Up next in 10
Two Syracuse alums break it all down.
D.A. and John Jastremski dive into how Gerry McNamara became the next head coach of the Syracuse Orange men's basketball — and why this moment was unavoidable.
Both agree: this was a now-or-never decision.
Yes, McNamara still has things to prove as a head coach. But if Syracuse passed on him now, there’s no guarantee they’d ever get another shot.
And if he went elsewhere and succeeded?
That’s a risk that could’ve damaged the program — and the relationship — for years.
This wasn’t just a hire.
It was a moment Syracuse couldn’t afford to miss.
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Welcome to the official channel of Damon Amendolara (D.A.), host on SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio 🏈🔥
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0:00
So, what was your take on the the Jerry
0:02
McNamera hire and really the saga that
0:04
has unfolded around it with Brian
0:05
Hodgson from USF potentially turning it
0:08
down, although there's now conflicting
0:10
reports about whether it was ever
0:11
actually offered to him.
0:12
>> Okay, so I have a lot of thoughts now.
0:14
First things first, DA, I have to be
0:16
transparent on this. Couple of weeks
0:18
ago, and you know this cuz you're a
0:21
diehard. I'm a diehard. We love our
0:23
university very, very much. It treated
0:25
us very well. Uh we saw a lot of great
0:28
moments. We've had tremendous careers
0:30
because of the experience we had. So, it
0:32
it means a lot to us. Why do I preface
0:34
that? The basketball has been
0:36
embarrassing the last couple years. No
0:39
sugar coating it. Absolutely positively
0:41
embarrassing to the point where mighty
0:43
Syracuse has not even had regular
0:46
seasons that matter. Like you mentioned
0:48
it right before I came on. I heard you
0:49
talking about that UNCC game. I was on
0:51
the fence going to that UNCC game. I
0:53
bailed because I said the season's over.
0:55
like uh there's no no sizzle, no juice,
0:58
no interest. So, I need Syracuse to
1:01
matter. I was screaming get somebody
1:03
outside the family. Get somebody outside
1:05
the family. New ideas, outside
1:09
perspective, all that comes with it.
1:11
That all being said, DA, I bring all
1:14
this to your attention because I watched
1:17
Jerry McNamera coach his championship
1:19
game and then I watched Jerry McNamera
1:22
whole. I loved and I cut school senior
1:24
year of high school. to watch him go
1:25
beat Yukon in the Big East tournament,
1:27
which by the way was a great decision,
1:30
even though I scalped tickets that I
1:31
thought might have been fake on 7th
1:33
Avenue, but we got in the building.
1:35
That's all that matters. We were there,
1:36
we saw the moment. Uh I think we got
1:38
tickets from Yukon fans as we were
1:40
walking out for Friday. So, really,
1:41
really worked out well. There's that tie
1:44
in. And I watched Jerry coach's ass off
1:48
playing five guys against one of the
1:51
four best teams in the country and they
1:53
were right there. I watch and yeah, I'm
1:56
in I'm into this sort of thing. I love
1:58
these locker room speeches in the NFL. I
2:01
love it because I can kind of weed out,
2:03
in my opinion, a coach that I'd want to
2:05
play for and a coach that just doesn't
2:08
bring a whole lot to the table. I
2:10
watched his locker room speech for
2:12
Sienna and I'm like, "This guy's a
2:16
leader of men. This is somebody I'd want
2:18
my son to go and play for. This is
2:20
somebody who can go and represent my
2:22
university." And maybe I'm going to look
2:24
like a damn fool in a couple years
2:25
because hey, it's just more of the same
2:28
and Syracuse doesn't escape that outside
2:31
perspective. But I have now officially
2:34
been one over on the Jerry McNamera
2:36
higher. Is that fair?
2:37
>> Oh, I think so. I I think if you would
2:40
have pulled most Syracuse fans last
2:42
week, let's just say like Wednesday
2:44
right after the Hodgson thing went down
2:46
or maybe right before Hodgson, I think
2:48
most people felt like you did, hey, you
2:50
got to go outside the family because the
2:51
Adrien Autry years have been so tough
2:55
and it felt like simply an extension of
2:58
the last years at Beheim which were also
3:00
tough. So yeah, everybody kind of wanted
3:03
a new energy and I don't think many
3:06
people were paying attention to Sienna
3:07
Saints basketball. So it didn't feel
3:09
like Jerry McNamera had this incredible
3:11
momentum behind him. You wanted the hot
3:13
young guy. And then Hodgson turns it
3:16
down and everybody's like, "Oh my god,
3:18
Sky is falling." And at the exact moment
3:21
the program feels like it's at Defcon 4
3:24
is when McNamera has one of the coaching
3:27
clinics of the entire tournament. They
3:29
had no business being in that game.
3:31
None. Five guys, as you said, that
3:33
played all 40 minutes and they led until
3:35
the five minute mark. So at that point,
3:38
how could you not go, well,
3:41
he checks all the boxes and even if he
3:44
is quote unquote a family inside hire,
3:47
would it wouldn't it be crazy if like
3:49
you let him go to San Diego State or you
3:52
let him go to Iowa or you let him go to,
3:55
you know, pick your major conference
3:58
team or close to it that's like plucking
4:00
the next young great head coach and you
4:02
let him go there right when you needed
4:03
somebody. You really couldn't let it
4:05
happen like that. So, you have to hire
4:07
him just to see if he can bring the
4:09
magic.
4:09
>> Yeah. And it's one of those relationship
4:12
type killers. I If the Syracuse program
4:15
does not give Jared a job this time
4:17
around and they end up going with, I
4:20
don't know, another mid- major coach.
4:22
I'm not even going to put Hodgson and
4:24
the St. Louis coach in the conversation.
4:26
Let's say it's a little bit more of an
4:28
upstarter. Let's say they go hire a guy
4:29
I think is going to be a really good
4:30
coach, DA, Hurley's assistant, Luke
4:32
Murray, who I absolutely love. I think
4:34
he's going to be a phenomenal coach one
4:35
day down the line. I feel like if that's
4:38
the way you go and Jerry becomes a star,
4:41
that's it. The the relationship between
4:43
Jerry and Syracuse and this guy who is a
4:46
part of, you know, your
4:50
national championship team. That's done.
4:54
Can't can't do that.
4:55
>> And you may never get him again. It's
4:57
not like there's another cycle that
4:58
opens up and he's going to leave or he's
4:59
going to get fired and it's going to
5:00
sync up right when you need a head
5:02
coach. kind of got to do it right now.
5:04
So, we'll see. Like I said, I think
5:06
there's no there's really no downside
5:08
here because if there's three years
5:10
without a tournament again, right back.
5:12
>> He's not gonna be the coach. You know it
5:14
and I know it. He's not going to be the
5:15
coach. That's it. But you know what? Da
5:17
glad you brought up something earlier
5:19
and I think it's such an excellent
5:20
point.
5:22
Things are really bad for Syracuse.
5:24
They're really bad. They lack an
5:26
identity. It doesn't feel like the same
5:28
program. I get why they left for the
5:31
ACC, but I think they miss the Big East.
5:32
You miss it. I miss it. We miss that
5:34
vibe, that scene, that energy. But I
5:37
think Patino and St. John's is the
5:40
perfect example of how like, you could
5:45
turn a program around. You spend money,
5:48
you have the right coach, you recruit
5:50
the right players. This is not old
5:52
school college basketball where it takes
5:54
three, four years and you got to get
5:56
recruit. No. If you do it right, next
5:58
year you could be in the tournament.
6:00
That's that's not exaggeration. That's
6:02
fact. If you do it right, you can be in
6:04
the tournament the following year. And
6:06
that to me should be the encouraging
6:07
selling point of where we are in the
6:09
sport. Just go and get it right.