Syracuse (WSYR-TV) -- Wednesday was National Letter of Intent Signing Day – a big day for Scott Shafer and the SU football team.
The big story leading up to signing day had to do with who wasn’t coming to Syracuse. Highly-touted quarterback Zack Allen backed out of his verbal commitment to play for the Orange a couple of weeks ago, instead he signed with TCU.
Another big recruit who had given SU a verbal commitment - defensive end Malik Brown from Florida - chose Tennessee over the Orange.
Both Allen and Brown had cited the coaching change as the reason for their decision. So Scott Shafer lost his top offensive and defensive recruits in this year’s class, but he still ended up landing a couple of key targets, like Chauncey Scissum, from Rush-Henrietta near Rochester.
Scissum will likely play defensive back at SU. He picked the Orange over the likes of Rutgers and North Carolina.
And speaking of North Carolina, Shafer also signed Corey Cooper – a three-star wide receiver from the Raleigh-Durham area. He turned down offers from Tennessee, Louisville and South Carolina to come to SU.
Shafer says all in all, taking into account all of the changes on the coaching staff, he’s pleased with this year’s class.
