REPORT: Syracuse wide receiver Damien Alford dismissed from program

College football insider Pete Thamel reports Monday that Syracuse wide receiver Damien Alford has been suspended from the football program.

The reasoning behind Alford’s dismissal is unknown following his breakout season for the Orange, where he caught a career-high 33 passes for 610 yards and three touchdowns as the team’s leading wide receiver in his fourth year with Syracuse.

Originally from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Alford was a three-star prospect out of McArthur High School in Hollywood, Florida. Ranked the No. 669 overall recruit and the No. 114 wide receiver in the 2020 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Syracuse.com’s Emily Leiker also reported that Alford will still have the opportunity to continue academically at the university through the rest of the semester.

In his true freshman season, Alford appeared in just four games for Syracuse as a reserve wide receiver where he caught just one pass for three yards. But in every single season after that he would show improvement, with the 6-foot-6, 210-pound wideout increasing his role and production for the team year in and year out.

He made five starts for Syracuse in 2021 and appeared in all 12 of the team’s games, ending the year with 13 receptions for 249 yards and two scores. Which he followed with a 20-catch, 429-yard, two-score year before his standout 2023 season.

Alford entered the transfer portal in January of 2023 but withdrew is name just one day later to return for his fourth season with the Orange. He was known for his big play ability with Syracuse, making a multitude of impressive contested catches throughout his career and was voted a team captain in 2023.

Alford played in 42 career games with 67 catches for 1,291 yards and seven touchdowns, securing four catches for 83 yards in the Roofclaim.com Boca Raton Bowl against South Florida which will represent the final game of his Syracuse career. He ends his tenure with the Orange ranked 22nd in program history in career receiving yards.

He’s played his entire collegiate career under former Syracuse head coach Dino Babers, who was fired on November 19 and has since been succeeded by former Georgia defensive backs coach Fran Brown. Who brought in former Bulldogs’ wide receivers Yazeed Haynes and Jackson Meeks through the transfer portal this offseason along with former Ohio State starting quarterback Kyle McCord.