Syracuse athletic director Bryan Blair is already looking past the current season and into 2027, and he said he expects Fran Brown to be the one coaching the Orange then.
Blair made clear he has no doubts about Brown’s status, even with the program still in the middle of a third season that has had its share of swings. Syracuse is 17-17 overall under Brown, with an excellent first year, a rough second one and a current campaign that appears likely to outpace the modest preseason expectations attached to it.
“It’s not something I talk to Fran about,” Blair said about the coach’s job status. “I certainly plan for him to be the head coach, and for me to be the AD and for you to be the Syracuse.com reporter.”
Brown’s contract terms have not been made public, and Syracuse has not announced an extension since his original deal was signed in 2023. Blair said he sees no reason to think Brown won’t be back.
“I have no reason to believe (he won’t be back),” Blair said. “Unless you know something I don’t.”
The two are still early in their working relationship. Brown was hired by John Wildhack in late 2023, while Blair came aboard as athletic director earlier this year. Still, Blair said the planning already stretches into 2027, with Syracuse sitting at 4-5 and three games left.
That finish is still very much in play. The Orange have road games left against North Carolina State and Boston College, two of the ACC’s weaker teams, along with a home date against No.
5 Notre Dame. A .500 finish remains within reach, and the preseason over-under of 4.5 wins now looks beatable.
Syracuse was picked 14th in the 17-team ACC preseason poll and currently sits 16th.
Brown’s challenge has come with a roster that Blair believes is being built the right way. Syracuse has leaned heavily on youth, with 60 underclassmen on the roster, the second-most in the ACC. Blair said he likes the way Brown has mixed development and roster management.
“We’re going to try to flip this thing,” Blair said. “I like how our team is built. I like how Fran has gotten underclassmen to buy in, get in our system, develop their bodies, make sure you build them in the culture you want to and then bring in transfers that fill immediate needs to try to put together a quality product.”
Injuries have complicated things, especially at quarterback, where Syracuse has lost its three top options. Elsewhere, the Orange have stayed relatively healthy. The results have been tight, too: Syracuse has played seven one-possession games and gone 3-4 in them.
Blair said he believes the talent is there, even if the record has not fully reflected it.
“I would argue we are a really talented football team this year,” Blair said. “Young or not, when I watch the games, when I see us next to Clemson or UNC or these other teams, I don’t see a team that’s woefully smaller or less athletic than these other programs, right? And then it comes down to timing, execution, a little bit of luck, all those things to pull together.”
He also said Brown’s relationships with players matter, especially with the season winding down and roster retention on the line for next year. Blair said he has not yet had a detailed conversation with Brown about major changes for the program, but that discussion will come after the season.
Beyond football, Blair said one area he wants to examine across Syracuse athletics is how the department measures the return on its spending in the NIL era.
“I do think in this world of NIL, trying to get a little bit more objective handle on the ROI of spending (is important),” Blair said. “I don’t think most departments in college athletics have an objective means to measure ROI other than wins or losses.
“I don’t think that’s the best way to look at a roster up and down and start to figure out what good decisions you made, what bad decisions you made and where you need to improve your decision-making going forward. That’s where this industry is maturing, I think, rapidly.”
No Syracuse football coach has finished with a career record above .500 since Paul Pasqualoni. Blair’s message, though, was about the present and the future: Brown, in his view, is still the coach to lead the Orange into 2027.
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For Syracuse, the opportunity is bigger than just another conference game on the schedule. If the Orange handle the moment and play to the level those picks suggest, it would give this meeting a cleaner, more favorable edge than the kind of grind that has often defined games like this one. The spread conversation already tilts that way, but the real test is whether Syracuse can make the afternoon look as straightforward as the outside projections think it should be. [Read more 🡒]