ACC Head Coach Breaks Silence on Viral Comments About Ryan Day, Kyle McCord
By J.C. Shelton,
3 hours ago
First-year Syracuse head coach Fran Brown has cleared the air on his viral comments centered around Ohio State's Ryan Day and transfer quarterback Kyle McCord.
Brown took the job in the offseason following two years under Kirby Smart at Georgia. He got right to work in the transfer portal by adding 19 players, headlined by McCord. The former four-star spent four seasons as a Buckeye and started 12 games for Ohio State during its 11-2 run in 2023.
Drama quickly ensued in Columbus after the season. The Buckeyes were shopping for a quarterback and ultimately found an experienced starter from Kansas State in Will Howard. The writing was on the wall for McCord, and he later signed with Brown and the Orange in April.
McCord began his senior year with a nearly perfect performance against Ohio in the season opener. He completed 27-of-39 passing attempts for 354 yards with four touchdowns to one interception, leading Syracuse to a 38-22 win.
That's when Brown expressed his honest thoughts on McCord's decision to transfer out of Columbus.
"Kyle's a good football player," he said. "You've seen it right there. I should send Ryan Day a bottle of champagne for allowing us to get him. It's really cool."
"And everyone took it too – when I said that – like if it was a shot at Ryan Day," Brown said. "No, that’s not a shot. I was saying, ‘Okay, Ohio State is that good. Thank you that we get to do this because he didn’t stay here. He ended up coming here.' … He’s not the first guy to leave Ohio State that ends up going somewhere (and) being a good player. I just wanted to make sure it was known that Ryan Day does a good job developing quarterbacks..."
Notable Ohio State transfers like Joe Burrow (LSU) and Quinn Ewers (Texas) found a high level of success elsewhere. It may be early in McCord's career at Syracuse, but he has looked like a better player for the Orange.
Syracuse was picked to finish 12th in the ACC in the preseason media poll. McCord has helped the program to a 3-1 start, including a conference win against then No. 23 Georgia Tech in Week 2. McCord sits ninth in the nation in passing yards and fourth in touchdowns after finishing 29th and 24th, respectively, in those categories last season.
“You know how it is in college football," Brown continued. "If you have a (quarterback) you’ve got a chance. You don’t got a quarterback, it makes it hard.”
Syracuse will hit the road in Week 6 to take on Mountain West opponent UNLV (4-0). The Rebels, led by newly named starting quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams, are favored by 6.5 points, per ESPN Bet. Kickoff is set for 9 p.m. ET (FS1).
Sometimes a player just doesn’t gel in a certain program, and has to move on.. McCord wasn’t getting it at OSU. So he looked for another program where he would be a better fit. He did benefit greatly from being at OSU and it shows at Syracuse. Good for him! But the Orangemen HC could have said it a bit better or clearer, so that it didn’t sound like a diss.
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