No scholarship, no problem: A walk-on’s journey to Syracuse football

Football was his uncle’s favorite sport. Lucas Vermuelen never had an interest in it as a kid; he loved track and swimming. But after his uncle’s passing, Vermuelen’s only thought was to honor his uncle by learning the sport he adored.

“It kind of lit a fire under my ass,” Vermuelen said. “I needed to realize that stuff (life) can end so shortly.” 

Of the 105 spots on the football team, 85 of them are reserved for scholarship athletes. The rest are left for walk-ons. Vermuelen gunned for one of those walk-on spots. He struggled. But didn’t let failure stop him. He tried anything to learn the craft. Sprinting, finding people at the Barnes Center to throw him the ball, anything that could help him progress. 

“And when the tryout came around, I didn’t feel cocky,” he said. “I didn’t feel anything other than confidence.” 

Vermuelen had to take the harder path, as there are two ways to walk on to the team. A preferred walk-on is a recruit whom coaches are fond of, but can’t offer a scholarship — they essentially have a roster spot if they enroll; or an open walk-on via tryout (Vermuelen’s path), held when the program needs to fill roster spots. Students must complete NCAA eligibility paperwork and be fully enrolled before trying out, per associate athletic director and football communications admin Tyler Cady. 

“It’s hard work, very time-consuming,” he said. “It’s much more than the average person understands.”

To Vermuelen, hard work wasn’t intimidating; it was the standard. 

“I’d have an elevator pitch and try to talk to them (coaches),” he said. “I’d shoot them an email. I would call numbers. I would find people on the football team.” 

He took every opportunity to get noticed, even the ones he thought were long shots. Vermuelen saw head coach Fran Brown at Tops Markets one evening and asked for advice. 

“And he goes to (his) car, and he just draws out drills,” he said. “And I did that drill every single day that I could.” 

Coaches notice work ethic. The time players spend watching film, how they act in practice, and even outside of football. So do teammates like Darrell Gill Jr., a former Syracuse wide receiver. 

“We both see the plays,” Gill Jr. said. “You’re doing this, going to class and practice.”

It’s a full-day commitment, and walk-ons have even more commitments. Waking up for 6 a.m. lifts, attending meetings, practice, class, homework and then work. 

“They’re doing three things at once,” Gill added. “I love seeing walk-ons get put on scholarship. They worked so hard for it.” 

Walk-ons aren’t seen as different. They’re viewed as part of the family. But it starts with commitment and self-belief. 

“You can’t stop yourself from achieving something if you’re already going to put some doubt on yourself,” Gill said.

Vermuelen gave himself a chance and earned an unrivaled experience. 

“That was the greatest experience ever,” Vermuelen said. “God setting up my life is the reason that I got to experience these things.”

His only regret was not doing it sooner. 

“Come test the waters,” Gill said.