WOAH: Syracuse Basketball HIGH MAJOR Head Coach Candidates | Could The 'Cuse POACH T.J. Otzelberger?

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Hi major head coach, candidates for Syracuse basketball.

Let's talk about it.

You are Lockdown Syracuse, your daily podcast on the Syracuse Orange, part of the Lockdown

Podcast Network, your team every day.

Hello everyone and welcome in a Lockdown Syracuse.

I'm Jackson Holzer, thank you so much for making us your first listen of every single

day here on the Lockdown Podcast Network where it's your team every day.

We are free and available wherever you get your podcasts here on the number one sports

podcasting network.

And on today's show, we are going over high major head coach candidates for Syracuse

basketball.

Last Wednesday, ESPN's Jeff Borzello, he published an article, The Coaching Parasel Guide

for this off season.

And in that guide, he gave out some high major head coach candidates to keep an eye on.

And the reason why I'm mentioning this off the bat is because I don't want you to think

that I am just naming these names like I'm pulling names out of a hat.

You know, these are names that are given by a legitimate college basketball insider.

And so we are going to discuss them or at least some of them here on today's show, whether

or not they are realistic for Syracuse, whether or not they fit for Syracuse, all that and

more coming up here on today's edition of Lockdown Syracuse.

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The first high major head coach candidate that we are going to talk about is TJ Olterberger.

Now again, the reason why I'm mentioning TJ Olterberger is because he was listed as

a high major head coach candidate to keep an eye on from ESPN's Jeff Borzello.

Here's what is interesting about TJ Olterberger.

He's the head coach currently at Iowa State and you may think that he is not actually attainable.

That's where you're wrong.

I know that he signed a contract extension very recently, but actually that contract extension

he signed with Iowa State made it more attainable for another school to poach him.

His buyout dropped from $18.25 million to $4 million.

So the buyout of TJ Olterberger is $4 million.

That means if TJ Olterberger wants to leave Iowa State, he can leave Iowa State for pretty

much any other high major job in the country because he is actually affordable.

His resume speaks for itself.

He has been the head coach at Iowa State since the 2021-22 season.

He took over a program that in the previous year, it went to and 22.

And the year before that, they went 12 and 20.

So in 2020 and 2021, Iowa State won a combined 14 games.

That's it.

So he took over a mess and immediately he turned them into one of the better programs in

all college basketball.

In fact, in TJ Olterberger's first season, they made the NCAA tournament.

Imagine going from two wins to the NCAA tournament, year over year.

That's crazy, right?

And since he has taken over Iowa State, he's led them to the tournament in every season.

And usually, his teams are seeded pretty high.

And if you're seeded pretty high, it gives you more of a chance to actually go for the

NCAA tournament.

His tournament seeds to be exact, 11 seed, the first time around, a six seed, a two seed,

and then a three seed.

However, he has never gotten past the sweet 16.

This year, Iowa State at the time of this recording is 24 and six.

They are projected three seed in the latest ESPN Bracketology.

So perhaps this is the year that Iowa State could go farther than the sweet 16.

Maybe they go to the OEDA.

And who knows, maybe they could even go to the final four.

My thoughts on this TJ Olterberger is the best high major head coach that could potentially

become available this off season.

So of course, if Syracuse were to land TJ Olterberger, that would be a fantastic hire.

That would be a home run hire.

It would be a hire that would immediately put Syracuse basketball back on the mat.

I mean, you can basically bank that Syracuse basketball is a top 25 team in the nation

next year if you have TJ Olterberger as your head coach.

And again, he's available because he's actually affordable.

His buyout is only $4 million.

However, I think getting TJ Olterberger to Syracuse is what is actually extremely difficult.

For starters, his relationship with the athletic director has said to have been very strong

over at Iowa State, Jamie Pollard, so much so that if you actually redefine print a TJ

Olterberger's contract, you will notice that the buyout of $4 million drops to just $2 million

if Iowa State were to let go of the athletic director.

So they're basically going hand in hand here.

Secondly, you actually have to entice TJ Olterberger to leave Iowa State and to go to

set program, which in this case, this is a Syracuse show we're talking about Syracuse here.

So in reality, I think 10 years ago, Syracuse could have absolutely made this type of move.

He would 100% be on the table for Syracuse to do this.

This would predate NIL, Syracuse would have all the cachet, all the success, they'd have

that brand name value.

And so you could easily argue 10 years ago that TJ Olterberger would be attainable for Syracuse.

Now, not so much.

It's been reported that Syracuse's budget this year on their basketball team was around

$8 million.

It's not bad because that has been considered to be at least according to John Wildhack,

most likely upper half of the ACC this season.

So it's not like they're in bad financial shape.

They're not in bad NIL shape.

And you got to figure it could be more next year when you have a real high coach,

not Adrian Entry.

But in order to get TJ Olterberger to leave Iowa State and come to Syracuse,

you're going to have to significantly boost $8 million.

That is not going to be enough for TJ Olterberger to say, I'm going to leave Iowa State,

which is already in very good shape and he's already very happy, very happy, I should

say, and go to Syracuse.

So overall, look, if Syracuse can pull it off, it would be amazing.

It would be fantastic.

We would throw a parade here at Lockdown Syracuse.

And of course, because it doesn't hurt, Syracuse should absolutely do their due diligence on

TJ Olterberger, just like they should do their due diligence on some of the retired head coaches

that we discussed earlier here on Lockdown Syracuse, just like how you need to do your due diligence

on Josh Shirts on Brian Hodgson, anyone that you could possibly want, anyone that is a possible

candidate, even if it doesn't seem realistic, you have to do your homework on them because you

never truly know if you don't do your homework on them.

But if we're being realistic, if we're being objective, TJ Olterberger is not going to leave

Iowa State to join Syracuse.

I wish it were different.

I wish this was 10 years ago and Syracuse could have made this type of move.

But right now, I just don't think that Syracuse could come up with the resources, come up with

a package, pay the buyout, which is relatively affordable at $4 million, and somehow

pull away TJ Olterberger from actually a happy situation at Iowa State.

You feel differently? You agree with me? Disagree with me? Comment your thoughts in the comments

section below. If for whatever reason this does come to be, I think we would all be very happy.

Now, coming up here on Lockdown Syracuse, we still have three more high major head coaches

that we have to go over here. Part one of high major head coach candidates.

Next up is going to be the current head coach at Oklahoma. We'll talk about him next on Lockdown Syracuse.

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You can head to the link in the description below. Lockdown Syracuse, I am Jackson. Holes are part

one of our high major head coach candidates. We discussed earlier, T.J. Ulzelberger. He would be

a home run hire for Syracuse, but it is not realistic for Syracuse to actually get T.J. Ulzelberger

unfortunately. This next head coach, I think, is definitely realistic in terms of if they want him,

they can certainly get him. The question is, do you actually want him? If you are Syracuse,

and the coach that I am referring to is Porter Moser, currently the head coach at Oklahoma.

As it stands right now, his buyout at Oklahoma is approximately $5.8 million. That's actually

more than T.J. Ulzelberger's buyout at $4 million. But I do think that there is a decent chance that

Porter Moser is fired by Oklahoma by the end of the season. And that would mean that Oklahoma is

on the hook for the buyout, so you could potentially get this guy for no buyout whatsoever. You just

have to pay him normal salary. His resume, he has been the head coach at four different places. He's

got a career win percentage of $5.49. His most memorable tenure was actually at Loyola Chicago from 2011

to 2021. If you recall, 2018 was a magical Cinderella year for Loyola Chicago, Sister Jean,

all that fun stuff. They go all the way to the final four, and he was the MVC coach of the year

for that season. In 2021, back in the NCAA tournament, and again, Loyola Chicago goes pretty far,

they go all the way to the sweet 16. Then he was hired by Oklahoma. And unfortunately for Oklahoma,

Porter Moser has been a pretty big disappointment. Only one tournament appearance as the head coach

at Oklahoma. And that appearance came last year as a nine seed, and they were knocked out right away

round of 64, one and done. This year, you look at Oklahoma. It's not like they're a terrible team.

They are above 500 right now, but they are not even on the bubble to make the NCAA tournament.

So overall, when I look at Porter Moser, if Syracuse wants him, I do think they could get him.

It's not like TJ Olsler-Burderwoods. It's going to be extremely difficult. But with Porter Moser,

I don't think he's a desirable candidate, even though he is a high major at coach,

even though he does technically have a final four appearance on his resume. Yes, he is an

improvement on Adrian Entry, which isn't saying much. Yes, he is a better version of Mike Hopkins.

Again, that is not saying much. It doesn't make him a good head coach. I think Porter Moser honestly

is better off going the Travis Steel route. Travis Steel was the head coach at Xavier.

He wasn't awful at Xavier, but he wasn't that good at Xavier. Now he is the head coach at Miami,

Ohio. Miami, Ohio is undefeated this season, and his stock is all the way back up.

To the point where I do believe that Travis Steel is going to get a high major head coach job,

this cycle assuming that he wants it. So at Porter Moser, it's probably best doing that.

I don't know if there's going to be a school out there, at least a high major school that's

offering him to be the head coach. So if he wants to be a head coach, probably has to become a mid major

head coach, which should tell you all you need to know about him, which is for Syracuse,

doesn't make a lot of sense. In my opinion, no, I would stay away from Porter Moser. Next up,

Randy Bennett. Randy Bennett is currently the head coach at St. Mary's, and know what you're

probably saying right now. Well, there's probably a few things that you're saying right now, but one

of those things that you're probably saying is that Jackson, this is high major head coach candidates,

Randy Bennett is in the WCC. That is not a high major conference, and you would be correct. However,

they are not a mid major program. For being honest, they're not. They are a high major program

that is playing in a mid major conference because St. Mary's and Gonzaga rule the WCC. That is

their conference. Those two teams are the teams that consistently get to the NCAA tournament.

So if you're going to sit here and try to tell me that St. Mary's by technicality is a mid major

program, then what I would tell you is by technicality Gonzaga is a mid major program. And of course,

you don't believe Gonzaga is a mid major program. So Randy Bennett, he counts as a high major head coach.

His resume, it's a great resume. He has been the head coach at St. Mary's since 2001. His win

percentage is 723. So very high. He is a seven time WCC coach of the year. And St. Mary's

has only bottomed out, which by my definition would be under 500 one time. And that was in his first

season. He's been to the NCAA tournament 14 times. But he's only been to the sweet 16 one time,

which I think was in 2010. So overall, Randy Bennett has not left St. Mary's for one obvious

reason. He is happy at St. Mary's. He probably doesn't want to leave St. Mary's because

make no mistake. If he ever wanted to leave St. Mary's, he could have very easily gotten a better

job that would give him more of a chance to win. But could Syracuse hypothetically get Randy Bennett?

Could they offer him more than what St. Mary's could offer? Maybe? I think it's possible. They could

probably give him more funding. Maybe they can give him a better chance to win at Syracuse. But

he's also a West Coast guy. So I don't think he would leave for Syracuse. I think if he wanted

to leave St. Mary's, he would probably stay on the West Coast. And this isn't necessarily coming

for me. This is coming from ESPN's Jeff Boresello. He was speculating about Arizona State and the

fact that Arizona State could become available this offseason. And Randy Bennett would be a natural

fit there. That's a West Coast team. That's a power conference team. So look, if Syracuse could get

in a race for Randy Bennett, should he want to leave St. Mary's? By all means, go for it. Again,

do your homework. Do your due diligence. There's no harm in doing your homework,

doing your due diligence. Even if at the end of the day, it doesn't work out because Randy Bennett

is a really good head coach. And I would of course love him to come to Syracuse. Do I think it's

going to happen? Unfortunately not. Similar to TJ Olsbert. Now coming up here on Lockdown Syracuse,

we got one more high major head coach to talk about. But this high major head coach is currently not

coaching, but could he return to coaching next year? We'll talk about it next on Lockdown Syracuse.

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Welcome to the five hour energy flavor draft with 18 different flavors to choose from,

including new options like confetti craze, fruity rainbow or cotton candy. There is something

for everyone. The board is set. The flavors are ready. And I've got my number one pick

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Locked on Syracuse. I'm Jackson Holzer. Again, part one of high major head coach candidates.

There's one more coach that we have to talk about here on this show to end part one, I guess.

Kevin Keats. He is currently out of a head coach job. However, he was most recently a head coach

last season at NC State. His resume from 2014 to 2017. He was at UNC Wilmington.

He made the NCAA tournament twice in his three years there. He gets the NC State job and he's

there from 2017 to 2025 at NC State. He made the NCAA tournament three times with five 20 plus

win seasons and for what it's worth. They could have made the tournament as well in 2020. They

worked 2012 at the time of the shutdown. So I'm not going to give him a tournament appearance.

But I'm also not going to say that he didn't make the tournament that year. So we'll kind of count

2020 as a net neutral for Kevin Keats. But he is most known for the legendary run that he and NC

State had in 2024. If you recall, NC State was ready to fire Kevin Keats at the end of the

2024 season. And also, by the way, Syracuse beat NC State twice in the regular season that year.

They were done with Kevin Keats. It was over. Everyone knew about it. NC State was going to be

looking for a new head coach. They're in the ACC tournament. They're playing on the absolute

first day. So they're going to have to win five games in five days in order to make the NCAA

tournament. And lo and behold, they win five games in five days. They win the ACC tournament.

They beat Syracuse in the second round. If you remember, knock Syracuse out.

Not only do they win the ACC tournament in fluke fashion, they carry that momentum into the

NCAA tournament and they go all the way to the final four. It was a Cinderella run for NC State

in 2024. What did they have in store for all of us in 2025? Well, there is a reason why Kevin

Keats is no longer the head coach at NC State because in 2025, they bottomed out. They miss

the NC, not the NCAA tournament, apologies. They miss the ACC tournament. If you recall,

last year was the first year in the ACC where they said, you know what, we're not taking every team

in the conference tournament. We are only taking 15 teams and NC State was one of the bottom three

teams that was left out of the conference tournament. And so Kevin Keats was promptly let go by NC State.

So when you look at Kevin Keats' resume, it's not that it is a horrible resume. He has done some

nice things. He does have the Cinderella appearance to the final four. Good for him, but he is not a

desirable candidate for Syracuse basketball. I would not be happy if Syracuse hired Kevin Keats

as its next head coach. In many ways, he reminds me of Porta Moser, who I also would not want

as the head coach of Syracuse basketball. They both share the fact that they have final four

appearances on their resume, both achieved in fluke fashion. Porta Moser, Loyola Chicago 2018.

That was a fluke. NC State final four appearance, 2024. And that was a flu.

If you actually compare resumes, they have very similar career win percentages as well.

So both of these guys just wouldn't make a whole lot of sense. Yeah, they're better than what

you have right now, but you lack the upside with both of these head coach candidates. So with Kevin

Keats, I wouldn't want him. I just don't think you're getting a big boost in NIL if you hire him

and I don't think you guarantee much better results. Maybe you get slightly better, but I don't

think it's enough. I agree with me, disagree with me, comment your thoughts right now in a comment

section below your thoughts on Kevin Keats as the next head coach of Syracuse basketball.

So to recap everything now today that we discussed here on Lockdown Syracuse, part one of high

major head coach candidates. Again, these guys are all coming from ESPN's Jeff Borzello. I am not

just throwing out these names for the sake of throwing out names. These were legitimate names

named by a legitimate insider of college basketball. The four people that we talked about as the next

head coach, potentially T. J. Olsenberger. He would be a home run for Syracuse. Not really that

realistic. Porter Moser. Meh, he's done some nice things, but I'm not that interested in him.

Randy Bennett, he would be nice. I don't know if he's a home run, but he would be nice.

High major head coach, a lot of experience, pretty good results. Could maybe do better with more

resources, but it's not realistic. If he wants to leave St. Mary's, he's probably going to stay

on the West Coast. And then he got Kevin Keats. Meh, just not that interested.

So that's just about does it for part one of high major head coach candidates. We will likely have

a part two coming out very soon of high major head coach candidates to discuss. We'll go over maybe

Richard Patino from Xavier, the head coach also at Vanderbilt, maybe as an option.

Is Will Wade an option? Because he was listed in that article. All that and more

could possibly be discussed on another edition of locked on Syracuse high major head coach candidates.

But what I can guarantee you is that tomorrow Syracuse basketball has its final game of the 2025-26

regular season for 30 PM Eastern. They are at home taking on pit. There will be a full

post game reaction show. And hey folks, thank you so much for tuning into this edition of locked

on Syracuse. If you've never missed an episode, the every day or club is built for you. You can get

locked on Syracuse at free plus members only discord access and more. You can head to the locked on

Syracuse page in the description below to join the club. You just hit the link that is right there.

For now folks, thank you all so much for watching. Thank you all so much for listening. If you like

this podcast, be sure to hit that like button. If you really enjoy the podcast, be sure to hit

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