After another difficult loss on Saturday against Louisville, the Syracuse Orange football team is now 2-4 overall and 0-4 within Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play.

And according to 'The Athletic,' the seat is "toasty" for head coach Fran Brown, who is in his third season at the helm of the program.

According to the article:

"New athletic director Bryan Blair, we’re told, will be aggressive in working to elevate the program. Getting to 4-8 wouldn’t be great, but it might be enough to buy him another year."

Let's dive a little deeper.

1) Blair did not hire Brown. Simply put. Therefore, the new athletic director has the right to evaluate everything, and he will not be doing so with the bias of having to justify his own hire. That means that every person in the athletic department who he did not hire should at least be cognizant of the new dynamic.

2) Syracuse won 10 games in 2024, and then dropped to three wins last season, and is just 2-4 this year. The regression in the program has been linear, and that can't make Blair happy. Furthermore, Syracuse has lost 11 consecutive games within the conference, spanning more than a calendar year. 

3) We've seen turnarounds be possible at several other places around the country, so why is it not happening at Syracuse? OK, SU doesn't have the budget of Indiana or Florida, but we're not asking them to win the national title. We're asking them to win games in a middling ACC, and they can't do it right now. Boston College of all teams is now 3-3 and just beat Pitt, a team that Syracuse lost to by two touchdowns this season.

4) It's not just the losses, it's the style of play that reflects a lack of leadership and discipline. The Orange have been penalized 61 times this season in only six games. Only four programs have been flagged more, and they've all played seven games.

5) Brown got rid of a number of assistants at the end of 2025, putting the focus on him. If the program still hasn't responded, who's fault is that?

1) OK, the team went 3-9 last season, but that's not entirely fair. Starting quarterback Steve Angeli had the Orange out to a 3-1 start before tearing his Achilles at the end of the fourth game of the season. Syracuse lost all eight games in his absence. Sure, you can blame Brown for not properly recruiting the QB position beyond Angeli, but that's still tough sledding for any program.

2) Brown is dealing with injuries at the quarterback position again this season. He learned his lesson and properly brought in backup quarterbacks, but he can't help that he's down to QB No. 3 and No. 4 in this season. Again, that's tough sledding for anyone.

3) The Orange are 2-4, but they could easily be 4-2 if they could make their field goals and extra-points. Kicking has directly led to losses against Cal and Virginia, and it impacted the game against Louisville too. Are you really going to fire a guy based on the fragility of college kickers?

4) The Orange are holding up well in recruiting, which matters a lot. Wide receiver Calvin Russell, a freshman, is arguably the top recruit to ever commit to Central New York. If Brown is let go, those connections go with him, and maybe Russell does too.

The Orange will take on North Carolina on Saturday night (7:30 p.m. ET) in Chapel Hill.