Alex Kline Article | Page 3 | Syracusefan.com

Alex Kline Article

I don't blindly criticize coaches based on wins and losses. I was ok with Red's 20 wins his first year, but was concerned with what I saw as disjointed disorganized play. I hoped that would improve with experience. When I saw our early season defense I had some hope, but the offense that would stall for long stretches and then the disappearance of the defense dashed that.

No doubt there is pressure. There should be. You're payed millions to do something society enjoys but doesn't need. Forgive me if I don't feel sorry for any big time coach.
 
ManleyRocks said:
I had a super high stress well paying job. Retired after 23 years on my terms. Early on I embraced the fact that 99 percent of the people at my firm ultimately get fired at some point in time, even the chairman of the firm. Accepting this reality allowed me to perform each and every day. It is like being in combat….unless you accept the fact you are already dead, you will not be able to fight. Same is true for a head coach….on day 1, you know it is likely going to come to an end so accept that fact and battle your a_s off each and everyday. Plain and simple.
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You work at a place where 99% get fired? Ok color me interested here…
 
Multiple things are true here:

Red did a lousy job as coach and deserved to be fired

Red is a really good man in a profession filled with jerks

We were rooting for him because we want to win again and because he is an alum who gave many years to Syracuse

It didn’t work out, his last two years were awful in particular, this year was most frustrating because we had a good enough roster to make the tourney as opposed to finishing under .500
 
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djorange1989 said:
Multiple things are true here:

Red did a lousy job as coach and deserved to be fired

Red is a really good man in a profession filled with jerks

We were rooting for him because we want to win again and because he is an alum who gave many years to Syracuse

It didn’t work out, his last two years were awful in particular, this year was most frustrating because we had a good enough roster to make the tourney as opposed to finished under .500
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it's really not any more complicated than this ^^^
 
JustPherU said:
I’ll just say that was some wild stuff from Mr Kline.
He might be in the wrong business if he is that thin skinned.
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For the most part his comments were measured vs the things we see come from our leaders these days. A couple comments showed his youth and things he will learn from. I wouldn’t say in today’s environment that qualifies anywhere near thin skinned. Take 20 minutes across the news and social media and you will find an important person or 10 say or tweet something far worse.
 
MadNY3 said:
I start this by saying I really, really like Alex and think he is talented.

But the article wreaked of inexperience/immaturity and Stockholm Syndrome.

Yes, this is more evidence that Autry is a great man. But the job clearly wasn’t being done and that’s what matters. Period. This is high stakes. Results matter.

You cannot ask fans to be one-way passionate. Any scorning from Syracuse fans is no different than most places. It comes with the gig.
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Agreed.

Kline's heart was in the right place, but this was an odd article to publish.
 
this was the softest thing I’ve ever read.
I actually think Kline did a good job getting players in to build a roster this year that could compete.
However, the last two years of Red have been a freaking joke. Actually last 5 years have been sad and Red was there for all of it.
Sorry for having high expectations. This is high level D-1 basketball, no 5th grade rec teams.
Proud program is tired of losing and not being competitive. God forbid our fans care to have a winning team and demand , gasps, the tournament. We have every right to “boo” especially when coaches and players are getting paid. And paid well
 
RF2044 said:
Agreed.

Kline's heart was in the right place, but this was an odd article to publish.
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At the risk of sounding overly harsh, Kline just sounds like a whiny little b. Autry was an abject failure. By any and every measure imaginable. It's almost hard to put together two consecutive losing seasons at SU. But he somehow managed to do so. And he walks away with a seven figure severance for being that awful. Most people in the real world could only dream of such a soft landing. So cry me a river if his feelings are a little hurt.
 
It gets frustrating when the language around Autry seems to imply that he was somehow “unfairly” saddled with a high level, top 10 college team of ALL TIME coaching opportunity… he literally was paid millions & positioned with a once in a lifetime situation. It didn’t work out, he’s a good dude & that’s great… but he’s certain not a martyr/victim.
 
Blanko97 said:
“ But if Syracuse “fans” really want the best for their program, they will stop being part of the problem online. Support your players and coaches. Adrian Autry deserved better”
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This quote is unbelievably clueless. I live oversees and wake up in the middle of the night for games. Any time a former player comes to my city I go sit next to the bench and root them on.

The team regularly quit, the coach was wildly out of his depth and they were all well compensated for this horrendous nonsense.

The FANS (outside of a very select few) are about number 900000000 on the list of problems that ruined Syracuse basketball (temporarily hopefully).
 
It really bothers me with a comment "Adrian Autry deserved better". Uh, I think the fans deserved better first of all. We're the only one's who don't get paid, spend our own dollars to support the team/program in various ways, and never thought that this was a good hire. THEN, when things go bad, the fans are blamed for two things we couldn't control: coaching and a bad hire. This is squarely on Syracuse administration/boosters and the coach himself.
 
Blanko97 said:
“ But if Syracuse “fans” really want the best for their program, they will stop being part of the problem online. Support your players and coaches. Adrian Autry deserved better”

The only part I have a problem with. The support was there but the results never were. People shouldn’t have to scream that the ship isn’t sinking while the water goes over their heads to be considered a “fan.” This lack of awareness is why I think a lot of people got frustrated. Sure you have the always toxic idiots on twitter but most fans were just rightfully disappointed in the results and the lack of changes
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Does he have a clue of how fans of other teams talk about their teams? Would Duke boards be sunshine and roses if they missed the tourney with a losing record?
 
This article is gaslighting nonsense and completely indicative of the train wreck that has been running this program. If they were so concerned with fan comments and read everything then they would know the numerous criticisms of their X’s and O’s when it came to coaching. ATO, sub patterns, lack of offense etc. Yet they did literally nothing to address any of it. Fans saw it every day and responded accordingly. This isn’t life or death but Cuse basketball means something to a lot of people when it’s cold and dark. They clearly didn’t get that.
 
MadNY3 said:
I start this by saying I really, really like Alex and think he is talented.

But the article wreaked of inexperience/immaturity and Stockholm Syndrome.

Yes, this is more evidence that Autry is a great man. But the job clearly wasn’t being done and that’s what matters. Period. This is high stakes. Results matter.

You cannot ask fans to be one-way passionate. Any scorning from Syracuse fans is no different than most places. It comes with the gig.
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i believe he is referring more to the burner accounts. which i agree with him on.

that being said, his very own fiance and the daughter of the HC went on social media and immediately did the same thing. (at least not using burner accounts)
 
RF2044 said:
You know what the most likely way to ensure that a coach following a legend fails? By replacing said icon with someone unqualified, into a high-profile, results driven, performance based role.

It was a dumb gamble for a program on the decline to make, at that inflection point in our program's history. And justifying it was complete rationalization, given the decline.

Had we hired a more competent head coach, the results would have been better. This year's roster -- just for example -- was much better than what our record was. Losses to Hofstra and BC... talk about underachievement.

Red inherited a team, lost control, but still managed to win 20 games. But it was with Boeheim's players.

Nobody questions that he is a great guy, that he cared a lot about the players, or that he didn't do his best. But this is a outcome driven role. Those articles toward the end of his tenure were really eye opening about how over his head he was.

And at the end of the day, that's the bottom line. I thought GRob was a "good guy," too. Ditto Scott Shafer -- by all accounts, a great guy. But they weren't up to the challenge.

And neither was Red. Being honest about that assessment isn't being "mean." And it's not piling on.

I look forward to having a competent coach who can reverse this trend.
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I agree with a lot of your post, however the team Autry inherited from Boeheim barely had a .500 team record at 17-15 the previous year. The year before the team record was below .500. Autry coached that team to a 20-12 (.625) record which was higher than Boeheim had it in his last 5 years in coaching.

No credit to Autry just criticism that he did not do better.
 
PoppyHart said:
If I'm an employer at another university or basketball organization, I am thinking long and hard at the notion of hiring Mr. Kline into any position of importance. Especially any position that may be public facing.
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This is a not small point. Unless he is hitching his wagon to Autry indefinitely, he hurt himself with this
 

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