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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:
heritagehillbrewery.com
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, the last two games combined we scored the first 35 points, then gave up the next 35 points. How can we keep our first quarter momentum going into the second quarter?”
For the twitch segment:
“Coach, most teams in recent years have 3 ‘protectors’ in the backfield for punts. It looked like we had only 2. Why are we doing it that way?”
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- “Guys get relaxed. We, the coaches have got to do a better job. We’ve got to put the pressure on the players. We’ve got to do a better job on special teams. That’s often what turns it around. Don’t forget: the other team gets to swing, too. We’ve got to duck. We’ve got to be able to choke somebody out. I’ve told the players that I’m into community service, but not on the field.”
This was the point at which I decided to tell my Abbott and Costello joke: Costello was going to fight a guy. Abbott told him to "give him the ol' 1-3." Costello: "What happened to 2?" Abbott: "You get that." Matt decided to move on. I later posted it to the Twitch stat but Gomez didn’t pick it up. It’s probably just as well. I don’t think Fran would know who Abbott and Costello were. It’s a funny line, though.
Q2 – “It’s just what we’re doing. We’ve got to get it fixed. We’ve got to get two guys up instead of back.” He invited me to call back if it doesn’t work against NC State and we’ll discuss it further. That’s not much of an answer. I think Coach Brown is starting to think of me as a know-it-all who wants to tell him how to do things. I’m not. I’m just trying to find out why he’s doing what he’s doing.
Matt noted that Coach Brown emphasizes “the middle 8”: the last four minutes of the first half and the first four of the second half. He defers to the second half if he wins the toss so, hopefully, he can get two straight possessions and maybe two straight scores in the middle of the game. “We focus on the middle 8 in practice. It’s like a matter of life and death. We practice for it good on good, 1s vs. 1s and 2s vs. 2s. It’s game situations.” Matt asked about overtime. Fran said “We train for it. We push the players and they push themselves. They have to have the toughness to play 5 or 6 quarters.” [It also helps to have players like Kyle McCord, LeQuint Allen, Oronde Gadsden and Jackson Meeks: I like our chances in any OT game.) He says he consults with strength coaches during the game to see what individual players “have left in the tank’ in making his decisions. He also uses “new technology” including “GPS chips” to monitor this. “It helps that we emphasize speed in practice. We run more than we do in the games.” [I would think any practice involves more running – and less contact - than an individual player would get in a game.]
A caller named Michael noted that Chris Gedney, [and many others], had said that “You are only as strong as the weakest link” and that Darryl Johnston was known for making sure all his teammates were able to get up after a play. He also quoted Jesus but I didn’t quite get that one. FB: “The players are the most important thing after faith. They are the team.”
They talked about being a receiver on a Kyle McCord team. FB: “You’ve got to be ready when your number is called. Kyle will spread it around.” Matt said “Not all balls are 50-50 when Oronde Gadsden or Jackson Meeks are involved”. FB: “It’s more 90-10. I put my money on them getting the ball.”
Coach said he didn’t want to talk about the two point conversion possibility. This is the second time he’s cut off any questions about something by saying that he doesn’t want to talk about it. I suppose it’s not really much different from Dino Babers, (or Coach Mac) launching into a story because he didn’t want to answer a question. As I recall G-Rob would talk about “seeing flashes” while Coach P, Doug Marrone and Scott Shafer would give straightforward answers. Each coach is different and it is what it is. Matt did suggest that not playing overtime might have reduced the possibility of injury. Coach Brown said that “The NCAA thinks it through and does what’s best for the student-athlete”. [“Your government is here to serve you.”]
They had a discussion of how assistant coaches sometimes “compete to get their favorite play into the game plan”. Matt said that Andy Reid’s door is always open to his coaches. FB: That’s really intelligent. Why cut off good information?”
Matt said that a couple of restaurant patrons had asked about the punt protection. FB: ‘I’ve gotten heavily involved in it. It’s about not being lazy. If you aren’t ready to play on special teams, you can’t play on offense or defense. We were not detailed enough. The culture was not ingrained yet.” So that jail break where two guys had to block 5 guys was about the team’s culture not being ingrained yet. 1:40:
Syracuse Orange vs. UNLV Rebels | Full Game Highlights | ESPN College Football
Matt said the key was to “make it simple”. I recall Bill Arnsparger, for many years the best defensive coordinator in the NFL, (for every Don Shula Super Bowl team and for some other teams as well), would always improve every defense he took over and when the players were asked why, they always said “he simplified it”. I recall one pundit saying it wasn’t that he changed the defenses. He may have simplified his explanation of it. FB: “Do the basic part. We very likely have been trying to teach calculus to players who didn’t do Algebra 1”. [As long as we’re doing math: how about a third guy in the backfield?] Matt: “It’s whack a mole. If you fix one thing, a hole can open up elsewhere.”
Fadil Diggs “is a really good football player. Coach Elijah Robinson had him all through high school. It means a lot to see them working every day.” LeQuint Allen is working with Yasem Willis. It’s the same thing Sean Tucker did with him. Willis is a really powerful back who is faster than people realize and can catch the ball. Will Nixon will be out for the year. He’ll be back for spring practice. He’s got a Lisfranc injury, (what Oronde had last year), and has had a procedure. Marlowe Wax will be back in about a couple weeks. He’s worked on his leadership and has been with the team at every practice and meeting, being very vocal.
NC State has two fine backs in Jordan Waters and Kendrick Raphael FB: “They’ll run the football. I don’t count Grayson McCall out. They play press man defense and have 6-9 interceptions. [6] They have a real good football team. I don’t look at the records. Sometimes a few plays can mess you up. [Like not double-covering the other team’s best receiver on 4th and 9?]
The assistant interviewed was DC Elijah Robinson, who also stayed for the Twitch segment with Gomez. “Everybody wanted Fadil. Here’s a story you haven’t heard: I wanted to keep Fadil away from the other recruiters so I asked him to spend time on campus with you (Coach Brown).” [Was this when Robinson was at Texas A&M and Brown was at Georgia?]
Matt asked him how much growing up in Camden, New Jersey impacted hm, Coach Brown and the players they have acquired who grew up there. “Fight through it, straight though the 5th quarter. It’s a pride thing. You have role models.”
Gomez asked about the schedule when they got to Vagas. “We practiced, had a quick meal and everybody got to bed at 10:15, (which was 1:15 here). We woke them up at 8 O’clock.”
Caches Brown and Robinson have been “friends since before we were born. Our families knew each other. We had the same Godfather. We played for the same (high school) football team.” Robinson said he was #5 as a 195 pound high school player but shifted to #55 as he put on weight and “got closer to the line”.
Marlowe Wax “is an extension of the coach staff”. Would have make a good coach? Coach Robinson said that he didn’t want to “pus that on him” but he could see that.
What do we need to do for the kickers? “Block for them. Have them kick it through the uprights. Practice harder.”
What’s it like to be a defensive coach for a high scoring team? “We work together as a team.” [Another minimal answer to an interesting question.]
I re-asked a question I asked last week when they were talking about what football players could play basketball for SU, (Fran said: “None of them.”). I asked if any of them could beat him one-on-one. “I’m competitive so I’ve got to say “No”. Jackson Meeks, Duce Chestnut and David Clement can play. Devin grant can jump.”
On the noise in the Dome: Coach Robinson had to change his headset after the first game.
Coach Robinson has a private plane.
They had a “Blood Orange” Tuesday practice. “We compete one-on-one (football) and have a lot of fun.
What are their goals for season #1? Brown: “Develop every person. Get them their beat GPA ever. Make them better men. This will help them football-wise. Have them achieve their personal goals.” Robinson: “I got into this profession to develop young men.”
The next show will be Tuesday October 22nd, because the Pitt game is on Thursday.
(This has their schedule for the season)
The show originates from Heritage Hill Brewery in Jamesville:
Heritage Hill Brewhouse
Heritage Hill Brewhouse in Pompey. Handcrafted Beer, Homemade Food & Amazing Views set upon our active crop and animal farm. A family friendly destination that's an escape but close enough to call home.
heritagehillbrewery.com
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, the last two games combined we scored the first 35 points, then gave up the next 35 points. How can we keep our first quarter momentum going into the second quarter?”
For the twitch segment:
“Coach, most teams in recent years have 3 ‘protectors’ in the backfield for punts. It looked like we had only 2. Why are we doing it that way?”
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- “Guys get relaxed. We, the coaches have got to do a better job. We’ve got to put the pressure on the players. We’ve got to do a better job on special teams. That’s often what turns it around. Don’t forget: the other team gets to swing, too. We’ve got to duck. We’ve got to be able to choke somebody out. I’ve told the players that I’m into community service, but not on the field.”
This was the point at which I decided to tell my Abbott and Costello joke: Costello was going to fight a guy. Abbott told him to "give him the ol' 1-3." Costello: "What happened to 2?" Abbott: "You get that." Matt decided to move on. I later posted it to the Twitch stat but Gomez didn’t pick it up. It’s probably just as well. I don’t think Fran would know who Abbott and Costello were. It’s a funny line, though.
Q2 – “It’s just what we’re doing. We’ve got to get it fixed. We’ve got to get two guys up instead of back.” He invited me to call back if it doesn’t work against NC State and we’ll discuss it further. That’s not much of an answer. I think Coach Brown is starting to think of me as a know-it-all who wants to tell him how to do things. I’m not. I’m just trying to find out why he’s doing what he’s doing.
Matt noted that Coach Brown emphasizes “the middle 8”: the last four minutes of the first half and the first four of the second half. He defers to the second half if he wins the toss so, hopefully, he can get two straight possessions and maybe two straight scores in the middle of the game. “We focus on the middle 8 in practice. It’s like a matter of life and death. We practice for it good on good, 1s vs. 1s and 2s vs. 2s. It’s game situations.” Matt asked about overtime. Fran said “We train for it. We push the players and they push themselves. They have to have the toughness to play 5 or 6 quarters.” [It also helps to have players like Kyle McCord, LeQuint Allen, Oronde Gadsden and Jackson Meeks: I like our chances in any OT game.) He says he consults with strength coaches during the game to see what individual players “have left in the tank’ in making his decisions. He also uses “new technology” including “GPS chips” to monitor this. “It helps that we emphasize speed in practice. We run more than we do in the games.” [I would think any practice involves more running – and less contact - than an individual player would get in a game.]
A caller named Michael noted that Chris Gedney, [and many others], had said that “You are only as strong as the weakest link” and that Darryl Johnston was known for making sure all his teammates were able to get up after a play. He also quoted Jesus but I didn’t quite get that one. FB: “The players are the most important thing after faith. They are the team.”
They talked about being a receiver on a Kyle McCord team. FB: “You’ve got to be ready when your number is called. Kyle will spread it around.” Matt said “Not all balls are 50-50 when Oronde Gadsden or Jackson Meeks are involved”. FB: “It’s more 90-10. I put my money on them getting the ball.”
Coach said he didn’t want to talk about the two point conversion possibility. This is the second time he’s cut off any questions about something by saying that he doesn’t want to talk about it. I suppose it’s not really much different from Dino Babers, (or Coach Mac) launching into a story because he didn’t want to answer a question. As I recall G-Rob would talk about “seeing flashes” while Coach P, Doug Marrone and Scott Shafer would give straightforward answers. Each coach is different and it is what it is. Matt did suggest that not playing overtime might have reduced the possibility of injury. Coach Brown said that “The NCAA thinks it through and does what’s best for the student-athlete”. [“Your government is here to serve you.”]
They had a discussion of how assistant coaches sometimes “compete to get their favorite play into the game plan”. Matt said that Andy Reid’s door is always open to his coaches. FB: That’s really intelligent. Why cut off good information?”
Matt said that a couple of restaurant patrons had asked about the punt protection. FB: ‘I’ve gotten heavily involved in it. It’s about not being lazy. If you aren’t ready to play on special teams, you can’t play on offense or defense. We were not detailed enough. The culture was not ingrained yet.” So that jail break where two guys had to block 5 guys was about the team’s culture not being ingrained yet. 1:40:
Syracuse Orange vs. UNLV Rebels | Full Game Highlights | ESPN College Football
Matt said the key was to “make it simple”. I recall Bill Arnsparger, for many years the best defensive coordinator in the NFL, (for every Don Shula Super Bowl team and for some other teams as well), would always improve every defense he took over and when the players were asked why, they always said “he simplified it”. I recall one pundit saying it wasn’t that he changed the defenses. He may have simplified his explanation of it. FB: “Do the basic part. We very likely have been trying to teach calculus to players who didn’t do Algebra 1”. [As long as we’re doing math: how about a third guy in the backfield?] Matt: “It’s whack a mole. If you fix one thing, a hole can open up elsewhere.”
Fadil Diggs “is a really good football player. Coach Elijah Robinson had him all through high school. It means a lot to see them working every day.” LeQuint Allen is working with Yasem Willis. It’s the same thing Sean Tucker did with him. Willis is a really powerful back who is faster than people realize and can catch the ball. Will Nixon will be out for the year. He’ll be back for spring practice. He’s got a Lisfranc injury, (what Oronde had last year), and has had a procedure. Marlowe Wax will be back in about a couple weeks. He’s worked on his leadership and has been with the team at every practice and meeting, being very vocal.
NC State has two fine backs in Jordan Waters and Kendrick Raphael FB: “They’ll run the football. I don’t count Grayson McCall out. They play press man defense and have 6-9 interceptions. [6] They have a real good football team. I don’t look at the records. Sometimes a few plays can mess you up. [Like not double-covering the other team’s best receiver on 4th and 9?]
The assistant interviewed was DC Elijah Robinson, who also stayed for the Twitch segment with Gomez. “Everybody wanted Fadil. Here’s a story you haven’t heard: I wanted to keep Fadil away from the other recruiters so I asked him to spend time on campus with you (Coach Brown).” [Was this when Robinson was at Texas A&M and Brown was at Georgia?]
Matt asked him how much growing up in Camden, New Jersey impacted hm, Coach Brown and the players they have acquired who grew up there. “Fight through it, straight though the 5th quarter. It’s a pride thing. You have role models.”
Gomez asked about the schedule when they got to Vagas. “We practiced, had a quick meal and everybody got to bed at 10:15, (which was 1:15 here). We woke them up at 8 O’clock.”
Caches Brown and Robinson have been “friends since before we were born. Our families knew each other. We had the same Godfather. We played for the same (high school) football team.” Robinson said he was #5 as a 195 pound high school player but shifted to #55 as he put on weight and “got closer to the line”.
Marlowe Wax “is an extension of the coach staff”. Would have make a good coach? Coach Robinson said that he didn’t want to “pus that on him” but he could see that.
What do we need to do for the kickers? “Block for them. Have them kick it through the uprights. Practice harder.”
What’s it like to be a defensive coach for a high scoring team? “We work together as a team.” [Another minimal answer to an interesting question.]
I re-asked a question I asked last week when they were talking about what football players could play basketball for SU, (Fran said: “None of them.”). I asked if any of them could beat him one-on-one. “I’m competitive so I’ve got to say “No”. Jackson Meeks, Duce Chestnut and David Clement can play. Devin grant can jump.”
On the noise in the Dome: Coach Robinson had to change his headset after the first game.
Coach Robinson has a private plane.
They had a “Blood Orange” Tuesday practice. “We compete one-on-one (football) and have a lot of fun.
What are their goals for season #1? Brown: “Develop every person. Get them their beat GPA ever. Make them better men. This will help them football-wise. Have them achieve their personal goals.” Robinson: “I got into this profession to develop young men.”
The next show will be Tuesday October 22nd, because the Pitt game is on Thursday.
