Syracuse HC Calls Out Trebor Pena amid Transfer Over NIL, 'I'm Not Giving No WR $2M'

Syracuse is set to lose wide receiver Trebor Pena to the transfer portal, and head coach Fran Brown didn't hold back as he revealed the senior departed the program after not receiving a larger NIL deal.

"We paid him enough. He was going to get paid more. There were some numbers that were asked to me that I didn't feel I would be able to do and move on," Brown told local radio station WTLA-AM, per The Athletic's David Ubben. "I treated him right, did everything that was needed, and I just said, 'Yo, you got to go.'"

Pena was the leading returning receiver for the Orange after recording a team-high 84 catches for 941 yards and nine touchdowns. He was named a team captain, and Ubben noted he "was the only player on the roster other than the quarterbacks given a non-contact jersey during spring practice."

Brown, who coached Syracuse to a 10-3 finish in his first year at the helm for the program's second 10-win season since 2001, said he felt Pena was requesting a deal that is typically reserved for the upper echelon of college football players.

"You gonna make $2 million at wide receiver? That's the homie at Ohio State (Jeremiah Smith). Ain't nobody else making that money. I'm not giving no wide receiver $2 million in college. That ain't me," Brown said. "I ain't doing that unless they tell me we have a chance to have Travis Hunter come back to college. He can come here and play for us, then he gonna get some of my check."

Brown added that he didn't feel comfortable giving the wideout a deal that would have exceeded what members of his coaching staff are making.

"Sometimes people be asking for an outrageous number. You're not about to make more than every coordinator," Brown said.