Syracuse Football: Fran Brown's comments on the upcoming spring game have fans excited

Word recently came out that the Syracuse football 2024 spring game is scheduled for Saturday, April 20, and the Orange is slated to begin spring practices on Thursday, March 21.

I'm stoked for the team to start practicing, and I think the annual spring game is going to prove a lot of fun. New 'Cuse head coach Fran Brown has commented more than once in recent interviews that he can't wait for the program to commence its spring practices, and he also recently made some interesting comments about the upcoming spring game.

Brown, most recently the defensive backs coach at Georgia, was officially introduced by SU Athletics as the Syracuse football head coach in early December of last year, replacing Dino Babers. Brown, in just over two months, has assembled a high-quality staff and secured a strong 2024 recruiting class that includes multiple high school seniors and college transfers who are rated four stars.

Undeniably, there's a buzz in the air among the Orange fan base as it pertains to the Syracuse football program. The team's full 2024 schedule is out, and some national and Atlantic Coast Conference experts are prognosticating that the 'Cuse can make some noise in the ACC and nationally in the upcoming term.

Of course, Brown has yet to coach an official game with the Orange, and he's also a first-time head coach. Still, his level of confidence, his focus on details, his work ethic, and his overall swagger have many 'Cuse fans feeling more optimistic about the program's direction than they have in many years.

Fran Brown recently dished on the Syracuse football spring game.

Brown, in a recent interview with Steve Infanti and Paulie Scibilia on the ESPN Radio Syracuse program “Orange Nation,” touched on a variety of topics, including the April spring game.

The 'Cuse head coach noted that as the team prepares for its spring practices and then the spring game, players are competing for jobs, and they will have to put in the work and earn those roles, whether that's as starters or in other positions on future depth charts.

"It’s all work," Brown said. "There’s no entitlement."

Like many of its peers around the country, Syracuse football has seen its roster experience a sizable make-over this off-season, and that's even more understandable, given the head-coaching change on the Hill.

Some key guys from the 2023 season, when the squad went 6-7 overall, and other recent years are set to return, including junior linebacker Marlowe Wax Jr., junior defensive back Justin Barron and junior receiver Oronde Gadsden II, among others.

While it's abundantly clear that the Orange has fared well in the portal this off-season, Syracuse football has lost numerous players who have transferred to other teams as well.

But as far as the spring game is concerned, Brown's recent comments seem to indicate that he's quite serious about this annual event, rather than it just serving as a public practice for fans to watch.

"You want to see contact? You want to see people hitting? You want to see touchdowns, interceptions, sacks …? We’re going to play football," Brown recently said on Orange Nation. "We’re going to compete."

Yes, please.