Three Syracuse football players, and counting, have already entered the spring transfer portal window which opened Wednesday and extends until April 25.

The biggest name so far is receiver/returner Trebor Pena, who, as head coach Fran Brown alluded to on Wednesday afternoon speaking on the Cuse Sports Talk show, left the program to "secure his own future."

If there's any other head coach as candid as Fran Brown?

Maybe his buddy Deion Sanders at Colorado. But the beauty of coach Fran's dealing with the media is he's generally accessible, accountable, and shares as much information as he deems worthy in each setting as any coach nationally.

Brown on Wednesday was his usual up-front self discussing Pena's reasons for leaving, and made clear, in an almost nonchalant manner, there will be several other roster transactions both in and out of the program in the upcoming weeks, citing simply the nature of college football in the transfer portal era.

Brown further explained, in a non-critical manner, that his New Jersey protégé Pena was worrying too much this spring about team matters, things the coaches are in charge of, instead of focusing solely on his development. Brown also heard NIL numbers being bandied about in the spring, and realized Pena was likely in line to receive a substantial amount.

Then the offers arrived, offers that Brown alluded to as sometimes "outrageous" (he intimated, for example, that Ohio State can pay up to $2M per season for a wide receiver), and in those financial discussions with Pena the head coach quickly realized that his sixth year senior was going to end up in the same departing group as last year's leaders such as Kyle McCord, Fadil Diggs, Oronde Gadsden, and Justin Barron.

The good news is there's plenty of talent waiting in the wings. Brown said Pena's departure is the call to action that players such as Justis Ross-Simmons and Emanuel Ross can benefit from, the opportunity to step up and secure playing time with new starting quarterback Rickie Collins.

Wednesday also marked the last day of spring practice, a day that Brown noted the team was set to board yellow school buses and zip down the Thruway to practice in Rochester.

Despite the impending roster turnover in the spring portal period Brown remained calm amidst the swirl of activity.

"I think the team is in a good place," Brown assured his media audience.

For all of Brown's candor, that's encouraging to hear.

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