It’s no secret that Fran Brown did wonders for Syracuse football in his first season at the helm. Ten wins, a destination for quarterback transfers, an elite recruiter, what can’t the man do? Despite finishing fourth in the ACC Coach Of The Year voting, you just knew there was going to be some hardware coming the coach’s way, and that came today.
The first award headed to the 315 was the Paul “Bear” Bryant Newcomer Coach Of The Year honor, which makes perfect sense. This award honors the top coach each year with no previous FBS experience. Brown joins Northwestern’s David Braun as the only two coaches to ever receive the award that was recently created. This one is 110% deserved, as Brown led the Orange to their first 10-win season since 2018. It’s a shame SU couldn’t contend for the ACC this year, cause imagine the awards that would’ve come flying in if the Orange had an opportunity in this College Football Playoff, which has proven that anyone can compete.
The other award being taken home by Brown is the Steve Spurrier First Year Coach Award presented by the Football Writer’s Association Of America. Brown is Syracuse’s first coaching honoree from the FWAA since 1987 when Dick MacPherson won the Eddie Robinson Award as the National Coach of the Year. Ben Schwartzwalder also won it at Syracuse in 1959. Brown took home the award over Boise State’s Spencer Danielson and Duke’s Manny Diaz, who SU did not face off with this season. Brown coached twelve Syracuse players to be named to All-ACC teams, the program’s most since joining the conference in 2013 despite its expansion to 17 teams.
I don’t have to sit here and explain to you how much of an impact Fran Brown made on Syracuse football because we all lived it. What I can say though is that the bar has significantly shot up after this first season, and 2025 will certainly be an interesting season, to say the least. Buckle up.
