A year after being run out of Ohio State and forced to enter the transfer portal, Kyle McCord reinvigorated the Syracuse football program. He led the Orange to a 10-win season (only their third in the last 30 years) while establishing himself as the FBS’ leading passer.
McCord is rated highly by teams and analysts alike and comes from a strong NFL bloodline, with his father also having been a college football quarterback. Let’s get to know his parents in detail ahead of the big day for the Syracuse standout.
Meet Kyle McCord’s Parents, Stacey and Derek McCord
McCord was born on Sept. 19, 2002, to parents Stacey and Derek McCord in Mount Laurel, N.J. McCord’s mother works in gifted and STEM programs with elementary students, while his father, Derek, was a quarterback for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights from 1988 to 1992.
Derek started only a handful of games for Rutgers and finished his collegiate career with 441 passing yards, three touchdowns, and two All-Big East selections, with a completion percentage of 47.6. According to his LinkedIn profile, he currently works as a senior key account manager at Philips.
Derek, who also has an older son named Cole, had a lifelong dream to make one of his sons a quarterback, and Kyle fulfilled that dream. Cole played tight end for a Division III program.
“It was a lifelong dream of mine to have one or both of my kids growing up playing quarterback,” Derek said.
Derek taught Kyle everything he knew about signal-calling and said he was tough on him.
“(I) sort of taught him all the fundamentals of the position that I learned coming up,” said Kyle’s dad. “Obviously, football is a lot different than it was 35 years ago.”
“I was hard on him as a kid because I knew if he wanted to play at this level,” Derek added. “I was hard on him, but we never had a tough ride home.”
Derek had hoped his son would become a first-round draft pick like C.J. Stroud and Justin Fields, both of whom had impressive careers at Ohio State. However, Kyle didn’t quite meet those expectations while at Columbus. It was at Syracuse, though, that he truly made a name for himself.
“We did what was best for him, and just looking at what Ohio State and what they did at the time with Dwayne Haskins with Coach Day, throwing 50 touchdowns, breaking all the Big Ten records, it really made it an easy decision,” the elder McCord said. “The proof is in the pudding with Justin Fields and C.J. Stroud also going first round in the NFL Draft.”
McCord only started 13 games across his three years at Ohio State before transferring to Syracuse for his final season in 2024. He started all 13 games, lighting up the stat sheet with 4,779 passing yards (an ACC record), 34 touchdowns, and just 12 interceptions (five of which came in a painful loss to Pittsburgh). He’s now projected to be a late Day 2 or Day 3 pick.
