The firing of James Franklin at Penn State has brought out the speculation about head coach Fran Brown’s future at Syracuse. Again.

An article in The Philadelphia Inquirer on Monday mentioned Brown as a potential candidate to replace Franklin. He was one of four prospective head coaches mentioned, joined by three A-listers: Matt Rhule of Nebraska, Curt Cignetti of Indiana and Matt Campbell of Iowa State.

Syracuse’s second-year coach is playing in the big leagues keeping company like that.

“What Brown has done at Syracuse already in less than two seasons in the same region as Penn State can’t be ignored,” The Inquirer’s Devin Jackson wrote. “[He] has a 13-6 record through 1½ seasons at Syracuse, had a signature win over Miami last season, and led his Orange into Clemson to take down Dabo Swinney a few weeks ago.

“This season is off to a much tougher start (3-3), but the program’s culture has shifted dramatically. He is one of the best recruiters is the country and has Syracuse in the top 30 of 247Sports’ 2026 recruiting rankings.”

He added: “Brown has said several times that he’s in it for the long haul at Syracuse, but he’s worth bringing in for an interview. How he connects with players and the lack of attrition he faced from Year 1 to Year 2 at Syracuse speaks volumes.”

Well, what does Brown have to say about being tied to jobs such as Penn State? He addressed the topic in his news conference on Monday and didn’t exactly pledge his lifetime loyalty to the Orange.

“I’m working at Syracuse right now, so I don’t really need to talk about that,” Brown said. “If this wasn’t where I wanted to be at right at the moment, would I be standing here at this moment? So, I’m just focused on that. I’m just focused on being here.”

Syracuse hired Brown in November 2023. At the time, he was defensive backs coach at Georgia and brought a national championship pedigree – and the label of the nation’s top recruiter – to the Orange.

As a private institution, Syracuse is not obligated to release his contract terms so details of his deal are not known.

After the Clemson victory in September, Brown’s name came up as one that would be considered for future head coach openings. Now there are five at Power Four schools: Penn State, Arkansas, Oklahoma State, UCLA and Virginia Tech.

Brown’s impact in a short time has been significant at Syracuse. He took a 6-7 team and produced a 10-3 record – including a bowl win -- in his debut season.

This season, the Orange were rolling, having defeated Clemson on the road to move to 3-1 before the season-ending injury to quarterback Steve Angeli. Two tough Atlantic Coast Conference losses have followed with new quarterback Rickie Collins now running the offense.

This week, the Orange will host Pitt (4-2, 2-1 ACC) in what stacks up as a pivotal game if Syracuse is to reach another bowl game in 2025.

It takes six wins to be bowl-eligible, and the remaining schedule for the Orange has its share of land mines. After Pitt, Syracuse has road games against three ranked teams – No. 12 Georgia Tech, No. 2 Miami and No. 13 Notre Dame – and home games against North Carolina and Boston College, both winless in ACC play.

Much remains to play out in terms of Brown and future coaching jobs, both on the field and off. It is certain, however, that school search committees have their eyes on Brown. And while he might not be at the top of some lists – Rhule, for example, is believed to have the inside track at Penn State if he wants the job – Brown undoubtedly would be a strong Plan B for some programs.

What efforts will Syracuse take to keep their 43-year-old coach wearing orange? That also is worth watching.