Syracuse head coach Fran Brown isn't rooting for Clemson in the CFP

Over the past two weeks, Syracuse football head coach Fran Brown has become a hero to Clemson fans. That's because by upsetting Miami on November 30th, his team put the Tigers in the ACC Championship Game where the Tigers eventually clinched a birth in the College Football Playoff.

After the Orange upset the Hurricanes, as fans stormed the field in Syracuse, a fired-up Brown gave a postgame shoutout to Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney.

"Hey Dabo Swinney. Congrants, I got you in baby," Brown said while being interviewed on ESPN.

On December 4th, Swinney was asked if he sent anything to Brown as a thank you and Swinney took it a step further. He said that if Clemson were to win the National Championship, he'd have Brown at the parade to ride in the same car as him.

Then, days later as Clemson celebrated its ACC Championship on the field, Swinney returned the love. In the postgame celebration, Swinney thanked Brown for giving Clemson its opportunity.

Thus, the media has picked up on the mutual admiration that the two coaches have for one another. And Tuesday, as Brown was meeting with the press about his team's selection to the Holiday Bowl to play Washington State, he was asked about his relationship with Swinney.

"He cool," Brown said. "He's a great man. He's won some national championships. He's where I've been at. He's a faith-driven man such as myself so I will always respect that and anyone that's God-fearing, they're definitely a friend of mine cause you understand and know that we have to love all those and look for each other.

"So I'm just very thankful that him and his team, I mean, you listen to that quarterback talk, sounds like Kyle in so many things. They took full advantage of the opportunity like they stayed and like I said, one door was closed but God always opens another one and was able to do the same thing with us in so many senses. And you go back and you watch his career and I see how he progressed, now those guys are doing a really good job so I mean it's good to be able to call a guy such as himself who's won several national championships, who's won this conference nine times, I think he's won eight of the last ten.

"Just to know that we're doing things the right way, and it's good to be able to call him. But I think he's a good man and we got to talk, him and his wife, just a great family. They do it the right way. He does a good job so I'm very happy that he had an opportunity to go out and compete against SMU and then took full advantage of it. Now they're in the playoffs. Very thankful and happy for him and for Clemson and SMU."

However, Brown then threw a curve ball. Despite being an ACC head coach, he playfully shared that while he is excited about Clemson's opportunity, he'll be rooting for a different team to win it all.

"I think they'll go and do a good job," he said. "I'm excited for them. Can't wait to watch those guys play, they both did a good job...So I'm very thankful for Dabo and very excited for him, happy for his team and what they get to go and do...but with that being said, go Dawgs, you know what I'm saying?"

Brown apparently is hoping to see his former employer, Georgia, bring home the CFP trophy this year. That's understandable given that Brown was the defensive backs coach for the Bulldogs in 2022 and 2023 meaning that he likely still has a relationship with a huge number of the players and coaches for that program.

So while Swinney hopes to celebrate a title with Brown, it appears that Brown's allegiances lie elsewhere. Still, Clemson fans will remain grateful to the Syracuse head coach for simply giving the 2024 team a second chance to do something special.