Coyle felt it was a cluster.
So what if Coyle felt it was a cluster? That does not make it a cluster.
Athletics departments are measured on their overall success of the sports programs (with emphasis on the "revenue sports"), keeping the facilities up to date/competitive, and meeting the budget.
The success the 'Cuse has had is in overall team sport results is historically great (football not included, but the university hired a coach we are extremely optimistic about). The facilities for practice are nearly top of class in college (top 20-25% by any measure). And the iconic on-campus Dome is about to be refurbished/reconfigured.
Minnesota might have been a job he wanted more, based on his time spent here. Any state school might have been a better job for him (in his opinion) due to resources at his disposal. Who cares?
In no way is the Syracuse AD role a poor one. Power 5 conference, huge success for participating teams, on-campus facilities, passionate fans (not SEC rabid, or state school alumni matching, but loyal and relatively unique that they serve as a mid sized city's de facto "pro team"). A top 50 job in ever single measure. Are there universities where the role is "easier" budget wise? likely.
There are likely 300+ ADs out there. We will easily find another great one. If he leaves in a year after hitting a walk off home like the Baber's hire, I will feel we got our worth out of him. If it keeps happening, maybe there is a deeper issue. I think in THIS case, it wasn't a perfect fit once he started, and he left sooner than later. Let's use those lessons learned to give the next AD a clear picture of the benefits and challenges of the role, and impress that we are looking for stability (and performance).
Gross rode the helm when the most important factor was getting into Power 5, and it was accomplished. Coyle's #1 objective was to hire a football coach to bring us back to respectability, it looks like he made a great hire (time will tell). The next AD will hopefully make this golden age of Olympic sports last and help drive the football program back to respectability. Onward.