Kyle McCord (American football)

Kyle Allen McCord (born September 19, 2002) is an American football quarterback for the Syracuse Orange. He previously played for the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Early life and high school
McCord grew up in Mount Laurel, New Jersey and attended St. Joseph's Preparatory School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was teammates with future fellow Buckeye Marvin Harrison Jr. He received his first college scholarship offer from Central Michigan before the start of his freshman year of high school. As a sophomore, he passed for a school-record 2,883 yards and 35 touchdown passes. McCord passed for 2,399 yards and 31 touchdowns during his junior season before missing the final four games due to injury. He was named the Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior after completing 65 percent of his passes while throwing for 1,582 yards and 21 touchdowns. McCord finished his high school career with 6,887 passing yards, a Philadelphia Catholic League record, and 88 touchdown passes.

McCord was initially rated a four-star recruit and committed to play college football at Ohio State during his sophomore year over offers from Texas A&M, Penn State, Mississippi State, and Michigan State. He was later reranked as a five-star prospect by 247Sports as a junior.

Ohio State
McCord primarily spent his freshman season at Ohio State as the backup to starter C. J. Stroud. He made one start against Akron while Stroud was recovering from a shoulder injury. In the game, McCord completed 13 of 18 passing attempts for 319 yards and two touchdowns with one interception in a 59–7 win and was named the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week. He finished the season with 416 passing yards and two touchdown passes and two interceptions in five games played. McCord entered his sophomore season as the Buckeyes second string quarterback. He appeared in seven games, all off the bench, and completed 16 of 20 pass attempts for 190 yards and one touchdown.

McCord competed with Devin Brown during spring practices and preseason training camp to succeed Stroud as Ohio State's starting quarterback in 2023. He was named the starter for the Buckeyes' season opener, although head coach Ryan Day stated that the competition was still ongoing. After completing 14 of 20 pass attempts for 258 yards and three touchdowns in a 35–7 victory in week 2 vs Youngstown State, McCord was named the starter for the rest of the 2023 season. In Week 4 against Notre Dame, McCord led a game-winning drive in the final two minutes as Ohio State won, 17–14. In Week 13 against the Michigan Wolverines, McCord threw for 271 yards and 2 touchdowns, but also threw a game-ending interception on Ohio State's final drive to Rod Moore as Ohio State lost, 30–24.

Prior to Ohio State’s 2023 Cotton Bowl Classic appearance, McCord entered the NCAA transfer portal, following Ryan Day's declining to commit to McCord as the starting quarterback.

Syracuse
On December 17, 2023, McCord announced that he would be transferring to Syracuse.

Personal life
McCord's father, Derek McCord, played quarterback at Rutgers from 1988 to 1992.