Fran Brown Era Kicks Off Saturday

A new era of Syracuse football begins Saturday when the Orange open the 2024 season against Ohio at 3:30 p.m. in the JMA Wireless Dome!

Head coach Fran Brown will make his debut on the 'Cuse sideline after taking over the helm of the program last November. Brown, who spent the past two seasons at Georgia, is excited by the opportunity that lies ahead.

"I'm very thankful to be the head coach here and I'm also thankful that we have the opportunity to play against Ohio," Brown said. "I think they have an amazing staff led by their head coach Tim Albin. When you watch them on film, they are coached really well. So I'm am thankful for the opportunity to coach against him."

Fans can purchase tickets for Syracuse football at Cuse.com/Tickets. The Orange faithful are encouraged to arrive early and visit 'Cuse on the Quad and the Toyota Fun Zone, which starts three hours prior to kickoff. The newest addition that's a must for fans is the NYE Auto Quad Walk. Brown and the Orange will walk through the quad 2 hours and 15 minutes prior to every home game, giving fans an opportunity to cheer on the team as they head into the JMA Wireless Dome. Click here for more information on 'Cuse on the Quad.

The Orange will look to continue their success in both season and home openers. Syracuse has won nine of its past 10 season openers and nine of its last-11 home openers. It marks the second-straight year and third time in the past four seasons that 'Cuse has opened its home slate vs. a non-conference opponent.

Syracuse returns several key contributors from last season, including LeQuint Allen Jr., who became the 13th player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. He rushed for more than 100 yards seven time in 2023, increasing his career total to eight, which tie for 10th place on the 'Cuse career leader list. On the defensive side of the ball, the Orange return its four top tacklers from a year ago in Marlowe Wax, Justin Barron, Derek McDonald and Alijah Clark.

Numerous new faces will join the list of veterans. Syracuse found unprecedented success in the transfer portal in 2024 as On3 ranks the Orange's transfer recruiting class No. 9 in the nation and added in its highest-rated freshman recruiting class in program history.

The group of transfers includes quarterback Kyle McCord, who ranked second in the Big Ten last with 3,170 yards passing, and defensive lineman Fadil Diggs, a two-time captain at Texas A&M, defensive back Clarence Lewis, who was a multiyear starter at Notre Dame, among others.

Since Brown's hiring last fall, he and the Orange have adopted the DART mentality. The acronym stands for detailed, accountable, relentless and tough. It's a mentality Brown wants the team to exhibit everyday both on and off the field.

"That was just life. As a man, as a parent, as a man of faith, as a football coach, you want to be detailed, you want to be held accountable, you have to be relentless and tough," Brown explained at his season-opening press conference. "Because you're going to go through a lot of things in life that if you could just take acronym and take those words and they can be who you are – if someone said was to ask how would you explain Fran and you said he's detailed, he's very accountable, he's relentless and he's a tough guy – I would be cool with that. I figure if we could take these and try to allow every player to live that way in everything that they do, then I think you'll have a bunch of successful young men."

The 135th season of Syracuse football gets underway Saturday at 3:30 in the JMA Dome. And Brown hopes that the fans will see more than just the play on the field.

"Just that we care about each other," Brown stated when asked what he hopes people take away from the season opener. "You can see it through the way that we play. That we live DART. And you can tell all of the kids on our football team are committed, that they care and we trust each other, coaches included. And that our community is happy and thankful for what we are doing because they get the opportunity to come and watch us play football."

Syracuse University Athletics

Players Mentioned

LeQuint Allen

Justin Barron

Alijah Clark

Fadil Diggs

Clarence Lewis

Kyle McCord

Derek McDonald

Marlowe Wax

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