After a 10-day national search, Director of Athletics John Wildhack announced that Fran Brown was named the 31st head coach of the Syracuse football program. Brown is currently the defensive backs coach for the reigning national champion Georgia Bulldogs.
Wildhack said that Brown's recruiting resume made him the perfect candidate for the job, “Fran has clearly articulated a vision for the future of our football program, and he is a powerhouse recruiter with deep ties to the geographies from where we need to draw consistently.”
Brown started his career as the star quarterback for Camden High School. The New Jersey native then moved to cornerback and graduated from Western Carolina University after being named first team all SoCon and a team captain. He then spent two years in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals.
NEWS: @CuseFootball names Fran Brown its next head football coach.
— WAER Sports (@WAERSports) November 28, 2023
Brown is currently a defensive backs coach at Georgia and previously coached at Rutgers and Temple. pic.twitter.com/sedwPckMO3
In 2010, Brown started coaching just outside of Washington D.C. at Paul VI Catholic High School. After a year in one of the nation's hotbeds for football talent, Brown joined former Syracuse assistant Steve Addazio’s staff at Temple as the Assistant Director of Internal Operations. He quickly rose to the role of defensive backs coach in 2013. In 2014, Brown was named the top recruiter in the American Athletic Conference by Rivals.com. Later on, in 2016 Brown was named an associate head coach before following Matt Rhule to Baylor in 2017.
Brown spent two years in the Big 12 as the defensive backs coach and associate head coach before returning to Temple as the co-defensive coordinator for the 2019 season.
The following year, he was the first defensive assistant hired by Greg Schiano at Rutgers. Brown coached four Scarlet Knights to all Big-10 honors before being poached by Georgia. Brown spent two years with the Bulldogs and was named the nation's top recruiter by 247 Sports over the summer.
Matt Rhule, who was Brown's Head Coach from 2013-18, says Syracuse made the right decision, “Fran Brown will be a tremendous leader for the Syracuse program. His commitment to improving the lives of the players he coaches will only be matched by his passion for coaching on the field.”
Brown has coached and/or recruited NFL players P.J. Walker, Haason Reddick, Lewis Cline, Derion Kendrick, Harrison Hand, Tre Avery along with a handful of other professional football players in his young career.
The decision to bring in a new leader came after Dino Babers went 41-55 in eight seasons. Brown will be officially introduced as head coach at a press conference on Monday, Dec. 4.