Syracuse coach Fran Brown rebuffs reporter’s ‘disrespectful’ question about his future

Fran Brown didn’t appreciate being asked about leaving Syracuse.

The Syracuse coach bristled Monday when Javon Edmonds of Syracuse.com mentioned a recent article from The Athletic that named Brown as a candidate for the Penn State opening. And in doing so, the Syracuse beat writer gave Brown the chance to reassure fans he planned to stay.

“When you first got here, you said there’s no place you’d rather be than Syracuse,” Edmonds asked. “You sat down with The Athletic a few months ago, and they seem to think you’ve got a chance to leave for some ‘bigger job.’ Do you have anything you want to say to the Syracuse fan base to reassure them that this is where you want to be?”

Instead of answering the question directly, Brown questioned why Edmonds asked at all, called it disrespectful, and accused him of trying to manufacture controversy.

“I’m working at Syracuse right now, so I really don’t need to talk about that,” Brown replied. “If this wasn’t where I wanted to be at in the moment, would I be standing here at this moment? Yeah, so I’m just focused on that. I’m focused on being here. I’m locked in on coaching the players that I have here. This is where I work at. I think that’s disrespectful to even bring that up and ask that. Like, what’s the point in asking that? To make some media of me saying something opposite? They hired me to come here and do a job to coach this team, and that’s what I’m doing.”

“You trippin’, man,” Brown could be heard muttering after his answer. “You crazy.”

Brown continued taking questions for another four minutes before the press conference ended.

According to several people in attendance, Brown continued to take issue with the question after the press conference concluded. He alluded to doing something similar to what Deion Sanders did to Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler at Colorado, which would equate to banning him from asking questions at press conferences and team events.

Colorado barred Keeler from asking Sanders questions before the 2024 season, citing what the university called “a series of sustained, personal attacks.” Keeler had referred to Sanders as a “false prophet,” “Deposition Deion,” “Planet Prime,” and the “Bruce Lee of B.S.” in his columns. Sanders has a clause in his contract that only requires him to speak with “mutually agreed upon media,” which Colorado used to justify blocking Keeler from press conferences while still allowing him to be credentialed for games and practices.

The situations aren’t remotely similar. Keeler wrote pointed columns about Sanders over an extended period, including personal nicknames and characterizations. Edmonds asked Brown a straightforward question about whether he planned to stay at Syracuse after national reporters mentioned him as a candidate for a bigger job. One involved sustained criticism. The other was a beat reporter doing his job.

That national reporter was The Athletic’s Chris Vannini, who mentioned Brown as a candidate for the Penn State job in an article published Sunday. Penn State fired James Franklin after the Nittany Lions started 3-3 with three straight losses. The search for Franklin’s replacement has already begun, with athletic director Pat Kraft saying he’s “confident in our ability to attract elite candidates to lead our program.”

Syracuse head coach Fran Brown: He’s a New Jersey native who has coached at Temple, Rutgers and now Syracuse, so he knows the area well. Brown took the Orange to 10 wins in his first season and looked primed for another surprise year this season, before starting quarterback Steve Angeli was lost for the year. Brown’s approach to player movement and his connection with those players have made an immediate impact.

David Ubben, also of the New York Times-owned outlet, mentioned Brown as a potential candidate for other jobs, including in the SEC, even before Penn State opened up over the weekend.

Brown has ties to Penn State’s new AD. Brown worked at Temple under Kraft, first as a defensive backs coach under Matt Rhule in 2013. When the Temple head coaching job became available in December 2018, Brown interviewed but didn’t get the job. The job went to Manny Diaz, who hired Brown as assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator before leaving for Miami 17 days later. Brown interviewed for the Temple job again after Diaz left. Kraft gave it to Rod Carey instead.

Now, Kraft is at Penn State, and Brown is in his second year at Syracuse, having gone 10-3 in 2024. The Orange are 3-3 through six games this season. Brown has repeatedly said he’s committed to Syracuse in the long term. At his introductory press conference in December 2023, he said, “I’m here for life. I promise you that.”

Edmonds’ question wasn’t unreasonable. Brown’s name appeared in a national coaching search story less than 48 hours earlier. Syracuse fans watching the press conference wanted to know if their coach planned to stay. Brown had the opportunity to put the speculation to rest with a simple answer. Instead, he questioned Edmonds’ motives, called the question disrespectful, and later alluded to banning him from press conferences.

Asking a coach about his future after being mentioned as a candidate for another job isn’t disrespectful. It’s precisely what beat reporters are supposed to do.