Former Rutgers Assistant Talks 'Outrageous' NIL Deals As Key Player Hits Portal

Fran Brown discussed today's NIL era in college football.

Aug 31, 2024; Syracuse, New York, USA; Syracuse Orange head coach Fran Brown walks on the field after a game against the Ohio Bobcats at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images / Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

Fran Brown was one of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights' top assistant coaches during his time on the staff.

In 2020-21, Brown was the defensive backs coach in Piscataway. He quickly became one of the nation's top recruiters as well. It is no surprise that Brown has found quick success as the head coach at Syracuse but he is now dealing with the NIL issues around the sport.

Recently, Orange receiver Trebor Pena opted to enter the transfer portal. Brown spoke with WTLA-AM radio about this situation. Brown said right away that NIL was not the main reason Pena decided to enter the transfer portal and it led to a conversation about NIL as a whole.

"It didn't play into it all," Brown said. "But sometimes, people be asking for an outrageous number. With all due respect to everybody in the country, to every wide receiver, to everybody doing all this stuff, if you're going to make $2 million at wide receiver, that's the homie from Ohio State. Ain't nobody else making that money."

Pena had a career year in 2024 as he finished with 941 receiving yards and nine touchdowns on 84 catches in a revamped Orange offense led by quarterback Kyle McCord. Syracuse finished 10-3 last season in Brown's second year as head coach.

Brown worked with Pena once he was brought in to be the head coach and turned him into an extremely productive receiver. He believes that they treated Pena well during his tenure.

"First of all, I love the kid, Trebor's my guy," Brown said. "But what I'll tell you is this, we paid him enough. He was going to be paid more. There were different things that would go there but there were some numbers that were asked of me that I didn't feel I would be able to do and move on. Of course, I treat him right, I took care of him. Done everything that was needed."

In the NIL era in college football, players are now entering the transfer portal if deals are not met. Matthew Sluka left UNLV midseason in 2024 over NIL disputes. Recently, Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava was let go after missing practices over his contract.

While Brown knows that players will be paid in today's game, there are numbers that he does not feel comfortable handing out and that is what every coach around the nation will deal with as well.

"That ain't me, I ain't doing that," Brown said. Unless somebody tells me that we have the chance to have Travis Hunter, he can come here and play for us then he'll get some of my check. I ain't paying anybody $2 million."

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