© Brett Davis/Imagn
When Syracuse football coach Fran Brown talks about changing the culture at the longtime struggling program, it appears he’s serious. But Brown may have taken things a bit too far on Saturday.
The Orange posted a surprising 10-3 record last season in Brown’s first year in charge. But quarterback Kyle McCord left for the NFL, while leading receiver Trebor Pena transferred to Penn State.
Brown and Syracuse opened up their second season with a 45-26 loss to Tennessee, and Week 2 wasn’t much better. Yes, the Orange did pick up their first victory of the season. But they had to go to overtime to do so, narrowly defeating visiting UConn, 27-20.
And Brown was clearly not happy about the performance.
Fran Brown isn’t pleased with Syracuse’s effort today in its win over UConn…
They are running sprints after the game
— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) September 6, 2025
After the game, Brown had his players remain on the field rather than head to the locker room. Then, with fans still in attendance, he made them run sprints between the 20-yard line and the goal line.
College football fans at large were unimpressed by the display.
“Fran thinks he’s Herb Brooks out there. His outgoing transfer portal list is about to be nasty,” one wrote.
“This is the biggest d—bag moving in all of coaching, from youth sports to apparently college football,” said another. “Win a game and run sprints (for everyone to see) it wasn’t good enough. The ultimate look at me / pass blame move from a coach. Either handle it privately, or play better!”
Other fans claimed that it was a matter of accountability. But I’m not sure what Brown thinks is gained from the public humiliation stunt. There are other ways to coax your team into working harder, or executing better, or whatever you think needs to be fixed.
Who knows? Maybe it’ll work! But I’d place odds on it backfiring and blowing up in Brown’s face in pretty incredible fashion.