To listen is to lead, explains Fran Brown, Syracuse University’s charismatic new head football coach. “I have a great staff, and I’ve learned a lot from listening to them.”
The former Georgia defensive backs coach has turned listening into an art form since arriving on campus last December. It’s enabled him to build trust with his players while endearing himself to a new generation of Orange fans.
Brown, who earned his coaching chops at Rutgers, Temple and Baylor, understands the changing landscape of DI football. “He has deep ties to geographies from where we need to draw,” says Director of Athletics John Wildhack ’80, regarding the football factories of the Northeast, Deep South and Southwest. “Our future is bright.”
“We’re putting Syracuse football back on the map,” says Head Coach Fran Brown, formerly Georgia’s defensive backs coach.
In a matter of months, Brown has reenergized a program seeking its first conference championship in 20 years. He’s also created a culture that re-envisions success on the field, in the classroom and throughout the community.
“We’re putting Syracuse football back on the map,” declares the 42-year-old native of Camden, New Jersey.
A nationally renowned recruiter, Brown fields a deep bench of talent that includes high-profile transfer students, like senior Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord, and a quartet of four-star prospects, more than the past five seasons combined.
Of course, building—and sustaining—a football powerhouse takes time. And player buy-in. And a keen ability to “manage chaos” on both sides of the ball, Brown continues. “I know we can do it.”
DART-Like Motion
Brown subscribes to an acronymic philosophy called DART. “It means being detailed, accountable, relentless and tough,” says the former cornerback for Western Carolina and the Cincinnati Bengals. “DART is who Syracuse is as a team. It’s our identity.”
Brown embraces a self-styled concept called DART (Detailed, Accountable, Relentless and Tough) that permeates the entire program, on and off the field.
Brown’s reputation is so strong, so inspiring, that it virtually precedes him. Consider the following:
- His out-of-the-blue call to Wildhack last fall, literally minutes before the director phoned him about the Syracuse job—an incident that smacked of “divine intervention,” Wildhack recalls.
- Brown’s 5:50 a.m. call to football legend Maurice “Moe” Jackson ’02, the day after Syracuse hired him, to introduce himself and discuss the creation of a “pipeline of talent” with Jackson’s Aquinas Institute of Rochester program. Brown has since established or re-established relationships with other high school coaches throughout the region.
- McCord entering the transfer portal literally hours after Brown’s Syracuse appointment. Three weeks later, the 2023 All-Big Ten honoree, whom the coach had followed since junior high, headlined the highest-ranking recruiting class in Orange football history.
- Mandatory community service for the entire football program. Last spring, Brown’s players racked up some 2,000 volunteer hours, whose charitable economic impact was estimated at $20,000.
“Their success is my No. 1 priority,” Brown continues. “They’re students, first; athletes, second.”
“Their success is my No. 1 priority,” says Brown of his student-athletes.
Turning Adversity Into Opportunity
Syracuse Defensive Coordinator Elijah Robinson grew up with Brown in Camden. He recalls Brown’s grit and self-reliance, a knack for turning adversity into opportunity.
“I know the Francis Brown who would drink a gallon of water because he didn’t have enough money for food and [who] went to sleep early, so he wouldn’t have to think about being hungry,” Robinson told ESPN.
Considered the nation’s top recruiter, Brown has assembled a deep bench of high-profile transfers and four-star prospects. “He’s exactly who we need to take Syracuse football to the next level,” says Athletics Director John Wildhack ’80.
It’s the same Francis Brown who was named 247Sports National Recruiter of the Year in February.
Who helped draw a record 16,500 fans to the squad’s Spring Game.
Who has signed more than 40 players to Syracuse from the Northeast, four of whom attended Camden High, where Brown, as a quarterback, set a season record with 47 touchdown passes.
Who regularly volunteers with his wife and two sons at Syracuse City schools, The Salvation Army and the Rescue Mission.
Brown aspires to be more than a winning coach or an elite recruit; he wants to be a good person, Wildhack surmises. “He’s exactly who we need to take Syracuse football to the next level.”
And for the doggedly determined, innately curious Brown, he plans to keep an ear to the ground. Because the secret to speaking is in listening.
