Syracuse football ACC road trip recap

One of the best things the ACC Network does is a road trip to pre-season camp for all the conference schools. Last week the crew of Jordan Cornette, Eddie Royal and Wes Durham were in Syracuse to shine the spotlight on the Syracuse Orange. If you missed it, you can check out the replay online or keep reading.

First up on the sideline set was Dino Babers who gave a lot of generic coach speak about camp setting the tone for the season but the best soundbite was Dino hitting Jordan Cornette with a dig about Melo going for 30 on him. As Cornette cringed, somewhere Danny Miller gave a sigh of relief that he’s not calling football games these days.

Some clips on the importance of 44 at Syracuse featuring alums Beth Mowins and Sean McDonough. It leads into discussion on Sean Tucker....... who wasn’t given the number.

Tucker joined the set and Eddie Royal put him on the spot for offensive line gifts should he win the Heisman. If he can break the Syracuse record again this year, we think Sean can give his teammates 500 Level gift cards and a night out at Apex Entertainment for some axe-throwing.

We also need a Syracuse area restaurant to step up and get some Sean Tucker approved crab cakes (hello NIL deal) and tell Drake his next album needs to get a #PL34sed seal of approval. It’s the least Drizzy can do #CanadasCollegeTeam.

Garrett Shrader is next on set and he talks about the receivers and about gaining trust of team. You can tell from his demeanor that the guy Babers called “different” is someone who fits well in the locker room. We don’t get any flight footage or Top Gun references but Shrader drops a y’all on his way out the door and almost caused Wes Durham to swoon.

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Things moved inside with Royal joined by Duce and Garrett. The duo talked with the former receiver about recognizing plays and trusting their preparation. One member of the production team might have needed a wardrobe change after Garrett closed on the pass to the flat.

Back outside, Mikel Jones talks unfinished business (hmm that theme sounds familiar) and when asked who had the best nickname on the team, he says Chestnut’s “Sub Zero” is the choice. (Don’t worry we’ll be working on Mortal Kombat nicknames for everyone and can we get some “Finish Him” graphics for the video board this season), Jones added that he’s looking forward to facing Malik Cunningham in the opener for some “3 on 3” battles.

The next feature focused on Varsity and this one didn’t include someone who buys “Jerry McNamara” gear at Shirt World. Instead we heard from Gary Gait and about Coach Mac starting the banner flip tradition after wins.

The hour special wrapped up with Durham and Mike Paulus talking about the six phases for the Lally Complex project. First up is an expansion of academic support space and a single entry point for the facility. Paulus mentions that phase one delivers a “wow factor” for the project and that the football upgrades will be next and will be a “game-changer”. Then this graphic was shown and on the right is where the new football operations center would be located.

Again it would seem like that would be the first priority but at this point let’s just hope phase two is ready to go in the early months of 2023 because if there’s a “game-changer” in the works, Syracuse football needs it sooner than later.