Let’s discuss Fran Brown‘s Syracuse football team, because what a difference one year can make! When Brown arrived at Syracuse as the 31st coach in late 2023, expectations were par for the course: bowl or bust, hope to sneak up on a ranked opponent. But Brown? He didn’t simply raise the bar; he blasted it into orbit. In his inaugural campaign, the Orange captured 10 wins, a school record for a first-year coach and just the third time this century Syracuse reached double digits in the win category.

With last season’s ace, Kyle McCord, moving on to bigger things after ranking the country’s top passer in yards gained, Brown tabbed LSU transfer Rickie Collins his 2025 starter, a young gun with a lot to prove. But here’s where it gets even more intriguing: Steve Angeli, who had just come off a stint at Notre Dame, recently announced that he’s transferring to Syracuse. Brown’s recruiting has been equally hot. In 2024, Syracuse ranked 36th overall and continued to keep it up in 2025, entering the top 40 in recruiting, a notable improvement for a team with past ACC challenges. Need some names? Jordan Gibbs, a 6’1″ cornerback from Longwood High in New York, and Wyatt Bowman, a top-25 tight end, lead the pack.

And just when you were thinking Fran Brown’s recruiting roll couldn’t be any hotter after those loaded 2024 and 2025 classes, Syracuse goes and adds Amare Gough for 2026. If you happen to want to make a guy like quarterback Steve Angeli smile, step number one is to present him with a guy who can receive the ball and run it home. In comes Amare Gough, the four-star wide receiver Syracuse just committed to for the 2026 class. Already transferred in and searching for his chance at QB stardom, Angeli must be beaming from ear to ear. “And Syracuse football added one of the better solid wide receivers of the class of 2026 over the weekend. They got a verbal commitment from four-star Amare Gough,” reports Jackson Holzer in this week’s Locked on Syracuse.

Gough is 6’1″, 175 pounds, and possesses the type of track speed (he ran a 10.97 in the 100m dash) that gets defensive backs sweating before the snap. On the field at Thomas Jefferson High, he’s a numbers machine: 39 receptions, 893 yards, and 12 touchdowns last season as a junior, averaging an outrageous 22.9 yards per reception. Gough, though, was approached by Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Wake Forest, and dozens of other colleges. Yet, he chose Orange following a campus visit and after being mesmerized by the Fran Brown program. “He was recruited by Syracuse following its bowl victory over Washington State in December. He chose Syracuse ahead of Boston College, NC State, Virginia Tech, I believe Maryland was also in on Amare Gough,” says Jackson.

Gough’s show at Washington State in December was the type of display that makes coaches’ heads turn. Gough accumulated huge chunks of yardage and a pair of highlight-reel scores to lead his team to a come-from-behind win on the national stage. That lightning-filled performance didn’t merely win the game; it got him firmly in Syracuse’s crosshairs, demonstrating he was capable of rising to the spotlight. Let’s not forget, Angeli’s no stranger to competition-he’s battled at Notre Dame and is now locked in a duel with LSU transfer Rickie Collins for the Orange’s starting job. If he wins the gig, having a guy like Gough in the pipeline is the college football version of winning the lottery. Plus, with Syracuse’s brutal schedule, Angeli’s going to need all the help he can get.

Fran Brown breaks new ground

Speaking of giving Steve Angeli every reason to stick around and thrive, Fran Brown simply did something that no other coach at a college football program has dared to do: he signed with an NIL agency. That’s right. While most coaches are scrambling to find ways to keep their star running back from moonlighting as a TikTok influencer, Brown is out here breaking history as the first NCAA head coach to sign with NETWORK, an agency most famous for representing high school and college players in the wild. NETWORK wasn’t contemplating jumping into the coaching business until Brown’s ‘energy and essence’ changed of heart. When your energy is this palpable and inspires a new marketplace segment, you know you’re onto something.

Brown’s alliance with NETWORK is a concerted effort to build his brand strategically and leverage his influence beyond coaching. Instead of contenting himself with superficial endorsements, Brown is after partnerships with organizations that reflect his values and leadership ethic and seek to raise Syracuse football’s profile nationally NETWORK’s chief strategy officer, Doug Scott, said it’s Brown’s dynamic, sleeves-rolled-up personality that sets him apart from the usual head coach crowd. The alliance was even made possible by NBA super-agent and Syracuse graduate David Falk.

And don’t forget the timing. In an age where college football is tantamount to free agency with a marching band playing, coaches have to have all the advantage they can get to land recruits, and a little PR never hurt. Just ask Bill Belichick, who’s been stumbling in the spotlight without a brand manager. Brown, on the other hand, is out here ensuring his off-field presence is as solid as his on-field performance, which, by the way, boasts a 10-win season and a Top 10 recruiting class for 2026.