Nobody’s keeping it more real in college football right now than Syracuse HC Fran Brown. He’s that guy who just doesn’t sugarcoat anything. Things seem to be falling along the lines of Nico Iamaleava’s failed negotiation with Josh Heupel. Suddenly everyone’s making unreasonable demands! So when his sixth-year WR entered the transfer portal, you’d think he would offer some long-winded statement, try to play it politically correct. But nah. Instead we got a brutal, refreshingly honest take that had most college football fans everywhere nodding in agreement.
On3 made an Instagram post on April 16 with a picture of Fran Brown and the words plastered across — “Fran Brown on WR Trebor Pena entering the transfer portal.” His response was given in the next slide and it’s one of the realest comments you’ll see today — “You gonna make $2 million at wide receiver? That’s the homie at Ohio State… I’m not giving no wide receiver $2 million in college.” No beating around the bush. Straight to the point whether Trebor Pena likes it or not.
Fran Brown jumped on ESPN Syracuse to explain Trebor Pena’s exit, and honestly, it makes perfect sense. “We paid him enough,” he said. “He was going to get paid more. But there were some numbers that were asked if me that I didn’t feel I would be able to do everything that was needed. I just said, ‘Yo, you’ve got to go’ (Tuesday) morning.” Brown made it clear he’s not running a negotiation firm — he’s building a football team.
And here’s the wild thing. Trebor Pena was set to be the Orange’s WR1 in 2025 after posting 941 yards and nine TD last season, including 72 rushing yards. That 1,310 all purpose yards and 11 total TDs since 2020? Impressive. But $2M in college? We already know what happened down in Knoxville with Nico. He asked for a $4M deal but when Tennessee didn’t budge, he bounced to UCLA. Said it wasn’t about the money, but more about the Vols offense. But everybody knows it was about the situation not meeting the dream. Well, same vibe here.
Fran Brown loses his cool with Trebor Pena’s concerns
Trebor Pena shouldn’t have questioned Syracuse’s new QB who’s set to start over returning players — Jakhari Williams and Michael Johnson Jr. Turns out, the departing WR was worried about more than money too. He had his doubts about LSU transfer Rickie Collins and whether he could be their next Kyle McCord, the guy who helped him thrive last season.
Fran Brown wasn’t having it. “That ain’t your freaking job to be thinking that. I ain’t got time for you to be doing all that stuff,” he put it bluntly. “When they start trying to do your job and think too much, you’ve got to go. It’s no point in them being there.” Needless to say, Trebor Pena entered the portal one day later. But Brown is high on his new signal caller. “I’m sold with Rickie,” he said. “I think we’re going to do well. All the (alumni) that have come up and seen him have said, ‘He’s going to be nice.’ Everyone is real happy about him.” Time will tell if the observation will turn to reality. But where there’s hunger, success follows. And as Brown said, “He loves the game. He’s here all day. He’s in here watching film. He wants to get better.”
Syracuse wraps up spring practice in Rochester on Wednesday and Fran Brown has already set the tone. If you’re in for the grind, let’s ride. If you’re just here for a paycheck, the door’s right there.
The post Fran Brown Mirrors Josh Heupel as 1310-yd WR’s $2M Demand Triggers Blunt Message After Stance on Rickie Collins Cleared appeared first on EssentiallySports.