In a wide-ranging interview on Wednesday with ESPN Radio Syracuse, head coach Fran Brown discussed the decision by Syracuse football star wide receiver Trebor Pena to enter the transfer portal, among other topics.
Word broke a day earlier that Pena, an All-ACC performer during the 2024 season, would head to the portal, a move that stunned a lot of Orange fans. Pena was the team's leading receiver from a stanza ago, and he would have likely been the program's top WR threat in the upcoming 2025 term, along with being a solid return man.
Did you miss Fran Brown's interview today? The one where he discussed Trebor Pena, and Rickie Collins, and the transfer portal? That's your mistake...
— Cuse Sports Talk (@CuseSportsTalk_) April 16, 2025
Luckily, we have it posted in full on our YouTube page.https://t.co/xTrK8KpKOy
Brown said regarding Pena, who will be a redshirt senior in 2025, that the 'Cuse had "paid him enough ... He was going to get paid more. But there were some numbers that were asked of me that I didn’t feel I would be able to do everything that was needed."
Ultimately, Brown told Pena, "You’ve got to go." The spring transfer portal window in college football runs from April 16 to April 25. Pena, who has already been linked to several potential college suitors, including fellow Atlantic Coast Conference school Miami, is a four-star transfer prospect, according to 247Sports.
More Syracuse football players will likely head to the transfer portal.
Per Brown's radio interview, media reports and some posts on X, Pena also appeared to express concern over whether the Orange's starting quarterback in 2025, LSU three-star transfer and rising redshirt sophomore Rickie Collins, would be good enough.
Fran Brown on Trebor Pena's decision to enter the transfer portal:
— Cuse Sports Talk (@CuseSportsTalk_) April 16, 2025
"First off I love the kid.... We paid him enough, he was going to get paid more... There was some numbers that was asked of me that I didn't think we'd be able to do."
"That ain’t your freaking job to be thinking that," Brown added. "I ain’t got time for you to be doing all that stuff. ... When they start trying to do your job and think too much, you’ve got to go. It’s no point in them being there."
I'm wishing Trebor all the best. I really am. And I'm not privy to all the convos between him and the Syracuse football coaching staff. That being said, 'Cuse stuck by Trebor when he was injured. I'll leave it at that. Wishing him well. Go get paid. https://t.co/qBJ1c16ByL
— InsideTheLoudHouse (@LoudHouseFS) April 16, 2025
While I'm wishing Pena nothing but great success moving forward, and if he can get paid more in NIL at another school good for him, assuming these comments he reportedly made about Collins are accurate, this really rubs me the wrong way.
I'll just leave it at that.
NIL deals are getting more and more inflated, and with revenue-sharing likely on the horizon in the 2025-26 sports season, the numbers will only go up, in my opinion. Brown, to that end, said he wasn't going to pay a wide receiver $2 million in NIL funds.
“Sometimes, people be asking for an outrageous number,” Brown said. “You’re not about to make more than every coordinator."
Best of luck, Trebor.