In the eight months Kyle McCord has been at Syracuse, not only has the senior established himself as QB1, but also one of the team’s leaders.

“At the end of the day, as a quarterback of the team, you want that responsibility and you want to be in that role,” he said. “And so I think that's just something that I've been trying to be conscious of.”

The confidence and ability to take those next steps comes courtesy for first-year head coach Fran Brown. He has reinvigorated McCord’s career — and the Orange football program in the process.

“I think obviously leadership, there's the vocal aspect of it,” said McCord, who is on the Walter Camp, Maxwell, and Davey O'Brien award watch lists. “But on top of that, you have to lead by example and be one of the hardest workers on the team.”

“I think that Kyle was one of the better players in the entire country,” said Brown, who spent the past two seasons at Georgia. “So I would like for him to be able to take this team and lead this team as far as we possibly can go.”

The Ohio State transfer spent the offseason maximizing time with his new pass catchers, building chemistry and connections, including tight end Oronde Gadsden II.

“It has taken a lot of just going back-and-forth, talking about certain routes, what we're going to do on that, where he is anticipating me to go and where he's going to throw it,” Gadsden said. “And then doing it on the field.”

“I feel like sometimes in the spring that would show like we just weren't on the same page,” said McCord, who finished second in the Big Ten last with 3,170 yards passing. “But I think those are definitely kinks that we ironed out, throughout the summer. And I feel like now we're hitting at a more consistent rate.”

Another skillset McCord is looking to add to his arsenal this year is running and extending plays. It’s something he wasn’t known for during his time with the Buckeyes.

“I definitely focused on this offseason, making those off-schedule throws, off-schedule plays when the read necessarily isn't there, scrambling out, making something happen,” McCord said.