OT - Boeheim out at Syracuse
End of an era... 47 years to be exact.
Title sounds like he got fired. I'm assuming he retired with great laurels.
The headline reads that way.
Based on his statement it sounds like Syracuse was ready for new coaching leadership and made the decision to replace him.
It sounds like he would have stayed on but the parting was amicable and not surprising.
I nominate Troy Weaver to replace him!!!
Nobody could take a charge like Jordan Morgan
Novak
I don't know, Novak once fouled out of a game on 5 failed attempts to draw a charge call.
Miss JMo, wish we had someone like him on this years team- what a glue guy and team player.
I can’t stop watching this. It’s mesmerizing.
What always struck me about this GIF was that the third cheerleader from the far end (the brunette) was like the only one who was following the game and reacting to what was going on, aside from the mascot...
The one guy cheerleader behind Otto too. Actually, it almost looks like Otto was a bowling pin who then took him out!
The reactions from the trainers at the end of the 'Cuse bench are pretty good.
Talk about a turbulent ending for his tenure. Rough final years, the curmudgeon in him got more curmudgeony, and then an awkward press release announcing his retirement hours after a buzzer-beating season- and career-ending loss. He said it was the university's decision whether or not they wanted him back after the loss earlier today. Looks like they said "thanks for the memories."
It’s a terrible thing to overstay your welcome.
Says my wife to me every time we go to a party.
And you'll never be welcome to stay
It's an even more terrible thing to stubbornly cling to a defense that begs for three point shooting in the eFG% era.
When he urinated on himself, that was the beginning of the end
He definitely a legend. The longevity he has there is certainly something to appreciate. I think he’s probably a good coach and guy but it was time. It’s supremely hard to win the NCAA tourney but only winning one in his entire tenure is a bit disappointing.
I felt they should have beaten Indiana in the 1987 final and his 2012 team lost to OSU in the Elite Eight that was really special, but he went to 5 Final Fours, 20 Sweet 16s. Does anyone see Syracuse as some type of sleeping giant that has underperformed? I don't.
The Syracuse hoops wikipedia page is something to behold. They started basketball 120 years ago. They've had 7 head coaches.
Probably past due at this point, but what a career.
Something that might blow your mind: Boeheim has been on the Syracuse sideline since 1969. (He was an assistant for several years before being made the head coach in 1976, which is also obviously a long time ago.)
And he was Dave Bing's roommate!
I’m almost 30 and neither of my parents were even alive when he started at Syracuse…
To put that in context, 1969 was the same year Bo started coaching at Michigan.
And the year I graduated high school.
Think about this: the Syracuse basketball program was founded in 1898, and Jim Boeheim has half of their wins. That's insane.
I came of age during the 1980's. I lived and breathed Big 10 and Big East hoops during that period. Boeheim's Syracuse teams competed in a ruthlessly difficult conference during that era. Fun times.
47 years at one institution is unthinkable. Congrats on enduring, Coach Boeheim. May you continue scheming new ways to frustrate opponents with aggravatingly annoying 2-3 zones from your armchair for many more years.
Second that. Talk about a Murderers' Row: John Thompson, Lou Carnesecca, Rollie Massimino and Jim O'Brien and P.J. Carlesimo and Jim Calhoun -- that Boeheim even kept his head above water in the Big East is pretty amazing.
If you enjoyed Big East hoops back in the day, you should check out the 30-for-30 called "Requiem for the Big East." Great stuff.
As a Syracuse native, who got my MA there, I have to say Boeheim (another CNY native) did the school and community good. It was time for him to go (maybe past the time tbh) but like the snow dumped on the Salt City by a lake effect storm, he was stubborn to the end. Enjoy the turquoise clear waters of Skaneateles Lake, coach.
One of my best friends is a die hard Cuse fan and he feels the exact same way as you do.
I've got cousins and their families in Syracuse and I consider the region like a third home. I've seen it first-hand: SU sports drive that region since it has no pro sports teams (it does have minor league baseball and hockey, but the Orange are treated like a pro team). Mainly, the Boeheim-driven hoops teams are what everyone looked forward to. The football team has only seen minor glimmers of competency in the post-Donovan McNabb era the past 20+ years.
Also: +1 re: Lake Skaneateles...especially during the fall (well, anywhere in Central New York during the fall is special).
I don't really have thoughts on Syracuse one way or another, but Boeheim is a legend and deserves better than how Syracuse handled moving on from him. I understand he's been declining in quality the last few years, but they could've handled moving on from him much more gracefully given that he's been there for 47 years
I'm not sure if the "moving on" from a old, tenured, successful coach ever works gracefully. Every case is awkward: the Coach K retirement tour was embarrassing for everyone outside of Duke, Jay Wright just quit seemingly randomly, earlier than most would have expected I think, Beilein left for the NBA, and Bobby Knight got fired.
There's no great way to handle it, especially with declining success on the court. The timing today was weird but at least it was to the point and brutally honest, which is refreshing and respectful in a way. These guys are basketball coaches, not saints. If they're not getting the job done, you don't need to massage their ego any more. And to Boeheim's credit, I don't think he asked for any special treatment at the end of his career.
Good.
I never really liked him and he's been running on fumes for years at Syracuse. Time for a change.
I never understood how he could recruit players when his press conferences humiliated and belittled his own players on a regular basis.
But he and his wife, like a lot of long-time coaches, did a lot of charity work in the area, and he is the only coach many in the Syracuse area know, so he's got that going for him.
Meeting with administrators as Syracuse, I was trying to make nice as the conversation turned to Boeheim. I started by talking about what an impressive record he had but I couldn't help myself and added, "...though he does whine."
The administrator surprised me, totally agreeing that Boeheim was a whiner.
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The old Big East hayday was an amazing time in CBB history - and the 'Cuse were up at the top. That said, Boeheim teams took a massive nosedive in the last 5 - 8 years & he's had plenty of controversy. I'm not a fan of Boeheim post-Carmelo. Definitely happy for the fans that he's gone - they were due for a re-boot. That zone defense is totally out-dated in the modern era of 3-point shooting.
I don't think this is a reload situation like say Duke. Is Boeheim so synonymous with Syracuse basketball that his departure sets the stage for a generation of mediocrity in the program?
I honestly don't know, but I don't think this a tier 2 job in the scheme of college basketball.
Sounds like this was a "retire" with dignity or we're going to fire you scenario to me. I've got family that are SU alums and season ticket holders, they say that he wore out his welcome over the past few years with the fanbase, in particular over his refusal to adapt and drop the zone. Regardless, I'm sure that my cousin and I will continue to argue over whether the Jordan Morgan & Brandon Triche block/charge was called correctly (obviously it was!)
Only 3 NCAA tourney appearances in the last 7 years and zero conference titles. It was time. Never won the ACC either which is surprising
Syracuse only joined the ACC in 2013.
And at least 1 or 2 of those were an absolute gift of a bid for a thoroughly undeserving team
This six-overtime game between Syracuse and Connecticut in the Big East Tournament remains one of the most memorable college basketball games I've ever watched and I remember watching the 1963 NCAA championship game in which Loyola of Chicago beat Cincinnati and when Houston beat UCLA in the 1968 "Game of the Century" in Houston's Astrodome.
I honestly thought he retired several years ago.
Rest in peace, Big East basketball.
Not until Ewing gets bounced from Georgetown
I was born and raised in Syracuse in the 80s and 90s, and man was it a great time to be a Cuse fan. Great team after great team, amazing players every year, and such cohesiveness of the city around the team. The Dome was such an awesome place to watch a game, and Boeheim was in the middle of it all. I went to school with one of his kids, and the whole family was super friendly and humble. I'll always remember running down the halls of MoJo in joy in March 2003 when the Orangemen won the title during my freshman year at UM.
Despite some good tourney runs in the last several years, it's all felt like the team has been on a 10 year downslide as of late, and unfortunately that's largely attributed to Boeheim's refusal to abide by a succession plan. I'll always appreciate what he did for the school, but the way he overstayed his welcome already lost us both Mike Hopkins and a significant amount of recruiting momentum.
That said, the memories of the good times will be the ones that stick with me. He may have been a curmudgeon, but he was our curmudgeon, and any Central NYer would go to bat for him any day. All the best to him and his family in retirement.