Justy Carruthers ’25 was so impressed with the sport management program in Syracuse University’s David B. Falk College of Sport that she moved across the country from San Diego to enroll here.
But after just one day in her first sport management class, she was ready to fly back to the West Coast.
Carruthers met with her instructor, Associate Professor Gina Pauline, following the class and told her, “I don’t think this is meant for me.” When Pauline asked why, Carruthers said, “Because all of the boys in the class are spitting out facts left and right and I have no idea what they’re talking about.”
But Pauline, who worked in collegiate athletics before joining Syracuse University, saw the same potential in Carruthers that Syracuse football coach Fran Brown would see two years later. Pauline encouraged Carruthers to keep an open mind and understand that she didn’t need to know stats, she needed to display “grit and hustle.”
“She came up to me after every single class and really made her presence known and to work in football, you have to have that presence, right?” Pauline says. “And you have to be passionate and motivated and not afraid to speak up. That’s what has set her apart all along.”
Hired at the start of her senior year in fall 2024, Justy Carruthers became the youngest director of on-campus recruiting at a school from one of college football’s four power conferences.
With the help of Pauline’s professional network, Carruthers spent two years as an intern with the American Hockey League’s Syracuse Crunch, and the Crunch helped her land a summer internship with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. She was working as an intern for the Syracuse football team when Brown was hired in November 2023, and 10 months later, Brown appointed Carruthers as the youngest director of on-campus recruiting at a Power 4 school–and she was just starting her senior year.
Thanks to a whirlwind recruiting class that Brown assembled and Carruthers helped procure, the 2024 Orange enjoyed one of the greatest seasons in program history with a 10-3 record and three wins over top-25 teams.
“She's a major part of our program, and the success we had our first year, we wouldn't have had it without her,” Brown says. “We wouldn't be where we are in the recruiting rankings without Justy.”
‘From 0 to 100’
So, how did Carruthers get from being a student intern to this integral role? Ryan Kelly, who supervises Carruthers as Syracuse’s senior athletic director for football operations, says Carruthers personifies Brown’s culture of D.A.R.T.: She is Detailed, Accountable, Relentless, and Tough.
“It’s not the easiest world to work in, college athletics, and especially Power 4 football (made up of the most influential conferences),” says Kelly, who joined Brown’s staff in March 2024. “But she's got a confidence about her that really stuck out to me. And she's been an asset to us ever since I've been here.”
When Brown was hired, recruiting “went from 0 to 100,” Carruthers says, and she and another Falk College intern, Cami Pasqualoni ’24, put their recruiting ideas in a binder for Brown to consider and eventually implement.
“It was nuts,” Carruthers says, “but it taught me so much about myself because our coaches would call me at 1 or 2 in the morning and say, ‘I need a kid here by 8 a.m.,’ and I’d have to figure that one out.”
One of those recruits was quarterback Kyle McCord, who was transferring from Ohio State. Carruthers received a call from the player personnel department at around 2:30 a.m. saying that Kyle McCord’s father was on the phone and they needed to get McCord here asap.
Carruthers made all the arrangements for his visit, including a last-minute change after his initial flight was grounded. McCord eventually chose Syracuse, and he set a Syracuse record and led the NCAA with 4,779 passing yards.
During a practice in the John A. Lally Athletics Complex, Justy Carruthers confers with Scouting Assistant Alex Kelly (center) and Director of Scouting Aaron Mannici.
‘Works Itself Out’
Following Syracuse’s win over Georgia Tech last September, Brown offered Carruthers the full-time job as director of on-campus recruiting and then called her parents to make sure they were comfortable with their daughter working full-time while completing her degree. Carruthers didn’t accept the job at first because she was concerned about juggling work and academics, but in the end she decided–much like she did after her first class as a freshman–to embrace the challenge.
“I flooded my schedule in my freshman and sophomore years and I’m so happy I did because my junior and senior years were a little bit lighter,” Carruthers says. “And with the teachers I had like (Assistant Teaching Professor) Dave Meluni, they gave me so much support and grace in the classroom.”
Carruthers’ day-to-day duties depend on the time of year as the on-campus recruiting calendar varies throughout the year. But recruits can attend games at any time, and Carruthers plans all aspects of their visits, from flights to rental cars to hotels and even monitoring traffic patterns to ensure they arrive to campus on time. Brown says Carruthers is the most organized person he knows, and he says a recruit’s visit “just always works itself out the right way.”
It's remarkable to think that Carruthers, who as a freshman wasn’t sure if she could cut it at Syracuse, is now an integral part of what college football experts call one of the most efficient recruiting machines in the country. Football is a results-oriented business, and Brown clearly favors Carruthers’ results over her age.
“I think this has been something that’s not only shaped me but also shaped the program,” Carruthers says. “A lot of our coaches say they learn something new from me every day. They always say, ‘I want my daughter to be like you when she’s older because they joke that I don’t put up with anything.’”