Syracuse HC Sees Clemson Tigers as 'One of the Better Teams in the Country'

Regardless of record, every team seems to have a special feeling when the Clemson Tigers are on its schedule, and the Syracuse Orange are no different. 

Head coach Fran Brown spoke to the media on Tuesday, describing the matchup against Clemson as exciting but putting the team’s focus on another game week. 

“Excited about the chance to compete against Clemson,” Brown said. “Head coach Dabo Swinney is one of the best coaches in college football, hands down top five coaches there is. He’s a really good football coach, I think he does an amazing job.”

The Tigers have begun with the worst start to a season since 2014, with a losing record not happening often under the coaching of Swinney. Clemson kicked off the year with competitive opponents, losing to LSU and Georgia Tech in the first three weeks. Both of the teams are now in the Top 25, while the Tigers are not. 

Brown still believes that this team is one of the best in the country, echoing the testimony of coaches and players on Clemson’s side that the Tigers are a few plays away from being undefeated. 

“I think they’re a good football team,” he said. “I think they could easily be 3-0; it’s a couple of plays, and they’ll easily be 3-0. They could easily still be talked about as one of the best teams in the country, right, one of the better teams in the country, and I think that’s who they are. They have one of the better coaches and teams.”

Brown is in his second year with the Orange, continuing to build a culture that will give the team a message to follow. At Clemson, Swinney has created a passionate culture since he first began in 2009, and that’s something that the Orange admire. 

The Syracuse head coach is expecting a sold-out 82,000 Memorial Stadium crowd, saying that he jokingly needed to ask students on campus to help him create noise for his offense. 

“I’m excited to go compete against those guys,” he said. “There are some good football players. They’ve got a good culture there, so it’s going to be fun to go up to Death Valley to have the opportunity to go play, and especially with us building our culture and them having a strong culture.”

Brown described Clemson as “loaded on offense”, expecting players like quarterback Cade Klubnik and receivers Bryant Wesco Jr. and T.J. Moore to carry the unit’s weight. On the flip side, the former Georgia defensive backs coach says that the Tiger defense has “one of the better front sevens in the country.

“They’re good, like they’re really good,” he said. “I can't wait to play against them, though, just to see where we are. Our offensive line is going to compete their butts off, but they’re nice.”

Brown’s ready to see how much his team will measure up against Clemson, being excited to go into Memorial Stadium as an opposing head coach and “just have fun” with his team. 

“I’ve been loving football since I was a little kid, so to be able to go and coach at a stadium like this and to be there, and it’s going to be sold out,” the head coach said. “It’s going to be fun.”

Clemson and Syracuse will kick off at noon on Saturday.