Syracuse and Colorado have been trying to get together for a joint practice session, but two years running, their requests have fallen on deaf ears in NCAA halls. The whole thing started with an exchange between Deion Sanders and Fran Brown. The latest rejection has hurt their cause, but the Orange head coach isn’t dwelling on the missed opportunity.

Speaking at a press conference during Spring Practice, Brown said the proposal rejection hasn’t significantly affected the team’s tenacity in this pre-season training camp, as it’s focused on the options on the table.

“Sometimes you don’t want to keep getting turned down on that, right?” the Syracuse head coach said. “I mean, whatever they do when they come up with it, they’ll be able to do it. If they say we can, we possibly will. But I’m just focused on our guys and us getting an opportunity to compete. I’m happy we’re going to have our own spring game. So, we’ll have ours, and ours will be fun. April 11, it’s going to be legit.”

Sanders and Brown hoped the joint practice would sharpen their teams by forcing them to compete against a quality, unfamiliar opponent before the season even began. Subsequently, it would have helped the coaches, Brown and Sanders, to assess their strength ahead of the season. The Colorado head coach aspired to use this collaboration to establish a more professional preseason training camp, similar to the NFL.

“I would like to style it like the pros,” Saunders had said. “I’d like to go against someone (in practice) for a few days, and then you have the spring game. I think the public would be satisfied with that tremendously.”

The NCAA, however, prohibits such joint training camps between programs. “Circumstances do not warrant relief of the legislation,” the committee decided. Moreover, the FBS Oversight Committee also claimed that such a collaboration would give the teams a “competitive and recruiting advantage,” citing it as a reason for rejecting the proposal.

At a time when we’re seeing programs hiring GMs to mirror an NFL-like structure, it’s futile to say that a mere practice session would have given an undue advantage, especially when the two programs are agreeing to have it. The tampering complaints we’ve heard over the last few years come from the head coaches who allege that their rivals recruit players out of their spring games. However, a part of that has already been resolved through a single portal window.

The NCAA’s rejection means Syracuse misses out on the valuable experience of practicing against a high-profile opponent like Colorado. But Brown is not getting bogged down by the situation. Despite the joint practice being canceled, Syracuse will have plenty of room to test itself in the Spring Game on April 11 at the JMA Wireless Dome.

Fran Brown isn’t letting His team take anything for granted

Moving into the 2026 season, the Syracuse Orange and Fran Brown have plenty of tough decisions to make. Deciding the starting quarterback for the season is one of them. Their Notre Dame transfer, Steve Angeli, did well for them last season before his injury. But the team has brought in several more quarterbacks, including Malachi Nelson, Amari Odom, and Danny Lauter.

It gives rise to a healthy problem in choosing the best pick for their team combination. Many thought that Angeli’s numbers last season (1317 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions) meant he would be the automatic selection. But Brown has completely rejected these perspectives, trusting only merit.

“I’m not really sure about any established starters. We’re just all competing,” Brown said. “You got to earn everything.”

Brown’s assessment does make sense. Odom’s on-paper production from 2025, where he threw for 2,594 yards and 19 touchdowns, arguably surpasses Angeli’s numbers, setting up a true competition. Thus, it would be upon both of them to prove their mettle to Brown in the scrimmages and practice sessions to earn the starter tag.

Syracuse will look to turn its fortunes around after a dismal 3-9 season year. And in all possibilities, both Odom and Angeli will be trump cards for the Orange in the 2026 season.