Since the NIL (name, image, and likeness) era began, college athletes nationwide have invested heavily in agents and marketers to help build their personal brands. They aren’t the only ones.
Syracuse football head coach Fran Brown has become the first NCAA coach to sign with NIL agency Network, Front Office Sports has learned. The news comes at a time when social media gives coaches a unique platform to capitalize on their own identity—and when they need every advantage possible to attract recruits in the era of unrestricted free agency, including beefing up their off-field personas. And there’s no doubt PR matters. Coaches without savvy brand-building and PR assistance—UNC’s Bill Belichick is one whopping example—are floundering in the public eye in a way that could negatively impact their ability to entice top players.
“I figure there’s no better time to do it than right now,” Brown tells FOS.
Network primarily works with high school and college athletes, including Florida quarterback DJ Lagway, but has decided to foray into the world of college coaching. “When we started Network, we weren’t pretending to, nor considering to get into the coaching world,” Chief Strategy Officer Doug Scott tells FOS. He says the suggestion came from renowned agent David Falk. “It really was the energy and essence of who Fran was, to where we decided that, yes, this is somebody that we really want to see be successful. And we think there’s a little bit of a void in the marketplace right now.”
Brown has already begun building a recognizable brand at Syracuse, where he was hired at the end of 2023 and delivered a 10-3 season in 2024. He coined the acronym “DART”—which stands for detailed, accountable, relentless, and tough—to describe his coaching philosophy. With the help of Network, he unveiled a logo for the phrase during the Syracuse spring game, and will be putting out an apparel line, Scott says.
Brown also hopes to become known as a “thought leader” in the college sports space. Over the past several months, he’s been more vocal in the media about his opinions on changing issues in college sports, like the transfer portal and NIL. He says he has several ideas for reforming college football rules, including offering just one transfer portal in December and mandating that players put between 40% and 60% of their NIL earnings in savings.
He also suggested the idea of completing school in three years. “I think that you should do three years at a school,” Brown says. “In three years you should be able to get your degree or be very close to that being done. In three years you have an opportunity of going to the National Football League.”
As for what’s next, Brown says the team is “gonna do everything.” Scott said Brown is considering signing endorsement deals and creating his own product lines, as well as hosting events like the Syracuse golf tournament he’s slated to appear at in June. Brown says he also hopes to continue an emphasis on community service.
“Adversity’s going to hit,” Brown says. “I want you to be able to look at Fran and say, ‘He did it.’”
