Battle for New Jersey: Syracuse, Rutgers football pile up commitments (with Brian Fonseca of NJ.com)

On the latest episode of Syracuse Sports, Brent Axe chats with Brian Fonseca of NJ.com about how Syracuse and Rutgers football are leading the country in landing commitments for the Class of 2025.
Brent and Brian discuss how New Jersey is a key battleground for recruiting for both programs, how Fran Brown's close ties to the state will shake up recruiting there, why Rutgers has landed more 4-star commitments than
Syracuse and how both programs have important seasons coming up. They also discuss how feasible it would be for Syracuse and Rutgers to play more of a consistent non-conference matchup in the future.
Syracuse Sports Insiders helped shape the conversation of this podcast with their great questions and opinions.
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[@brentaxemedia]

The sheer number of comments in this thread and the passion in it alone tells me Syracuse and Rutgers should be playing regularly! Great stuff, guys. Appreciate you checking out the pod and for your opinions here.

[@tomk537]

@@brentaxemedia I can’t believe the comment war I got myself into with Rutgers fans … I agree

[@tannercarter7861]

Brent I appreciate the shoutout. And yes it’s a territorial dog fight they should absolutely play.

[@ron6083]

No Brent it shows you are now trying to be a homer after you repeatedly disrespected the great Jim Boheim, the best thing Sewercuse had going for them. Also you don't even really believe that there is a rivalry. This recruiting cycle rutgers has 10 NJ players, 7 in the top 10, meanwhile Sewercuse has only 2.

[@georgeforbes4875]

Fran Brown knows New Jersey, but Rutgers being in the Big Ten is a huge advantage (facilities, conference stability, and huge guaranteed payouts make a difference). Rutgers' recruiting wins make you understand why Florida State wants to leave.

[@ron6083]

@georgeforbes4875 Not to mention he has no clue about coaching the whole team and not just a position.

[@dantesinfernopurgatory7826]

Schiano improved his recruiting via his mentor, Urban Meyer.

[@steveneverett584]

I live a few minutes from Albany. I see Rutgers on tv every week but rarely Syracuse. Why is that?

[@deanzaZZR]

@@ron6083 Schiano says that he now spends so much of his time running the program and not necessarily coaching. Think NIL, donors relations, recruiting, transfers, academics. Coaching high end college football has changed tremendously since his first stint at RU.

[@stephenbahrmarbles]

It’s the “Schiano Effect”, just like a decade ago. Good job Brian! 🔴

[@syracuse1433]

We may only have a couple of recruits from Jersey in the 2025 class but it’s loaded with guys from NY, with a couple of guys from Philly and CT. Could have maybe mentioned that to this guy as a rebuttal. We absolutely cleaned house in New York State in 2025.

[@ron6083]

@syracuse1433 yeah but Rutgers got NY's no. 1 recruit 2 years straight.

[@dantesinfernopurgatory7826]

Rutgers 2025 class breakdown: New Jersey (10) Florida (5) Georgia (4) Maryland (2) New York (2) North Carolina (2) Delaware (1) DC (1) Michigan (1) South Carolina (1) Since the B1G is now a coast-to-coast conference, Rutgers is recruiting accordingly, not just focusing on NJ or NY.

[@ron6083]

@dantesinfernopurgatory7826 Amen my friend. And not only that Rutgers has more players in recent NFL history, namely Isaiah Pacheco helping the Chief's to 2 superbowls.

[@alexsam7000]

@@ron6083Rutgers doesn’t have more impact players in the nfl than Syracuse lol Zaire Franklin, Matthew Bergeron, Andre Cisco, Ifeatu Melifonwu, heck Chandler Jones alone is better than any player that’s come out of Rutgers the last decade stop the 🧢

[@patrickswazzy390]

@@ron6083Butgers didn’t get New Yorks #1 recruit this year tho guess who did 🍊

[@deanzaZZR]

Well, Syracuse chose to not reschedule the Rutgers home game that was cancelled in 2020.

[@jeremygonzalez2230]

Keep talking Rutgers sports and I'll be a regular watcher.

[@syracuse1433]

@@jeremygonzalez2230 we are lucky to have Brent axe as arguably Syracuses most notable sports media personality. He’s great.

[@tomk537]

Syracuse and Rutgers have to settle this on the field

[@MrMisterdmsmith]

Nah we good...😂😂

[@tomk537]

@@MrMisterdmsmith yeah - you guys scared enough already

[@dantesinfernopurgatory7826]

@@tomk537 Yep. So scared that Rutgers beat Syracuse 17-7 in the Dome in their previous matchup.

[@tomk537]

@@dantesinfernopurgatory7826 I guess we will see - in meantime you can enjoy the views of the NYC skyline from the turnpike

[@dantesinfernopurgatory7826]

@@tomk537 Syracuse (city) is going through quite a makeover in the downtown area (including re-routing I-81 via I-481). I drove through the area earlier this year. Looking forward to the finished product in a few years.

[@ignacioa3698]

Lowly and sad SORRY -cuse!! Lol.. you have become an AFTERTHOUGHT!!!! Lol. Love it!!!

[@Delmarvafishing]

Talk about the pipe line Brian lmao 😅

[@johnvaccaro7022]

Rutgers' didn't even offer Tommy DeVito...and Fran Brown is a notorious coach with a Wondering Eye ...so...enjoy him while you can keep him and I suggest he buys a good parka snow shovel!

[@jonathanb4764]

Man, I love how easy it is to get under the skin of Cuse fans. Rent free baby. Rent free.

[@alexsam7000]

This is the most Rutgers fans I’ve seen in the last decade have fun being at the bottom of the b1G again 😂😂😂😂 Rutgers have always been and will always be BOTTOM FEEDERS sorry not sorry

[@patrickswazzy390]

Exactly where did all these Rutgers fans come from? They’re trash 😂😂😂

[@tomk537]

@@alexsam7000 what exactly do you mean by “Rutgers fans”? Never heard that term before …

[@alexsam7000]

@@tomk537 true

[@alexsam7000]

@@patrickswazzy390butgers is crazy lol

[@ron6083]

@alexsam7000 this is the most sewacuse fans I've heard from. Who's the last notable name outa sewacuse in football? Dwight freely. And that was how long ago? Yall suck and you couldn't beat us on our worse day.

[@pistolpete8819]

Not really....look at the average score of recruits. Not even close.

[@syracuse1433]

@@pistolpete8819 how about 2024?

[@syracuse1433]

@@pistolpete8819 you’re literally basing shit off of 2025 l. Wait till the rankings get updated next fall by the way.

[@ron6083]

there is no battle. Syracuse gets the nplayers Rutgers doesn't want. Period! And by the way Rutgers beat Syracuse the last 2 times they played. LOL! Little brother Syracuse thinks they belong in the same breath as Rutgers. Good luck in the AAC two years from now.

[@syracuse1433]

Rutgers lucked out by getting an invite to the big 10. Unfortunately they’ll never be able to compete with 70% of the schools in the big 10. Syracuse is still a more reputable name than Rutgers and has a much higher ceiling than Rutgers. It’s a better school, the number one communications school in the world, it’s Syracuse’s only major sports team whereas Rutgers has to compete with all the professional sports teams in NY and Philly. Rutgers also only attracts fans that went to Rutgers. Syracuse attracts fans from all over New York State whether they went to Syracuse or not. Hope you enjoy averaging 2 wins in the big 10 for the next 10 years!

[@ron6083]

@syracuse1433 you mean the way Syracuse doesn't compete in the ACC? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Listen, Rutgers got the invite for 2 important reasons: Education. They kick ass in education. But more importantly, for this conversation, Rutgers is considered the NY market , NOT Syracuse. Also, because Rutgers gets so many eyeballs, that's part of the reason among a dozen more, why the B1G got a record t.v. deal. By the way, when you are a team in NY, but the best conference in the country opts to select a team from NJ to represent the "NY Market", then it's done purposely, no luck needed. You should be worried about why no other power 5 team in the country except Syracuse wanted a former 5 star qb. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@syracuse1433]

@@ron6083 Rutgers games don’t get more eyeballs than Cuse games. There’s a larger Syracuse fan base in nyc than Rutgers they did a study on it a few years back. I live and work in nyc and no one likes Rutgers.

[@theascendingagreement789]

Syracuse is finally coming out of the worst era in program history and still leads the all-time series with Rutgers 29-13-1.

[@MrMisterdmsmith]

​@@syracuse1433 hate on hater... Mopping the floor with you 🤡

[@Notrog21]

There’s zero benefit to playing Butgers. Fran will be taking all their talent like it was the 90’s in two years.

[@hartsickdisciple]

I'd rather go back to the way it was in the 90s, when Syracuse was good and Rutgers sucked.

[@dantesinfernopurgatory7826]

The pre-2019 days are never coming back. Might as well get used to it.

[@tannercarter7861]

They’re going to surprise both of you this year. We may be there now.. too many nfl prospects on both sides of the ball. Very similar to the 90’s.

[@hartsickdisciple]

@@tannercarter7861 They're not going to surprise me. I expect this Syracuse team to go 8-4 or better. Anything less would be a waste of the talent they have. The schedule is soft.

[@Delmarvafishing]

The ACC is terrible, we shoukd go back to playing a tune up game against Syracuse every year. Bring back the Big East rivalries!

[@tannercarter7861]

"RUTGERS". It sounds like a plumbing service. What a big red blemish of a school.

[@ron6083]

@@tannercarter7861 It is. We do our best work in the SEWA(cuse)!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@tannercarter7861]

@@ron6083 Rutgers is the dog sh** stuck to the shoe of the big 10.

[@syracuse1433]

@@ron6083 Rutgers is easily the worst name in all of college football objectively speaking

[@ron6083]

@syracuse1433 not worse than the ass whooping Sewarcuse recieved at the hands of UCF 40-0! Damn! By the way, y'all just got a de-commitment from one of those Jersey recruits! And he might be headed for Boston College!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣. THE ORANGE STILL SUCKS!

[@tannercarter7861]

@@ron6083 oh Ron. I made you a list. Here’s the # of hall of fame players that played at each school respectively Syracuse: 8 Temple: 2 Holmes community college: 1 Rutgers: 0 Oh and cuse will have 9 after Dwight freeneys induction this summer.