New Syracuse Football (HC) Fran Brown Already Hiring Young Assistant Coaches

Syracuse football fans. Are you already feeling the Fran Brown effect? Good, because it’s only just beginning.

After that over-the-top introductory press conference followed by a standing ovation at his first appearance at a Cuse Basketball game, Brown has already begun his work in recruiting and hiring what he hopes to be the best coaching staff in the nation.

Jeff Nixon (OC)

Coach Nixon will be Brown’s offensive coordinator at Syracuse football. To me, he was the best young hire Brown could find.

He has experience coaching in college football where he was the offensive coordinator for the Baylor Bears when he and Brown were on Matt Rhule’s staff together at Baylor University.

Just recently, Nixon served as the running backs coach in the NFL with the New York Giants under Brian Daboll and helped coach Saquon Barkley to an impressive season this year.

Brown promised they would focus on the running game and controlling the clock in his offense and who wouldn’t know better than a guy like Nixon who coached one of the top running backs in the NFL this past season.

Elijah Robinson (DC)

Perhaps one of his best hires so far, coach Robinson is a young man who, like Brown, is considered one of the top recruiters in the class of 2024.

Right now, he is the interim head coach for Texas A&M, a role he has served since former head coach Jimbo Fisher was fired a couple of weeks ago. Before Fisher’s firing, Robinson was the assistant head coach and defensive line coach for the Aggies under coach Fisher.

Since he hails from the SEC, Robinson likes to run an aggressive 4-3 defense that focuses on hitting the quarterback, blitzing, and also stopping the run.

The athletes he will look for on that side of the ball are Ted Washington and Pat Williams, types of d-linemen who can both sack the quarterback and clog up running lanes in the middle.

This hire makes sense, as for the past few years under previous defensive coordinators, Tony White and Rocky Long, they ran a pass-rush-heavy 3-3-5 scheme, but Syracuse football could never seem to stop the run under that scheme.

Kevin Coyle (DLC)

Coach Coyle brings years of experience and recruiting talent as the new defensive line coach at Syracuse football under Brown. He previously came over from the Fresno State Bulldogs as their defensive coordinator.

Coyle also returns to Syracuse football after serving as its defensive coordinator under former head coach Paul Pasqualoni from 1991 to 1993.

Prior to arriving at Fresno State, he was a senior analyst at LSU under head coach Ed Orgeron. He also has over a decade of NFL experience, as he served four years with the Miami Dolphins (2012-2015 DC coach) and 13 years with the Cincinnati Bengals, (2001-2002 CB coach), (2003-2011 DB coach), and (2016-2017 DB coach). 

Coyle is the old soul with the experience and the teaching ability to help guide Robinson along the way and work with the front four.

Nick Williams (DE)

Coach Williams is another talented recruiting hire who before coming to Syracuse football, worked very hard under Colorado Head Coach Deion Sanders. He helped to land one of the best recruiting classes in Colorado football history, grabbing many four and five-star prospects.

He will look to do the same at Syracuse football and a good start would be trying to flip some of his Colorado commits to play and develop under him at Syracuse.

Nunzio Campanile (TE Coach)

The original “Mr. New Jersey” aka Coach Campanile was brought in by former head coach Dino Babers as a tight ends coach from Rutgers University. He has strong recruiting ties to the Garden State and comes from a popular football family from Jersey.

After Coach Babers was fired following a 31-22 loss to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Nov. 18, Campanile was promoted to interim head coach. The next week, he led Syracuse football to a bowl berth with a 35-31 dome finale win over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

Nunzio will still be on Brown’s staff and will return to his original position as tight ends coach. On Dec 21, he will still be the interim head coach, coaching the Boca Rotan Bowl, vs the USF Bulls.

Common Theme and Goal with Assistants

What Coach Brown’s assistants share in common is they’re mostly young, first-time position coaches. Brown and Robinson are considered to be the top 10 top 5 recruiters in the game. Williams is also a talented recruiter and will look to bring some of his top Colorado commits over to the 315.

The only elder statesman in this staff is Coyle, but he also brings recruiting skills and 13 years of NFL experience with the Cincinnati Bengals.

The one surprising hire was NY Giants running back coach, Nixon becoming offensive coordinator. Then I woke up and realized he had prior collegiate OC experience while with Baylor under Brown and then head coach Rhule.

Overall, Brown looks like a great hire as head coach, and his assistants look like they are going to be on the same page with him.

They will look to build Syracuse football into a recruiting power and a championship football program once again.  They will all be following the “DART” characteristics of Detail, Accountable, Relentless, and Toughness.

We know this staff will recruit the top talent needed to win here, and I’m confident that they can coach them and develop them into annual winners.

Good luck to Coach Brown and the staff at Syracuse football.

For another Syracuse football story, please check out:

Syracuse Football Hires Recruiting Guru Fran Brown as New Head Coach