Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

Fran Brown doesn’t like to think ahead. Nor does he dwell on the past. He tries to stay grounded in the present moment. So when asked about Syracuse’s 2025 schedule — which ESPN deemed the hardest Power 4 away-from-home schedule — Brown was dismissive.

“There’s so much more to life than just worrying about an event that you can’t be a part of now,” Brown said during his first training camp media availability Thursday. “So I just try to dominate everything in front of me. Mental toughness is to be where your feet are, so we just gonna be right here.”

Syracuse kicks off its regular season against Tennessee in Atlanta, Georgia, exactly 30 days from now. There are numerous questions surrounding the program after an impressive 10 wins in Brown’s debut season. Who will replace Kyle McCord at quarterback? Can the Orange deal with their mammoth schedule?

All of those will be answered in due time. For now, it’s just a waiting game.

Here are some takeaways from Brown’s first press conference of the summer:

Quarterback battle

Steve Angeli threw a wrench into Syracuse’s quarterback plans when he transferred to SU from Notre Dame on April 23. Fifteen days earlier, Brown named former LSU quarterback Rickie Collins the starter after he joined the Orange prior to the spring. With Collins having three years of eligibility remaining, it looked like Syracuse had its quarterback for the foreseeable future.

Now things are a little bit more complicated, as Collins and Angeli are battling it out for the starting job. With no clear winner in sight, it wasn’t surprising that the competition was the first thing Brown was questioned about.

“It’s 51-49. We gotta say Rickie is ahead because he was here in the spring,” Brown said of how they’re splitting up the starting quarterback snaps. “So I would say 51-49, 52-48, something of that nature. But you gotta watch the tape now.”

In Angeli and Collins, Syracuse has two players from well-respected programs who lack experience as starting quarterbacks.

Angeli has the slight advantage over Collins in that regard. He deputized for Riley Leonard in the Orange Bowl against Penn State, when the starting quarterback was forced out with an injury.

Collins, meanwhile, has the pedigree as a former Elite 11 quarterback. The redshirt sophomore also transferred in December, and his familiarity with the staff was a significant reason why Brown gave him the slight advantage to start camp.

Though Angeli also has ties to Syracuse’s staff. Nunzio Campanile’s brother, Vito, coached him at Bergen Catholic in New Jersey. When Brown was at Rutgers, he tried recruiting Angeli during his junior year, but had little success.

“He didn’t answer the phone,” Brown said. “He was acting funny, and I reminded him of that. I said, ‘Your punk a** ain’t picked the phone up when I was calling you at the other spot.’ He talked to me one time, and then he never picked up again. That’s the game.”

Whoever wins the starting job between Angeli and Collins has big shoes to fill. McCord set every SU passing record he could and propelled the program back into the national spotlight.

As for what Brown’s looking for in his starting quarterback, it’s pretty simple.

“Leadership on everything,” Brown said. “When I look at players, and as soon as I ask anybody, who do you think is really who’s a leader on the football team? Everybody just naturally says (the quarterback). That’s what I look for when it comes to a quarterback, just a leader.”

Trench work

One of Brown’s main observations so far is that Syracuse is bigger in the trenches than they were last year. Brown spent two seasons at Georgia, which produces some of the best defensive linemen each year. He placed an emphasis on dominating up front in his approach to the transfer portal.

The Orange lost offensive linemen David Wohlabaugh Jr. and Enrique Cruz Jr. to the portal, but replaced them with Zach Rice, T.J. Ferguson and Kam Pringle, who are all over 6-foot-4 and 300 pounds. Austin Collins was also another key addition, after the guard played 31 games for Louisville across the past few seasons.

“I think there’s going to be some competition going on up there,” Brown said of the offensive line “They’re going to compete. You know, I feel like we’re solidified two deep both ways.”

Brown highlighted the freshman duo of Byron Washington and Matthew Hawn as examples of players who are “competing their butts off” to get playing time. Washington is an intriguing 6-foot-7, 380-pound freshman, while Hawn is a local product from Christian Brothers Academy.

Brown has a number of options to choose from when it comes to assembling his starting offensive line. He mentioned that Joshua Miller is challenging Collins for the starting center position, but didn’t specify much else.

Leaders stepping up

Brown emphasized that he wants Syracuse to become a player-led team and not just a coaches-led team. Without McCord and others like Justin Barron and Marlowe Wax, there’s a void in veteran leadership. When asked about players who are stepping up and being more vocal, he gave plenty of examples on both sides of the ball.

Defensively, he mentioned players like Devin Grant, Duce Chestnut, defensive lineman Dion “Tank” Wilson Jr. and Derek McDonald. On the offensive end, Brown named the wide receiver trio of Darrell Gill, Johntay Cook II and Justus Ross-Simmons, along with running backs Will Nixon and Yasin Wilis.

“Everyone leads in their own way, and we want them to be leaders, but leadership is earned,” Brown said. “You may lead today, but then with us tomorrow, you’re not a leader. Leaders do it consistently. Even when they are down, they’re consistently leading.”

Preseason Poll

For the second straight season, Syracuse was picked to finish 12th in the ACC preseason poll. The Orange ended up finishing fourth last season, so it’s difficult to put much stock in preseason rankings. Brown didn’t seem too concerned with the placement, saying they’ll either get to prove them right or wrong, saying “we’re just going to focus on us.”

“They’re the experts, right? I’m just gonna be able to just, like, focus on us. I’m just living daily, not really worrying about that my entire life,” Brown said. “They got a job to do, right? And they’re just trying to go off of what they have and what they feel. They’re getting information, and they’re making decisions off of the information they get.”

Published on July 31, 2025 at 5:58 pm
Contact Zak: zakwolf784254@gmail.com | @ZakWolf22