For Syracuse head coach Fran Brown, a disastrous 3-9 season wasn’t just a disappointment; it became a mandate for a complete overhaul. As a result, four staff members lost their jobs. And now that decision might come back to bite him as a Pac-12 team is on the verge of acquiring one of the fired staff members.

The 3-9 collapse was a steep fall from grace, as the Orange ended the year on an eight-game losing streak and fielded a defense that allowed 34.9 points per game, the worst mark in the ACC and among all Power Five teams.

The season finale, a 34-12 loss to Boston College, was the end of Fran Brown’s patience. The loss preceded the firing of offensive line coach Dale Williams, defensive backs coach Joe Schaefer, linebackers coach Robert Wright, and special teams coordinator Ricky Brumfield. Exiting after only one season at the program, Brumfield is now on Oregon State’s shortlist for a special teams coordinator role, a fast turnaround that underscores his value.

CBS Sports’ College football insider Matt Zenitz revealed the news on X.

“Ex-Syracuse special teams coordinator Ricky Brumfield is a target for the special teams coordinator role at Oregon State, sources tell @CBSSports. Helped Syracuse rank top 20 nationally in net punting this year. Before Syracuse, he worked for Georgia Tech, FIU, and Virginia.”

The timing only strengthens the optics: Oregon State is moving quickly to secure Brumfield, signaling real interest rather than a preliminary inquiry.

Oregon State’s interest isn’t random desperation, either. The Beavers fired special teams coordinator Jamie Christian in early October after an 0-6 start marred by a fumbled kickoff and a missed 28-yard field goal in a loss to Appalachian State, then finished the season with an interim setup on special teams.

It came as a surprise to Syracuse fans when Fran Brown decided to fire Ricky Brumfield. Brumfield joined the program in 2025 and elevated the special teams unit from one of the program’s worst to one of its strongest. Under his guidance, Syracuse ranked inside the top 20 nationally in net punting, a dramatic improvement from the previous season.

That turnaround tracked with his résumé. Brumfield has coordinated special teams for more than two decades across stops at Georgia Tech, Virginia, and FIU, and even before arriving in Syracuse, he was being talked up on fan boards as one of the top special teams coaches in the country after helping Georgia Tech lead the nation in blocked kicks.

He implemented unconventional approaches, including splitting long-snapping duties between Ethan Stangle on punts and Fran Brown Jr. on field goals. Kicker Jadyn Oh handled kickoffs, while Iowa transfer Tripp Woody kicked field goals. The result saw Woody go 22-for-22 on extra points and 12-for-14 on field goals, a significant upgrade from Syracuse’s ACC-worst 13-for-22 field goal performance in 2024.

Brumfield succeeded former special teams coordinator James Vollono, whose unit posted a 63.6 grade from Pro Football Focus, ranking 117th nationally and last in the ACC. Brumfield quickly earned respect in the locker room, with players such as Oh, Brown, and punter Jack Stonehouse publicly crediting him for transforming the unit.

Local coverage framed Brumfield’s dismissal as one of the more surprising moves of the shake-up, noting that while Syracuse’s defense and offensive line dragged the team down, special teams graded out as one of the few clear bright spots in 2025.

College football has seen this pattern before. In 2021, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian dismissed special teams coordinator Jeff Banks during a staff realignment, only for Banks to immediately land at Washington, where his units earned national praise the following season. Moves like these often invite scrutiny when the fired assistant quickly becomes a high-value hire elsewhere.

Now that the coaching positions are vacant, Fran Brown has to find replacements to begin preparation for the next season. And it seems like Syracuse already has some names in mind.

Potential replacements for Fran Brown’s coaching staff

Syracuse’s contributions to the coaching carousel arrived later in the season and didn’t involve the head coaching position. Instead, the program dismissed four staff members, leaving Fran Brown with several key vacancies to fill. The obvious next step is to search for replacements, but the question of who remains unresolved.

The fixes can’t be cosmetic. Syracuse finished dead last in the ACC in scoring defense at 34.9 points allowed per game and ranked 125th nationally in total defense, while the offensive line surrendered 37 sacks third-most in the league, and graded 121st in pass blocking, according to Pro Football Focus.

The program also demoted defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson, moving him into a co-defensive coordinator/defensive line coach role. Now, multiple reports say Lane Kiffin and LSU have hired Robinson as their new defensive line coach, with the move expected to replace former Tiger great Kyle Williams after the 2025 season.

On the offensive line, Syracuse is reportedly turning to Michigan analyst Juan Castillo, a veteran who spent more than a decade coaching offensive lines in the NFL, most notably with the Philadelphia Eagles, and most recently handled UCLA’s offensive line in 2024 before joining Jim Harbaugh’s staff in Ann Arbor.

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However, there have been no indications yet regarding who might replace Ricky Brumfield on special teams.