At some point, the question becomes unavoidable: is it time for Syracuse to at least reach out to Gerry McNamara?
Not hire him. Not anoint him. Just reach out.
With the noise surrounding Adrian Autry growing louder by the day, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to imagine this season quietly fading away without change. Losses have piled up. The NCAA Tournament feels like a mirage. And now, the program is dealing with something even more dangerous than a losing record—optics chaos.
As we wrote earlier this week, Autry’s decision to give Kiyan Anthony a DNP at Virginia detonated into a national storyline, largely because it came days after Carmelo Anthony publicly expressed frustration with the program. Even if Autry’s reasoning was purely basketball-related, the perception was brutal. ESPN and CBS Sports didn’t frame it as a rotation decision—they framed it as a mess.
That’s the backdrop for the McNamara conversation.
Fans immediately jump to “hire Gerry” because of nostalgia. The shot. The banners. The bloodlines. But hiring Gerry McNamara is not as simple as some fans think. He’s never been a head coach. He’s deeply entrenched at Siena. And Syracuse can’t afford another hire rooted purely in sentiment.
That said, ignoring him entirely would also be a mistake.
McNamara represents something Syracuse is badly lacking right now: clarity of identity. He understands modern offense. He’s respected in coaching circles. He’s connected to high school and AAU pipelines. And unlike some “outside” candidates, he understands the unique pressure cooker that comes with this job.
More importantly, reaching out doesn’t mean committing. It means doing due diligence—something Syracuse absolutely must do if this season continues to spiral.
Because make no mistake: candidates around the country are watching how this ends. They’re watching how Syracuse handles Autry. They’re watching whether the administration is proactive or reactive. And they’re watching whether this program can still separate emotion from decision-making.
The irony is that Autry was hired to preserve continuity and relationships. Instead, this season has fractured both. The Carmelo situation. The Kiyan optics. The restless fan base. None of it screams stability.
McNamara may not be the answer. But pretending he isn’t part of the conversation would be disingenuous.
At minimum, Syracuse owes itself—and its future—to pick up the phone.
