The frustration I have is with leadership aka the athletic director

[heresjohnny88]

All of these things are true:
1) Wildhack is a good man who cares as much as we do about Syracuse
2) He is not happy
3) He is in a brutal spot (as others have indicated above)
4) Boeheim is essentially holding him/university hostage
5) He reads this board

 

[Arangeman]

Well somebody up there better tell the emperor to put some pants on

 

[elimunelson]

All of these things are true:
1) Wildhack is a good man who cares as much as we do about Syracuse
2) He is not happy
3) He is in a brutal spot (as others have indicated above)
4) Boeheim is essentially holding him/university hostage
5) He reads this board

I like JW. Anyone who has dealt with him will attest to his ability to run an athletic department. We're not talking NASA here. He's threaded a very good needle with building the good will up in the dept and making it a well run machine.

I'd also add two more truths to JW:
1. he did not hire Dino
2. he did not hire Jim Boeheim
3. those are the biggest personnel managements that JW has

Jim is not going to go quietly. He's acquired too much soft power on the hill to allow an AD (of all people) to dictate when he decides to leave. Wildhack COULD quit if he thought this was an untenable situation and JAB was an impossible person to deal with. He hasn't done that which gives me some pause as to the direness of the situation.

Ultimately, I still think, JAB reconsiders next season and retires after this season. I think he'll realize the writing on the wall. The crazy comments, the realization that the game has passed him by (the game being transfer portal, NIL, etc) and accept the wonderful gestures of appreciation the people of CNY will lay on him once he says he's done.

 

[heresjohnny88]

I like JW. Anyone who has dealt with him will attest to his ability to run an athletic department. We're not talking NASA here. He's threaded a very good needle with building the good will up in the dept and making it a well run machine.

I'd also add two more truths to JW:
1. he did not hire Dino
2. he did not hire Jim Boeheim
3. those are the biggest personnel managements that JW has

Jim is not going to go quietly. He's acquired too much soft power on the hill to allow an AD (of all people) to dictate when he decides to leave. Wildhack COULD quit if he thought this was an untenable situation and JAB was an impossible person to deal with. He hasn't done that which gives me some pause as to the direness of the situation.

Ultimately, I still think, JAB reconsiders next season and retires after this season. I think he'll realize the writing on the wall. The crazy comments, the realization that the game has passed him by (the game being transfer portal, NIL, etc) and accept the wonderful gestures of appreciation the people of CNY will lay on him once he says he's done.

I would agree with all of this. Especially the part about JB being done after this year. JB is simply sick of the questions (he also gets defensive about the idea of being forced out / asked to retire). So he says things.

 

[hoopsupstate]

I still think the 20th Anniversary celebration of the NCAA Championship against Wake Forest will be a very emotional final regular season game. It will either propel his retirement or get him thinking about trying for another one. My gut tells me it will be his last home game. It’s going to be a very emotional day with Hak and Gerry Jersey celebrations.

 

[atlanticuse]

Well somebody up there better tell the emperor to put some pants on

is there a nice Costco near Syracuse? They have nice pants.

 

[Eric15]

I still think the 20th Anniversary celebration of the NCAA Championship against Wake Forest will be a very emotional final regular season game. It will either propel his retirement or get him thinking about trying for another one. My gut tells me it will be his last home game. It’s going to be a very emotional day with Hak and Gerry Jersey celebrations.

Is the 20th-anniversary thing and the GMac/Warrick jersey retirement a combined event? I haven't been clear on that.

 

[pfister1]

All of these things are true:
1) Wildhack is a good man who cares as much as we do about Syracuse
2) He is not happy
3) He is in a brutal spot (as others have indicated above)
4) Boeheim is essentially holding him/university hostage
5) He reads this board

Hopefully, only for a good laugh.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Is the 20th-anniversary thing and the GMac/Warrick jersey retirement a combined event? I haven't been clear on that.

Yes.

 

[Newhouser]

Hopefully, only for a good laugh.

And if he reads this board there should be no problems - we all have perfect solutions for everything ha.

 

[elimunelson]

I would agree with all of this. Especially the part about JB being done after this year. JB is simply sick of the questions (he also gets defensive about the idea of being forced out / asked to retire). So he says things.

He'll also say that he always knew this was his last season but didn't want to make a big deal out of it so he threw out red herring comments.

Anyway, the end is close. Hopefully he handles it all with class and appreciation. It's been a two way street with Syracuse: The coach has been tremendous and the fans of Syracuse/students have been even more special to fill the Dome for so many years.

 

[richmondcuse03]

I agree…..I think based on what we know, Hart has the highest upside.

And if he fails….what are we clinging to? We’re bad, boring, and our coach publicly embarrasses himself every couple weeks on average. Hart can’t do much worse than Boeheim has in the 20’s.

Honestly JAB is setting the expectations so low now that even Gerry seems Ok to me. And he’s not my first choice.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I haven't listened to a full Axe show in years, but today may be a must listen.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

To be fair, I think JW is personally in a no win situation and he knows it.

If he steps in and forces JB's hand and JB goes full tantrum mode into his corner with the big donors behind him... Whatever happens, Wildhack likely gets the boot for mishandling the situation.

If he does nothing, he will eventually get the boot as well for dereliction of duty...

If he wants to keep his job for as long as possible, he kicks the can down the road as long as he can... Which is what we are witnessing I believe

You can bet if he attempts to force JB out, priority 1 for JB will be to make sure JW goes too.

Shouldn't JW have in theory money? He had to have made major bank at ESPN and is now making a decent amount to live in CNY, where it is cheap. If anything he should have more power to do something vs a normal AD. I am not sure he wants to do something. JB has too many close friends running SU and athletics. Why would they push their good friend out, even if it is the right thing to do?

 

[HRE Otto IV]

JW knows exactly what we need which in todays NIL world dont alienate the donors. If anyone on the board thinks Jim , weitz, the BOTs and big guns that love jim are going to be thrilled with Jims tree being chopped down your delusional.

The people who are there for SU will stay. The people who are there for JB will leave. But at this point who cares? We are losing with these people's money. We can get a decent HC and be better without that money.

 

[oldpinepoint]

the solution is simple, just like office space don’t renew his contract and move his office to the basement. Give jb an extra orange stapler as a parting gift

 

[elimunelson]

Can someone explain the time zone issue here? Spoiler, there isn't one. Why on earth is Boeheim calling WF at 2:30am.

 

[Cuse12]

Can someone explain the time zone issue here? Spoiler, there isn't one. Why on earth is Boeheim calling WF at 2:30am.

The whole situation is embarrassing. Like the fact that JAB had to wake this man up at 2:30 to pre apologize for his comments to a reporter…. Wild …

 

[donniesyracuse]

The whole situation is embarrassing. Like the fact that JAB had to wake this man up at 2:30 to pre apologize for his comments to a reporter…. Wild …

2:30 AM might be the time of day at which he is most lucid. Perhaps all interviews and press conferences can be scheduled at that time moving forward.