players, but the University of Connecticut should be chief among them. While Kehres and Eliano elected to come to Central New York, former Toledo head coach Jason Candle is now the head coach at UConn, taking over for Jim Mora.
He's already brought SU quarterbacks coach Nunzio Campanile in to be his offensive coordinator, and he's brought in multiple other coaches with Toledo roots, though the two most recent hires were not with Toledo when this current group of potential transfer players was.
Still, the allure of having Candle in Storrs could end being a big factor for some players.
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What is the SU sales pitch?
If SU ends up in direct battle with Connecticut for players, Syracuse would figure to have the edge in multiple areas. Syracuse plays in the Atlantic Coast Conference while UConn is an independent school. Even though Syracuse went 3-9 in 2025, the ACC has a path to the College Football Playoff, which would be the dream of each recruit. UConn doesn't have that.
Syracuse should also have more NIL opportunities for players.
The transfer portal will bring about many storylines for the Orange, and this is just one of them.
Also on campus
--The Syracuse men's basketball team (9-4) will open up ACC play on Wednesday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET against Clemson. Our own Tom Goslowski will be at the New Years Eve showdown, so follow him on social media @TomGozz.
--The Syracuse women suffered just their second loss of the season on Sunday, dropping a 71-51 decision at home against Duke.
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