Mike Hopkins to the Phoenix Suns

[nyucuse]

Outside of a couple months a year, what is wrong with living in Upstate NY? Beautiful area with awesome lakes and mountains within a couple hours, extremely affordable housing, reasonably drivable to major metro areas, good grade schools and colleges...

I could not agree more. I’m 47 and have had the good fortune of living in many places across the world, including Boston and NYC. I currently live in London. I honestly love coming back to Syracuse. The area is beautiful, the foliage is great, the lakes are amazing, and there is enough cultural interest to keep you occupied when you want to visit them.

In terms of weather, my family also spends a good amount of time in Florida. I hate the weather there. It is humid and muggy for nine months of the year. There is literally zero culture. Give me eight or nine months of the weather in Syracuse and a couple of months of snow any day.

 

[Sherman20]

Apparently it’s a worse place to live than Storrs, Madison, Lansing, Bloomington you know like most other college towns...

Jeff Goodman said something on that dumb podcast about our location being a negative, and I wanted to punch a wall. It’s a frozen tundra in most of Big 10 land in the winter. Outside of Madison, Columbus and Ann Arbor, most of the Big 10 is in the middle of nowhere or small size cities just like Syracuse. Champagne Illinois? Ames Iowa? Lansing, Michigan? West Lafayette Indiana? Give me a GD break. And We’re just a few hours drive from our key recruiting areas in New England, NYC, NJ, Philly and the DMV.

 

[ORRange]

We have to go outside for the coach and staff. The zone has run it's course. It was great for two decades, but it's over. Most coaches know how to beat it and some have the athletes to destroy it.
Anyone inside the family will still use the zone to some degree. I want a coach that will fast break and play tough in your face defense. The last 7 years (until this year) we played at a snails pace and I'm sick of it. Now we have a team that can score but we look like a team from Notre Dame with a bad defense. If you want more of the same then Hop or Red should be your choice . I sure don't, I like a fast break or dunk more than once a half.

 

[Orangezoo]

Jeff Goodman said something on that dumb podcast about our location being a negative, and I wanted to punch a wall. It’s a frozen tundra in most of Big 10 land in the winter. Outside of Madison, Columbus and Ann Arbor, most of the Big 10 is in the middle of nowhere or small size cities just like Syracuse. Champagne Illinois? Ames Iowa? Lansing, Michigan? West Lafayette Indiana? Give me a GD break. And We’re just a few hours drive from our key recruiting areas in New England, NYC, NJ, Philly and the DMV.

Lol- as someone who has spent many a business trip in the Midwest- preach.

 

[DoctorBombay]

I don't know about that...Duke, UNC, Kentucky, Kansas, and...SU?

I stand by my opinion.
We’re the perennial P5 attendance leader, ACC, Top 10 all-time wins, etc.
35k in the Dome in a big game is something that is unmatched in this sport.
I can see any number of coaches who’d wanna coach at Syracuse. The bigger issue is whether they’d wanna do it right after JB. What he’s built here is a very patriarchal structure that’ll be tough to overcome, unless you’re already in it- hence the likelihood it’ll be “family” before any one else gets a shot.
In any case, since it’s never been tested it’s all hyperbole, but we’ll all soon find out.

 

[DoctorBombay]

There is a clear top 4. After that there are 10 or so jobs which are tier 1A - which SU is clearly one of, in my view. The argument that location is a hindrance is nonsense in my view. How many top schools are in massive Metro areas? If anything, the University is within a reasonable distance of several important recruiting hotbeds. Our facilities, history, and cachet (historically at least) clearly position us in the very top tier below the top 4 – assuming we have the right coach and vision to maximise the benefits. Now if the University does not want to pay top dollar, that of course impacts the ability to hire the right coach. But if they open up the wallet, there is no reason why this job cannot attract a top top tier candidate.

This.

 

[two3zone]

Maybe. What you're saying is fair, but it will all vary by individual tastes.

And the counter-point to your position is that $3M [just using that number] stretches a helluva lot further in CNY than it would in a "massive metro area" like NYC, Boston, LA, etc.

Which could be attractive to some candidates. A million dollar home in Syracuse extended area is going to be 5 times bigger than a house of equivalent value in Boston, 10 times bigger than a house of equivalent value in Los Angeles, etc.

Yeah but the cheap housing means you have to live in CNY.

 

[OttoMets]

You are right. The person in charge would have to be an absolute fool to put arbitrary limits on a pool of candidates for such an important job.

 

[DoctorBombay]

Outside of a couple months a year, what is wrong with living in Upstate NY? Beautiful area with awesome lakes and mountains within a couple hours, extremely affordable housing, reasonably drivable to major metro areas, good grade schools and colleges...

And $3 million will help you buy a couple of getaway vacation homes, for whenever you wanna decompress.
I think folks underestimate the appeal that Syracuse, the HC position and location, offers to a prospect. As a young man, I lived there for 7 years. But i wouldn’t hesitate to move back if the right circumstances are in place, ie; $3 million!!

 

[Bayside44]

Jeff Goodman said something on that dumb podcast about our location being a negative, and I wanted to punch a wall. It’s a frozen tundra in most of Big 10 land in the winter. Outside of Madison, Columbus and Ann Arbor, most of the Big 10 is in the middle of nowhere or small size cities just like Syracuse. Champagne Illinois? Ames Iowa? Lansing, Michigan? West Lafayette Indiana? Give me a GD break. And We’re just a few hours drive from our key recruiting areas in New England, NYC, NJ, Philly and the DMV.

Aren't most of those programs coached by guys that are somewhat local? Painter went to Purdue, Juwan Fab Five-er, Izzo is from the UP and was on Jud's staff, Gard's from Wisconsin...gives some credence that the hire can be regional / local in nature.

 

[althea]

Outside of a couple months a year, what is wrong with living in Upstate NY? Beautiful area with awesome lakes and mountains within a couple hours, extremely affordable housing, reasonably drivable to major metro areas, good grade schools and colleges...

One downside is taxes. When you make $3 million + an expensive home, you end up sending a lot of money to Albany.

 

[dollarbill44]

As a lifelong Cleveland Browns fan, I wouldn't say Belichick floundered at his first gig. Prior to Belichick getting to Cleveland, the Browns came off a dismal 3-13 record. After his first season, he had back to back 7-9 seasons in a division where the Steelers and Houston Oilers were playoff teams. As many folks who follow the NFL closely, there's not much difference between a 7-9 team v. a 9-7 one, or a 6-10 team v. a 10-6 one. A play here, a fumble there, a missed call/bad call in critical moments, specific/crucial injuries to key players, etc.

In his 4th season, Belichick had the Browns at 11-5 and in the playoffs. They won their first playoff game that year as well. Prior to that '94 playoff season, the Browns hadn't been in the playoffs since '89. After that '94 season, the Browns have only been to the playoffs twice, in '02 and last year.

Unlike Hop, Belichick had the Browns heading in the right direction each year he was there prior to '95. Prior to that '95 season, many prognosticators predicted the Browns to make the Superbowl that year. Well, once wind got caught about that dirtbag Modell moving the team to Baltimore, and it became formally announced in early November of that year, it was practically impossible for the coaches, players, the city of Cleveland and its huge metro area to focus on the actual games. It was, and still to this day a complete nightmare.

Phew! I don't think too many here really give a chit. However, it's still good therapy for me all these years later.

I thought about writing a very similar reply. Not so funny fact, whenever the Browns go 11-5, the next season is a disappointment.

 

[orangecuse]

I thought about writing a very similar reply. Not so funny fact, whenever the Browns go 11-5, the next season is a disappointment.

True, unfortunately.

On an aside, I frequent Cleveland.com often and yesterday they had some articles about how it was supposed to be the Ohio team from Cleveland, not Cincinnati getting to the SB this year. It was also mentioned how the Browns beat the Bengals twice this year in year where pretty much everything that could've possibly gone wrong did.

 

[Orangezoo]

One downside is taxes. When you make $3 million + an expensive home, you end up sending a lot of money to Albany.

As if Albany doesn't take enough as it is...

 

[dollarbill44]

True, unfortunately.

On an aside, I frequent Cleveland.com often and yesterday they had some articles about how it was supposed to be the Ohio team from Cleveland, not Cincinnati getting to the SB this year. It was also mentioned how the Browns beat the Bengals twice this year in year where pretty much everything that could've possibly gone wrong did.

I don't think any team could make the playoffs with all the setbacks the Browns had to deal with this season.
All you can do is shrug your shoulders and say, "Next year is THE year"(again)

 

[pearl31]

okie dokie go ahead and take the OT stuff to the OT place

 

[dollarbill44]

We have to go outside for the coach and staff. The zone has run it's course. It was great for two decades, but it's over. Most coaches know how to beat it and some have the athletes to destroy it.
Anyone inside the family will still use the zone to some degree. I want a coach that will fast break and play tough in your face defense. The last 7 years (until this year) we played at a snails pace and I'm sick of it. Now we have a team that can score but we look like a team from Notre Dame with a bad defense. If you want more of the same then Hop or Red should be your choice . I sure don't, I like a fast break or dunk more than once a half.

I disagree that it's a given Red or GMac will roll out the 2-3. It's not some radical change to go to a base m2m defense. It's not like going from a 4-3 defense to a 3-3-5 in football. The defensive concepts of m2m can be taught to 4th graders in one day in summer bball camp. From there, it's a matter of drilling sound fundamentals and the nuances of low post defense. It really isn't rocket science. Heck, it's more like addition/subtraction with a little bit of multiplication/division level of concept.
Good defense is a little bit of fundamentals with a whole lot of effort and energy and communication.

 

[althea]

As if Albany doesn't take enough as it is...

I’m not sure if people realize how much property tax is in NY. I know New Yorkers do. A luxury home ($850,000 +) in Fayetteville can cost $30,000 / year in taxes. It‘s not a huge deal if you are making $3 million but its worth thinking about.
If you are trying to attract a good coach to come to Syracuse, you have to pay more than they do in TX, FL, NC, TN, etc.

 

[Orangezoo]

I’m not sure if people realize how much property tax is in NY. I know New Yorkers do. A luxury home ($850,000 +) in Fayetteville can cost $30,000 / year in taxes. It‘s not a huge deal if you are making $3 million but its worth thinking about.
If you are trying to attract a good coach to come to Syracuse, you have to pay more than they do in TX, FL, NC, TN, etc.

Well i live in PA but have sniffed around jobs a lot in NY getting a number of offers plus lots of family around Binghamton etc. Only ones I considered were those close to the border of PA etc. It's despicable how high they are in NY.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I’m not sure if people realize how much property tax is in NY. I know New Yorkers do. A luxury home ($850,000 +) in Fayetteville can cost $30,000 / year in taxes. It‘s not a huge deal if you are making $3 million but its worth thinking about.
If you are trying to attract a good coach to come to Syracuse, you have to pay more than they do in TX, FL, NC, TN, etc.

Probably a little high for the house, but yes I pay 5 figures in property taxes. It's made up in other areas though.

 

[Orangezoo]

Probably a little high for the house, but yes I pay 5 figures in property taxes. It's made up in other areas though.

Curious on where you get relief elsewhere ( honestly). Been snooping for lake houses up around Lake George etc but hesitant purely on property taxes.

 

[althea]

Probably a little high for the house, but yes I pay 5 figures in property taxes. It's made up in other areas though.

Hi property taxes does keep housing prices a little lower. It’s a trade off.

 

[AZOrange]

Good debate in here but Mike is going to interview for that position and honestly, might be 1a in position for it. JW knows Mike can recruit in our area. He knows this. JW wants recruiting to pick up (don't we all)

Yep

 

[AlaskaSU]

God forbid someone posts a one word post with a fact, and you question their fandom, especially someone who is a regular and one of the best fans on here.

and a former player.

 

[Sherman20]

One other point about a "continuity hire", is whether a new continuity HC will be able to flex their muscles with JB's influence. MH himself said during an interview about his UW opportunity was something that allows him to build something uniquely his, and had he stay at Syracuse, his job would be a protector and caretaker of JB's legacy. I don't think we would want someone coaching with the "what would JB do?" mindset. I think if an assistant gets the job it's important for JB to step away to give whoever succeeds him plenty of room to operate.

That's why this transition is going to be so challenging and someone like Rick Pitino to come back for 2-3 years is a great way to do it.

Hopkins was just spinning the positives of taking over the UW job, and there are positives. It doesn’t mean he thought there was a difficult hurdle with the Syracuse job. He left because he knew JB didn’t want to retire, and he didn’t want to be the one forcing his hand.