National Signing Day is like that great spin-off episode sandwiched between the canon in the soap opera that is CFB. This season’s episode was less dramatic than usual. The hectic bustling was replaced by a lot of tranquility around the landscape. See, most of the prominent programs and recruits got their business done in the earlier December window. However, there were still enough story beats to keep the pot intriguing and important. One ACC team has just added to their ranks a player who’s from their part of the country.

The Chinese calendar says 2024 was the year of the dragon. Over in America, it was the year of the running back. Across the top 2 rungs of the footballing ladder, the dying position has been resuscitated back into vogue. The evolution of the game towards a more passing style was rendering even the RBs unable to express their talent. However, Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley in the pros and Ashton Jeanty are massive flag-bearers for a return to form. So when a tailback with 2,372 yards became available, the Syracuse Orange had to squeeze whatever juice they had and bring him on board. Not 2,372 yards in his high school career, mind you. Last season alone—the most in school history for 17 years. Cuse have just got themselves a real one.

Syracuse fended off competition to sign 3-star RB Tylik Hill out of Pope John in New Jersey. The greater New York area isn’t quite the hotbed of football talent that Florida or Texas are. However, Syracuse has tended to keep talent in their proximity home. Tylik Hill is another instance of them locking down their in-state prospects. This is Cuse’s 35th signing for the class of ‘25. Which is the largest in college football. The NIL value of his roster now sits at a cool $1.2 million, as per On3. Head coach Fran Brown is not playing around after a positive 10-3 season. Speaking of Brown, the fellow NJ native was a major factor in luring Hill to central NY.

Back in December, when Tylik Hill committed to the Syracuse Orange, he said, “I’m really grateful that Coach Fran (Brown) sees something in me. I love everything about what he’s doing with the program right now.” Hill also spoke about what Cuse fans can expect from him in the backfield. “I’m very versatile, so I can catch the ball in space, return, and run the ball.” A running back who can receive it through the air is almost requisite in this era of football. The dual-threat nature of Tylik Hill should expand the playbook for offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon. Nixon is also the running backs coach. So that’s a concoction that could elevate Hill and, by extension, the Syracuse offense to another level. There’s a bit of an interesting wrinkle to Hill’s arsenal of tools as well.

Alongside a gaudy 2,372 yards as a high school senior, Tylik Hill also put up 27 touchdowns. Sensationally, he even threw for 118 passing yards and a TD through the air! If these pseudo-QB duties weren’t enough, Hill even put up 14 solo tackles and an interception on defense. This is someone so athletically gifted that it makes you wonder—what kind of numbers could he have put up if he was solely playing running back? That’s a hypothetical Fran Brown and Jeff Nixon will seek answers to next season. They’d be glad to know that not only are they getting to coach a great player, but also a great human. Just know that Cuse ought to keep the #3 jersey available.

Tylik Hill uses adversity to fuel him as he climbs a rung of the ladder to join Fran Brown’s Orange

You can get lost in the sauce when it comes to the numbers pertaining to Tylik Hill. If there’s a counted stat, he’s probably made some infliction on it. However, the number that Hill cherishes most is not his yardage. It’s his jersey number, 3. Why? It’s the number his uncle Prize Johnson wore. Another freak athlete, Johnson played both offense and defense for the Asbury Park Bishops. He’s the reason Tylik Hill began his football journey at the age of 5. But this isn’t the Cinderella story you’d hope.

On January 5, 2015, Prize Johnson was fatally stabbed. He was only 19. “That’s really the reason I wear number 3 now,” said Hill. “I remember him bringing me to his homecoming game, and I wore my number 3 jersey.” For a high school kid to have this perspective and maturity, it’s not far-fetched to say Tylik Hill has the minerals to ascend to the top.

Fran Brown, Jeff Nixon, and everybody in the Syracuse Orange program have themselves one. An athlete with motoring legs on him and a young adult with a solid head on his shoulders. It’ll be interesting to see how he develops. Being close to home is great, but a teenager in New York heading into his 20s can tend to get distracted by the nicer things in life. Especially with that sweet NIL money. It’s a test of football prowess as well as restraint up with the Syracuse Orange, but a test Hill seems prepared for.