He never played the game.

Now, he influences who plays for a Division 1 football team.

Carter Strauss, a Lehighton High School graduate, is a sports analyst intern at Syracuse University in upstate New York. His responsibilities include recruiting and scouting for the football program.

“I’m not a traveling recruiter,” he said. “I watch hours of high school football videos looking for players who can come here and help our team be successful.”

One of those recruits that Strauss had supported for acceptance is his childhood friend — Noah Rosahac of Jim Thorpe, who will enter Syracuse this fall.

“He’s a great person, and we think he’s going to help us on the offensive line,” said Strauss.

Despite not playing football anytime in his life, Strauss has educated himself for the past year-and-a-half about the specific skills and talents each position player should possess to be a recruiting candidate.

“Once I interviewed for the position and was accepted, there was a lot of hands-on training in our football office. I learned what the coaches and the Director of Player Personnel want and while watching hours of video of a player’s performance, I can tell if his skill set meets our needs here at Syracuse.

“We watch video three hours for three days a week, and that helps us filter out who we don’t want. I don’t have a final say in our recruitments, but my input is certainly considered.”

Of course, what cannot be determined from videos is the character of the individual, which is another task for Strauss and the nine other analysts he works with.

“We invite about 200 potential recruits to each of our home games,” said Strauss. “We meet with each individual and try to get a vibe about the kind of person he is. Sometimes, we find one who doesn’t want to come here but was forced to visit because that’s what his parents wanted. Then we might be told by someone that he thinks he’s too good for our program.”

There is currently a lot of excitement surrounding Syracuse football.

New head coach Fran Brown — ranked the best college football recruiter in the country — will lead the Orange this fall and has already signed former Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord to be his signal caller this season. The 2024 recruitment class is considered to be the best in the school’s heralded history that has included All Americans and NFL great such as Jim Brown, Floyd Little, Larry Csonka and Ernie Davis.

“We’ve been about a .500 football team for quite a while now, and we’re hoping to take a step up to the next level,” said Strauss.

The Orange play in the Atlantic Coast Conference. This year, their home schedule — to be played under the IMA Wireless Dome (formerly the Carrier Dome Stadium) — includes Georgia Tech, Stanford, Virginia Tech, and UConn. Next season, the Orange will renew an old-time rivalry against Penn State.

When he’s not analyzing high school talent in the football office, the senior student works for The Tournament, a company that sets up tournaments for sports all across the country.

For 2024, The Basketball Tournament (TBT) will look to build off a record-breaking 10th Anniversary event in 2023 where 64 teams will once again battle it out across eight regions with one semifinals/championship site to be determined as teams battle to take home the $1 million, winner-take-all prize. TBT will play in eight regions across the country from July 19-24.

The tournament, which includes partners such as Chris Paul and will feature an entry from Shaquille O’Neal this year, will return to three regions (Wichita, Louisville, and Dayton) and play in five new venues (Lexington, Cincinnati, Houston, Pittsburgh and Butler) this year. Both the semifinals (Aug. 2) and championship (Aug. 4) will again be played at the Daskalakis Athletic Center at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

In addition to TBT, The Soccer Tournament — the 7v7 world championship played at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina — featured The Pat McAfee Show broadcasting live on ESPN and also had involvement from JJ Watt. English Premier League champions Manchester City also brought this year’s Premier League trophy. TST will also mark the world debut of its kit for next season, as Sergio Agüero’s “Agüero Team” will be donning the 2024/25 Man City kits.

While he does ticket sales and merchandising, this year Strauss will also be involved at a Tournament triathlon competition where each performer has to swim 1500 meters, bike 24.9 miles and then run 6.2 miles.

Strauss was introduced to sports at a very young age by his father.

“I played soccer and basketball, and I loved competition so I watched every sport I could on TV.

“I get made fun of by co-workers at Syracuse because I never played football,” he said, “but I’m working hard and they like what I do, so I must be doing something right,” he said with a laugh.

Once he graduates next year from Syracuse, he will take some time off before looking for a career in the sports analytics business.

“I’ve thought about becoming a player’s agent for contract negotiations, but that requires two years of specified law school and I’m not sure I want to do that yet,” he said.

He’s also considering a career in the sports betting industry, and has presented a project as part of his internship about betting odds in the NBA.

Strauss has already negotiated himself inside the world of a high profile, Division 1 football program.

It’s quite a certainty that the resume he is building will someday get him a prominent career in the business of sports analytics.