The next several weeks will be critical in re-shaping the Syracuse University athletic department moving forward.

Earlier this week, the university introduced a new chancellor who preached the importance of athletics. Now, the school needs to hire a new athletic director and there is an major decision looming on the future of men's basketball coach Adrian Autry.

As of Thursday morning, the plan for the new athletic director is coming into clearer focus.

According to Syracuse.com, the expectation is that the university will reach a decision "soon." According to the reporting, SU has conducted multiple rounds of interviews with Nick Carparelli, who is a major player in the world of college football. He's a finalist, but it's unclear how many others are still in the race.

Here's what you need to know so far.

He has experience in multiple different facets of college athletics, specifically football, though he has never been an AD or served in athletics administration at a university.

He was graduate assistant coach at Syracuse in the early 1990s and has worked at Notre Dame and for the New England Patriots. He was a director of operations when the Pats won their first Super Bowl title in 2001 season -- Tom Brady's second year in the NFL.

He was then a football administrator for the Big East Conference, helping to create the Pinstripe Bowl before working at Under Armour. Since leaving Under Armour in 2019, he's overseen bowl season as a whole.

--For better or worse, college football runs college athletics, and Carparelli knows that world. That would be a big benefit for Syracuse as it looks to navigate this new era of college athletics.

--Furthermore, because he loves and understands football, he'd likely work to make sure Fran Brown's program has all the resources it needs to be successful. That can only be a good thing. And with programs like Florida State and Clemson in turmoil, the ACC is somewhat open for SU to become a more prominent player in.

--With his business experience at Under Armour, he'd likely be a solid addition in terms of NIL funding, fundraising initiatives and developing corporate partnerships.

--As someone who got a masters from Syracuse and coached on the staff, there is a clear affection for the university, which is a good passion to have when helping rebuild an athletic department.

--Is hiring someone so football-centric good for the other programs on campus? Does extra attention paid to football hinder the resources given to men's and women's basketball or men's and women's lacrosse? Those are the programs that have been historically successful for the university, after all.

--A lot of fans have called for Autry to be replaced as basketball coach -- and they want someone from "outside the family." Does that mindset extend here as well, or does it not matter as much since Carparelli didn't actually play for the Orange?

Remember to join our SYRACUSE on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Orange fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!