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At this point, all Fran Brown can do is apologize. Before breaking down Syracuse’s abysmal 2025 season or previewing its opponent this week, Brown took a look in the mirror.

“I have to prepare our team way better. It is completely unacceptable. I want to apologize to Syracuse, the community, our football staff and not even helping them prepare well enough,” Brown said at his weekly press conference. “Alumni, fan base, just everyone that has any love or heart to care about Syracuse football at all. I just want to make sure you know, I apologize. That won’t happen again. Hold me responsible.”

There’s good reason for Brown to apologize. The Orange’s 63-point loss to then-No. 9 Notre Dame was one of their worst ever. The Fighting Irish’s 70-point outburst was the highest scoring output SU’s allowed to an opponent since it battled Union College in the 1890s. That was decades before American football made helmets mandatory. With one game left to play in Brown’s second season, there are plenty of questions to be answered.

Here are some takeaways from Brown’s weekly press conference before Syracuse’s (3-8, 1-6 ACC) season finale against Boston College (1-10, 0-7 ACC):

Reflecting on historic loss

Brown has been through plenty of adversity in his life, both on and off the gridiron. Yet through his career as a player and coach, it’s hard to imagine Brown has ever taken a beating as bad as the Orange did Saturday.

Brown looked at the positive, saying it was something he had to go through to experience the rest of what taking on Notre Dame taught him. He hopes to emulate what the Fighting Irish have built. Brown enjoyed how the entire fanbase stayed through the fourth quarter, even in a non-competitive game. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the lights went out and everyone’s phone lights illuminated the stadium. Brown won’t stop until Syracuse’s fans get to experience similar things, of course, with a winning program.

“I’m not gonna get afraid,” Brown said. “I know there’s some people that may be and I’m sorry you feel like that because of the performance that we put on. But we’ll be fine.”

Brown took added accountability for not preparing SU. He said he should’ve prepared the Orange by teaching them to continue to fight and mount a comeback in a scenario in which they were trailing 21-0. Syracuse allowed 21 points before its defense touched the field, something even Brown said he didn’t expect. In his eyes, though, there’s still room for him to contribute.

“I didn’t talk about that. I didn’t go in depth of that nature,” Brown said. “I just talked about there will be a storm, and we’re gonna have to survive the storm.”

Future outlook

With 2025 all but over, Brown is looking ahead to the future. He’s proud of the reps his young core has already received. He said the freshmen class had been put in a microwave rather than baking, given a chance to play early in their careers. With signing day on the horizon and the transfer portal a few weeks later, Brown knows he can make big changes. It starts with securing a strong backup once Steve Angeli returns.

“Watch the guys that we bring in to be able to back up Steve and to be able to help Steve out, depending on how things go, to compete with Steve,” Brown said. “Steve’s a competitor, so he wants us to bring guys in that can compete, to be able to play here right away.”

He also said he’ll make sure SU’s future offensive system isn’t as one-dimensional and reliant on a single skillset, as Jeff Nixon has only shown success with pure pocket passers such as Angeli and Kyle McCord. Brown wants his offensive staff to adapt to the skills of all the quarterbacks, so if another injury occurs, they’ll be well prepared to avoid a meltdown.

Syracuse’s recent struggles could throw its recruiting prowess in jeopardy. After all, if you’re a 17-year-old looking to chase your NFL dreams, joining a squad that recently became a national laughing stock could be risky. The Orange had three players decommit Sunday night, though the correlation to the blowout loss is unknown.

Brown said he’s extremely honest with his recruits, noting that they can see what’s happening on the scoreboard each week. He tells them that he’s still at SU and isn’t going to leave. Any changes will be for the better, he said. Brown expects to have some freshmen play next year, likely referring to five-star Calvin Russell, but there won’t be nearly as many as this season. Plenty of players have already “cut their teeth in.”

“I’m just developing a program. I would love for them to just stick with me. Understand. Bet on us,” Brown said.

Boston College preview

With a game to play, Syracuse has one final chance at ending its season-long losing streak. The Orange haven’t won since Sept. 20, and Brown said they’ll roll out walk-on Joe Filardi for his third start of the year. Brown also said freshman Rich Belin could see some time. Belin is yet to appear in a game.

Rickie Collins was listed as the third string on the depth chart distributed in the Notre Dame Stadium press box, and Luke Carney won’t play after using his four games to maintain his redshirt. Brown hopes to send SU’s seniors out “the right way.” Facing Boston College will be a bridge between the past and the future.

“Watch us this weekend, and that’ll tell you where we are after the performance that was displayed last weekend,” Brown said.

After losing to Bill O’Brien and BC last season, Brown reflected on the Eagles’ season. Boston College has just one win, coming against Fordham on Aug. 30, and recently lost to Georgia Tech by two points before a bye week.

“This is a big game for us, a big game for them, and it’s a much-needed game for both organizations going into the offseason,” Brown said.

Published on November 24, 2025 at 3:31 pm
Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky