After Dino Babers was fired as Syracuse’s head coach, a lot of talk ensued about what the SU job meant, and who would be the right man for it. We listed candidates that experts were talking about and had reported on and analyzed those and who could be the best option. We bought into rumors, like Dan Mullen, but apparently, that was not true at all, as John Wildhack told syracuse.com earlier this week.
“I don’t know where this originated and it kind of had a life of its own, but I never met with Dan Mullen,” Wildhack said to syracuse.com. “I never talked to him about this job, let alone him being on campus and meeting with him. None of that.”
He then doubled down ever further: “Never talked to Dan. Never interviewed Dan. Never talked by phone. Never communicated by text. Email. Never,” the Syracuse Director of Athletics said to syracuse.com.
In those early stages of the search, the name Fran Brown was never mentioned, but around Friday/Saturday, he started to pop up in a couple of different places, and by Sunday it was all but sealed that he would be Syracuse’s next head coach as long as there were no trip-ups as the process moved through the hierarchy of the hiring process.
In May, Brown appeared on the “Keep it a Buck” podcast, Brown talked a lot about himself and what allows him to thrive in the college football world, something SU fans will want to take a listen to to learn more about their new head coach.
“If you’re around me, you’re going to be successful,” Brown said via syracuse.com. “I don’t care who you are. We’re around each other, I’m gonna motivate you and push you ‘cause I’m gonna work.”
In terms of maybe the most important thing in college football today and definitely in Syracuse, recruiting success and improvement, Brown said that what he’s looking for is a combination of things.
“There’s a certain level of talent you need to be on to play in whatever conference it is,” Brown said via syracuse.com. “There’s a certain size that I’m gonna look for. Size, height, and speed. And then I’m gonna into your character. You gotta be able to play. You gotta have the size. And you gotta have the right character.
After reading this, it’s hard not the buy what Brown is selling. There is a reason he beat out the likes of Holy Cross’ Bob Chesney and Toldeo’s Jason Candle, already head coaches, for the job considering he is only a position coach. He won the room and wanted the Syracuse job, not any job, this specific job.
“I see certain guys at other places, they coach for the logo. That makes sense,” Brown said on the podcast via syracuse.com. “We all are at a university that we love, that pays us, that helps us and that I think is also helping build our own brand. But without the logo can you do the same things? A lot of people can’t do it. They don’t really talk to them the right way. They aren’t on the phone with them. They’re not helping build kids up. They’re getting it off because they have a certain logo. There are certain things, certain logos, that mean a lot, and without the logo, who are you?”
