Coach Search Options after Autry

[FrancoPizza]

I'm reluctant. One, do they really need to hear form me on this. Two, I got pushback when I tried to bring AW back in the fold. Three. I think it will be BH and not Lyke. Why use up chips if I don't need to.

Consider if SU athletics collapses with the wrong hires, saving your chips won't matter at that point.

 

[Irishsecra1]

Thank you for what you're doing here Bulldog stating facts. Unfortunately You're still getting people posting back on you with vibes and ignoring them.

BUT BUT BUT he was a New York guy and he always wanted the job.

Yea so what, we're talking alot of money and at 38 it's life changing.

Dude also hasn't live in NY in 7 years, moved away when he was in his early 30's, met his fiance in Alabama and now has a young baby. As stated he also has options.

Yes he wants the job but let's not pretend some New York connection growing up here is going to outweigh the math..

I want him too but let's not so be so naive.

I think the days of getting a hometown discount for SU are gone.
JB kind of spoiled us for this - no one else out there is going to do this.

 

[Briancuse]

He also can show not one but two Coach of the year awards. Plus, a long time serving this institution well. He can try to sell that he lost his recruiting base when he went west. And that Washington is a tough place to win.

He recruited well there, that wasn't the problem.

 

[powdersmack]

I believe he is in the NBA now, correct?

Where they can actually spell his name right, correct?

 

[shandeezy7]

I understand that. But that is not the endowment he was talking about.

Understood, just pointing out that Athletics endowments do exist. The best way to look at it is that in their 2024 financial report, SU stated that they had $66.4M in endowment spending available and they spend 1/3 of that on student scholarships. So, you're now down to $44M in available endowment money to spend, much of which is likely restricted to programs/purposes that fall outside of Athletics. Even still, I would hope no one would expect 8 to 10% of that endowment spending to be directed toward the Men's Basketball Head Coach, which is what you were getting at.

Edit: does SU have any endowed head coaching positions besides Men's Lacrosse?

 

[35kcuse]

I believe most people know that. I thought he was just pointing out that Syracuse is not an impoverished university overall.

Yes this was exactly my point! Syracuse is not SUNY Fredonia. With the resources they have, and the type of money they can rake in with a successful basketball program they need to pay up. Anything short of it is not “we are broke”. It’s “I don’t like slight risk and am using this excuse to cop out of any failures the basketball program has because of my poor decisions”

 

[dasher]

Where they can actually spell his name right, correct?

Well, in all fairness they have a highly respected communications dept to be able to do that.

 

[DilemaCuse]

There would be much less controversy if Hop was picked over Red 3 years ago. Why was Hop not part of that equation then?

Good question, wondered that as well. March 23 he was in his 2nd to last year at UW going 16-16 that season. If we hired him then it would have been questioned nationally since UW was just kicking the can down the road for another season to lower the buyout, I assume. It might looked odd.

Was there some fallout between Hop and Jim that made him not an option at the time?

 

[sufan59]

um ok I'll stick with reality

I'm a fan and an alum, not a journalist. I'll handle reality whatever it turns out to be. Right now, I'm campaigning as a fan and alum for the guy who is the best for the job, a job that desperately needs a winner that can fill up our amazing monstrosity that also helps Syracuse become a top 5 revenue generator in the sport when the conditions are there. If I had financial power, I would be exercising it for BH, which is why I am passionate about the powers that be getting this done. In a world where I had financial power, I don't think there would be any other candidate out there that I would be passionate about financially supporting initially. Even Josh Schertz, I think he is a great coach, not that sure about the fit given that he's never worked at an institution that cares about football too. If it's not BH, I don't really care. Probably will be apathetic until proven otherwise.

 

[Sbucketball]

The first contract will be affordable for these guys, but I hope SU doesn't balk at the second/third contract if he wins. Turn the program around and SU will either pay him or lose him. No more JB discount. In that situation would we really lose a winning coach over an extra few million? It's literally earned in multiples by filling up the Dome. They see how many fewer people attend games for a bad product. Please don't turn into a feeder program.

I wonder if trying to recreate the JB hometown discount is a driving force for those in favor of alumni.

 

[FrancoPizza]

Good question, wondered that as well. March 23 he was in his 2nd to last year at UW going 16-16 that season. If we hired him then it would have been questioned nationally since UW was just kicking the can down the road for another season to lower the buyout, I assume. It might looked odd.

Was there some fallout between Hop and Jim that made him not an option at the time?

So basically the optics would've been even worse than they are now... and it is BAD now. Apparently, all Hop needed was a few years for that PR stink to wear off while not attempting to rehab his coaching resume at another school.

 

[Sherman20]

No one is saying we have to hire Hopkins. Including me. I want BH. But some people on here are clueless (not directing that at you). You know how many schools have more money than cuse on that list that Norlander posted alone? Hmmm let’s see - LSU, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Arizona state and that’s not counting other schools that haven’t even fired their coaches yet. This is a top 2 coaching candidate free agent in AMERICA and you guys think he’s just about to walk on campus and the only issue that could arise is if the university “screws it up”… What is USF gives him a new deal? You guys act like that’s not a possibility either …

You guys think that these schools or others aren’t going to overbid to make it seem like they are taking bball seriously? I mean cmon common sense isn’t too present these days on here. You guys don’t think a school is going to offer a few million more a year than cuse and think BH is gonna take a cuse discount because he really wants the job. It’s not even a known fact he wants the job. Also, Not counting the lower income tax rates on top of it for those other states. This guy has insane leverage right now

First, if we want to compete, we’re gonna have to pay a top coach. You don’t think Wildhack and the administration was prepared that they might have to let Red go this season and looked at the market for coaches and understood that they would have to pay the market rate for a top coach—$3-4 million? I have to assume they know the financials are extremely high if we can get attendance back to our historic levels. We’re one of the top 5 revenue producing teams in college basketball. Those numbers have likely decreased the past few years, and we need success to fix those financials. The administration should know what’s possible in revenue if we can get back to being at the heights we were for most of our history, including the high water 2009-2016 period.

A Hop hire will be greeted with the same skepticism that Red’s hire was, probably even worse. If we don’t have a quick turnaround and in both style of play and success, the fanbase is going to know that we aren’t serious about basketball here and will further erode the enthusiasm.

Second, I would argue that Hodgson is not the #2 candidate on the coaching market this season. He’s probably in the top 5 but not necessarily # 2. He might be #1 for us because of his upstate ties and his desire for the job. I would say Schertz, Calhoun, Olen, Mack and a few others are in the mix too, depending on how the rest of the season plays out. LSU, if they actually fire their coach (not a given), could make a play for Will Wade to return. Arizona State is likely looking at a west coast guy like Olen or Leon Rice, etc. Oklahoma could be a competitor but they will likely look at Chris Beard (who’s having a bad year at backwater Ole Miss but won big there last year and is a proven commodity) or Calhoun. I’m not worried about Kansas State. That’s not an appealing job. It’s in a backwater area and is in the shadow of KU. They hired a career assistant last time. They might also be on the hook for serious money for Tang and will likely not be in a position to spend big. And I haven’t even mentioned Schertz yet.

Finally, those schools you cited—LSU, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Arizona State—also have a much bigger priority for them: Football. Donors and their administrations are focused on that largely to the exclusion of basketball, especially since several of them need football turnarounds and are trying to compete with more well resourced conferences rivals. They also aren’t historically top basketball programs, except for Oklahoma, so basketball has never been the priority.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I think BH has got a ton of praise on this board. And I wasn't doing any coding for Hopkins. I was stating what that side would say about his job at Washington. There has been plenty of what you would call coding for BH. It does seem that the bh side can't even listen to the Hopkins argument without getting upset. While I don't favor for Hopkins in this battle, I find the BH side hilarious with their defensive argument for him.

You could sell me on a lot of coaches. You could sell me on Gmac even. I think MH would quite possibly the worst hire in any sport in a long time.

 

[Cuse2023]

It’s hilarious how people are now trying to make it seem like getting BH is going to be a long shot.

I don’t know how many times I have to say this, but I know with 1000% certainty that this is the job at the top of his list, and the others don’t come close. He and his camp have done their homework and know which jobs have the possibility of opening, and he’s made it clear which one he covets. If you choose not to believe me, that’s fine.

Secondly, he knows that he’s going to have an opportunity to get a power conference job this offseason. The idea that now we have to worry about him signing an extension with South Florida really made me laugh. He’s not agreeing to that, and in fact, he purposely had the buyout set low in his contract so when this opportunity arose, it wouldn’t be an issue for teams to come get him.

It’s as simple as this: offer him a competitive salary and make sure you are providing adequate NIL (it doesn’t have to be some insane number), and we will have our new coach.

 

[EnviroSciGuy]

Again hilarious.

Even more funny to call others crybabies while you saying this the irony is beyond hilarious. The BH side doesn’t wanna hear the same BS repeated over and over again like corporate Syracuse will continue to do. To boost up their guy. But don’t worry if anyone boosts up hodgson and give push backs it’s not being an emotional cry baby right?

Truth to power, my brother.

 

[Sherman20]

He also can show not one but two Coach of the year awards. Plus, a long time serving this institution well. He can try to sell that he lost his recruiting base when he went west. And that Washington is a tough place to win.

Yeah, those would be some of the counter-arguments. And that he’s beloved by the fan base. I personally don’t think they’re very strong arguments to take the risk.

 

[Cheriehoop]

a large majority of the “old guard” of this program and fanbase are a large part of why we’re as behind as we are but don’t worry they totally are with the times and reality. Also why so many of these conversations are completely pointless because half the people you argue with are clueless on the college basketball landscape of 2026. Keep thinking your poop stinks like flowers while you’re standing in a pig pen that’ll get you far, oh wait it already has look at us now, barely beating out Pitt and ND for the last seed in the acc tournament! Wooohooo yippy ki yay

To be fair, the majority of that old guard, including the old fanbase, admins, staff and players are the only reason there are such high expectations currently for this program. SU would probably love to accept the new generation of tech billionaires, influencers etc to be full SU boosters and help finance this new landscape they promote and talk about but needs much more money to excel in.

 

[pearl31]

his desire for the job

See (and not to single you out sherman20) I keep seeing this. Maybe I missed it but where has this been documented/substantiated?

 

[Cusefan69]

I'm reluctant. One, do they really need to hear form me on this. Two, I got pushback when I tried to bring AW back in the fold. Three. I think it will be BH and not Lyke. Why use up chips if I don't need to.

Appreciate the sharing. My comment would simply be Syracuse doesn't have the luxury for another swing and a miss. Especially with a another league realignment likely happening starting around 2028 with ACC penalties being lower by that point and Big 10 renewal and Syracuse needing all top sport programs looking good, especially the driver football.
While no one is a guaranteed, there certainly are higher consensus coaching candidates than Hop, such as BH. If you think those who you know would benefit, you should share your perspective.

 

[Sherman20]

I've got to say there does seem to be quite a "all we have to do is offer Hodgson the job, it's his dream job, done deal" echo chamber going on

Some of us feel like there’s another echo chamber reverberating within the halls of powers in the administration and among some university stakeholders.

 

[dasher]

Yeah, those would be some of the counter-arguments. And that he’s beloved by the fan base. I personally don’t think they’re very strong arguments to take the risk.

Neither do I. And while I agree he is beloved by the fan base, that would end the moment he was hired as the hoop coach because almost all of the fan base doesn't want him as coach.

 

[dasher]

You could sell me on a lot of coaches. You could sell me on Gmac even. I think MH would quite possibly the worst hire in any sport in a long time.

I don't know about that if the 30 million is for real. And by that I mean, it may not be the worst hire in any sport in a long time. As a Giant fan, Joe Judge comes to mind.

 

[Widget24]

I'm reluctant. One, do they really need to hear form me on this. Two, I got pushback when I tried to bring AW back in the fold. Three. I think it will be BH and not Lyke. Why use up chips if I don't need to.

Wow, that would be amazing.

 

[pearl31]

I know with 1000% certainty that this is the job at the top of his list, and the others don’t come close. He and his camp have done their homework and know which jobs have the possibility of opening, and he’s made it clear which one he covets. If you choose not to believe me, that’s fine.

Not here to cast doubt on you or your sources, and not asking you to explain who or how, but just want to be clear- you are getting this from someone who would definitely know?

 

[sufan59]

It’s hilarious how people are now trying to make it seem like getting BH is going to be a long shot.

I don’t know how many times I have to say this, but I know with 1000% certainty that this is the job at the top of his list, and the others don’t come close. He and his camp have done their homework and know which jobs have the possibility of opening, and he’s made it clear which one he covets. If you choose not to believe me, that’s fine.

Secondly, he knows that he’s going to have an opportunity to get a power conference job this offseason. The idea that now we have to worry about him signing an extension with South Florida really made me laugh. He’s not agreeing to that, and in fact, he purposely had the buyout set low in his contract so when this opportunity arose, it wouldn’t be an issue for teams to come get him.

If it’s as simple as this: offer him a competitive salary and make sure you are providing adequate NIL (it doesn’t have to be some insane number), and we will have our new coach.

Also, I'm not going to be rooting for him to not have as much success as possible with South Florida this month even if it causes Syracuse to have to pay him a couple extra hundred thousand initially and he draws other interest. I really love his South Florida squad and the way they play, it's entertaining. It low key reminds me of the FAU 2023 squad that made the final four which was one missed shot away from a first round exit. They have the aura of a team that can make noise and I hope they do. I see it as an opportunity to only further the support for Hodgson on day 1.