Syracuse hires former Rutgers assistant as head coach

Fran Brown has officially earned his first head coaching job.

Syracuse announced Monday that it is hiring the former Rutgers assistant coach, who spent the past two seasons as Georgia’s defensive backs coach, as its head football coach.

A recruiting guru who served as defensive backs coach for the Scarlet Knights during the first two seasons of head coach Greg Schiano’s second stint in Piscataway, Brown is currently the top-ranked recruiter in 247Sports’ rankings of the 2024 class, with two of the six commits credited to him listed as five-star prospects.

The Camden native was one of Schiano’s first hires when he returned in December 2019. He left the program following the 2021 season to head to Georgia, where he won a national championship as the Bulldogs’ defensive backs coach.

“I am proud of Fran and thrilled for him to have this opportunity,” Schiano said, according to a Syracuse press release . “Syracuse University is getting both a dynamic coach and a great addition to their community. I’m elated for Fran and his whole family.”

Prior to his stint at Rutgers, Brown spent six seasons as an assistant at Temple under Steve Addazio and Matt Rhule from 2011-16, then spent the 2019 season on Rod Carey’s staff after a two-year stint at Baylor with Rhule in 2017-18. He was a candidate for the head coaching job at Temple during his time at Rutgers.

With the hire, the Orange would go from one former Rutgers assistant to another.

Nunzio Campanile , who served as interim head coach, interim offensive coordinator, tight ends and running backs coach during his five-year stint with the Scarlet Knights, was named the interim coach at Syracuse last week after it fired longtime head coach Dino Babers. The former Bergen Catholic head coach led the Orange to a victory over Wake Forest, sealing a second consecutive bowl bid for the program.