A surprising successor for Kirby Smart at Georgia

Fran Brown was like a scene out of NBC’sThe Office for the Syracuse Orange as they hired what can be coined as “the assistant manager to the assistant manager” when they hired Georgia defensive backs coach Fran Brown as their head coach this past offseason.

How has Fran Brown done in recruiting at Syracuse?

During his few months in Syracuse, Brown already has the Orange ranked as the 44th best recruiting class in the country for 2025 and seventh right now for 2026 according to On3. Brown currently has 24 three star commits for 2025, which is the most in the country. This past offseason, Brown also pulled former Ohio State starting quarterback Kyle McCord in to be his starter for the 2024 season.

Brown also appears to be building a pipeline down south out of the state of Georgia, as he was able to hold onto and sign four three stars in Jamie Tremble, edge rusher KingJoseph Edwards, cornerback Marcus Washington and quarterback Jakhari Williams.

Jakhari Williams: Williams is Syracuse’s biggest quarterback recruit since the legendary Donovan McNabb, who is arguably the best to ever play the position for the Orange.

The fact that Brown was able to accomplish all of this in only a few months’ time is impressive. Furthermore, the 2024 class he was able to put together in only a few weeks’ time before the early signing period began.

How did Syracuse do in recruiting before Fran Brown arrived?

Before his arrival, the Orange have averaged the 66th best recruiting class in the country dating back 2004. Already, Brown’s three classes combined with the completed 2024 class, and projected 2025 and 2026 rankings are all well above the 66th overall average for the previous 20 years.

In fact, The Orange have had none of their recruiting classes since 2004 rank higher than the 38th projected best class for the year of 2025 that Brown may be bringing in. Although he still has to get it done on the field, this is nothing but promising for the Orange, and as well for the Bulldogs who may have their coach of the future.

What other coaches could replace Kirby Smart at Georgia?

Other names that could arise are former Bulldogs defensive coordinator Dan Lanning, who is currently the head coach of the Oregon Ducks, or current Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann.

Chances are unless Smart bolts after the 2024 season that Schumann will pick up his first head coaching gig at a big power four program somewhere else first.

With Lanning, chances of pulling him from a school like Oregon are slimmer that Bulldogs fans may hope. Oregon just joined the Big 10 conference, which gives them revenue on top of the partnership with Nike and owner Phil Knight, who is an Oregon Alumnus.

If this all holds true and Brown produces on the field at Syracuse, the Bulldogs would be hard pressed to not look his direction. And if he can recruit and get teams to perform in upstate New York, it would be a wonder of what he could do down south in the SEC where talent would reign supreme, and in his backyard.