Syracuse Football's Fran Brown is stealing recruits from SEC territory

Former Georgia assistant Fran Brown is hot on the recruiting trail. And he is no longer doing it for the University of Georgia where he ranked as the recruiter of the year by 247 Sports in 2023. Now, he has continued on to be the head coach of the Syracuse Orange in Syracuse, New York. Although far removed from the SEC footprint, Brown is still making waves in SEC territory.

Fran Brown has a recruiting pipeline in the state of Georgia

Year over year, it is no secret that a lot of the best talent comes from the southeastern United States. When Brown was defensive backs coach at Georgia under Kirby Smart, it was not really difficult to recruit that talent as they were already in the geographic footprint. However, Brown continuing his blaze on the recruiting trail pulling players from the southeast from the state of New York is remaining impressive.

Brown currently has the Orange as the 36th ranked recruiting class for 2025 according to 247 Sports. This includes 28 commits. After only being in seat for a few weeks before early signing day for the 2024 class, Brown was able to pull in the 37th ranked class according to On3.

Fran Brown signed four players out of the state of Georgia in 2024

Jamie Tremble: Syracuse tight end Oronde Gadsden II is entering his final season for the Orange in 2024, so it was imperative the Orange find a replacement tight end. Brown did just that signing one of two four-star recruits in Jamie Tremble out of Norcross, Georgia as part of the 2024 class. Tremble ranked as the 16th best tight end nationally.

KingJoseph Edwards: Brown also pulled in four-star KingJoseph Edwards out of Hoschton, Georgia. The six-foot-three inch edge rusher ranked as the 50th best prospect in the state of Georgia, which is loaded with talent every year.

Jakhari Williams: Although not a four-star, quarterback Jakhari Williams is Syracuse’s biggest quarterback recruit since Donovan McNabb in the mid 1990’s. William’s dual threat ability will make him a force to be reckoned with in Syracuse. And the good news for Williams is he will be able to sit behind starting quarterback Kyle McCord in 2024 who transferred in from Ohio State.

Fran Brown has relationships with high school coaches in Georgia

The fact that Brown pulled all three of these players out of the Atlanta area tells you that he has the relationships. And beyond Smart, other SEC coaches should be concerned about this as well. If the Orange start winning more games under Brown, one of the biggest recruiting hot beds in the SEC could start belonging to the ACC sooner rather than later.