Brent Axe says Reds job should be in jeopardy

[AcAndAc]

I see no way anyone will be excited unless we are in the top 25 next year.

Probably not... but I think reasonable to expect to be in the Big Dance.

 

[NKR1978]

I feel so much better now that the AD and Autry expect us to be significantly, significantly better next year.

This is going to be as effective as Michael Scott declaring bankruptcy.

 

[hoopsupstate]

I feel so much better now that the AD and Autry expect us to be significantly, significantly better next year.

The question is, what does that look like?

 

[NKR1978]

Melo might be the only wildcard but honestly I’m not so sure

We'll just be wasting money on players no one wants.

The only thing he can salvage this with is to hire a new staff and fill all positions with non Syracuse people. The Syracuse people are too blind and loyal to their relationships instead of putting the program first.

 

[jncuse]

No moments to hang on to? That is a lie.

Glorious tight hard fought wins against stalwarts like Lemoyne, Youngstown (2Ot), Boston College (3OT).

 

[CuseTG2003]

Delaying the inevitable = not a serious program. So dumb given how important it is to get the bball program back on track ASAP given the rapidly changing landscape in college sports. Complete institutional failure.

No difference makers are going to want to come play for a coach who's clearly in over his head.

 

[NKR1978]

I feel bad for Kiyan. A new coach with some excitement and hope for the program and we'd get 20,000+ a game again. No we have a giant mausoleum.

 

[Red2003]

I feel bad for Kiyan. A new coach with some excitement and hope for the program and we'd get 20,000+ a game again. No we have a giant mausoleum.

The Vegas NIL tourney over Thanksgiving is so important. If we walk out of that tourney in last place might a well start the coaching search in December and starting talking to the Anthony's to make sure they can live with the new coach.

 

[5OutFred]

I don't think any decent player is going to want to come here with Red after this season. Their handlers wont let them and we're going to overpay for more mediocre players that Red can't coach to mediocrity.

There's a reason Boston College and other middling programs pondering coaching changes are also using the phrase one more year with increased NIL.

Fans hear "we have NIL now" and think it will solve things. The needed funding for overhauling a roster, along with acquiring the difference-making talent required to right this ship is immense, SEC level.

SU will be more competitive, but I would be surprised if it's enough to get Red over the hump.

 

[Newhouser]

The question is, what does that look like?

It looks like 17-18 wins and a 4th year.

 

[LAorange44]

Taped interview is weak and cowardly. Do it live and take questions from the wallets, I mean fans

 

[jdubs30]

I'm no Autry fan. He's not a serious coach. People that can not understand why the university is not changing direction need to think about if we ever are the first to do something ever. Throw out the money argument for a minute.

I still have not come across a single D1 Hoops Head Coach that has been fired after 2 years with a 500 Record?

I'm still asking here because I can't find one. In what world do people think SU would be the first to do this.

Craig Smith was the HC at South Dakota, then was at Utah State where he had 74 wins in 3 years. He got hired at Utah where he won 11 games his first year, 17 his second, and 22 in his 3rd year. They fired him this year when they were 15-12. And the only real reason seems to be they didn’t think he’d be successful in this NIL landscape with him at HC.

This guy was a successful HC twice before, went from 11 to 17 to 22 wins in his first 3 years at Utah, then gets let go halfway through season 4.

If you compare both situations, especially considering there is no scandals at play here, the Craig Smith firing to me is still more surprising than If Red got fired next week.

 

[Fly Rodder]

I see no way anyone will be excited unless we are in the top 25 next year.

I need to see a top 40-ish KP/BP/EM team and no more double digit blowouts. There will always be the anomalous game here and there where the opponent just shoots lights out from three. Whatever, regroup and move on. But multiple noncompetitive games against bubble teams (or worse) is not a good indicator. In Evan Miya's team ratings, he tracks kill shots (10-0 runs) and Syracuse is dead last in the ACC with 5 (BC and Miami have 9 & 8 respectively - nearly twice as many) and SU has given up the 3rd most (16), behind GT (19) and VT (17) and tied with Miami.

There are only 7(!) D1 teams with fewer than five 10-0 runs this season. LeMoyne has had five 10-0 runs. And about 200 D1 teams have given up fewer than 16 10-0 runs.

 

[JimBoston]

Wildhack has allowed the program to marinate in for too long. Starting to fear it’s unfixable

It's fixable becasue Syracuse has history, a great fan base, and a solid conference. Look at how Pitino turned around St. John's or Kelsey turning around Louisville. The bottom line, the next hire has to have winning head coaching experience at any level.

 

[kingtidge]

I look forward to tuning back in to Syracuse basketball after March 2026.

Been real, all!

I am with you.

Taking next season off unless some miraculous turnaround materializes.

 

[FloridaCuse]

He's right.

Red is going to get a third year, because <<<reasons>>>, but the university will take some hits based upon fan apathy and declining ticket sales / revenue.

If the program doesn't knock it out of the box in the portal [which will be more difficult than I think some posters expect, given the awful season we've had], next year could get very ugly in terms of fan engagement.

And . . . how bad a coach Autry seems to be. How will he attract any decent player in the portal to play for him?

 

[HRE Otto IV]

SU is stuck in the past. This isn't 1980 where BBall is an amateur sport made up of student athletes. Back then you could be patient with a HC. You could give a guy 4-5 years and no big deal. But BBall is now a pro sport and SU needs to act as such. You cannot go out and ask for the fans to pay for your players and then at the same time act like this is not the pros. Once again SU is late to the game.

Gives me little hope that we have NIL "fixed" going forward. Do I think things will be better? Yes, but it is almost for sure that we are still catching up.

 

[Red2003]

Craig Smith was the HC at South Dakota, then was at Utah State where he had 74 wins in 3 years. He got hired at Utah where he won 11 games his first year, 17 his second, and 22 in his 3rd year. They fired him this year when they were 15-12. And the only real reason seems to be they didn’t think he’d be successful in this NIL landscape with him at HC.

This guy was a successful HC twice before, went from 11 to 17 to 22 wins in his first 3 years at Utah, then gets let go halfway through season 4.

If you compare both situations, especially considering there is no scandals at play here, the Craig Smith firing to me is still more surprising than If Red got fired next week.

Yea Still 3 years. I'm looking for that unicorn 2 year coach fired in D1. Can't find a single name fired after 2 years with a 500 record. Payne comes up over and over with his 12 wins in 2 years (.188 win %).

*I'm not defending Autry. I'm just asking.

 

[EnviroSciGuy]

The offseason will be interesting in terms of what happens with the portal, assistants, etc. It's hard to imagine them knocking it out of the park with Red as a lameduck coach, but in the era of the rent-a-team, that might not be the deterrence it once was. The bigger deterrent will probably be the lack of player development.

Still, it's going to be hard to bring myself to care. I'll stay tuned through the end of this season out of morbid fascination, but then I'll probably only check in on this board once in a while. Just too depressing.

 

[Cuse99&01]

When you tell everyone that the coach was completely unprepared for the offseason, and then the coach proceeds to drop the worst season in 60 years, and a possible 20 loss season and looks completely lost on the court either getting blown out or losing double digit leads every game, and your plan is just to run it back? Not only run it back, but then ask the fans to drop 50 million? It is a joke...

Yep. Reminds me of what the Dallas Mavericks are doing right now. Traded away their best player (arguably top 3 player in the league) for a less than ideal package, putting future success in jeopardy, and then saying they will raise ticket prices next year. These higher ups really think the fans are a bunch of idiots.

 

[phil77]

Yea Still 3 years. I'm looking for that unicorn 2 year coach fired in D1. Can't find a single name fired after 2 years with a 500 record. Payne comes up over and over with his 12 wins in 2 years (.188 win %).

*I'm not defending Autry. I'm just asking.

Who cares things change. Years ago we weren't officially paying players either. Landscape of sports change. Just because nobody has done it before, doesn't mean Syracuse shouldn't do it, now that is a silly excuse.

 

[Cusefan95]

I don't think any decent player is going to want to come here with Red after this season. Their handlers wont let them and we're going to overpay for more mediocre players that Red can't coach to mediocrity.

One of my friends took a job where he knew it probably wouldn't last more than two years before the company went bankrupt - but he had two years until retirement and everyone knew the company was floundering so they had to MASSIVELY overpay him. It was the only reason he took the job.

Its one of the reasons why you don't bring back a coach after a season like this, and its borderline cruelty and a sign JW has sadistic tendencies for him to do so. Its really hard to get anyone to come onto a ship that is obviously taking on water, and anyone who does is either desperate themselves or you're overpaying them. The likelihood next year is a trainwreck is really high, the ceiling is probably scraping into a "last four in" bid which doesn't provide any security and just means we delay the inevitable.

 

[Red2003]

Who cares things change. Years ago we weren't officially paying players either. Landscape of sports change. Just because nobody has done it before, doesn't mean Syracuse shouldn't do it, now that is a silly excuse.

Ok get that. Shouldn’t you be calling for the administration and the people making the decision to be fired along with Autry too then?

It’s like saying we need drastic changes and decisions to be made that have never been made before then looking at the same old dudes that have been around forever and saying why didn’t you change?

 

[Sbucketball]

If any students are looking for a quiet place to study next winter, try the Dome.

 

[RF2044]

Ok get that. Shouldn’t you be calling for the administration and the people making the decision to be fired along with Autry too then?

It’s like saying we need drastic changes and decisions to be made that have never been made before then looking at the same old dudes that have been around forever and saying why didn’t you change?

I'm not going that far and calling for that -- but given what's been described about the administrative involvement in JB being forced to step down and identifying his replacement -- yeah, the University screwed that process up by having too many chefs in the kitchen [many of whom had steered the process with feelings instead of structured due diligence].

A committee-based approach shouldn't happen again.