‘I’m going to come after you': Fran Brown doesn’t hold back on tampering in college football

Syracuse head football coach Fran Brown compares programs poaching his transfers to dudes who try to hit on his wife: "It's just the game."

Syracuse Orange head coach Fran Brown | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Syracuse head coach Fran Brown was feelin' loose and let some eyebrow-raising comments fly during his chat with the I AM ATHLETE YouTube channel.

Brown discussed his coaching career, his time at Syracuse, the transfer portal, and plenty of non-football life advice during his extended discussion with I AM NEXT hosts Darien Rencher and Mo Hasan. When the topic of transfers came up, Brown was asked what he does about guys who are poached away by other programs, which lit a fire under the 'Cuse coach.

"I don't even care, bro," Brown said regarding players who were poached. "Dudes be trying to push up on my wife, she's bad, that's just the game, right? That's what they do."

“I ain’t no B*itch…I’m going to come after you.”

Coach Fran Brown on dealing with other programs tampering with his players.

Watch: https://t.co/bjp7W7k5JU pic.twitter.com/ZZfIbMLmO8

— 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫 (@D_Rench_) September 18, 2025

He who covets the gold is going to chase the gold, right, Coach Brown? It wasn't personal for, say, Penn State when the Nittany Lions decided to recruit Trebor Pena away from the Orange after he put up 900+ yards as the team's leading receiver in 2024. They just saw a great player and used their superior resources and championship aspirations to convince him to join the squad.

So, that's life, in football and in general. People might want and try to go after what you have, if it's good. But that doesn't mean Brown is best friends with the players who leave or the coaches who come recruit them.

"Don't let me find out," he added. "And then I'll see you. And I ain't no (B-word). Like, I'm going to come at you. Like, what's up? I'm gonna see you."

Whether it's players or coaches, Brown did not specify, but he revealed that some folks in the transfer realm get real skittish talking to him directly.

"There's a couple dudes I called and they... 'Hey, lose my line,'" Brown revealed. His response? "Man, shut up."

Fran Brown's answers are a lot more colorful than what many of his fellow head coaches might say on the matter, but it's refreshing to hear a coach speak honest and opnely about the realities of the transfer portal.

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