Rapid Reaction: Hiring Fran Brown a great move for Syracuse
Syracuse will hire Fran Brown as the next head football coach.
Brown was the defensive backs coach at Georgia, and previously had stops at Baylor, Temple and Rutgers.
He succeeds Dino Babers, who was dismissed on Nov. 19 following Syracuse's loss to Georgia Tech. Babers finished with an uneven 41-55 at Syracuse, including just 20-45 in ACC play.
RAPID REACTION
John Wildhack has found his biggest hire to date during his seven plus years running the athletic department, and at first look it's certainly hard to argue with starting at the top.'
By plucking 41-year old, first-time head coach Fran Brown off of two-time defending champion Georgia's staff where he coached the defensive backfield and displayed his recruiting prowess over the last two seasons, the future trajectory of the football program will be tied to Wildhack's guidance of Brown and his staff and players providing the foundation to take the program to the next level - consistent winning seasons.
Future expectations will contain the stated goals of winning enough to be in the hunt for ACC titles and yearly bowl game appearances, while playing an entertaining brand of football in front of Dome patrons enjoying new individual seating beginning next season.
While Brown is missing head coaching experience on his resume, this hire screams northeast native (Camden, N.J.) with enough recruiting accolades at prior stops including Rutgers and Temple, now blended with two years involved with the Bulldogs national championship program.
Interim head coach Nunzio Campanile is set to assist his one-time colleague at Rutgers with the impending opening of the transfer portal next Monday (Dec. 4), and the early recruiting signing period fast approaching on December 20. There's also getting Brown up-to-speed on the bowl game prep leaving little time for building a roster structure to compete, and finalizing a diverse coaching/support staff of experience mixed with fresh ideas of what it takes to win in the ACC.
Brown is the first member of Kirby Smart's Georgia staff to depart for a head coaching job at the end of this season, as the Bulldogs prepare to face nemesis Alabama Saturday in the SEC title game. No doubt Wildhack consulted with Smart (along with many others including Nebraska coach Matt Rhule) doing his due diligence.
As reported by OnlineAthens earlier this month, Smart was asked what advice he provides his assistants who hope to take the next step up the coaching ladder running their own program.
"Pick the right one (job),” Smart said. “Be where your feet are. You have a good job. Do a good job at your job, and you will get more opportunities. A lot of jobs out there are not better than the one you’ve got.”
That is not the case for Brown, ascending to running his own program and making good on a forecast Rhule made earlier this year about his protégé at Temple and Baylor: “He should be a head coach and will be a head coach," Rhule stated.
That exciting time is now for the university, the entire program and Orange Nation. Welcome to Syracuse, Fran Brown.
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