0:00
I was up in Syracuse last weekend. I
0:03
went to the UNCC Syracuse game at the
0:05
dome. And the fact is Syracuse is right
0:09
now on hard times. They've got a 500
0:13
record. They've got a losing record of
0:16
the ACC. It's going to be five straight
0:18
years without the tournament. And
0:20
they're going to end up firing Adrien
0:21
Autry after season number three. All of
0:23
which without a tournament bid. and
0:25
they're going to have to find a new ad
0:26
as well because John John Wild Hack is
0:28
retiring in July. A lot of
0:33
instability happening right now at
0:35
Syracuse. And so there's a big worry in
0:38
Central New York about whether this is
0:41
an elite job and whether they can draw
0:43
somebody that might have other options
0:46
and whether it was really just Jim
0:48
Beahheim and the magic of the Big East
0:50
that built that program. And all of that
0:52
is now out the window, dissipated into
0:54
fairy dust or snow on I 81. And the
1:00
it's still an elite job, but it's going
1:04
to take a special person. Jim Beaheim
1:07
was a special person, even if he was a
1:08
crotchety kmagin that argued with
1:10
officials and student media, etc. He was
1:13
a special guy because he was from
1:15
upstate New York and he had no interest
1:17
in going anywhere else. and his giant
1:19
larger than-l life persona when the Big
1:21
East was larger than life was the
1:23
perfect fit alongside John Thompson and
1:25
Raleigh Masamino and Rick Patino and all
1:31
Autry is not that. And today it's hard
1:34
to find that. You don't have coaches
1:37
that have that big personality anymore
1:39
because they're just not around long
1:40
enough to do so. And you can't treat
1:42
players that way anymore. But I sat in
1:44
the carrier dome for a squad that's not
1:47
going to make the tournament with most
1:50
of the 23,000 people in that building
1:52
waiting for Syracuse to lose.
1:55
And I looked around and said, "Who else
1:57
gets 23,000 people on campus for a game
2:01
when it's not going to be a tournament
2:04
They're there. They are waiting. They
2:07
are starving. They are there. The
2:09
problem is Syracuse oftenimes acts like
2:12
a mid- major when it comes to funding,
2:13
when it comes to NIL money, when it
2:15
comes to vision. And I don't know what
2:17
this looks like this offseason. I really
2:19
don't. I don't know what this looks like
2:20
because I don't know who the new AD is
2:22
going to be. And I don't know how much
2:23
push there's going to be to play it safe
2:26
to do something that's not going to rock
2:28
the boat. But you do need somebody to
2:31
flip a switch. And there are guys that
2:33
can do it. Look at Dusty May. There are
2:36
guys that can do it. But do you have the
2:40
right people in place that can convince
2:42
the next Dusty May or somebody like that
2:45
this is the place for you? And that's
2:48
still a worry that I have and that every
2:52
Syracuse Orange alum would have. Is this
2:55
really a great job? Can it be a great
2:58
job if the people in charge above
3:03
don't have the right vision?
