4 observations from Syracuse Football's 3/23 practice

Syracuse held its second spring practice on Saturday with a large group of recruits and their families in attendance.

Here are some notes and observations from the day:

While the media were allowed to watch, Ohio State transfer Kyle McCord displayed a good connection and accuracy with the wide receivers including Georgia transfer Jackson Meeks.

None of the quarterback drills involved throws more than twenty yards downfield, but McCord, as well as Braden Davis and Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, seemed to be accurate on the curl routes, in-breaking routes and a couple back shoulder throws.

“[McCord is] the best I’ve been around," defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson said. "With the throws he makes, he will challenge us everyday and that is going to make us better for the games. So I’m glad that we are going up against him now instead of Saturdays.”

Kyle McCord threw for 24 touchdowns and over 3,000 yards last year with the Buckeyes. He hasn’t seemed to skip a beat in his transition with the Orange.

Head coach Fran Brown was heavily involved with the defensive back drills. Brown served as defensive backs coach at Georgia and secondary coach at Rutgers before coming to Syracuse.

“[Coach Brown] is helping us with the DBs which we haven’t seen coaches do before. To have the head coach be in our position room as well is very helpful,” senior safety Justin Barron said. “Being able to see what he wants and his vision for the defense is very important. Being able to implement that from the meeting room to putting it on the field is helpful for us.”

Redshirt Junior Duce Chestnut was in safety positional drills in practice.

Chestnut played for the Orange for two years before transferring to LSU, but appeared in just two games for the Tigers, redshirted, and is back in Syracuse.

He was listed as a cornerback during his time at LSU.

“Why not get him better? The spring is a time to see what these guys can do. There’s no lock in that he will play at safety," Robinson said. "But now we can adjust to who’s on the field and who’s not on the field. We don’t have to make a lot of subs if guys can do multiple things. We’re just trying to create value for him and everyone else on this team.”

Chestnut said the transition to safety has been natural.

“I played safety most of my years in high school," Chestnut said. "My coach in high school always made sure that we could play every position… It’s never been much of an adjustment. You've seen the same thing with Alijah [Clark] and Braheem Long Jr. they can play safety or corner.”

This Syracuse team is littered with SEC DNA.

With Brown and Robinson coming from SEC schools as well as at least six other transfers from SEC schools, the conference is well represented in Syracuse. But there is a consensus around the building that the Orange are not too far off from elite SEC-level football.

Chestnut, who spent last year practicing against future NFL players Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr, said there aren’t too many differences between the two programs.

“I don’t see too much of a difference," Chestnut said. "LSU is a SEC program and you can see how Coach Fran is changing the program here. We’re going to be one of those big programs and we’re going to put the work in and let y’all know that.”

Robinson came over via Texas A&M. He believes the level of competition in the ACC is similar to the SEC.

“If you look back at the national championship and the playoffs the ACC is well represented," Robinson said. "I had the opportunity to play against some guys in the ACC while I was in the SEC and [the ACC] is just as competitive.”

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