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I had this incredible sitdown interview
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with Fran Brown, Syracuse football head
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coach, and I I posted it on YouTube this
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week and I thought this is such a unique
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because Fran Brown is built from a
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different mold than almost any other
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coach I've ever spoken to is. And I
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think it's indicative of a grander,
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broader sea change of college coaches. I
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sat down with Fran Brand and I did about
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25 minutes with Fran. We talked a little
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bit about football, a little bit about
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the team, but really about life and
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really about messaging and really about
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philosophy. It really was about that.
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So, even if you're not a Syracuse fan, I
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encourage you to watch this conversation
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because it's about really more than
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football and more about how you build a
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team, how you build loyalty, how you
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build trust in today's sports landscape
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and I think in a grander sense as well
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within a family, within a group or
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organization. I spoke to Fran Brown
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about his uncle Charlie and about what
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uncle Charlie taught him. And he said,
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'Uncle Charlie taught me. He was a cop
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in Philadelphia. Fran Brown grew up in
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Camden, New Jersey, which is a rough
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part of Philadelphia. And he said,
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"Uncle Charlie taught me that no matter
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who you were, no matter what background
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you had, you could be cool with that
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person without being in that lifestyle."
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So there could be a guy that dealt
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drugs. There could be a guy that was a
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felon. There could be a guy that was
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messed up in a lot of different areas.
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Uncle Charlie was there not to judge
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that person, but also he stood for
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respect and order because he was part of
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the comm of the of the policing. And he
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said, I I could walk through different
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worlds because I learned that from him,
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which I thought was a really powerful
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thing. I said, why did you make changes
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so dramatically to your coaching staff
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after just two seasons? Year one was
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great, 10 wins. Year two was terrible,
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three wins. He said, "I owed it to my
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players because I asked them for loyalty
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and they knew the problems and if I
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didn't address that, then they would see
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me as a fraud." Now, that's a pretty
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powerful message as well because he had
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to fire some guys that had been
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supremely loyal to him over the course
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of his coaching career. He also
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mentioned that some coaches were out for
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their own agendas which were trying to
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get other jobs, try to rise up the food
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chain. And he said, "Now I understand
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the slogan, you can go interview for
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that job, but you better get it." He
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said, "Because once they came back and
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they didn't get those jobs, I could tell
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they were no longer interested in this
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job." And that started to seep into
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everybody within the the program, which
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was a really kind of incredible insight
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into a problematic season in which
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Syracuse started 3-1 and then lost their
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last eight games. Syracuse fans, make
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sure you're subscribed to the channel.
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That way, you won't miss any of my
3:03
postgame recaps all throughout the
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football season. Make sure you are
3:07
subscribed to the channel. Don't miss a
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thing. He talked about all these things
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about making guys believe. And I said,
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you know, this is a this is a world of
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NIL where it's all transactional. I
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said, but you're so of loyalty. That's
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your DNA. So, how do you juggle that?
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And he said, well, we won't always win
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the money race. He goes, but but what
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I'll tell kids, what I'll tell guys is
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we might be $100,000 short, but what I'm
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going to give you, I think is worth
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$100,000. He said, I'm going to give you
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hard coaching. I'm going to give you
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truth. I'm going to give you
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authenticity. You will know where I
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stand. I will be here to make you better
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at everything, not only football, but in
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life in general, to make you a leader
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once you leave this. I want you to be
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successful, not just in football, in
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life. I will do all of that for you, and
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you will know exactly where I stand. I
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will be truthful and honest and
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accountable through everything. He said,
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"And I hope that that's worth $100,000."
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I thought that's a pretty good counter
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as well to not being able to always win
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the NIL race. There's a lot of things
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that Fran Brown talked about that I just
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found really refreshing. I already had a
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great great respect for him, but now
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even more so. So, if you're a sports
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fan, a football fan, and you see that on
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the the YouTube channel, I encourage you
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to check it out. Spend 20 minutes at
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some point this week and watch it. I
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think you'll get a lot out of it. And
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like I said, it's really less about
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Syracuse football and more about these
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kind of grander ideas about college
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football these days and leadership and
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team building and winning and loyalty
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and all these things that factor into a
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lot of different parts about life. He
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said one thing that I thought was really
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powerful. He said, "This is really not
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my program." He's like, "This is for the
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alum. This is for the guys that came
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before me." because I asked him about
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all these former football players at
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Syracuse that are now once again
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entrenched. He's invited back guys like
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Dwight Freeny, Kevin Johnson, Keith
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Bullock, all these guys have been
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invited to come back. Donovan McNab and
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they and when they come back, they sit
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in positional meetings. They sit and
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they work with the guys. He's like,
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"You're not here just to watch. We want
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your knowledge and your wisdom." He
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said, "This existed before I got here.
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This will exist after I got here." He
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said, "I'm not worried about what people
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on the outside think. I'm worried about
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what people on the inside think. That
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will get us where we need to go." And he
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told this amazing story about driving
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home a elderly Syracuse fan named Mr.
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Joseph and picking his brain about all
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the football that he's seen going back
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to Jim Brown. I said, "You know, Vegas
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thinks you're going to lose a lot of
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games this year." He goes, "I'm not
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worried about that. I'm worried about
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what Mr. Joseph thinks." I was like,
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"Man, that's a good story." He took him
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out to dinner, drove him home.
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Unbelievable. So, yeah, I think it was a
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great conversation and I think that
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those types of dynamics and opinions are
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the types of opinions that are now what
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is needed for a younger generation of
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coaches that has to navigate a really
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diabolical landscape. It's not the way
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that it used to be done. And so, how do
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you cut through the craziness and chaos
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that is college football right now in
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college sports? I think a lot of what
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Fran Brown said and is is what will
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really resonate for this next generation
