Former Georgia assistant Fran Brown pulled off biggest recruiting upset of the summer

Georgia fans should love seeing what Fran Brown is doing at Syracuse.
Virginia Tech v Syracuse
Virginia Tech v Syracuse | Bryan M. Bennett/GettyImages

Georgia football so far has only earned one commitment in July. Considering it’s only been a few days that’s still pretty solid even after earning 18 commitments in the month of June.

So while Georgia fans wait for their next commit, they can keep tabs with former UGA coaches to see how they’re doing at their new schools. And former Georgia assistant Fran Brown just pulled off the biggest recruiting upset so far this year on Saturday.

Former assistant Fran Brown earns commitment from 5-star WR

Saturday marked the commitment date for five-star wide receiver Calvin Russell. As with any five-star recruit, his decision was highly anticipated. Many thought Russell would be headed north to Michigan to play his college ball, but he instead decided to shock the world and head a little east instead and commit to Brown and Syracuse.

Brown only has one year under his belt so far at Syracuse, but he has quickly proven to be more than capable of becoming one of the best coaches in all of college football. Before Brown arrived at Syracuse, the previous five seasons saw their win total peak at seven. But Brown quickly changed that last year as Syracuse finished the season at 10-3.

Now Brown is already building off that success on the recruiting trail after beating Michigan, Oregon and Florida State for the No. 3 receiver in the 2026 recruiting class.

While this news doesn’t impact Georgia at all, it is still great to see Brown find success at Syracuse. Brown is an easy person for Georgia fans to cheer for because of how loved and respected he became during his time in Athens. So couple that with the fact that he’s already taken an average ACC program to the top of the conference and it’s easy to see why Georgia fans will continue cheering him on.

It will be interesting to see if Brown can repeat the success Syracuse found in 2024 this season, but if he can keep winning on the recruiting trail like this then it’s likely just a matter of time until he leads Syracuse to an ACC Championship.