Why?

[PauliePeppas]

Why is Jim still coaching?

Wants the win record, ego, afraid to retire and the life ahead, pure stubbornness.

What else we got?

 

[Newhouser]

Ego, stubbornness, and a bit of delusional thinking.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Scared to retire.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I think it's chasing K's record, and I think it has been a lot of ego. "Nobody can do what I do."

 

[Finwad32]

I’m not defending, I think it’s getting to that point where just about everybody realizes it’s probably time to move on. But maybe he really just likes basketball, and Syracuse.

Retirement is not an easy thing for a lot of people.

 

[OrangeFoo]

Wait… Jim is still coaching?

I’ll be here all day folks, please tip the waiters.

 

[Horn88]

I think all of the above. I think he’s scared of retirement but also anyone who has ever been as successful as JB has the ego/stubbornness/unfaltering self belief that they’re just one or two moves from returning to the top. And he probably tells himself once he rights the ship he’ll step away.

Unfortunately, they also are sometimes the last one to know the music stopped playing.

 

[elimunelson]

I think it’s simpler than all of that. He’s a tenured professor at SU. He has unlimited job security, most importantly is super healthy and still enjoys the job. That’s his reasoning not saying it’s logical to you or I but he’s calling the shots on when he retires.

That’s my theory. I actually don’t think he cares about K record. I truly believe he enjoys the job (regardless of slippage in performance).

It’s weird because he’s doing what all of us do with our day jobs. We will work until we can’t, performance notwithstanding. Diff w him is his performance metrics are wins and losses usually. If university doesn’t care why would he give up what he loves

That’s my theory

 

[Eric15]

Retirement is not an easy thing for a lot of people.

Man, not me. My wife and I are strategizing hard to be retired by our mid-50s.

 

[JoeSU]

Tenured professor?? Is that hyperbole to mean he can't be fired?

 

[Fly Rodder]

Man, not me. My wife and I are strategizing hard to be retired by our mid-50s.

One of my previous firms had (still has), someone about Jim's age as the final risk arbiter for new business. He was pretty high up in the military, retired from there before getting into a private firm, and is still putting in 40 hours a week.

I am closer to your thinking, 59 1/2 is the goal. It's not that I want to sit on the couch and do nothing, I'll definitely be starting my own lil business to keep me occupied, but the 40 hr grind is over as soon as it can be.

 

[Fly Rodder]

Good article in The Athletic last week on something similar to this. Love Ed Cooley:

Asked how long he thinks he can do this job, or even wants to, the 53-year-old Friars coach says it depends. Things change. Lots of variables. Except the one part that’s long been decided.

“I won’t be a lifer on the sideline,” Cooley says. “I will not be on the sideline when I’m in my 70s, for sure. Guaranteed. I definitely will not be coaching like that. If I do, you personally come slap me.”

 

[elimunelson]

Tenured professor?? Is that hyperbole to mean he can't be fired?

I'm investing in alot of hyperbole there but what is the diff btw HC for 47 years and a tenured professor at this point at SU? It's a distinction without a difference to me if he's not going to be fired by BoT/AD.

I wonder, similar to K, will he get some emeritus gig post coaching similar to K where he has an office and a salary with the university still?

 

[richmondcuse03]

For some, retirement is an acknowledgement that death is one day closer. SU basketball is Jim's life. Combine that with a stubborn personality, which obviously drove a lot of his success too, leads to this situation. I'm sure it's terribly difficult for him -- I don't envy what he's going through. Most people get to do this in private. He has to do it in public. I get it -- I don't like it -- but I can empathize. I can't imagine what his childhood was like growing up for an undertaker on top of it.

My dad is about his age -- I get the mindset and personality. The difference is my dad retired a long time ago and was quite happy to sit around all day. Some folks are wired differently.

Fans complaining won't change his outcome -- the decision can't be in his hands. Hopefully Juli can get through to him and make him realize he's torching his own legacy.

 

[elimunelson]

Man, not me. My wife and I are strategizing hard to be retired by our mid-50s.

I love what I do and do not want to retire (i'm 47). I'm sure being the HC of a top 10 historic program, being healthy is something he wants to keep doing if he has the energy to do so.

The off ramp was:
1. probation 2.0 (blew by that)
2. kids graduating (blew by that marker)
3. a final four in 16 (blew by that)

All these bread crumbs leave me with the notion that he loves what he does, isn't moved by sitting around doing nothing

 

[jr4750]

I love what I do and do not want to retire (i'm 47). I'm sure being the HC of a top 10 historic program, being healthy is something he wants to keep doing if he has the energy to do so.

The off ramp was:
1. probation 2.0 (blew by that)
2. kids graduating (blew by that marker)
3. a final four in 16 (blew by that)

All these bread crumbs leave me with the notion that he loves what he does, isn't moved by sitting around doing nothing

I think this is absolutely right. Coaching is all he knows. For us fans, we can see that just because he doesn't want to retire, doesn't mean the school shouldn't make him. I think therein lies the rub. No one wants to make the first move. Curious how long this stalemate will last.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

One of my previous firms had (still has), someone about Jim's age as the final risk arbiter for new business. He was pretty high up in the military, retired from there before getting into a private firm, and is still putting in 40 hours a week.

I am closer to your thinking, 59 1/2 is the goal. It's not that I want to sit on the couch and do nothing, I'll definitely be starting my own lil business to keep me occupied, but the 40 hr grind is over as soon as it can be.

As someone who retired two years ago at age 62, I can identify with others who are ready to move on to the next phase of their life. However, for me it was more of a 50 or 60 hour grind that I was ready to retire from. I wish it was only 40 hours.

I think of this JAB decision making thing frequently. No one, including Julie and his kids, will be able to talk him into this. And, I can't believe he enjoys the losing as much as he enjoyed the winning, or as much he enjoyed coaching his kids.

I think that if he is not willing to retire at the end of this season, the school needs to tell him one more season and that's it.

Will it surprise anyone if he takes the mic on March 4th and announces his immediate retirement. It could easily happen. But knowing JAB as we do, no one should be surprised if he makes an announcement that he wants to coach five more years.

 

[OttosDad]

I'm investing in alot of hyperbole there but what is the diff btw HC for 47 years and a tenured professor at this point at SU? It's a distinction without a difference to me if he's not going to be fired by BoT/AD.

I wonder, similar to K, will he get some emeritus gig post coaching similar to K where he has an office and a salary with the university still?

The difference is the tenured professor gets fired if it’s discovered he’s helping his students cheat.

Boeheim has survived two NCAA Probations and didn’t get canned. Now the team sucks, and the Athletic department has trapped themselves.

 

[richmondcuse03]

As someone who retired two years ago at age 62, I can identify with others who are ready to move on to the next phase of their life. However, for me it was more of a 50 or 60 hour grind that I was ready to retire from. I wish it was only 40 hours.

I think of this JAB decision making thing frequently. No one, including Julie and his kids, will be able to talk him into this. And, I can't believe he enjoys the losing as much as he enjoyed the winning, or as much he enjoyed coaching his kids.

I think that if he is not willing to retire at the end of this season, the school needs to tell him one more season and that's it.

Will it surprise anyone if he takes the mic on March 4th and announces his immediate retirement. It could easily happen. But knowing JAB as we do, no one should be surprised if he makes an announcement that he wants to coach five more years.

I wouldn't be surprised with either outcome. But knowing how stubborn he is, I think he comes back...and then retires in September, forcing JW to hire one of his guys as an interim. That's been my prediction for a while.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Boeheim has survived two NCAA Probations and didn’t get canned. Now the team sucks, and the Athletic department has trapped ththemselves.

They haven't though. It's up to the BOT and the high donors to ultimately decide. If they back Jim, then he is good to go. If they want him gone, the he is gone.

 

[Fly Rodder]

Will it surprise anyone if he takes the mic on March 4th and announces his immediate retirement. It could easily happen. But knowing JAB as we do, no one should be surprised if he makes an announcement that he wants to coach five more years.

I would definitely not be surprised either way.

 

[teamco]

I think it's chasing K's record, and I think it has been a lot of ego. "Nobody can do what I do."

At this point I think Jim Boeheim has taken his status as a legendary HOF coach, master of the 2-3 zone, with the longest tenure at the same school and turned it into a cautionary tale of overstaying one's welcome.

Used to be those were the things that came to mind FIRST when you mentioned the name Jim Boeheim. NOW? I believe any folks with an appreciation and knowledge of college basketball would just as likely say, Boeheim is a guy who didn't realize the game had passed him by and didn't recognize when it was time to hang it up.

Puh-leeze, Jim, hang it up, play golf, hit the early bird specials hard, enjoy afternoon delight . . . anything but another season.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

I think this is absolutely right. Coaching is all he knows. For us fans, we can see that just because he doesn't want to retire, doesn't mean the school shouldn't make him. I think therein lies the rub. No one wants to make the first move. Curious how long this stalemate will last.

Juli didn’t sign up for this. Not into his late 70s. She needs to make him understand that he’s missing out on seeing his sons play better basketball than his teams are playing

 

[Otto'd]

Good article in The Athletic last week on something similar to this. Love Ed Cooley:

Ed Cooley is a good dude.

 

[SWC75]

As someone who retired two years ago at age 62, I can identify with others who are ready to move on to the next phase of their life. However, for me it was more of a 50 or 60 hour grind that I was ready to retire from. I wish it was only 40 hours.

I think of this JAB decision making thing frequently. No one, including Julie and his kids, will be able to talk him into this. And, I can't believe he enjoys the losing as much as he enjoyed the winning, or as much he enjoyed coaching his kids.

I think that if he is not willing to retire at the end of this season, the school needs to tell him one more season and that's it.

Will it surprise anyone if he takes the mic on March 4th and announces his immediate retirement. It could easily happen. But knowing JAB as we do, no one should be surprised if he makes an announcement that he wants to coach five more years.

He doesn't want THEM to win.

I retired in 2009 because I came home from the job feeling like I was carrying a piano on my back. My employer, (the government), had a theory that trying to do a bigger and bigger job with fewer and fewer people was a good thing and that success should be measured by how much paper you moved, not how well you served the public. It was the time of big financial crisis. I had reached the minimum retirement age and I figured out that I could live off my pension, (I'd been there 33 years), savings, investments and some money inherited from my frugal, (Depression-era) parents and I figured that people needed jobs so they could have mine. Later I found my job had not been filled but eliminated.