"I’m not giving no WR $2 million in college": Fran Brown minces no words after Syracuse losses prime weapon

Fran Brown took over as the head coach of the Syracuse Orange last season. During his debut campaign, he led the program to a 10-3 record and a Holiday Bowl victory over Washington State. One of his key players on offense was wide receiver Trebor Pena.

However, Fran Brown decided to part ways with Trebor Pena this offseason, with the player entering the transfer portal as a graduate transfer on Tuesday. According to On3, Brown hinted at how NIL was one reason why the falloff with Trebor Pena happened on Cuse Sports Talks.

"It didn't play into it at all," Brown said. "But sometimes, people be asking for an outrageous number...Stop. With all due respect to everybody in the country, to every wide receiver, to everybodu doing all this stuff- if you're going to make $2 million at the wide receiver, that's the home at Ohio State (Jeremiah Smith).

"Ain't nobody else making that money. I ain't giving no wide receiver $2 million in college man."

Trebor Pena joined the Syracuse Orange before Brown's reign in 2020. During his five-season stint with the program, he tallied a total of 1,212 yards and 10 TDs receiving.

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Fran Brown introduces NIL policy to help Syracuse players save money

Fran Brown implemented an NIL policy to help his players become financially literate. During a press conference last month, he shed light on this proposal and what his players will need to do under this policy.

"Where I'm from, it was extremely tough growing up," Brown said. "So, every NIL dollar would just not have been for me. It would have been able to help my mom at home. Those are all the reasons and those reasons are still there. But now, we have a partnership where we send people to help and teach us."

"And then we also have a set where our players they have to save 40% of their checks. So they understand and know, like, I have to put 40% of my check away...'Cause I am your coach. There's no way I'm gonna pay you a lot of money as a good player, and then you're going to walk away from here with no money."

The Syracuse Orange begin their 2025 campaign with a season opener against the Tennessee Volunteers in August