Syracuse men's basketball will not play in this year's NCAA tournament, marking a program-record fifth consecutive season without reaching postseason play. Syracuse went 15-17, finishing 14th in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The poor season prompted the firing of Adrian Autry last week after three campaigns.

With the offseason off to an all-too familiar early start, the Orange are now into their search for a new head coach. While there are several intriguing names out there for the Orange, some fans have vocalized their wishes for the future of the program. Those wishes include a hire that goes "outside the family."

Jim Boeheim held the Syracuse job for 47 years. His longtime coach-in-waiting was former player Mike Hopkins. When Hopkins eventually left for Washington, his successor became Autry, another former player. Some fans want a clean break away from the Boeheim tree, which means walking away from interesting candidates like Hopkins and Gerry McNamara, who is now the head coach at Siena University.

Earlier this month, I took to X to voice my frustration over this sentiment:

If I read/see another social media post or that says something like

“Syracuse needs a clean slate” or

“Syracuse should not hire another former player.”

I'm gonna throw my phone into Onondaga Lake

THAT TAKE IS NOT RATIONAL…

So with that premise

G-MAC goes 31-0 with Siena (not interested)

North Carolina shouldn’t hire Roy Williams (Dean Smith/Doherty)

Patriots shouldn’t hire Vrabel (Belichick/Mayo)

Miami Hurricanes shouldn’t hire Cristobal (Erickson/Shannon)

I can keep going…

The past failures of a former coach connected to the university should not set a new precedent for the hiring process moving forward. As I noted above, we have multiple examples in both the college and professional ranks where a former player connected to the school/franchise DID find sucess.

My take received replies from users on both sides of the argument.

Todd wrote: Omg this is the type of thinking that will bury us forever. A Gmac hire would be horrific for SU. Horrific. And I love the guy

While fans like Brent wrote: If we don’t hire Gerry McNamara we riot.

My hope for Syracuse basketball is that when the decision is made, the candidate offered the job is the BEST candidate for the job.

If a candidate like McNamara or Hopkins is selected, then it should be because the university and athletic department value their background, experience, vision for the program and more.

But working under Boeheim should also be viewed as a valuable career asset, not a detriment to their candidacy. If Bryan Hodgson, Luke Murray or another non-Syracuse coach are named the next head coach, my hope is that their resumes can lead Syracuse to success in the future.

We have so many examples in sports of an alum being successful as a head coach at their alma mater. And that list includes current Syracuse coaches Gary Gait of men's lacrosse and Felisha Legette-Jack of women's basketball. The women's basketball program just went 23-8 and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

My hope is both Syracuse fans and decision makers are not blinded by recent failures, but instead encouraged by a formula already working at the school. 

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