Fran Brown

[MikeSU02]

Right now, we have no choice but to trust his judgement.

By the way, football doesn’t “suck”

We are mediocre at worst.

My Alma Mater Indiana University would be thrilled to have our program.

Ya, I'm torn. On one hand, we haven't even had a outside shot of being in discussions for legit title considerations in 25 years (since McNabb). On the other hand, we're going bowling for the second consecutive year.

We aren't in a good spot, but we also aren't a full rebuild.

I dunno, just choose someone and let's go.

 

[OrangePA]

The one thing, more than anything else, that a program needs is a coach and staff completely dedicated to recruiting (and now the portal). I just think a lot of these mid/late 50s/60s coaches will not have that fire. Marrone could come here and go and 8-4 pretty easily tho

Agreed.

My only hesitation with Doug Marrone would be his enthusiasm for recruiting kids.

I gather that that is a problem for him since it seems that he is not applying for the job.

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

If we get Fran, I wonder if the Bergen Catholic boys decommit from Georgia and come here

Wonder if there was a coach who SU could keep who knew the head coach there? Or better yet maybe a relative.

 

[PhatOrange]

I posted this over in the Mullen odyssey but Brown is a legendary recruiter considered one of if not the best recruiter in the country and that was before he went to Georgia. The guy can flat our recruit. I don't know if SU would be in the top 25 like Tom said but they would make a massive jump and probably be right near there in his first full class, he's that good.

I have no doubt that he'd pull some 4 stars out of NJ and Philly. He was a thorn in Ped States side as a position coach. As a head coach he'd give them a real problem. (disclaimer, this doesn't mean I want him as our head coach.)

and if he kept Nunz and was able to pull a guy like Elijah Robinson to be DC they'd be a problem on a bigger level.

 

[zjscuse]

I think you’ve all been driven to the brink of insanity. That tweet does not read cryptic to me at all.

 

[DPCuse]

We have to find someone with big upside. Catch lightning in a bottle. The only way to do that is hire a guy that can recruit, assemble the talent and wins will follow. I'd rather have someone who can do that than a great x's and o's coach who can't recruit. If Belichek came here but can't recruit, would he win? Doubt it. Give me someone who can assemble talent and build some strong assistants who can gameplan around him and you'll be fine.

 

[SUalldway]

Alijah Clark just dropped this pointing to Fran Brown.

https://x.com/cinco_agent/status/1729141712461943186?s=46&t=fKMd7QPeLciXCSc2hDrL6g

Do what you will with it.

On the positive side, 247Sports recently named Brown the No. 1 recruiter in the nation for the 2024 recruiting class

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

I don't see long term upside to this hire. Aside from being from NJ...why would he want to be here long term if successful? Especially when his top 25 classes can jump in the portal to follow him.

Never be afraid to hire someone who is so talented they may eventually outgrow your organization. Please.

 

[AZOrange]

Wonder if there was a coach who SU could keep who knew the head coach there? Or better yet maybe a relative.

I think the Nunz is critical here. He and Fran coached together at Rutty right?

 

[JeremyCuse]

Trust him? Kept boeheim 5 seasons too long, football sucks, and so does men’s lacrosse. If he were still at ESPN he would have been fired a long time ago with those results.

You have zero idea the context around 2 of those three situations. Wildhack had no ability to fire JB 5 years ago or even 3 years ago you can't seriously think it was his call to keep him until last year do you? I won't even get into the lax situation but you may want to do some research into this year's current squad

 

[Toga]

Wonder if he indicated in his supposed interview who his staff would be.

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

I think the Nunz is critical here. He and Fran coached together at Rutty right?

Yes. And one brother his the head coach at Bergen and another is the freshman coach.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Golden is a top notch recruiter. Maybe not a good as Brown but not a huge gap behind. Golden has P5 HC and DC experience, plus NFL experience. Those dwarf Brown's experience. Between the two, the choice shouldn't be close. Now if Golden turned us down, that is a different problem that we have.

 

[orangeinjersey]

Win football games, the kids want to play for you. It isnt the other way around. Get good kids on campus, hope to win football games. You lose football games and your good recruiter mojo goes away.

We play in a dome. Why on earth are so many defensive minded candidates being considered.

Go to ESPN.Com, sort FBS schools by passing YPG, and start looking at Off Coordinators. OR do the same at FCS division. Start interviewing.

 

[AZOrange]

Yes. And obe brother his the head coach at Bergen and another is the freshman coach.

Yeah i knew the latter part. Make him OC

 

[JeremyCuse]

Golden is a top notch recruiter. Maybe not a good as Brown but not a huge gap behind. Golden has P5 HC and DC experience, plus NFL experience. Those dwarf Brown's experience. Between the two, the choice shouldn't be close. Now if Golden turned us down, that is a different problem that we have.

Don't believe Golden was or is a serious candidate. Good coordinator not so much HC.

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

Golden is a top notch recruiter. Maybe not a good as Brown but not a huge gap behind. Golden has P5 HC and DC experience, plus NFL experience. Those dwarf Brown's experience. Between the two, the choice shouldn't be close. Now if Golden turned us down, that is a different problem that we have.

You would have to convince Golden to come here and then pay him probably 3-4 more million a year than Chesney or Brown.

 

[OptimusOtto]

The one thing, more than anything else, that a program needs is a coach and staff completely dedicated to recruiting (and now the portal). I just think a lot of these mid/late 50s/60s coaches will not have that fire. Marrone could come here and go and 8-4 pretty easily tho

Agree 100% - we're not going to be churning out top 20 classes but having someone who can identify talent early to build our depth and pound the portal to supplement can build a consistent winner. Getting great talent in the door is a major challenge for us and while its not the end all be all (cc: Texas A&M) - it's a major step for us to really turn the corner as a program.

 

[sutomcat]

Deion is a great recruiter because of his name and personality not because he is a lifelong grinder on the NJ recruiting trails. They are totally different.

I know they are successful recruiters for different reasons. That should be obvious to all.

They have very different backgrounds.

But both are great recruiters. Arguably the two best in the business right now.

I don't know what John is thinking here but it appears he is attempting to address a root cause for our failure to consistently win. We don't recruit well enough.

We have had a bunch of coaches since Coach P and none have been able to bring in even one highly rated class.

Maybe he is thinking it is time to try something new?

For all I know, John has identified him as a possible future candidate and is including him here to position us well to land him if our hire this cycle doesn't work out.

I don't think Fran isn't leaving Georgia to be a coordinator anywhere. Certainly not Syracuse. He is at the center of the college football world at Georgia and there is no reason to leave it unless he gets a chance to run his own show.

 

[DPCuse]

Win football games, the kids want to play for you. It isnt the other way around. Get good kids on campus, hope to win football games. You lose football games and your good recruiter mojo goes away.

We play in a dome. Why on earth are so many defensive minded candidates being considered.

Go to ESPN.Com, sort FBS schools by passing YPG, and start looking at Off Coordinators. OR do the same at FCS division. Start interviewing.

Chicken and the egg. You can't win without talent. But it's hard to recruit talent if you don't win. Which comes first? I think it's easier to sell the recruiting first. Sell playing time. Sell the facilities. Sell the school. A rebuild that you can be on the ground floor of. That's what a great recruiter can do. You then start winning and it snowballs.

 

[orangeinjersey]

Chicken and the egg. You can't win without talent. But it's hard to recruit talent if you don't win. Which comes first? I think it's easier to sell the recruiting first. Sell playing time. Sell the facilities. Sell the school. A rebuild that you can be on the ground floor of. That's what a great recruiter can do. You then start winning and it snowballs.

I disagree. I think Xs/O's first. Look at all those SEC schools that get great recruiting classes and dont win anything. Find a coach who wins, the kids will follow. That is the sustainable approach.

 

[texascpa]

Fean Brown was interviewed yesterday.


Baylor: Brown followed Rhule to Baylor where he served as the Bears' assistant head coach and defensive backs coach for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. During his time in Waco Brown was considered Baylor's top recruiter.

Second Stint at Temple:: Following the 2018 season, Brown interviewed for the head coaching job at Temple that eventually went to Manny Diaz whose first hire at Temple was to bring Brown in as assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator. After 17 days, Diaz left Temple to return to Miami for the head coaching job.

Brown interviewed for the Temple head coaching job, but it eventually went to Rod Carey who kept Brown on the Temple Owl's coaching staff as the co-defensive coordinator.

So, he has been a DC in the past just not at a P5 school.

 

[phil77]

So in summary nobody knows if Fran is actually a good coach or not. We are interested in him because he is like Deion Sanders, and we are hiring him so we can keep our TE coach and make him OC, and we are going to start pulling 4-5 star players and make Syracuse a top 25 recruiting hotbed.

 

[Cuse12]

What’s happening lol

 

[SmilinBob]

I'd also add Brown has connections to ALL of SU's recruiting areas, heck even Texas.