F
ran Brown needed his closest allies by his side if he was going to turn Syracuse’s program around.
So, when Brown traveled from Georgia on SU’s private jet to begin his tenure in December 2023, he arrived at Hancock International Airport with his family on board. As the Browns exited the jet and were greeted by the Orange’s administration and band, the expected parties emerged: his wife, Teara, their daughter, Ivy, and Brown’s sons Fran Jr. and Brayden.
Though one more member came off the plane. Sporting gray slacks, a Syracuse jacket and glasses, Aaron Mannicci trailed a few feet behind the family. The newly minted head coach brought his ace recruiter with him.
Mannicci’s served as Brown’s go-to guy since the two were paired together at Temple in 2019 when Mannicci was a student intern and Brown led the Owls’ defensive backs and operated as a co-defensive coordinator. In just one year as the Orange’s director of scouting, he’s helped them elevate their recruiting game toward the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference and turn in a 10-win season.
As they’ve risen through the ranks together across stints at Rutgers, Georgia and now SU, Mannicci and Brown have formed a bond beyond the athletes scouted and victories accumulated. Mannicci’s become a part of the Brown family, emerging as one of Brown’s top confidants from the tarmac to the gridiron and anywhere in between.
“It’s representative of the relationship I have with his family, the relationship that we’ve had and the trust he has in me,” Mannicci said of arriving in Syracuse with the Browns.
“I trust him,” Brown said of Mannicci. “It’s my little brother. We family.”
Mannicci, 26, leads a department that’s become vital to SU’s success since Brown’s arrival. Because the ever-changing landscape of college football mixes NIL with an expected revenue-sharing model for on-field achievements, accurate evaluation on both high school and transfer players is essential. The newly formed front office acts as a filter for the coaching staff, answering questions on recruits before they even step foot on campus for a visit.
Do they fit the scheme? Can their measurables be further developed? How would they match the locker room culture?
Mannicci’s oldest brother, Corey, said Mannicci hasn’t played a down of organized football since he was around 11 years old. His small stature and lean build often make him an outlier in a profession filled with former high-level players.
But his immense knowledge of the game has established him as a trusted figure in building the roster alongside former General Manager Nate McNeal, current GM Thomas Caporale and the coaching staff. SU Defensive Coordinator Elijah Robinson told Mannicci’s father, Mike, if Mannicci tells him to watch an athlete, he does it.
Mannicci’s days are spontaneous. He attempts to structure his schedule perfectly, but there are always unplanned tasks that arise. Primarily, he judges as much talent as possible to be prepared when decisions must be made.
Temple Director of Player Engagement Isaac Ijalana, who worked with Mannicci at Rutgers, said Mannicci could list at least 50 recruits off the top of his head at any time to improve a roster. His process is key to the engine running behind closed doors.
“Every class, everybody that was on the board, Aaron knew who these guys were,” McNeal said. “He’s the guy that had the evaluation on deck. When somebody asked what we think about a player, Aaron was always on top of that.”
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Ahead of his freshman year of college in 2017, Mannicci reached out to Temple football Communications Director Rich Burg to get involved in the football program. He earned an internship with the communications department and did anything he could to contribute. That meant at times picking up the catered media meals for Monday press conferences while balancing contributions in statistics and game notes with his academic responsibilities.
However, after two years in the department, Mannicci told Burg he wanted to transition into recruiting. Burg walked Mannicci down the hall and introduced him to then-Temple Director of On-Campus Recruiting Reggie Garrett. From there, Mannicci had his foot in the door.
Temple’s program was in disarray at the time, with head coach Geoff Collins leaving for Georgia Tech, Manny Diaz taking over for less than three weeks before returning to Miami and Rod Carey eventually stepping in. But through all the shifting of staff, Brown found his way back to Temple at the perfect time for Mannicci to make an impression.
Mannicci first heard of Brown through Temple’s coaching search, when Diaz and Carey were both picked over him. Each intern was set to be paired with a positional coach, and when Brown became the defensive backs coach on the staff, Mannicci wanted to be placed with him.
During winter break amid the coaching changes, Mannicci was out to dinner with his mother, Deb, when he explained his desire to work with Brown. He researched Brown’s recruiting prowess and watched a YouTube video of Brown at Baylor. As Mannicci explained to his mother his aspirations, Deb came up with a simple solution.
“Why don’t you just ask to be paired with Fran?” Mannicci remembers her saying.
When the break ended, Mannicci went to McNeal, then Temple’s director of player personnel, and asked if assignments had been made yet. They had. Mannicci was with Brown. McNeal said the pairings were largely randomized, though with some consideration given to the proximity of their hometowns.
But the randomness forged something special. Eventually, as many of the other interns met with the group before going to their position coaches, Mannicci reported directly to Brown.
Mannicci’s devotion to scouting grew through his fandom for the Kansas City Chiefs. Despite growing up in Pennsylvania, Mannicci took after his father’s love for the Chiefs and watched games weekly, overjoyed with enthusiasm at each win and anguished at each defeat. His mother said Mannicci often came home from school and mapped out plays, rosters and articles to organize his thoughts about the sport. Playing Madden NFL and participating in fantasy drafts aided his fixation on roster building.
Sports writing became a passion for Mannicci, and he began blogging about the Chiefs at 13. He cultivated a fanbase that asked him for prospect evaluations or training camp details, despite Mannicci not being present. Years later, he furthered his dedication with the guidance of Brown.
Working mostly on defensive backs, Brown taught Mannicci the detailed analysis required to distinguish the best from the rest. When looking at measurables, Mannicci locked in on specific speeds, heights and wingspans. On film, he examined players’ first steps and hand usage. McNeal said each week, the interns were tasked with “scout school” where they’d need to bring a player for the group to watch. Mannicci’s reports were always detailed, and his players were gems.
However, the ordinary constraints of a workday can only go so far. Mannicci’s off-the-clock sacrifices helped him earn Brown’s unwavering trust. As Mannicci and his roommates, Pat Kolb and Matt McCarthy, indulged in the typical college-kid life of spending late nights playing video games or preparing to go out to a bar, the night was interrupted by a phone call.
Around 10-11 p.m., Brown would call Mannicci to watch recruits and analyze them together. Kolb said Mannicci would then go upstairs to his bedroom and disappear for hours to call with Brown.
“Once he got that opportunity, he made sure he was as prepared as possible at all times,” Kolb said. “If he got a call at five in the morning or 11 at night, he was gonna answer it.”
Aaron Mannicci talks with Syracuse Co-Defensive Coordinator and Linebackers Coach Robert Wright ahead of SU’s Spring Game. Mannicci is now the Orange’s director of scouting and was one of Fran Brown’s first hires. Leonardo Eriman | Photo Editor
Mannicci and Brown’s chemistry strengthened with the Owls, but Brown received an opportunity to move elsewhere he couldn’t pass up. After the 2019 season, Greg Schiano was hired for his second stint at Rutgers, where he added Brown to his staff as the defensive backs coach. It was bittersweet for Mannicci. He admittedly was happy for Brown, but disappointed they wouldn’t be working together anymore.
Yet Brown had a vision beyond the Scarlet Knights. And Mannicci was at the center of it.
“I remember him looking me right in my eyes in his office. He’s like, ‘We can keep working together. We’re gonna outwork everybody. We’re gonna get one of these big Northeast jobs,’” Mannicci said Brown told him. “I said to him, ‘I’d love to be there when you do.’ He’s like, ‘Bro, what are you talking about? You’re gonna meet me at the front door.’”
Despite working for two different programs, Brown and Mannicci continued to work together, whether late at night or between the hours of 5-7 a.m. Mannicci began doing so many tasks for Brown that he realized it was best to step away from his position at Temple. Instead of telling McNeal the true reason, he said he needed to focus on his grades.
With a year left as a student at Temple, Mannicci considered transferring to Rutgers to join Brown. Deb and Mike spoke with Brown, who reassured them Mannicci should finish his degree at Temple. A spot at Rutgers would be open once he did. Two months after he graduated from Temple in 2021, Mannicci joined the staff as a player development assistant.
Ijalana described the task at Rutgers as a “jack of all trades,” with undefined roles that required flexibility at all times. Phil Guard, who lived with Mannicci while working together at Rutgers and served on Brown’s first staff at SU, said they’d often deliver food to players due to COVID-19 restrictions and perform other tasks like monitoring study halls.
Mannicci said Brown helped him find comfort in his role. By the time he arrived in New Brunswick, many coworkers already knew him because of Brown. And the grind never stopped.
On Jan. 23, 2022, Mannicci and Guard raced home from a TopGolf development staff event to watch their teams, the Chiefs and Bills, square off in the AFC Divisional Round. In an instant classic where Kansas City and Buffalo traded four scores across the final two minutes, Brown called Mannicci to evaluate a player in the middle of the third quarter. Just as he did at Temple, Mannicci sacrificed anything to contribute.
“He pulled the kid up, he started evaluating them and the game took second priority,” Guard said. “This is the worst time to call, but (Brown) knew Aaron was gonna drop it and get to work.”
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With Mannicci by his side, Brown evolved into one of the top defensive backs coaches in the country. Coming off a national championship, Georgia lost defensive backs coach Jahmile Addae to Miami and tapped Brown as his replacement. Entering 2022, Mannicci was at a crossroads.
While Brown helped start his career at Rutgers, Mannicci now had options on the table. McNeal became the director of player personnel at Illinois in 2022 and wanted to hire Mannicci to his staff. The Fighting Illini flew Mannicci out for a few days to interview and offered him a job.
Though Corey said he had an offer to join Brown at Georgia for less money and in a less significant role. Mike said the family debated for several days, but the decision eventually became apparent.
“He really wanted to stick it out with Fran,” Corey said. “He believed in Fran. Fran believed in him.”
With the Bulldogs, Mannicci became a part of what fellow staffer and current Michigan Assistant Director of Recruiting John Collins described as “The Dawg Pound.” The group was the first of its kind in college football, where a staff full of post-grad assistants built up the personnel department. Collins said the goal was to not let a single player within a six-hour driving distance of Athens go unnoticed. Every player in the transfer portal also had a grade.
Mannicci worked directly for Brown, saying any task for the rest of the program was secondary. Per fellow staffer and current Georgia State Director of Player Personnel Stone O’Neal, Mannicci and Brown had a specific grading system different from Georgia’s overall framework when assessing defensive backs. O’Neal said he believes the system and Mannicci’s overall expertise were key in helping the Bulldogs land elite prospects like Ellis Robinson IV, Justin Williams and eventually KJ Bolden.
Brown and Mannicci helped Georgia repeat as National Champions in 2022 with a 15-0 record. Even through their first-year success, Collins said he saw Brown push Mannicci further, motivated by the promise he made to Mannicci at Temple.
“Fran held Aaron to a high standard, and that was why, because they both saw the vision of what’s after Georgia,” Collins said.
As the two drove each other forward, Mannicci became intertwined with Brown’s family. Each day for the past three years, Mannicci has picked up Brown’s middle son, Brayden, from school and brought him to the facility at both Georgia and now Syracuse.
Just a few years out of college when taking the job at Georgia, Mannicci was hundreds of miles away from home. Mike said he leaned on Brown to keep an eye on him. Corey felt there was an added security because of the Brown family.
Teara invited Mannicci over for picnics, cookouts, Thanksgiving, Easter and other holidays dating back to their time at Rutgers. The traditions continued in Athens. Teara also helped Mannicci buy groceries at times, always willing to lend a helping hand. When Mike eventually met Teara, she told him Mannicci was part of their family. Corey said she referred to him as one of the brothers because she sees Mannicci as an additional son.
“He’s been Fran’s right-hand man for a long time now,” Mike said. “It’s kind of like that big brother, little brother relationship.”
Aaron Mannicci (right) and SU head coach Fran Brown (middle) walk the tarmac by each others side. The two forged a bond when Brown coached at Temple, leading Mannicci to follow Brown to his next three coaching spots. Photograph Courtesy of Aaron Mannicci
As success continued at Georgia, the vision of a Northeast job became closer to a reality. Brown was regarded as the top recruiter in the country, and on Nov. 19, 2023, the Syracuse job opened with the firing of Dino Babers. Mannicci said SU was one of a few jobs the duo had its eyes on when considering possible options. But, he questioned if teams were willing to hire Brown due to his inexperience and youth.
Brown needed to ace his interviews with SU’s administration to capture the dream job. While working at Georgia with Mannicci, the two built a potential recruiting board by watching film on players they’d want to recruit if Brown was hired. Mike said Mannicci analyzed the current roster and helped Brown break down certain playbooks and possible interview questions throughout the process.
On Thanksgiving night, Brown had his first call with Syracuse Director of Athletics John Wildhack. As talks ramped up through the weekend, he met with Chancellor Kent Syverud in Atlanta that Sunday.
The next morning, Mannicci said he was frantically checking social media to find any clues he could. He came across a since-deleted post on X from then-SU safety Alijah Clark, where the Camden native wrote, “When was the last time the San FRANcisco 49ers played the Cleveland BROWNs?”
A few minutes later inside the Georgia facility, Mannicci said Brown exited a staff meeting and looked straight through him in shock. “Bro, I got the job,” Brown said to Mannicci. The two embraced.
The timing of Brown’s hiring caused the pair to prepare for the Southeastern Conference Championship game against Alabama while planning Syracuse’s future. Collins said as Brown prioritized preparing his group to slow the Crimson Tide’s offense, he remembers Mannicci doing lots of “leg work” to organize their transition to the Orange. When the Bulldogs fell to Alabama on Dec. 2, the Browns and Mannicci arrived in Syracuse the next day.
“When I found out Fran was coming to Syracuse, I could almost guarantee that Aaron’s gonna be on that airplane because I knew that was the opportunity he needed,” Guard said.
At SU, Mannicci has helped Brown conquer the ambition of running a Northeast Power Four program. Despite stamping a new era for the Orange through instant success, their ultimate goal of bringing SU to an ACC Championship and its first national title since 1959 remains.
While Brown leans on Mannicci, the scouting director has learned what it means to do right by people. Mannicci often sees Brown in a familiar sequence. The head coach will have 300 recruits on campus. He’ll run off the practice field, shower, cut film, get to an important dinner, call a donor and more. But there will be 20 recruits waiting to talk to him. Looking to capture their dreams through Brown, he can’t ignore them. Mannicci sees it in his face. He must go that extra mile.
“A lot of my work ethic I credit to Fran,” Mannicci said. “He’s taught me a ton about how to work and live an honest life.”
Brown opened a door for Mannicci and he ran through it. In becoming his top associate, he’s forged a permanent tie.
“That’s my guy,” Brown said of Mannicci. “That connection is there for life.”
Collage by Cole Ross
Published on May 8, 2025 at 2:18 am