Remember back in April this year, when head coach Fran Brown vented his frustration over NIL money after his wide receiver Trebor Pena entered the transfer portal? Now, after facing a disappointing 3-9 season, it’s their AD who has voiced his concerns, only this time it signals Syracuse’s make-or-break era.

“We’ve had increased donor support, and we’ve had more corporate third-party NIL support,” Syracuse AD John Wildhack said on ‘Cuse Sports Talk Tuesday. “The thing that’s going to be absolutely critical for Syracuse basketball and Syracuse football, the way the house settlement is constructed with the formation of the CSC, is corporate support and companies working with our athletes directly and our athletes representing those companies. If we get the corporate support we need, we’ll be fine. If we don’t, we’re going to struggle.”

NIL revenue sharing just intensified the pressure on them. With $20.5 million in sharing set to go to players, Syracuse gave the most to football with 75%, 15% to men’s basketball, 5% to women’s basketball, and the remaining 5% will be distributed to other athletes. But to cover it all, the cap is really less.

That’s exactly why athletic director John Wildhack is emphasizing more commitments from donors and athletes. He even urged them to give constant support through the $50 million Champion CUDC fundraising campaign, which aims to maximize revenue-sharing opportunities for players. It got a good response too, as 17,293 donors raised $43.8 million to support Syracuse student-athletes this season. But that’s not a long-term solution.

Syracuse currently relies on a single NIL collective to support its football program, which is very concerning. Their third-party collective, Orange United, which supported athletes across all sports, shut down after its parental company, SANIL, seized control. Now, without a broader NIL collective, every program was facing massive trouble.

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Even though Syracuse supported its football players through the SU Football NIL program and the Athletes Who Care fund, other programs had no other backing. The Orange already faced a significant setback this season when wide receiver Trebor Pena entered the transfer portal after Syracuse failed to meet his demand of a bigger NIL deal.

Head coach Fran Brown made his stance clear on how he is not paying $2 million to a wide receiver. But the lack of financial aid was clearly the reason. That’s clearly visible, as almost 17 players from the Syracuse 2025 football roster have entered the transfer portal, that’s opening on January 2 and will go till January 16. However, after a disappointing nine-loss season, backing players with high NIL valuations is tough for them.

Now, with revenue sharing making things tough for Syracuse, they are planning to target major running back targets to make a better comeback next season.

Syracuse eyeing major running back targets

Syracuse football faces a critical need at the running back position for next season. For now, they have freshman Malachi Coleman, Tylik Hill, and redshirt sophomore Tyler Chandler. Redshirt senior Will Nixon has applied for a waiver to play again, and 2026 recruit and three-star Shavane Anderson Jr. will also come to the team.

But the team still lacks a proven starter to complement the team’s passing game, led by redshirt junior Steve Angeli. That’s exactly why Syracuse needs a proven player. Their first target can be NC State’s Hollywood Smothers, who recorded 939 yards and six touchdowns on 160 carries this season. He excels after contact, with 614 of his yards coming after hits. Then there are other players in the portal, like Cam Edwards, who’s from UConn. This season, Edwards gained 1,132 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Then there’s West Virginia junior Jahiem White, who rushed for 842 yards in 2023 and 845 last season. Then there’s sophomore Adam Mohammed from Washington, who recorded 523 yards with five touchdowns as a backup in 2025, averaging 4.9 yards per carry.

With so much talent on the line, let’s wait and see which player Syracuse finally takes to make an impact next season.