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Fran Brown’s first training camp will look different from his players’ perspective. Student-athletes will be housed in dorms together during camp, a key Brown believes can bring his team closer together. Players aren’t allowed to drive from the dorm to the facility. Instead, they must walk.

Along with surviving the grueling nature of training camp together, he sees it as a chance to build core memories to last a lifetime. Brown says he did the same at Western Carolina, bringing an old-time feel back to the program. SU’s new coach says it was half his doing and partially the idea of senior leaders Fadil Diggs and Alijah Clark.

While Brown’s first game on the sideline is exactly a month away when SU takes on Ohio, the building blocks of training camp will carry the team throughout the season. Brown addressed the team Tuesday night with an admitted nervousness but a simple message to his group.

“We had to make sure they knew that we’re here to work,” Brown said. “We have to put Syracuse back on the map.”

Here are some takeaways from Brown’s opening press conference for the 2024 season:

‘That’s the bell cow’

Across the offensive and defensive lines, Brown mentioned a few points of emphasis heading into training camp. Throughout the summer, the team did “skull sessions” each Wednesday to discuss different topics to insert into the foundations of the line. Brown believes players can fall back on the concepts throughout the season.

Offensively, David Wohlabaugh Jr. is on a rep count to start training camp as he continues to work back from a season-ending broken fibula in the second game of the 2023 season. The tackle transferred to SU after two seasons with Kentucky.

Also on offense, Colorado transfer Savion Washington brings extreme size and athleticism to the group as a 6-foot-8, 340-pound player. Brown says by watching his film from Colorado, he sees Washington with more confidence and trust in himself being a key piece to the unit.

On the defensive line, Brown announced KingJoseph Edwards won’t practice the first two days of training camp due to an in-house issue that Brown described as “nothing major.” To round out the defensive line, he says he saw growth in Dion Wilson Jr. as a leader. Wilson transferred from New Mexico State, where he appeared in 14 games in 2023.

With new additions and players returning from injury, the interior units will be crucial to any success in Brown’s first season.

“Our offensive and defensive line are truly our foundation, that’s the bell cow,” Brown said.

1st-year challenges

Brown enters his first year as a head coach at Syracuse, and with any program. With an experienced coaching staff around him, the Orange are mixing in new ideas the program hasn’t seen to build upon the work done in spring practice.

As a new head coach, Brown says he’s learning from the rest of his staff daily.

“I learned that I like to listen,” Brown said. “I listen to all the coaches. I think we have a great staff, so I ask a lot of questions. I know I’m the head football coach but there’s 10 other guys, a bunch of young guys, and support staff. I learned how to listen.”

Brown revealed he wasn’t nervous during the spring or even when he got the job in December, but the feeling speaking to the team the night before training camp was different. In prior experiences in training camps, Brown says relying on consistency and allowing players’ bodies to have breaks is key to a successful camp. Still, they need to be pushed.

“When it’s time to go, you got to go,” he said. “And then when it’s time to rest, you have to give them an opportunity to rest.”

Gadsden’s role

When asked about Oronde Gadsden II entering training camp, Brown quickly mentioned his former team’s tight end from a season ago. At Georgia, Brock Bowers became a fixture of the offense through the tight end position, leading him to become the 13th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

“This was the hardest working man I’ve ever seen in my life,” Brown told Gadsden of Bowers. “Go mimic that. If you go do that, then you’ll be fine.”

Gadsden enters his fourth season at Syracuse following a season-ending injury in the second game of the 2023 season. The year prior, he became the offense’s best weapon through the air, totaling 969 receiving yards and six touchdowns.

Brown says the staff had Gadsden get surgery to remove screws in his ankle earlier than expected because he was dominating in spring practice already. The earlier surgery allowed Gadsden to come back earlier in the summer and be a full go entering training camp.

Published on July 31, 2024 at 2:39 pm

Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky