The Syracuse Orange find themselves at a crossroads - and not the kind that leads to a deep March run.
After dropping back-to-back games, first a tough road loss to Boston College and then a missed opportunity at home against Virginia Tech, the Orange are teetering on the edge of NCAA Tournament irrelevance once again. For a program with a rich history and a rabid fan base, that’s a tough pill to swallow.
This isn’t just about a couple of bad games. It’s about trajectory. And right now, that trajectory has a lot of Syracuse fans asking tough questions about the future of head coach Adrian Autry.
Autry, a former Orange standout and long-time assistant under Jim Boeheim, stepped into one of the more challenging succession plans in college basketball. Following a legend is never easy, especially one who was synonymous with the program for nearly half a century. But after a rocky stretch and another season that looks like it’ll end without a tournament berth, the pressure is mounting.
And that pressure has reignited a familiar debate: should Syracuse stay within the family tree, or is it time to branch out?
Enter Gerry McNamara.
To many Orange fans, “G-Mac” is more than just a name - he’s a symbol of better days. The gritty guard who helped lead Syracuse to a national title in 2003 and delivered unforgettable moments in the Big East Tournament is now the head coach at Siena, where he’s off to a promising start in his first year at the helm. That’s enough to put him at the top of some fans’ wish lists for the next Syracuse head coach.
Supporters point to his deep ties to the program, recruiting familiarity, and potential to energize the fan base - especially in the NIL era, where alumni connections can go a long way. McNamara understands Syracuse.
He’s lived it. And for a program trying to rediscover its identity, that matters.
But not everyone’s convinced.
Critics of the idea argue that if you strip away the name and nostalgia, McNamara’s resume doesn’t exactly scream “next big thing.” A 27-25 record at a mid-major program is hardly a slam dunk. If it were any other coach with that track record, they argue, he wouldn’t be in the conversation.
That’s the heart of the divide in Orange Nation right now. Do you lean into the legacy and hope McNamara can be the next great chapter in a storied program? Or do you take a hard look at the recent results and decide it’s time to break from the Boeheim lineage entirely?
Because make no mistake - this isn’t just about McNamara. It’s about the identity of Syracuse basketball moving forward.
Autry was a continuation of the Boeheim era, a bridge to the next generation that hasn’t yet led to the kind of success fans hoped for. A move to McNamara would be more of the same, at least in terms of philosophy and roots, albeit with a fresh face and slightly different path.
There are other names floating around - coaches like Josh Schertz and Travis Steele, who bring different backgrounds and could represent a clean break from the old guard. And that might be what Syracuse needs. Not because the past wasn’t great - it was - but because the game is changing, and programs that cling too tightly to tradition sometimes get left behind.
Still, this is Syracuse. The banners hang in the Dome.
The memories of tournament runs, buzzer-beaters, and packed Carrier Dome (now JMA Wireless Dome) crowds are still fresh for many fans. That history is both a blessing and a burden.
It sets expectations - and right now, those expectations aren’t being met.
Whether it’s McNamara, an outside hire, or a renewed vote of confidence in Autry, the next step for Syracuse needs to be about more than nostalgia. It needs to be about building a path back to national relevance - one that leads, once again, to March.
Because for a program with this kind of tradition, missing the tournament can’t become the new normal.