Coach Search Options after Autry

[phil77]

You and I have disagreed about Skinn from day 1. : )

But I agree 100% -- I am baffled by Hurley. I get wanting to emulate a rival like uconn -- but if that's the case, go hire Murray, don't hire the less successful brother of the successful rival's coach.

Skinn makes GMac offense look innovative

 

[OrlandoCuse]

I predict this thread will set the all time Syracusefan.com record for most posts because I think we’re still 10+- days away from an announcement. This could hit 1k pages.

9 days later. We’ll pass 800 pages today. Can we break 1k?

 

[Irishsecra1]

So question. Does sienna win their conference tournament with autry coaching you think?

No way in hell.
Probably doesn’t even have a winning record.
He would have given up with all the injuries

 

[RF2044]

Skinn makes GMac offense look innovative

But he's a helluva coach [in the mold of Bennett]. I just don't know if that style is what we need.

 

[Jasoncuse]

Anyone who wants Shaheen or Skinn is nuts. Offensively challenged coaches that run high ball screens 40 times a game.

Does anybody want them?

 

[Bayside44]

Skinn makes GMac offense look innovative

You would fall deeply in love with a healthy Kory Mincy. He's everything our back courts haven't been.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Lally

I don’t really get the “inside twitter “ nuance, but is that of significance? I mean, anyone can follow anyone and retweet anything.

 

[TrickySU]

Do you remember Drake last year [in 2025]? They had a fantastic head coach -- Ben McCollum, who many compare to Scherz in terms of upside. McCollum parlayed his one year at Drake into moving to Iowa.

Prior to Ben McCollum's first year at Drake, he'd been tremendously successful at the D2 level. Brought a bunch of D2 players up with him when he took the Drake job, and they ended up playing key roles. They play in the MVC -- not a top conference.

Drake was supposed to be the type of team that P4 schools schedule to get an easy non-conference win, a tomato can. But with a bunch of D2 players playing big minutes, they beat Miami, Vanderbilt, and Kansas State all on the road.

They beat Missouri in the first round of the NCAAT. And they played pretty even with #3 seed Texas Tech before folding late.

They were ranked about [and please note, this might not have been the final rankings, just what I quickly looked up] #62 in KenPom in 2025. But they weren't held back by their conference, or their players. They were an example of a lower conference team playing FAR above their station, and rising in the rankings accordingly.

GMac did a nice job at Siena this year. But if you look at the winning percentages of the MAAC teams, most of them have losing records. He only beat 2 or 3 teams over .500 all year. He finished third in that conference. And then had a depleted team playing hard, and put together a great final week of the season. That is impressive. But it doesn't offset other things that are cause for concern, because empirical data is objective.

All good points. The only caveat I will mention is that the MVC is generally in the upper echelon of mid major conferences when it comes to talent.

But I would absolutely agree about McCollum. The way I look at him that year, is that his team was far and away better than other peer schools. I believe the MVC had theee teams in the Top 80 of offensive efficiency. And obviously he had the Drake defense playing elite. Great coaching job.

But similarly, just because Colorado State or New Mexico or Oregon were rated higher, doesn’t mean those coaches are better than McCollum. That’s all I’m saying. Again, very impressive and punching above their weight class. Yet still below other talented teams. But that’s the perfect context. So yes, completely agree.

All of my points really just come down to the context of it all.

That’s why all I’m doing is adding context to the Siena numbers. Numbers never lie until they do. Empirical data is objected but has not purpose without context.

For example:
2025 Syracuse Offensive Rating: 106th
2025 Saint Louis Offensive Rating: 132nd

But nobody is saying Autry runs a better offense than Schertz.

As for the concerns about Gerry, absolutely. There are definitely concerns. Doesn’t mean he isn’t a good coach and can’t be successful (I’m not saying you are saying this but others have).

But I certainly have my concerns about him too. I just don’t like the people who are so adamant that he isn’t a good coach and then are using metrics with no context as their only factor.

 

[pearl31]

Holloway, Hurley, and Skinn are people you interview so you can say you did a "national search"

tend to agree but if we get any substantiated reports of contact w murray/martelli/schertz/mystery it would signify true due diligence to me

 

[MikeSU02]

9 days later. We’ll pass 800 pages today. Can we break 1k?

Can we? Yes.

Will we? Yes.

Should we? lol.

 

[phil77]

But he's a helluva coach [in the mold of Bennett]. I just don't know if that style is what we need.

Never disagreed with that

 

[malpearl31]

This is true now, but it may be worth mentioning it's only true because their offensive struggles against Duke was enough to move them up 20 spots because it was against Duke lol. Pretty much whoever had won the MAAC tournament was going to end up #1 in the conference just because they got to play a 1 seed to inflate their ranking relative to the rest of the conference.

Offensive struggles against Duke? Siena put up 65 points in 62 possessions against the #1 ranked defense (per KenPom) in the country. If Siena’s AdjO ranking truly did go up 20 spots, it’s because they performed well when given the opportunity - not because they just showed up, as you’re inferring.

Compare what Siena did to how TCU performed yesterday… TCU scored just 58 total points in 69 possessions. I doubt that TCU’s AdjO or overall rankings went up as a result of yesterday’s game… and that would be because they didn’t play particularly well.

If you dislike Gerry and don’t want him to be our next coach, that’s cool, good for you. What I find strange is the desire to minimize the job he’s done at Siena. It’s ok to admit that he’s done a pretty good job as a coach so far. (Edit: I do see that you have acknowledged that Gerry has done well at Siena in some other posts, so my apologies for suggesting that you hadn’t.)

 

[OptimusOtto]

I don’t really get the “inside twitter “ nuance, but is that of significance? I mean, anyone can follow anyone and retweet anything.

i doubt it - unless they are feeling the pressure from negative sentiment directed towards them and feel obligated to pony up and land Schertz. However, all indications I have gotten from the thread is that is not how they conduct themselves and is very unlikely

 

[TrickySU]

I agree with the overall point that Gerry has inarguably done a good job there (and on the flip side, Autry did not here).

And I agree with anyone that has concerns about Gerry. I think people are so adamant one way or the other, and the truth is in the middle somewhere. And we will probably never find out unless he becomes the coach. I’m just trying to provide some context.

 

[BEGood]

No way in hell.
Probably doesn’t even have a winning record.
He would have given up with all the injuries

Agreed!

 

[djorange1989]

I don’t really get the “inside twitter “ nuance, but is that of significance? I mean, anyone can follow anyone and retweet anything.

People were swooning when Lally tweets related to Hodgson/USF were posted. Doesn’t mean we won’t get Schertz but people are looking for any positive sign they can find, even if it’s meaningless

 

[UpstateSM]

Skinn hasn't had a top 100 offense or played a postseason game in three seasons. Yawn.

 

[Lord Ashby]

He had a 7 win season last year.

baby steps baby steps.

 

[shu 49]

Donnie needs to go play for Rick Pitino for a year. He'll make a player out of him.

Exactly

 

[Cusefan0307]

You would fall deeply in love with a healthy Kory Mincy. He's everything our back courts haven't been.

He needs a guard like that every year to make it work.

 

[TrickySU]

Im just curious. Doesn't mean I disagree, but why is GMAC better? Not a lot of experience, and one almost won over Duke. Also, if he is hired, we are going to have some pretty lackluster assistants.

My other concern is what kids really want to play for him. A bunch of NIL is only half the battle.

I think getting a coach with more experience is the right call, even if it is Skinn. But if the powers within make that impossible I guess GMAC could be worse. But would still be a giant let down having JB 2.0

I think there are varying levels. I’m of the belief that if you can coach, you can coach. And I think Gerry is a good coach for reasons I’ve mentioned before doesn’t mean he’s the right guy though.

I think Schertz is a better option in that it’s more of a sure thing. Great coach, proven winner, and the experience. That all wins out in my mind over Gerry without knowing any other factors that could go into this.

Where other coaches may have some more experience that Gerry, experience isn’t everything. Whig is why Gerry is above Skinn for me.

That’s just a quick way to explain some of the thought process.

 

[RF2044]

All good points. The only caveat I will mention is that the MVC is generally in the upper echelon of mid major conferences when it comes to talent.

But I would absolutely agree about McCollum. The way I look at him that year, is that his team was far and away better than other peer schools. I believe the MVC had theee teams in the Top 80 of offensive efficiency. And obviously he had the Drake defense playing elite. Great coaching job.

But similarly, just because Colorado State or New Mexico or Oregon were rated higher, doesn’t mean those coaches are better than McCollum. That’s all I’m saying. Again, very impressive and punching above their weight class. Yet still below other talented teams. But that’s the perfect context. So yes, completely agree.

All of my points really just come down to the context of it all.

That’s why all I’m doing is adding context to the Siena numbers. Numbers never lie until they do. Empirical data is objected but has not purpose without context.

For example:
2025 Syracuse Offensive Rating: 106th
2025 Saint Louis Offensive Rating: 132nd

But nobody is saying Autry runs a better offense than Schertz.

As for the concerns about Gerry, absolutely. There are definitely concerns. Doesn’t mean he isn’t a good coach and can’t be successful (I’m not saying you are saying this but others have).

But I certainly have my concerns about him too. I just don’t like the people who are so adamant that he isn’t a good coach and then are using metrics with no context as their only factor.

That's fair -- but it ISN'T the only data input I'm using. I went and broke down Siena's schedule, and looked at the records of all of the teams that they beat. I saw that they only beat a very small number of teams the whole year that were above .500 [and one of those teams, they defeated twice].

I also look at advanced metrics, not just rankings like KenPom, and I think that the quantitative, empirical data raises some question marks. And I am not influenced by the prospect of having guys like Doty transfer here. Those kind of arguments actually makes me more nervous, even though I think he could be a depth-piece.

I don't dismiss the eye test, just because it isn't quantifiable. Two weeks ago, I was a hard "hell no" for GMac. Now, I'm less sure about that position. But our program is in a REALLY bad spot right now, and we need to get this hire right, or we might never recover. Nostalgia and getteing swept up by emotions are not the best ways to inform an important strategic decision that requires more objectivity.

And I say that while fully acknowledging that it was fun seeing GMac on the sidelines coaching against Duke. If I squint, I could almost see it working.

But then I think about how awful our program has been, and how our strategy isn't working and hasn't worked in a long time, and I keep coming back to we need someone more proven.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

Can we? Yes.

Will we? Yes.

Should we? lol.

If we could figure out a way to tie the number of views, posts and clicks in this thread to somehow monetize it into NIL for the next coach, we’d probably win the NCAAT next year

 

[shu 49]

Come on. It is still Siena against Indiana. Gerry won the league tournament and had his team prepared for Duke. See, this is what I can't stand. I am not in favor of Gerry but this need to demean what he has done in just two years at Siena I find odd. He took over a team that won 4 games and took the #1 team in the country to the end. Led with 5 minutes to go. He deserves a ton of credit. And for some reason, some of you guys look to pick it apart. Very Odd.

I agree with u completely.

 

[tptcuse]

tend to agree but if we get any substantiated reports of contact w murray/martelli/schertz/mystery it would signify true due diligence to me

Just the fact that it hasn't been announced yet is 1000x more due diligence than the last time.