Camden to ’Cuse: Local signees share why they are on board the Fran Brown express

Jaylan Hornsby was sound asleep until the noise of a vibrating phone woke him. He looked at his cell phone and saw several text messages about former Texas A&M football coach Jimbo Fisher being fired during the season.

Hornsby, a receiver who spent his senior year at Winslow Township, had announced his pledge to the Aggies in early July. However, with the departure of his future head coach, Hornsby was at a crossroads.

Does he risk playing for a new staff that didn’t recruit him or withdraw his commitment, finding another program?

“They still had [defensive coordinator] Elijah Robinson, and he was my main recruiter,” said Hornsby, who also held offers from Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, and Oregon. “If he stays, I’ll be fine. Then a couple of weeks went by, other schools started reaching out, and I saw that Coach Elijah was going to leave — I was just waiting to see where he was going to go.”

Robinson, a Camden native who worked from 2014 to 2016 as a defensive line coach at Temple under Matt Rhule, decided that his next move would be reuniting with an old friend in Upstate New York. Fran Brown, a former Georgia defensive backs coach, is starting a new era of Orange as Syracuse’s head coach.

Several Philadelphia area players in the high school class of 2024 and transfer portal have taken notice. After Wednesday’s national signing day, Syracuse is on track to have a top-40 recruiting class — the highest-ranked group of prospects the school has signed in more than a decade.

The local talent in this year’s class includes Hornsby, who flipped his commitment to Syracuse; Camden High’s Braheem Long Jr., a 6-foot-1 running back and receiver; and Eastside linebacker Fatim Diggs.

In the transfer portal, Brown picked up Diggs’ older brother, Fadil Diggs, an edge rusher from Texas A&M; former Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord, a St. Joseph’s Prep graduate; former Georgia receiver Yazeed Haynes, a North Penn grad; and West Virginia linebacker transfer James Heard, a Camden native.

“I definitely see what he’s trying to do,” Hornsby said Wednesday at Eisenhower Middle School after signing his letter of intent. “He doesn’t need to go anywhere far to find talent. We’ve got a different type of dog in us, and we’re here to prove that he doesn’t have to look elsewhere for it.”

» READ MORE: Camden native Fran Brown is next up as Syracuse football coach. Several local recruits have taken notice.

The common theme that came up among the three signees Wednesday in connection with Brown: comfort.

In the new landscape of college athletics, there’s more pressure on high school athletes to choose the right program. The transfer portal and coaching staff turnover can instantly change a player’s decision.

Hornsby, Long, and Fatim Diggs each knew Brown from their childhood, with family and friends having relationships with him. As an assistant coach at both Temple and Rutgers, Brown, known as one of the nation’s best recruiters, was often at local high school practices.

What he’s doing now, Long said, is bringing trust back into college athletics.

“He was just a person that was telling me what to do,” Long said of meeting Brown at a Rutgers camp his freshman year. “How to get to the next level and what I could do to be better as an athlete.”

Long announced his pledge to Syracuse in June. During his visits, he stayed with Alijah Clark, a junior defensive back in the Orange’s program. The two grew up together. Long always looked at Clark as a “big brother.”

When Brown took over, there wasn’t consideration of looking elsewhere; instead, it felt like a blessing in disguise.

Said Long: “That’s actually why I chose Syracuse — Coach Fran told me he was going to help me grow on and off the field. He’s going to continue to be a role model for me.”

When Long was 8, his father, Braheem Long Sr., was a victim of gun violence in Salem, N.J. His mother, Apollonia Brittingham, reminded him to turn that pain into power and that with the right mindset, it could take him far.

While his college football journey is only beginning, Brittingham said, knowing that Brown is the head coach gave her a sense of relief.

» READ MORE: From Cincinnati to Wisconsin, area football players take their next steps on national signing day

“I can trust him with my son,” she added. “I feel like he’s going to help him as a player and as a man in ways that I can’t help because it’s just me, my son, and my daughter. There has never really been a man in the household.

“Fran is very symbolic for people from cities like ours. It shows you that you can do it, too.”

Beyond commitments from local players, the Syracuse train will feature a family affair —brothers Fatim and Fadil Diggs, who are six years apart and have never played together on a team.

“We always talked about moments like that,” said Fatim at Eastside’s signing-day ceremony. “Playing with each other for at least a year, and now to get this great opportunity. I can’t wait to touch the field with my brother. My dream is that me and him get a sack at the same time. That’d be a great picture for my mom.”

When Fatim made his commitment, his older brother was split between Alabama and Syracuse. Fadil, a four-star prospect out of Eastside (then Woodrow Wilson) in 2019, kept going back to the thought of the brothers playing together.

It ultimately steered him in Syracuse’s direction.

“Soon as I hit the portal, Fran was the first person to call me,” said Fadil, who recorded 36 tackles (11 tackles for losses), including four sacks this season. “He said, ‘You might as well come back with us.’

“I knew Coach Fran since eighth grade, he gave me my second scholarship [offer] to Temple. There was already a connection and bond, so it was an easy decision.”

Fadil, who has intentions to play professionally, saw the opportunity at Syracuse, an ACC school that finished 6-6 this season, as a chance to build a destination that gathers Philadelphia-area players together.

“It’s time we reunite and play together again,” Fadil said. “It’s going to be special because Jersey football is a great thing and a lot of people are sleeping on us, so we get to show everybody what we’re about.”

Even high school coaches see the opportunity for their players heading to Syracuse as special. Camden coach Rob Hinson and Eastside coach Melik Brown both have ties to Fran Brown when he played for Camden High.

Fran Brown heavily recruited in the Philly-Jersey area. He knew what there was to offer. Now in his new role, Brown has brought a different kind of attention to his program, and the prospects have bought into it.

» READ MORE: Penn State’s 2024 class has three top Philly-area players. Here’s who the Nittany Lions are getting

“We’re starting to call it Camden-’Cuse,” Long said, laughing.

Whether you want to call it Camden-’Cuse or Jersey 2.0, Brown is making a historical statement by bringing local standouts together.

“It’s going to be a great opportunity for those guys out there,” Hinson said. “Fran in general has done a tremendous job. There’s always a buzz with a new coach, but not like this.”