Several national experts, lately, have doled out grades as it pertains to head-coaching hires this offseason, and these pundits aren’t super high on new Syracuse football head coach Fran Brown.
Hey, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. When I posted one of the articles on this topic recently via social media, noting that a national media outlet had given Brown’s hire a C+, a lot of my fellow fans had some steadfast opinions one way or another.
These sorts of stories are so subjective. First of all, what’s the criteria? And are the grades being given out as a reflection of the new head coach and his coaching resume, or is it more about the program they’re now leading and how it has fared in recent years?
I can understand, to some degree, why some national experts might not give Brown’s hire an extremely high grade. For one, it’s his first head-coaching gig. Secondly, the Orange isn’t a top-tier team in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
On the other hand, Brown in the 2024 cycle has been deemed by analysts as the country’s top recruiter. He’s also highly regarded in player development, and he was named the national defensive backs coach of the year for the 2023 season while at Georgia.
Furthermore, Brown has served as an assistant under a couple of excellent head coaches, including the Bulldogs’ Kirby Smart, who led Georgia to the two most recent national championships.
Experts didn’t give high grades to the hiring of Fran Brown as Syracuse football head coach.
Brown, officially introduced as the new head coach of the Orange on December 4, has in just a few weeks built up a strong coaching staff, and the ‘Cuse hauled in a terrific 2024 class, including numerous school seniors and college transfers who are ranked four stars.
Still, earlier this month, Paul Myerberg of USA Today ranked Brown’s hire at No. 12 out of 18. Bryan Fischer of FOX Sports and Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports both gave the Brown hire a C+.
All I have to say is – whatever. Brown, starting in the 2024 season and beyond, will have plenty of opportunities to prove the critics and naysayers wrong.
Even though he only placed Brown at No. 12, Myerberg wrote in part that Brown “knows how to build a program, in other words. And there's another thing he does as well as anyone: Brown is an elite recruiter who will really beef up the program's efforts in the transfer portal and with traditional recruits.”
Fischer, meanwhile, said being the head coach at the ‘Cuse “is among the most difficult jobs given the location and resources in the ACC, and it's a big challenge for Brown to make the Orange a consistent winner.”
Dodd noted: “I get that Brown has some juice as the assistant at Kirby Smart's favorite position (defensive backs) at Georgia. I also know that jumping from position coach to Power Five head coach has its challenges -- especially at a place like Syracuse. Brown will have to learn on the fly.”