National experts at 247Sports and CBS Sports are ranking the 68 head coaches at the power-four conference level, and Syracuse football boss Fran Brown moved up a bunch from a year ago.
Then again, he was next-to-last in the May 2024 iteration of this list. Still, Brown was fabulous in his first season as the Orange's head coach, which was also his first campaign as a college football head coach.
The 'Cuse had a prolific offense and scored three wins over top-25 foes in the 2024 stanza. Syracuse football would triumph in its bowl game and finish No. 20 overall in the final Associated Press top-25 poll.
As such, as we look ahead to the upcoming 2025 season, 247Sports and CBS Sports have placed Brown at No. 46, a jump of 21 spots from the prior year.
The write-up on Brown from CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli: "Any time you greatly exceed expectations in a season, you'll find yourself climbing in our rankings, and Brown did just that. He was ranked 67th last year as a first-time head coach and then went 10-3 at Syracuse. Now, he climbs 21 spots. Can he pull off the encore?"
Syracuse football head coach Fran Brown is ahead of an NFL legend.
Bill Belichick won numerous Super Bowls as a head coach in the NFL. Now he's heading into his first season as the head coach of fellow Atlantic Coast Conference school North Carolina, and there's daily articles about his personal life.
Belichick checks in at No. 54 overall. Fornelli says, "Now, here's an interesting case study of how our voters think. Belichick has won six Super Bowls as a head coach and two as an assistant. He's widely considered one of the greatest football coaches of all time. And I had him 66th on my ballot. Why? Because none of that success has happened at the college level. Our John Talty had him at 19 because he's Bill Belichick. In the end, he finished here. It'll be interesting to see where he's ranked a year from now."
I'm with Fornelli. Belichick has never served as a head coach for a college squad, so how can he get ranked high if that's the case? The Tar Heels, by the way, travel to the JMA Wireless Dome to battle Syracuse football on Halloween. Should be a hoot.
Now, I did take issue with Colorado head coach Deion Sanders arriving at No. 33. Granted, he's been a college head coach for more years than Brown, although the Buffaloes went 9-4 in 2024, while the Orange sported a 10-3 mark.
Of course, these sorts of rankings are mainly just to ignite fun conversations and debates. I'm glad 247Sports and CBS Sports recognized Brown's special 2024 term. I can't wait for the 2025 season to get going.