John Jastremski, The Ringer/Syracuse Alum

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That's BetterHELP.com slash positive. Jon, how you been? ZG, it's been an eventful day, man. I did not think at the beginning of the day we'd be talking about Jim Boeheim actually leaving Syracuse University, but that's where we are, my man, and happy to do it with you. So what's happening?

Yeah, that's the thing to me. It's been clear the last two years, it's time to go, it's time to pack it up and move in a new direction, but I never thought the university would basically force him out. And with the way that that press conference did go down today saying that it's the university's decision, he clearly didn't want to retire, and I guess he just did what the university told him to do. Yeah, I think there's something to that, and his tune kind of changed dramatically, Zach, over the last month. Like, if you go back to that Pete Thamel article, and you go back to like late January, early February, Boeheim was very defiant.

I'm going to decide when I'm going to leave, it's my call, buh buh buh, away you go. And then Syracuse played the way they played down the stretch, where they played themselves completely off the bubble, they were embarrassing in their second to last home game against Georgia Tech. And then on Saturday, they had the big 20th anniversary, Schindig, Mello, McNamara, Kim Wark, all the guys from the 2003 team, and the nostalgia was really starting to pick up, where I actually was sitting there saying to myself, I think this is it for Boeheim.

That was the feeling I had, in all seriousness, watching that game on Saturday. Jim, though, with the pressure he gave today, it's classic Boeheim. Boeheim is not going to want the swan song, and he's not going the farewell tour kind of road, he's mercurial, he's cut from a different cloth. I think that's a nice way of putting it, Zach, but he was not going to be a guy that was going to have the swan song for a year, the team has not been good the last two years, and now it's over. Now Syracuse has got to move forward.

Well, that's the thing. I've called him Big Baby Boeheim, but I can still acknowledge how special of a coach he's been and what he's meant to Syracuse, but by nature, he's stubborn, he didn't think he lost his fastball, and like we've been talking about, he clearly didn't want to leave, and the university is forcing him out. It is a shame, though, and it may be ironic with me saying this, that you have this coach that has been there since the 60s, and he probably made his own bet on this one, and then you've got to lie in it, and this is how it ends, it's just a bizarre way for it to end.

You know what, Zach, if you think about it, we see a lot of examples of this. You know, Joe Torre got a terrible ending with the Yankees. Terrible ending with the Yankees, and he won four championships in five years.

Tom Coughlin basically was like hysterically crying after the 2015 season when he said goodbye. In many instances, for the guy that kind of hangs on a little bit too long, sports and history kind of tells us that this is the road that it normally ends up going down, but let's be real about this. Jim should have walked away last year with his kids.

You know, he had Buddy behind me, made it to the Sweet 16. I totally understand the appeal of wanting to coach your two sons, right? Like, if I was lucky enough to be a coach, and I had two sons, or I had two daughters, and that was my profession, yeah, at this point, with what I gave Syracuse, yeah, maybe I'll make that my last year. Him coming back this year really, in hindsight, didn't make a whole lot of sense, and now, listen, Syracuse, for the first time since the Gerald Ford presidency, think about that for a minute. The Gerald Ford presidency is now in the market for a new head coach, and listen, Red Autry, the Syracuse guy, he played for Boeheim, he's been on the staff forever. I have no idea what kind of coach he's going to be. I just hope he doesn't exclusively run the 2-3 zone. That's my hope, Zach.

Jon Jastremski here with us. So, you go with one of your own, right? We've just seen Coach K walk away, Shire, we've seen Roy Williams walk away, and one of their own comes in, and Davis, and all that.

But this is the thing to me, is that the right decision, or is it just something that's kind of unavoidable in those circumstances? Yeah, listen, perfect world, Zach, truth be told, I would have preferred Syracuse going with an expansive search, and kind of going about their business that way, but you're seeing that with these legends that retire, they want to keep it within the family. Duke did that with Jon Shire. North Carolina ended up doing that with Hubert Davis. Even if you look at Jay Wright and Villanova, I know Kyle Neptune was coaching at Fordham, but he's a Villanova guy.

These icons, they don't like going outside the program to go and replace them. Now, I don't think Red Autry is going to be coaching Syracuse for 47 years, I wouldn't put my money on that, but he's going to be giving, I think, the chance right out of the gate to try to keep basically all the players that they have here. And I think that's what Syracuse is hoping for. He's on the staff, he knows they have a bunch of young players on the team, maybe he's the guy that can keep them and grow with the program, but the timing of this is all weird. If they would have announced a presser on Monday or Tuesday early next week, Jim's retiring, Autry's the coach, it would have seemed a little bit more on brand. To basically have that presser and then hours later I'm getting a notification on Twitter. Zach, I'm not going to lie, that was super weird, dude.

Super weird. And to your point, you can understand why there are factions within, I don't know, the Board of Trustees, the AD, the Chancellor, who knows, that all are saying, you know what, Jim, enough is enough. That's also like, to me, he basically said he was retiring and he gave the speech a week ago like we were talking and then, oh, it's the university's decision, I get it, it's one last jab in the back, I guess, at the university, but just be transparent and say this is over, this is it, and then you walk away, you don't have to take any questions. You know what it is, though, Zach, that's not his way, though. And I'm not saying it's right or it's wrong, that's Jim Beheim in a nutshell. You know, it's funny, everybody gets on him, and I understand what he's berating student reporters, and he's killing them left and right, but here's the dirty little secret about that, Zach.

Jim Beheim has been doing this for 35, 40, 47 years. Different when you're winning, though. When you're winning, people excuse him. When you're winning 30 games, nobody cares that he's having fun with Johnny from WAER or Jimmy from the Daily Orange, when Syracuse is the number three scene, they're winning 30 games and, you know, everything's hunky dory. So I do admire, not the last few years, because they were a disaster for Syracuse, but I do kind of, in a way, admire somebody who is going to be themselves no matter what. Say what you want about Jim Beheim.

From beginning to end, Jim Beheim is going to be Jim Beheim. That's all there is to it. It's almost cult-like. It's almost like Penn State football-like in basketball with the way the Syracuse alum talks about the program, and when you guys win, we see all parading on social media and celebrating. Do you think, though, that the Syracuse graduate today is happy that this era is over?

It's a great question, and I can tell you, because I talked to a lot of them, obviously. I went to the school. Over the last year and a half, two years, Zach, a lot of the Syracuse grads that I know want a new head coach. So I think today is kind of a bittersweet day, because you get the result that I think most Syracuse alum have been looking for now for the last year or so. But when you're talking about a coach who's been a part of your life, basically your entire adult life, and for anybody who was in the school when I was in the school, I mean, listen, I was there six overtimes.

I was there. They were number one seed. Onuaka blew his knee out at the Big East Tournament, and we might have been talking about Jim Beheim's second national championship. It's a sad day, you know what I mean? The guy's been a coach for 47 years. It's bittersweet, but I think most people you will talk to, they're not angry about the change. I think most are aware of the fact, hey, the last two years have been lousy. Jim Beheim's getting close to 80 years old.

It's time for a new voice. I also think it depends how old you are, because I think the younger student or someone that's freshly out of college is like, okay, it's time. If you're a little bit older, like 45 plus, there's a lot of nostalgia. Then I think there's people that understand that are in their 30s and early 40s that, yeah, there are those great memories and how much he's meant to the school, but it is time. I feel like it does depend on just how old or young you are in that one. Yeah, I think there's some of that, but to be honest, Zach, I could tell you older Syracuse alums, and I'm talking guys who saw the glory days of Pearl Washington and Derek Coleman and John Wallace.

Yeah, that guy by the name of Carmelo Anthony, like guys who were in their 50s and 60s who are basically feeling the exact same way. But why is that? They're not winning. That's what it boils down to. No one was talking about Jim Boeheim retiring two years ago when they were beating West Virginia and near another, what were they, an 11 seed, and they go and make it to the Sweet 16. At that point, like, hey, you win in the NCAA tournament. It ain't broke.

Don't fix it. But when you're basically game over 500 each of the last two years, that's when, hey, guess what? Your age is a factor.

The team's performance is a factor. Some of the things that you're saying is a factor to the point where enough is enough. I literally have 30 seconds. You have a story with Boeheim in terms of him shredding you in a press conference or anything like that? Oh, I'm sure.

I wish I had more time for this. I mean, way too many, but it's a badge of honor. That's kind of the way I look at it, D.C. You're a Syracuse student covering it.

It's a badge of honor if you're getting scolded by Boeheim. I wish I could have it happen to me one more time. John Deshrensky does a great job, SNY, here in New York on TV, and you catch him on Ringer via Spotify. John, thanks so much, JJ. I appreciate it, CJ. Any time, man.