The Coach Fran Brown Show - before Boston College | Syracusefan.com

The Coach Fran Brown Show - before Boston College

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AmeriCU Fran Brown Show Debuts Thursday - Syracuse University Athletics
(This has their schedule for the season)

The show originates from Heritage Hill Brewery in Jamesville:
3149 Sweet Rd · 3149 Sweet Rd, Jamesville, NY 13078

You can catch the show on TK99/105 locally, Cuse.com and the 'Cuse App, You can also get it on: https://tunein.com/radio/home/ or https://cuse.com/watch/?Live=6944&type=Live . Fans are invited to participate in the show by calling 888-7Go-Cuse, (1-888-746-2873), or 424-8599 or on twitter (@CuseLearfield) with the hashtag #AskFran or through Cuse.com, (the SU Athletic website): Submit a Question! - Syracuse University Athletics.
And the half-hour follow-up on Twitch will turn up on You-Tube later that evening, (we hope).
Cuse Sports Talk


My Question(s) or Comments (or theories)


Coach congratulations on another victory in an exciting game. We’ve had some great wins over Virginia Tech in the Dome and now a new generation of fans has a wonderful memory of one.

Twice this season you’ve had the option of going for two in regulation to win a game and chosen to go to overtime and both times it’s worked. Do you make your decision based on the odds or the circumstances of that game or as an act of faith in the ability of your players to make the plays to win an overtime game?

For the twitch segment:

Coach, among fans your team had a reputation for playing a conservative defense. But I notice that after the Virginia Tech game, we’ve now pulled even with the opposition with 18 sacks and 45 tackles for a loss on the year. That’s tied for 45th and 67th in the country of 133 teams. Do you prefer to try to disrupt plays before they start or to “keep them in front of you”? And how much does the availability of Marlowe Wax impact the type of defense we play?



The Show
(Since both the show and the Twitch segment were available the same evening the first time out this year, as long as that’s the case, I’m going to just focus on the highlights, including the answers to my questions. I sometimes re-arrange the comments so that statements made on the same subject are reported together, even if they came at different points of the show.)

First the answers to my questions:

Q1- “It’s faith in my players and fear in my heart. I don’t want to let the team down in one play. I don’t want one player to get the blame. I make the best decision for Syracuse – the team, the school and the community. It’s what gives us the best chance. We practice really hard and we do things right so we think things will go our way.” He went on to speculate that if a defensive tackle went out of the game, that might impact his decision. Matt noted that there was a penalty on the extra point, (not sure which game – I couldn’t find it in the play-by-play). Did Coach consider taking the penalty and then going for 2? FB: “No. I would never take the points off the board. I’ve seen games on TV where coaches tried that and it didn’t work.” Matt pointed out that we were on defense first at UNLV and on offense first this time and we won both times. Fran said that when they are on defense in OT, (we want to win 1st down and 2nd down and make them have to go for it one 4th down. At least 4th and 7+, although 4th and 9 is no good for us, (a joke about the Stanford game).

Q2 – (He actually said this was a good question, so things are looking up.) “We just want to eliminate what you do well, protect the football, create and eliminate explosive plays and have 1 more point at the end of the game. I don’t really care about the other numbers. Obviously, we’d like to be #1 in everything but I just want to win.” Later he said “This show is one my favorite nights of the week. There’s lots of intelligent people here who enjoy work.”

Matt opened up by saying “The hay’s in the barn”, meaning that they’d had their last practice before departing for Boston. Fran: “The Hay’s never in the barn until the last whistle.” [That’s kind of how the year’s gone.]

Matt said coming back from a 3-21 deficit was exciting and that produced an ovation in the restaurant. FB: “The entire staff was DART. We were a little bit relentless and tough.”

Matt praised Justis Ross-Simmons and Fran responded by listing all the other receivers, making sure they got praised, too. “Keep getting tougher.” JRS had 2TDs and LeQuint Allen had three on his late father’s birthday. FB: “He’s tougher than most – and extremely strong, physically and mentally. Good football players have instincts. He’s had a lot of adversity in life and won’t be denied. He’s also the first one in class, sitting in front.” Matt asked about the personal foul. FB: “The guy told LeQuint ‘Get off our field!” he told the guy ‘This is my field.’ He just turned 20 and is still learning.”

Questions from the restaurant: Does the coach limit practice for Allen to “save him for the game”? “No. He has to get certain reps.” What happened between the Tech punter and the band? “He was just trying to get his work in and didn’t understand about the band. But you don’t mess with our band or our cheerleaders. That made me mad. But he’s a good kid and the Tech coach is a good guy.” What’s your favorite play? “One that gets into the end zone…I like power-run the ball. I also like the victory play, (the QB taking a knee to end the game).” What did Coach tell Kyle McCord after the Pitt game? “It was a bad game for the entire organization, starting with me. I told him we have to move on, and we can’t do it unless you move on. You are our leader. And he did- very fast.” What’s it like to have one Dome game in 7 weeks?? “I love to be home but cool to play away, see different sights.” He said he’d played at BC when he was with Temple.

Michael in Manlius called in to say that “you don’t own something unless you fight for it. Do you recruit players fight or do you teach them to fight?” FB: Sometimes you have to create adversity by showing them the results, good and bad. I do try to recruit grit. Some don’t have it. But if they are 6-5 300, we’ll figure out a way get the grit into you. They talked briefly about the importance of recruiting local people. Fran said that he stresses that. “I want to put the ‘S” back on the map.”

What inspires him? “God, my wife and kids, the opportunity to serve others.” Later Matt asked what kind of music they play in the locker room. “50 cent, Little Dirk, Mack Brown.” [Mack Brown is also a rapper?] He likes to play Ernie Davis’ favorite song from “The Express”. “I want to bring ’59 back”. Then Matt asks if that helps unify 80-90 players. Fran: “It’s fun to see them growing and caring about each other. They get closer to the man above. Everybody pushes every day. I push them on that. They get educated every day.” [I may ask him what it would be like to be a player who was not religious on his team. I think teams should be diverse people united by a desire to win.]

Matt asked Fran about moving from a D-back coach to a head coach and all the things he had to get used to. “Do they teach you how to ask for money?” FB: “When you grew up with no money you know how to work for it.”

Matt asked his opinion about the potential increase is scholarships next year from 85 to 105. FB: “Do you think they would listen to me? I’m already prepped for the 105. I know who’s coming or going. We have a lot of really good walk-ons, (27). I’m cool. We’ll make it work.”

The assistant coach of the week was Ross Douglas, coach of our wide receivers, [which means Ross coaches Emanuel Ross and Justis Ross Simmons]. FB: “He was my GA at Rutgers. He’s our passing game coordinator. He’s an intelligent guy and loyal. NFL teams wanted him. He told me I’ve got him.” (He held to his commitment to come here.) Douglass, after a bunch of commercials, only had a minute or so to talk abut the diversity of receivers on the team and how Justis Ross-Simmons gives us a big strong guy who can go deep.

Gomez, [in the Twitch segment, below), again asked about home vs. road games. Fran said he knows SU fans are always cheering for the team, even if it’s on TV.

Gomez then asked if Fran knew Deion Sanders. FB: “Deion is my guy. He’s a good dude. He talks well. He’s a good father, a good man. There’s not a game I don’t watch that they play. I hope to turn our atmosphere into their atmosphere. He’s showing me how to lead young men. If you hated him as a player, you’re just a hater.” He said that he didn’t know Bill O’Brien but he certainly knows who he is.

Gomez asked about Coach’s halftime speech vs. Virginia Tech. FB: “Everything I do is from my heart. We had to get it right -all of us from me on down. After that, we stuck to business.” Gomez asked if players are allowed to address the team. Coach said that if one had something to say, he had a right to.

Gomez asked for a medical update. Coach said that Yasem Willis and somebody else won’t be playing. (I didn’t quite get it but assume he said Marcellus Barnes – it will be on the You-Tube clip.)
Coach wants players to “value the ball – everybody’s dreams and aspirations are in it”. Dave Jacobs hasn’t worked with the kickers yet but will this week.

Has Coach Brown met Jim Boeheim? Yes. “I ask him a lot of questions. Each time I meet him, we talk for at least 20 minutes. I love the fact that he has no filter. He loves watching football.”

Boston College “can hit shots. They run the ball. They use the tight end well. Lewis Bond is a good player. Their quarterback can run…it’s a rivalry for everything. We want to have fun and compete with Coach Bill O’Brien. I hope both teams play their best football.” Gomez asked him if any of his favorite singers were from Boston. No, (he’s never heard of Marky Mark but knows Mickey Ward, since he likes boxing). “All I know about Boston is sports. Boston ain’t my spot.”
 
Great recap as always. I’ll add he answered my question during the twitch segment regarding the increase to 105 scholarships(I couldn’t catch his show with Matt and didn’t know it was touched on). I thought it was interesting that he said his approach would be 95 scholarship players and 10 walk ons.
 
I read two days ago the SEC is telling their coaches to expect 85 scholarships next year. I’m not sure how SU is going to handle 30+ recruits.
 
Love the recap, Steve! I am interested in how you might ask the coach about religion, since he actively promotes it (and I am thinking all football coaches do?). I see a lot of football teams kneel in a circle to pray.

We all know most African Americans are church goers. But their kind of worship seems joyful and humble, not the “nah nah, we are saved, you are not” kind of Christian. If you are an atheist football player, you probably just go along and it probably doesn’t hurt you.
 
Sad George Costanza GIF
 
Love the recap, Steve! I am interested in how you might ask the coach about religion, since he actively promotes it (and I am thinking all football coaches do?). I see a lot of football teams kneel in a circle to pray.

We all know most African Americans are church goers. But their kind of worship seems joyful and humble, not the “nah nah, we are saved, you are not” kind of Christian. If you are an atheist football player, you probably just go along and it probably doesn’t hurt you.

I've always viewed a team as a group of diverse individuals brought together by their common goal of winning. What role does religion play in uniting your team? Are a player's religious views a criteria in recruiting them? Are players who don't share your views made to feel that they are just as much a part of your team as anyone else on the roster?

I'll save that for the final show of the season.
 
We all know most African Americans are church goers.
Do we?

According to a George Fox University paper, 70–80% of Black men in the United States do not attend church services in person or online. This decline in attendance is not recent, but the pandemic further highlighted the issue.
 

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