Syracuse is in discussions with Georgia assistant Fran Brown to be its next head coach, two people with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Monday night.

The people spoke on condition of anonymity because nothing had been finalized. One of the people said Syracuse also had contacted Toledo coach Jason Candle and Holy Cross coach Bob Chesney about the vacancy, but have decided to focus on getting a deal done with Brown.

The Athletic first reported Brown had become Syracuse's top choice.

The 41-year-old Brown, a native of New Jersey, is in his second season as defensive backs coach at Georgia and has never been a head coach. He was part of a national championship team last season and the top-ranked Bulldogs are preparing for a third straight Southeastern Conference championship game appearance Saturday against No. 8 Alabama.

Before joining coach Kirby Smart's staff, Brown spent most of his career in the Northeast at Temple and Rutgers. He also spent two years at Baylor working for Matt Rhule, who is now at Nebraska.

Syracuse fired Dino Babers with one game left in his eighth season leading the Orange. Babers led the Orange to two bowl games during his tenure and Syracuse managed to get bowl-eligible again Saturday by beating Wake Forest with interim coach Nunzio Campanile.

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