The first season of Syracuse Orange football under first-year head coach Fran Brown has largely been a success. However, during a press conference on Monday, Brown revealed his rather unorthodox routine after losses showing he takes the losses harder than perhaps any coach in the country.
Coming into the season, Brown and the Orange were profiled as a dark-horse contender in the ACC, with former Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord at the helm. However, with losses in two of their last three ACC games, any chances of competing for a conference championship may be gone.
Brown addressed reporters on Monday following the team’s Week 11 loss to Boston College, saying that he hadn’t showered after the loss until Monday morning, because he believes he “doesn’t deserve the soap” after a loss.
“Honestly, I’ve got like a ritual when we lose,” Brown said via Ashley Wenskoski of CNY Central, an affiliate of NBC and The CW in Syracuse, New York. “I didn’t even get into the shower until earlier this morning. I just be mad, brush my teeth. It’s like, ‘I don’t deserve soap. I don’t deserve to do all that.’ I’m just focused on trying to get back and try to make sure that our players mentally understand that I let them down. They didn’t do it. I just wake up all night. Especially when we lose. I wake up like damn, that really happened that way. And then I just move on.”
“There is a process I follow every week. Win, lose, or draw. The only thing is my wife, I can’t sleep in the bed if we lose, because I’m not going to get in the shower for that day. I’m just mad. I just sit there and brush my teeth. That’s what I feel I have to do so y’all won’t say my breath stinks. But I’m just kind of locked in on certain things in certain ways. You gotta earn the right to do certain things. So winners get washed and losers just have to wait a little bit.”
Fran Brown on his postgame ritual following a loss:
-He doesn’t shower- “I don’t deserve soap – winners get washed.”
-Watches tape beginning that night
-“My wife, I can’t sleep in the bed if we lose, because I’m not going to get in the shower for that day. I’m just mad.” pic.twitter.com/yL3lbxWo5X
— Ashley Wenskoski (@AshleyWenskTV) November 11, 2024
On one hand, it’s quite noble for Brown to be this passionate about the success of Syracuse football. And it should be an overwhelmingly positive sign for Syracuse fans that he is the correct man for the job.
On the other hand, this probably makes Brown even more unpleasant to be around than he probably would be already the day after losses.
Luckily for Brown and his wife, Syracuse has only lost three games this season, so there haven’t been too many days where Brown has been both unwashed and unhappy.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.