Fran Brown took over as head coach of the Syracuse Orange at the end of 2023. When he arrived in Syracuse, he was ranked as the nation’s number one recruiter and hoped to bring an influx of talent into Central New York.
That’s exactly what Brown did in his first year with Orange, bringing in key players like Kyle McCord to Syracuse and winning double-digit games for only the seventh time in program history. Now as he enters his second season, Brown continues changing the game with fresh ideas and incredible players.
Fran Brown’s Fearless Coaching Approach
When Fran Brown arrived at Syracuse, he had a plan to turn that program around. It started with recruiting talented players and making Syracuse a national brand.
Earlier this spring, despite many other college coaches electing not to do a spring game over fears of tampering, Fran Brown tweeted at Deion Sanders and asked him to do a joint spring game between Syracuse and the Colorado Buffaloes.
Fran Brown jokes on the NCAA not allowing Syracuse and Colorado to hold a joint spring game:
“We should have just told Coach Belichick and Bill O’Brien to come up with it. You know damn well they weren’t about to allow Coach Prime and Fran Brown to be the first two guys to do… pic.twitter.com/ZQEsqSgBie
— Ashley Wenskoski (@AshleyWenskTV) April 1, 2025
Brown intended to draw major television interest to the event, have his players and Deion’s players study together, and even take a financial literacy course together to help prep them for life after football.
However, the NCAA denied the spring game, which was disappointing for fans and the programs alike. However, Brown feels like joint spring practices and scrimmages will eventually happen.
As you can see, Brown isn’t too afraid of stepping on anyone in the NCAA’s toes, and that lack of fear translates to his on-field coaching as well. He is preparing to start a 17-year-old true freshman at both cornerback and wide receiver.
Syracuse True Freshman to Play Both Ways
In a spring presser, Fran Brown announced that true freshman Demetreus Samuel is slated to get reps at both starting corner and wide receiver next season.
Samuel committed to the Orange as a four-star last season and was one of the highest-ranked recruits in program history.
Now, I’m not saying Samuel is the next Travis Hunter, but Brown’s willingness to put such a young athlete on both sides of the ball at the power four level shows the trust he has in the young Florida native.
It also demonstrates Brown’s fearlessness, which is why I think the sky is the limit with Brown at the helm for Orange.
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