Five Takeaways From Fran Brown's Introductory Press Conference

1. Recruiting Geography & Approach

How he recruits: "I was always able to go out and recruit and get the best players, but it wasn't because I was saying all this stuff or selling all this stuff at Temple," Brown said. "It was because of relationships. It's continuously talking to them. It was talking to them about life. Helping young men become closer to the man above. I was told, ever since I was a little kid, the reason I'm here now is because my grandmother before she passed, I would always hear Jesus lives in your heart. Jesus lives in your heart. And I lived that and I believe that. That's how I recruit. I recruit just being genuine. I'm telling the kids the truth. I got them to come to school because they wanted to be closer to Christ or Allah or whoever it is you may believe in. They want to get a degree. And they don't just want a degree, they want to be educated. Come to school and get educated. I'm telling all the kids now, the reason you should come to Syracuse is just because you're coming here you're going to be successful for the rest of your life... The same way I'm talking to you is the same I'm going to recruit." 

Brown added that he's going to recruit depth, he's going to recruit difference makers and he is not afraid of recruiting against any coach in the country.

Geographical targets: "First we're going to take care of our backyard," Brown said. "So from Canada to the DMV. I told coach Smart before I left, 'you got all these guys now, out of respect being down there where I was at. You guys got the players now. Don't come back up north.' He laughed at me and he giggled and said, 'yeah I ain't wasting my time no more.' But we'll be from Canada through the DMV. We're going to have little spots where we can spot recruit because I've been in Florida. I've recruited well there. I've done a good job in Texas, the west coast. I was always told, I have an uncle he's funny, he always said, 'Earth's your turf.' So it don't really matter but we're going to take care of our backyard from Canada all the way down. That's where they won in the past with Pasqualoni and DeLeone. They truly won in Connecticut, in New Jersey, they went to the DMV and got some good players. They spot recruited Florida and brought some good players down. Philadelphia. So I'm going to follow that same blueprint because it worked. They had a lot of pros." 

2. All in on Syracuse

Pasqualoni & DeLeone Connection: "I'm going to continuously talk about the Pasqualoni and DeLeone era," Brown said. "I got a chance to work with DeLeone and I've seen how he worked. I've tried to mimic it. I could never be as good of a coach as DeLeone was. He forgot more football than I know. So I'll never be on that level of it, so when I do it I'm going to promise him, because my wife still talks to Miss Barb (DeLeone's wife), we're going to bust our butt to get this thing back that way... I made the call to Pasqualoni. I said, 'coach, how would you feel if I became the head coach at Syracuse?' He said, 'well I haven't been there in 20 years. I don't really have a say in that. I talked to John, he's a good guy, I went back for Dwight Freeney's Hall of Fame thing, but just the fact that you're calling, that's commendable. I appreciate that.' And I said, 'well, would you be OK with it?' He said, 'if they pick you, you've got my blessings.' I went full tilt after the job after that guys." 

Why Syracuse: "Everybody asks that, why Syracuse?" Brown said. "The reason why is because when I was in the ninth grade, we just got to high school. They got all the kids in the city of Camden, all the little league, we all got on a bus and we rode to Rutherford Stadium. Donovin Darius was playing. We all got a chance to see Syracuse play against Wisconsin. Now, Ron Dayne went on to win the Heisman, but his butt got shut down that day. We were all happy to see Donovin and we got a chance to meet Donovan McNabb. Got a chance to meet all these great coaches. So as you continue to hear me, that's my envision of Syracuse. That's what I saw. That's what I want." 

Not a stepping stone: "Listen guys, I'm from Camden," Brown said. "Every coach gets up here and says, 'this is home. I'm never going nowhere.' Then three years later he's trying to get a new job or new contract. Guys I come from welfare baby. I'm good. I don't have to have that Family First card no more. I'm here for life. I promise you that. I got that little girl until she turns about 12, 13 years old, she's two, that's when I'm going to step away and go take care of my daughter. But you've got my word. My name is all I've got, I've been taught that my whole life. I will be here. I will bust my butt to be the coach. I saw other teams in the ACC a few years ago with national championships here. So it's going to happen here." 

He's fully at Syracuse now, not splitting time with Georgia: "I told my wife right after we got done with the SEC Championship...I was just like, 'I'm the head coach at Syracuse.' I won't go back. I'm here to support my guys. I'm here to do everything possible...I'm completely here. I'm locked in here. I'm out here recruiting. We're trying to have an official visit coming up this weekend. We're full tilt man." 

Wants alumni back and involved: "Come to practice. I want to see you at practice. I need you around. These guys need to know who you are. I want you at practice...I'd rather have you at practice than have your money. I want your money too though. But come practice. We want to have you at practice. I want to get your thoughts. I want to know how you feel, I want to know what you see. Because this is your program. There's nothing like being able to go to work and being able to talk trash about your team. To know how well they're doing and know what's going on. I want everybody at practice. I don't care when you played or where it was, whatever era you were from, you are welcome if you were on this football team." 

3. DART

DNA traits: "I want to talk about DNA traits," Brown said. "We talk about discipline and then the mission. That's all we're worried about is the mission in front of us. I talked to the guys yesterday and talked about not really focusing on September. I want them to focus on this week. I write a schedule. I'm a detailed schedule guy... We're writing all this down and I do this every single night. I make sure I'm ready for the next day, and I dominate that day. So I'm teaching my guys about 168. That's how many hours in the week. I don't need you to be ready for September right now. I just need them to be ready to practice for the bowl game. Then when January gets here, we're going to dominate January. Then we're going to dominate February. And before you know it, we're just making little climbs. We're catching them inch by inch by inch by inch. That's what we'll be about."

DART: "You're going to see a lot of darts around," Brown said. "Darts going all over. We're going to make sure we're throwing them. If you're involved in NIL like they were talking about, we might throw you a big dart. It's Detail. Accountable. Relentless and Tough. I'm going to continuously say that. Are you detailed? Are you accountable? Are you relentless? Are you tough? You can do that in all aspects of your life." 

4. Developing Coaches in Addition to Players

"You look at Elijah Robinson, who I played with in high school, I want him to go be a head football coach," Brown said. "I think it's my job to equip and inspire the entire staff. So I want guys that want to move up, that want to advance. That's going to challenge each other to be able to go. My message to them is to come because I'm going to get you where you need to get to. The same way I do with the guys, with the players, I can also do that with adults...Coming here is only going to elevate your career." 

5. Authentic

Fran Brown came across as incredibly authentic throughout the press conference. From sharing parts of his background in Camden, New Jersey, to his upbringing, to his work ethic stating multiple times he is going to bust his butt. He seemed extremely genuine. It is easy to see why recruits love him, players love him, coaches respect him and why Syracuse hired him. 

"My mother had me at 13 years old turning 14," Brown said. "By the age of 21, she had four boys. So you're talking about hard? I was the dirty kid that they tried to crack jokes on. I was the guy who went to school and didn't have the stuff everybody else had. But what I knew what I wasn't going to do, because I had an uncle called Charles Brown, he told me 'don't ever ever ever allow your situation to dictate your outcome.' Make the best of 'em. You dominate. You get up and walk every single day with the next foot forward. So I bust my butt. A lot of tears, I got a lot of pain inside of me guys. This isn't just for me. This is for the community."