He’s doing what he can to do it
The Syracuse Orange finished their spring game less than two weeks ago and we expected that it would be Rickie Collins throwing to Trebor Pena in Atlanta next August.
Since then, Pena’s departed via the portal and with Collins dealing with an injured thumb, the Orange have added Steve Angeli, the Notre Dame transfer quarterback. Did the Pena move enable the Angeli addition? No one will know for sure, but adding another quarterback doesn’t necessarily mean that Brown doesn’t trust Collins.
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What it shows is that Syracuse’s head coach understands the modern college football landscape. You aren’t going to get the best out of your team without experience, leadership, depth and competition. The Orange were lucky to get through last season with Kyle McCord healthy and with a tougher slate in 2025, the coaching staff can’t sit back and hope that players are ready.
Pena and Maraad Watson departed for situations they feel will be better. Brown added players he felt would be better for the team. It’s why I don’t cry about player loyalty, because this is big business and if you want to win, sometimes you have to make tough calls.
I don’t know how Rickie Collins feels about the Angeli addition. Frankly I don’t assume that Angeli is automatically the starter. What this does is strengthen the quarterback room and increase the competition from now until the opener. Do we know if another quarterback will depart before the portal closes? These days you can’t assume anything other than Fran Brown seems like he’s up front with his players.
Brown said he’d get another quarterback and he did. He said linebackers needed to come see him and Gary Bryant did just that. If you want to win the ACC and make the CFP you have to be willing to push the envelope and look for success in the margins. It’s a new era in Syracuse and that should keep fans excited.