The 2024 Syracuse Orange football team represented Syracuse University as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 2024 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Orange played their home games at the JMA Wireless Dome. They were led by first-year head coach Fran Brown. The Orange were in their 123rd season overall and their twelfth as a member of the ACC.
On November 2, the Orange defeated Virginia Tech for their sixth win, securing bowl eligibility for the third season in a row. This was the first time the Orange were bowl eligible for three consecutive seasons since the program played in five straight bowls from 1995 through 1999.
In the regular season finale on November 30, the Orange defeated Miami (FL) to earn their ninth win and deny the Hurricanes a spot in the ACC championship game. Syracuse erased a 21-point first half deficit to win 42âÂÂ38, which marked the largest comeback win in program history.
For the postseason, the Orange were selected to play in the Holiday Bowl against Washington State. The game was held on December 27 at Snapdragon Stadium, with the Orange winning 52âÂÂ35. With the victory, Fran Brown joined Paul Pasqualoni as the only Syracuse football coaches to win ten games in their first seasons with the program. Quarterback Kyle McCord set the ACC single-season passing record in the game, finishing the year with 4,779 passing yards.
The 2024 season featured several notable accomplishments for the Orange. For the first time since 1998, Syracuse beat three AP-ranked teams (Miami (FL), UNLV, and Georgia Tech) in the same season. The Orange won nine regular season games and had ten overall wins for the first time in six seasons, and joined the 2001 and 2018 teams as the only Syracuse squads to win ten games since 2000.
Dino Babers, who coached the team from 2016 to 2023, was fired from his role as head coach at Syracuse on November 19, 2023, one game before the end of the 2023 regular season. Babers had just two winning seasons during his eight years at Syracuse. He moved to become the offensive coordinator at the University of Arizona. First year offensive coordinator Jason Beck took the same position at New Mexico. First year defensive coordinator Rocky Long was hired as a defensive analyst at Fort Lewis College.
On November 28, 2023, Fran Brown was named the 31st head coach of the Orange. Brown was named #1 national recruiter by 247Sports in 2023, and previously served as the defensive backs coach at Georgia, Baylor, Rutgers, and Temple. His deep recruiting ties in South Jersey, one of Syracuse's primary recruiting grounds, were cited as a major reason for his hiring.
Jeff Nixon and Elijah Robinson were hired as OC and DC, respectively.
The Syracuse Orange were ranked 16th nationally with 77% of their production returning, according to data compiled by ESPNâÂÂs Bill Connelly.
Over the course of the off-season, Syracuse lost over 35 players to graduation and to the transfer portal (29). No Orange players were selected in the 2024 NFL draft, but three former Orange were selected in the first round of the 2024 CFL draft.
Syracuse's 2024 class consisted of 25 signees. The class was ranked eighth in the ACC and 37th best overall by the 247Sports Composite.
2024 Overall class rankings
Syracuse had 29 departures with an average 247Sports rating of 85, and welcomed 23 transfer players with an average rating of 87.17. This net rating gain of +2.17 tied for fifth best in the ACC.
Syracuse picked up its first win over a top-10 team since 2017 (#2 Clemson). The victory snapped a six game losing streak against Miami active since 1998. The 21 point comeback was the largest in program history. This was also the first time Miami played in the JMA Wireless Dome as an ACC member. This loss knocked Miami out of the ACC Championship Game contention.