Syracuse football: Kyle McCord reflects on last season, gives NCAA waiver update in recent interview

Some final thoughts from QB1 before the NFL Draft

With his professional career right around the corner, former Syracuse Orange quarterback Kyle McCord reflected on last year’s stellar season in a recent interview.

The gunslinger appeared on the Gramlich & Mac Lain football podcast as part of its ACC Prospect Series ahead of April’s NFL Draft. Currently hovering around a third or fourth-round pick, McCord led the nation with 4,779 passing yards in 13 games and thrusted Orange football back into the national spotlight.

McCord credits SU head coach Fran Brown and a standout receiving corp for his collegiate success.

“I knew based on our talent that we were going to throw the ball a lot with guys like Oronde and the receiving core that came back. I didn’t know we were going to throw it as much as we did,” McCord said.

It took the quarterback a few weeks to get settled in with the uptick in passing attempts, but after that, McCord began to thrive in Brown’s pass-happy offense. He finished last season averaging over 45 passing attempts per game with two 60+ outings against UNLV and Pittsburgh.

“Knowing that you’re going to throw the ball 40 or 50 times a game is a quarterback’s dream. It was a lot of fun playing in the offense,” McCord said.

McCord was also asked about the waiver he submitted to the NCAA for one more year of eligibility. Interestingly enough, he never heard back. To be fair, after encouragement from Brown to pursue his professional career, the quarterback followed suit and took the decision out of the committee’s hands. He didn’t feel the need to follow up after declaring for the draft.

“It was an interesting few weeks not knowing if I was going to have a decision to make. Who knows,” McCord said.