Syracuse’s most impressive offseason leader, quarterback Zach Allen, has changed his verbal commitment to TCU.¬†The Texan originally commit to the Orange back in May, and had remained one of SU’s most vocal supporters since then. But his interest waned in the days following Doug Marrone’s departure, and now he’s the recruit officially de-commit because of the¬†coaching change.¬†He announced the news on Twitter Saturday.
“I committed to TCU. I had been loyal the whole time and have done everything I could for Cuse. They changed the deal with coaches leaving.”
The question now focuses on whether other dominoes fall. LB Devan Carter and RB Augustus Edwards both downgraded their commitments to soft verbals this past week after Nate Hackett also bolted to Buffalo. One of the main reasons Allen committed to the Orange was because of the offense. The system was very familiar to what he had run at Temple HS. According to John Garcia Jr. from Scout.com, Hackett’s departure was essentially the last straw for Allen. SU took too long to hire its new offensive coordinator and with just weeks to go before National Signing Day Allen couldn’t afford to wait any longer.
Because Allen was an early enrollee, he had to make quick decisions. The Fizz talked with him Wednesday and said he was still committed to SU, and had his plane ticket ready to visit campus Saturday. Garcia believes Allen was under the impression Syracuse had nailed down its OC search to just two candidates. But SU has yet to hire anyone and Scott Shafer said he’s taking his time deciding.
Allen received an offer from the Horned Frogs within the last few weeks, and on Friday visited the campus. He was sold after that Syracuse was no longer the place for him. For him it became a timing problem. Allen felt he couldn‚Äôt afford to wait on SU in its OC search, and now Syracuse loses out on a QB that¬†was viewed at the program’s next great signal caller. For those hoping Allen can be swayed back, Shafer stressed he would focus on the current staff (and the hiring of his new coordinators), the current players, and the recruits. Will Shafer try to win back Allen, or focus his energy keeping the rest of the class intact?
The Fizz spoke with Austin Wilson,¬†who now becomes the lone QB in SU’s Class of 2013. He confirmed to The Fizz¬†the coaching situation was the main reason why Allen flipped. Wilson could also be facing the same conundrum that Zach faced. Wilson tells The Fizz he‚Äôs still committed to the Orange, but has a lot to go over before NSD on February 5th. He said there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding some of the other 2013 commits. Augustus Edwards was frustrated when he heard the news about Allen. He echoed that to The Fizz, the whole process has him confused. He will be visiting Rutgers the weekend of January 25th, and will fly to Miami and Florida State over the next month. Not filling the OC role hurts in the race for Edwards and Allen, but there is still time to salvage most of the class.
The departure of Allen means this is¬†Charley Loeb‚Äôs team in 2013. The thought of Wilson and Allen competing to back up the fifth year senior up was reassuring. Now the options dwindle to Terrell Hunt, John Kinder and Wilson if he remains. Would they ever trust Ashton Broyld to run the offense? Either way it’s an unknown under center, but Orange fans may get excited about Loeb. The Fizz talked with Hackett after¬†the Pinstripe Bowl¬†and he wasn‚Äôt shy to speak about Loeb‚Äôs progression.
“[The offense] won’t skip a beat. I think Charley’s done a great job preparing himself, he’s gotten a lot of reps. Because of the up-tempo style, we get more reps in practice, so Charley’s gotten a ton of reps, more than he’s ever had.”
We’ll see how much changes now with Hackett gone. The loss of Allen doesn’t just hurt on the field, but now is a huge piece of instability with the recruiting class. There are many commitments that still are strong despite the Marrone departure, but Allen was looked at as the “leader” of the crew. He kept in touch with almost all the recruits, and was one of the most positive commits. His departures now leaves other commits second-guessing. The biggest example left is Edwards.
SU needs to find a new offensive coordinator, and fast. Or else the dominoes may continue to fall on the Hill.
Posted: Kevin Fitzgerald
57 responses to “Gut Punch: Zach Allen Flips to TCU, Will More Syracuse Recruits De-Commit?”
SU took too long to hire its new OC.
Really… from your perspective we should have acted rashly and brought on someone..a “David Walker” in 48 hours, a more than likely wrong candidate to appease a 3 star recruit?
That’s beyond short-sighted thinking.
The fizz isn’t saying they took to long, Zach said they took too long, if you don’t like the opinions don’t read the article
DA you sound like billybob and Ronette. A dougie disciple. This cowboy kid just plain didn’t want to be here after the dougie dump-period. Also the hiring of a OC late has no matter in this cowboy’s decision!! You can’t blame the kid. But what irratates me is how the dump feels like SU is not worthy. Yes TCU is up and coming. So is SU. But not as much as TCU. Again another issue with your man dougie=SUs image!! Like Coach Shafer’s presser he said that if a player does not want to be here then that player is not welcomed. I just hope the good old coach told him that. Bye cowboy!!!
At the press conference I believe Coach Shafer said (on the topic of hiring an OC), “Act quickly but do not rush. Even if it costs you a recruit”… Well that sentiment is now being tested… Very tough loss…. I have to believe though, that Loeb, Hunt, and Kinder would have been more prepared to start next year….. The wildcard in this equation remains Broyld… I’m very curious if he gets a shot.
How about the qb from Winter Park, FL? He de-committed from south Florida, he’s gotta be looking for a team to play for..
Dan…. Awesome point. Hopefully someone is calling him. I guess we’ve all learned a lesson through this… I remember when he de-committed, the argument was if Syracuse should recruit him or remain loyal to Allen and Wilson and pass on him. I think the consensus was to pass…. It just shows you that nothing is guaranteed when you are recruiting 18 year old kids. If ANYONE is interested in your program (given they can potentially help your program), you should recruit them.
Zach Allen graduated from high school this past week and will be in class at TCU on Monday,which indicates to me that the kid is smart and is probably 16-17 years old. So how can anyone(TERRIE)call him a back stabbing traitor that has never met the kid. I for one wish him all the luck in the world and will follow his career to see when he does start at TCU.
I’ve also said that we have 2 dual threat QB’s in house right now. Going to Florida to get Asiantii Woulard to commit would be hugh for the program.
I’ve also said all along that Charlie Loeb being a red-shirt 5th year player is going to be the starting quarterback with John Kinder as #2 in 2013.
Heaven forbid if Charlie Loeb should get hurt and ends his career at Syracuse. If that happens then look for Terrel Hunt to be elevated to the #2 spot. Both Kinder & Hunt are dual threat quarterbacks.
All of this Drama over some high school kids. First point:
Our head coach and offensive coordinator leave one month before signing day. When that happens, history says you will lose some recruits. That is part of the process. Coach Shafer needs to get this thing right and select the best OC for SU…even if it means taking more time.
Second point: This class could fall apart, other teams pray on recruits caught up in last minute coaching changes…we did the same thing to Rutgers recruits last year!!!! It will not kill the program if we lose some of those kids that have committed already. The new staff has to work harder next year…..but that is what they get paid to do…..
As a fan, I want to see a good product on the field….Look at the mess at Pitt last year. They are a prime example of what i am talking about. They lose two head coaches in less than a year…their class falls apart, we stole one of those players…I did not hear any Cuse fans crying about that!!!! Now look what this new staff has done….look at their recruiting ranking so far for 2013…I think they are in the top 25 in the country. That could be us..with the right staff in place….Let’s all be patient and look at the big picture….and stop criticizing 18 year old kids who make decisions in their best interest..and coaches as well!
Shafer was a stupid pick! You are going to get so tired of hearing me say that!
By November you will all be agreeing….
None of these kids are great shakes..but Syracuse..low budget…Central NY winters…little current talent and a no body as a HC. The kids aren’t stupid!
The question about IF any more recruits will flip out from Syracuse? Its not a question of if. Its a question as to how many and how soon Edwards and Devvn have already scheduled visits so I think we can count those two as gone as well as maybe Hodge,despite the Shafer appointment.Bullough mighht be enough to keep some interest on the defensive side of the ball. Hackett leaving was and remains as big a hit to the program as its head coach.
I do not think losing Zach is anything close to losing Ray Rice….
Remember the last ovr hyped QB from Texas that said he wanted to be the next McNabb and wore #5, he totally flopped and so…
Zach thought he was going to do the same.
Also hearing that we may lose Adkins to VA tech as a coach
all this news on leaving recruits and coaches i think I’m just going to stop worrying and see how we do on saturdays no point in overhyping this yes it would be nice to get woulard cus we need a QB to step up regardless if he is already on the team or not but this looks like a huge set back off season marrone taking hackett brought this program back maybe 2 years regardless of allen panning out we are thin at QB as well as he is taking commits away from us
We’re not going to win any new offensive recruits until we have a new OC. That simple. It would be great to get Asianti, but Zach was always just another great option at a deep position for SU.
Suppose we lose Edwards and Laray, that will hurt from the perspective of recruiting DC, but the running back position is very deep as well.
How about taking those extra scholies and getting some safeties, corners, and WRs?
Oh, and OLs
agree Derek Rb isn’t a position of need but QB really is
The idea that we might have a chance in hell to land Asiantii Woulard is absolutely ridiculous. What might even lead one to believe in such a notion? The bright side is that this class was already going to be extremely small in terms of numbers and those that are de-committing, aside from Carter, are from positions which already have talent and depth.
I agree with Shafer’s position on the hiring of a new coordinator, that he will risk the loss of some recruits in order to get the best collection of coaches for his staff. To me it sounds like a pretty sound approach to the whole thing.
Recruiting will be as good if not better under the new coach. His passion was certainly palpable at his presser and you can imagine it translates well into recruits living rooms around the country.
Whatever recruits decide to stay we need to consider them a bonus and make sure we support the players that have pulled this University back to relevancy over the past 3-4 years.
@Cuse Don’t Lose – I’m not entirely sure it is a position of need. This season we have Loeb. If not him, we have Hunt and Kinder, both QBs that everyone was really high on when they were recruited. Kinder supposedly runs a great offense in practice. That’s not even mentioning if they decide to get Broyld back into the mix.
Give Loeb the job (assuming he doesn’t blow it), and then recruit another great QB for 2014 when things are more stable again.
This one disappoints me. I loved Allen’s leadership and intangibles this fall. I think he’s gonna be a good one – when you get rave reviews at Elite 11 it doesnt matter how many stars you are. I hope its the only decommit – but this is a major developing story. Hope they hire the right guy. We’ll see.
@DA – Word from the TCU faithful is that Allen will be a career backup there compared to the talent they already have. May have been a bad decision on his part.
There have been many “highly touted” recruits that have not come here and the program is still here. The sky is not falling.
Keep in mind that Doug’s first class (ranked 107 & 117th) was only 14 kids, 6 or 7 of which never saw the field. On top of the fact that we lost 29 recruits as well the same year.
Guess What, the program is still here and actually in better shape than it has been in 12-14 years. Yes I am including the last 4 years of PP’s reign.
I would rather that the program get the right guy for the job which will pay dividends on the recruiting trail immediately after the hire.
I also think after watching his clips that Austin Wilson is a better suited QB to the system we ran.
Integrity – The Fizz talked to him on Wednesday and he confirmed that he was still committed to the Orange.
Turns out that Wednesday was the day that he went to visit TCU.
Is that integrity? Just asking.
No offense CDL but when ZA first commited he had very few options outside of N.Texas St and I told everyone if hes as good as ya think he is watch out if a major Tex school offers late (Baylor,TCU)dont be surprised if he bites cause most Texas kids REALLY Like TEXAS so hope he dont become too over the radar but everyone praised his integrity!Thats why I dont like recruiting Texans this far east!just saying,…wish more were like Cuse Dont Luse!!
His decommit was a blow but not program threatening!!
New List of OC
George McDonald Wide Receivers Coach Arkansas
Matt Canada
Current Position:
Offensive coordinator North Carolina State University,
Harry Hiestand
Current Position:
Offensive line coach University of Notre Dame
Brian Rock
Current Position:
Offensive Coordinator Kent State University
Thomas Hammock
Current Position:
Assistant head coach/running backs coach University of Wisconsin
There are reports that RB Gus Edwards will commit to the Knights after visit. Flood is pushimg serious playing time with Jawan Jamison’s NFL departure.
We have some damn good players at my school we lost in the championship this year and one private school in Texas the past 2 years we have put players like west Virginia’s ford Childress places an I can tell u that if we want a Wr we need to look no longer than my school kinkaid we have a 6’6 bohemian who was a basketball star started freshmen and sophomore year he went to a recruiting camp in the summer over a team camp thing and the coach kicked him off he said shit I will try football this year as a junior first year ever playing football and he downright killed it I have no contact with syracuse but if any of u do tell shafer to give him a look he has dunked since 7th grade and is a presence and he is always working to get better he is a year older than me but I’ve had contact with him he is ver hardworking makes B’s and can be seen in his free period putting in extra work he could very well end up at uconn or any of the other schools who have offered him in hoops but if he has a change of heart for football now we need to give him a look
@Mademan – reports from where, who ?
If Edwards goes to Rutgers he is going to be in for a big surprise in a year or two. Rutgers is going to get buried in the BIG 10 or 11 or whatever and they will eventually dump Flood. Then Rutgers returns to their comfortable oblivion.
I have been hard on the cowboy!! But your word means something and his didn’t. Don’t give me that he’s just a child poop!! My 2 year old granddaughter can turn on the TV and laptop and even select a station. So these kids today are not like the ones 20 yrs ago. Their very smart!! The damage will not stop either. The coaching staff probably is pissed at something and is history. But AGAIN this all boils down to dougie. This dougie feet washing fans like billybob, ronette, Rus and fewer dougie fans every day are seeing this man blowing up the SUFB program. dougie started this all a couple of weeks ago(I think he started to think quiting after the poor start in 2012)and now look. Recruits gone, coaches gone and they haven’t stopped leaving yet either. Its all in dougies lap. Yet these morons refuse to admit that dougies doings could do as much damage as GROB did to SUFB! Support Coach Shafer!! But changes are coming from the inside of the SUFB program and us SU fans can do nothing but wonder why?? DOUGIE DOING!!!
The qb that started the season for TCU is back, as reported on ESPN.
Today I think opens contact between players and coaches!! Lets see if dougie screws SU even more??? More changes from inside the SUFB program coming???
[…] more recruits to¬†follow Zach Allen out the […]
Do some of you guys ever leave Syracuse? We have LIMITED talent.. We had a surprisingly good QB. I think you’ll be surprised just how good at the next level. His first three years at SU were wasted.
Our recruiting classes have been 2’s,3’s and an occasional 4. Our returning QB’s aren’t triple threats..their no threat!
This was our year..going to the ACC, reasonable year…it was our time to recruit and make a move up. It didn’t happen. DM couldn’t sell the program to enough recruits so he bailed out. Now their bailing out!
Welcome to the world of Duke and Wake Forest football. We stink and will continue to stink…Shafer is a joke. We couldn’t even attract a high profile HC to turn recruits heads. Hear that great sucking sound from Upstate NY…it’s us!
@TERRIE;
I took this from Troy Nunes web page,because I know you live in your own little cubicle and don’t read what others are saying. BUT THIS ONE IS JUST FOR YOU OK.
Credit where credit is due, Doug Marrone was a good coach. There’s a lot of revisionist history going on right with some Syracuse fans, saying “At the end of the day he’s a 25-25 coach.” First of all, I didn’t hear you complaining when he brought you to your first bowl game since 2004 a year ahead of schedule. And I didn’t hear you complaining when he beat nationally-ranked Louisville, followed it up by beating an SEC team on the road and capped it with a beatdown of West Virginia in another bowl game. Fine, you want to stick to the 25-25 thing. Guess what? The four years prior to his arrival we went 10-37. 25-25 is a friggin’ dream record compared to that (especially considered HCDM Year 1 which was, for all intents and purposes, a throwaway 4-8 season). In actuality, Marrone went 21-17 with two bowl wins in the three seasons that count. And it put Syracuse in a position where it can now run side-by-side with other programs and complete. So, we’ll be fine.
My point;I GUESS I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO THOUGHT MARRONE WAS A GOOD COACH.
You can always find mademan (RU fan)checkin in and busting chops anytime we have a crisis or problem but he knows whats going on in NY/NJ area recruiting espescially the North Jersey parochials like Bosco or Bergen Catholic/St Joes!!Don’t mean its gospel though!!
@Russ – I am sure he heard what he said he heard, but that doesn’t mean it comes to be. This is not the NJ parochials. That said, I am not confident we keep Gus or get Laray even if an OC is hired tomorrow. I liked the idea of the thunder and lightning, like Wheatly used to be a part of with the Giants, but assuming he is gone too, it is looking less and less likely that we get either of these guys. Adkins hurts too, given he was the tie to so much talent. We lose our RB’s coach, our O-line coach, and our HC who was an O-lineman. Things are not looking good for the offense right now. The one we recruited or the one we have. No tested QB, and no continuity/leadership for the running game.
Now hearing Wheatly to the Bills
@Malone,yeah I understand AE aint NJ Parochials just saying Mademan only shows in times of turmoil to bust our chops and my observation is he seems knowledeable on that pary of NJ HS football but outside that his guess is as good as ours!!Nice to see ya Malone!!
@Malone,I really hate to lose AE cause hes the kind of punishing RB u never have enough of,LS Im not as high on!!Are we jinxed or what?
Ronette I read every bit on SUFB I can and from any place. But you have got to get over it. Dougie is losing popularity daily now. Signing day ain’t here yet either! The ship has sailed on your man dougie let the RAT go will ya. He’ll probably still bring on the plague to SUFB!! Since signing day and not all the coaching moves are done yet!! Yeah he has a mediocre .500 record. Below .500 if you count the missed call for Toledo!!! That’s below average to most intelligent folks except -you!!! SUFB was/is going in the right direction until dougie did his dougieville like move. Get behind the new coach now and forget this bum!!! GO COACH SHAFER!!
@Russ – Feeling the same way about AE. As for Laray, I was interested in seeing that kind of speed with our fast paced offense. I was envisioning some of those Rich Rod WVU teams that beat you with speed and more speed. I was thinking of Va Tech and special teams. I like the element of danger in our system that forces other teams to scheme for. Even if you never use it, just having still creates chaos for the opposing defense. Blend that in with our legit power game and it could be scary good.
What do we know John O’Korn kid out of St. Thomas Aquinas (other than a very impressive highlight film)? …does ‘Cuse have a legit shot of landing him? …he was excited enough to tweet about the offer, but that’s not saying too much.
I thought he was already commited?
Derek,yes I see hes a UHouston committ for 7 months I think but maybe he can be flipped if were not jinxed!!We play the ACC card?That nowalmost sounds like a bad joke!!”ACC card”
Hey Russell… yeah, he’s been committed to Houston for awhile, but he’s getting a lot more attention now. I could see a kid like him scoping out the opportunity at Cuse to make an impact right away and flipping, esp. with going into the ACC. Judging from film, he looks like he might even be an upgrade from ZA.
I say if we figure out this OC situation soon and get him up for an official, it could happen. I’m sort of wondering who’s recruiting him with our offensive staff going off in different directions, but whatever. Let’s reel him in!
Guys,
The departure of Ty Wheatley to Buffalo definitly hurts this class. He has been a total beast on the recruiting trail these last couple seasons, and let’s not forget about what Rome Smith and Prince Tyson Gulley just did this past season.
Now I’m starting to hear more and more negativity towards Marrone for dismantling the SU staff. Coaching turnover happens, and I can’t sit here and say “I despise Marrone” now. It’s up to Shafer and Gross and the current staff to quickly find and OC and Rb’s coach etc. This clearly isn’t an act of poaching from Marrone. He has a great relationship with Gross, and this recent situation had to have been mutual.
ALSO,
SU did offer 3-star Florida QB, John O’Korn today, who I hear is the best QB in Florida arguably. We see now the reactions to Allen’s departure. O’Korn is committed to Houston so I do not know how likely things will change with him, but it’s worth keeping an eye on.
Just the fact he felt the need to tweet it out too the world says to me he considers “Cuse” noteworthy and maybe a potential upgrade (ACC)for him!!Good sign,sometimes u can make chicken soup out of chicken feathers…lets see if we can get him to visit SOON!!
[…] Gut Punch: Zach Allen Flips to TCU, Will More Syracuse Recruits De-Commit? OrangeFizz Syracuse‚Äôs most impressive offseason leader, quarterback Zach Allen, has changed his verbal commitment to TCU. The Texan originally commit to the Orange back in May, and had remained one of SU‚Äôs most vocal supporters since then…[read more] […]
Hey dude I know what I’m talking about, Gus is a heavy RU lean right now. He is visiting Miami and FSU soon, not to mention that Al Golden and O’Brien are going in on Laray also.
Also I might add is, You guys can’t touch us on FB recruiting, but we cannot even stiff an Elite Basketball recruit before you guys come and take them…..(Tyler Roberson)