0:00
It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.
0:12
It rots wood and tears docks apart, unless you build with treks.
0:15
Trek's marine grade decking is 100% submersible, built to resist rod and solid and fresh water.
0:21
Water has met its match.
0:23
Visit treks.com slash docks.
0:25
Before we had AT&T Business Wireless coverage, our delivery GPS wasn't the most reliable.
0:31
Once our driver had to do a 14-point turn to get back on route, a 14-point turn, an influence
0:37
or even live stream the whole thing.
0:40
Not good for business.
0:41
Now with AT&T Business Wireless, routes are updating on the fly and deliveries are on
0:47
And the influence it did get us 53 new followers though, AT&T Business Wireless, connecting
0:56
Hi major head coach, candidates for Syracuse basketball.
1:00
Let's talk about it.
1:07
You are Lockdown Syracuse, your daily podcast on the Syracuse Orange, part of the Lockdown
1:14
Podcast Network, your team every day.
1:18
Hello everyone and welcome in a Lockdown Syracuse.
1:22
I'm Jackson Holzer, thank you so much for making us your first listen of every single
1:27
day here on the Lockdown Podcast Network where it's your team every day.
1:31
We are free and available wherever you get your podcasts here on the number one sports
1:38
And on today's show, we are going over high major head coach candidates for Syracuse
1:46
Last Wednesday, ESPN's Jeff Borzello, he published an article, The Coaching Parasel Guide
1:54
for this off season.
1:56
And in that guide, he gave out some high major head coach candidates to keep an eye on.
2:04
And the reason why I'm mentioning this off the bat is because I don't want you to think
2:09
that I am just naming these names like I'm pulling names out of a hat.
2:14
You know, these are names that are given by a legitimate college basketball insider.
2:20
And so we are going to discuss them or at least some of them here on today's show, whether
2:25
or not they are realistic for Syracuse, whether or not they fit for Syracuse, all that and
2:29
more coming up here on today's edition of Lockdown Syracuse.
2:32
And before we get to everything, this episode is brought to you by Fandool, Fandool is
2:37
giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins with a college basketball
2:43
parlay profit boost head to Fandool.com to get started.
2:48
The first high major head coach candidate that we are going to talk about is TJ Olterberger.
2:57
Now again, the reason why I'm mentioning TJ Olterberger is because he was listed as
3:03
a high major head coach candidate to keep an eye on from ESPN's Jeff Borzello.
3:10
Here's what is interesting about TJ Olterberger.
3:13
He's the head coach currently at Iowa State and you may think that he is not actually attainable.
3:22
That's where you're wrong.
3:23
I know that he signed a contract extension very recently, but actually that contract extension
3:30
he signed with Iowa State made it more attainable for another school to poach him.
3:36
His buyout dropped from $18.25 million to $4 million.
3:44
So the buyout of TJ Olterberger is $4 million.
3:49
That means if TJ Olterberger wants to leave Iowa State, he can leave Iowa State for pretty
3:58
much any other high major job in the country because he is actually affordable.
4:05
His resume speaks for itself.
4:07
He has been the head coach at Iowa State since the 2021-22 season.
4:12
He took over a program that in the previous year, it went to and 22.
4:19
And the year before that, they went 12 and 20.
4:23
So in 2020 and 2021, Iowa State won a combined 14 games.
4:34
So he took over a mess and immediately he turned them into one of the better programs in
4:42
all college basketball.
4:43
In fact, in TJ Olterberger's first season, they made the NCAA tournament.
4:48
Imagine going from two wins to the NCAA tournament, year over year.
4:54
That's crazy, right?
4:56
And since he has taken over Iowa State, he's led them to the tournament in every season.
5:03
And usually, his teams are seeded pretty high.
5:06
And if you're seeded pretty high, it gives you more of a chance to actually go for the
5:11
His tournament seeds to be exact, 11 seed, the first time around, a six seed, a two seed,
5:17
and then a three seed.
5:19
However, he has never gotten past the sweet 16.
5:23
This year, Iowa State at the time of this recording is 24 and six.
5:27
They are projected three seed in the latest ESPN Bracketology.
5:32
So perhaps this is the year that Iowa State could go farther than the sweet 16.
5:37
Maybe they go to the OEDA.
5:38
And who knows, maybe they could even go to the final four.
5:42
My thoughts on this TJ Olterberger is the best high major head coach that could potentially
5:50
become available this off season.
5:54
So of course, if Syracuse were to land TJ Olterberger, that would be a fantastic hire.
6:00
That would be a home run hire.
6:03
It would be a hire that would immediately put Syracuse basketball back on the mat.
6:08
I mean, you can basically bank that Syracuse basketball is a top 25 team in the nation
6:13
next year if you have TJ Olterberger as your head coach.
6:17
And again, he's available because he's actually affordable.
6:21
His buyout is only $4 million.
6:25
However, I think getting TJ Olterberger to Syracuse is what is actually extremely difficult.
6:33
For starters, his relationship with the athletic director has said to have been very strong
6:39
over at Iowa State, Jamie Pollard, so much so that if you actually redefine print a TJ
6:44
Olterberger's contract, you will notice that the buyout of $4 million drops to just $2 million
6:53
if Iowa State were to let go of the athletic director.
6:56
So they're basically going hand in hand here.
7:00
Secondly, you actually have to entice TJ Olterberger to leave Iowa State and to go to
7:08
set program, which in this case, this is a Syracuse show we're talking about Syracuse here.
7:15
So in reality, I think 10 years ago, Syracuse could have absolutely made this type of move.
7:22
He would 100% be on the table for Syracuse to do this.
7:26
This would predate NIL, Syracuse would have all the cachet, all the success, they'd have
7:33
that brand name value.
7:35
And so you could easily argue 10 years ago that TJ Olterberger would be attainable for Syracuse.
7:45
It's been reported that Syracuse's budget this year on their basketball team was around
7:52
It's not bad because that has been considered to be at least according to John Wildhack,
7:56
most likely upper half of the ACC this season.
8:01
So it's not like they're in bad financial shape.
8:03
They're not in bad NIL shape.
8:05
And you got to figure it could be more next year when you have a real high coach,
8:10
But in order to get TJ Olterberger to leave Iowa State and come to Syracuse,
8:16
you're going to have to significantly boost $8 million.
8:20
That is not going to be enough for TJ Olterberger to say, I'm going to leave Iowa State,
8:25
which is already in very good shape and he's already very happy, very happy, I should
8:29
say, and go to Syracuse.
8:31
So overall, look, if Syracuse can pull it off, it would be amazing.
8:37
It would be fantastic.
8:38
We would throw a parade here at Lockdown Syracuse.
8:41
And of course, because it doesn't hurt, Syracuse should absolutely do their due diligence on
8:48
TJ Olterberger, just like they should do their due diligence on some of the retired head coaches
8:53
that we discussed earlier here on Lockdown Syracuse, just like how you need to do your due diligence
8:58
on Josh Shirts on Brian Hodgson, anyone that you could possibly want, anyone that is a possible
9:04
candidate, even if it doesn't seem realistic, you have to do your homework on them because you
9:09
never truly know if you don't do your homework on them.
9:15
But if we're being realistic, if we're being objective, TJ Olterberger is not going to leave
9:23
Iowa State to join Syracuse.
9:26
I wish it were different.
9:27
I wish this was 10 years ago and Syracuse could have made this type of move.
9:31
But right now, I just don't think that Syracuse could come up with the resources, come up with
9:39
a package, pay the buyout, which is relatively affordable at $4 million, and somehow
9:46
pull away TJ Olterberger from actually a happy situation at Iowa State.
9:53
You feel differently? You agree with me? Disagree with me? Comment your thoughts in the comments
9:57
section below. If for whatever reason this does come to be, I think we would all be very happy.
10:04
Now, coming up here on Lockdown Syracuse, we still have three more high major head coaches
10:11
that we have to go over here. Part one of high major head coach candidates.
10:16
Next up is going to be the current head coach at Oklahoma. We'll talk about him next on Lockdown Syracuse.
10:26
College basketball is nonstop. Big games, tight spreads, momentum swings every single night
10:31
from early tip-offs to late-night West Coast shootouts. There's always action on the board.
10:35
And now, Fandall is giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins
10:40
with a college basketball parlay profit boost. You can build any college hoops parlay you want,
10:46
rivalry games, ranked matchups, whatever fits the read, go safe, go bold, ride with the team.
10:53
You've been following all season. It's your parlay, your style, now with more upside behind it.
10:57
Head to fandall.com to get started. That's fandall.com, fandall. Play your game.
11:02
It's tax time, but for a lot of us, the old way of doing taxes is a lot. Trying to book an
11:07
appointment that's not the most convenient, sitting in a waiting room with a stack of papers,
11:12
emailing back and forth and wondering if they really get your situation. But this year,
11:16
you're getting a major upgrade into it, TurboTax. Now, as an in-person
11:20
locations nationwide, you can meet face-to-face with a real tax expert and your documents that
11:25
uploaded straight to your TurboTax app on the spot. And just like that, you're done. Your TurboTax
11:30
expert works to get you every dollar you deserve while you get real-time notifications as you go
11:35
about your day. It's the relief of walking in and meeting a real person and walking out
11:40
knowing your taxes are being handled right. Head to TurboTax.com, slash local, to find a store near
11:45
you and book your appointment. Hey, Lockdown Syracuse fans. If you've been thinking about joining
11:54
the every day or club, now is the time. Again, you can get ad-free shows and access to the
12:00
group chat on Discord. And if you're signed up before the NCAA tournament tips off,
12:05
you can get into our every day or club bracket pool on Discord for a chance to win. Lockdown
12:10
Merch Pack should be a lot of fun. Right now, you can use Toad March to get your first month free.
12:15
You can head to the link in the description below. Lockdown Syracuse, I am Jackson. Holes are part
12:22
one of our high major head coach candidates. We discussed earlier, T.J. Ulzelberger. He would be
12:29
a home run hire for Syracuse, but it is not realistic for Syracuse to actually get T.J. Ulzelberger
12:35
unfortunately. This next head coach, I think, is definitely realistic in terms of if they want him,
12:42
they can certainly get him. The question is, do you actually want him? If you are Syracuse,
12:48
and the coach that I am referring to is Porter Moser, currently the head coach at Oklahoma.
12:55
As it stands right now, his buyout at Oklahoma is approximately $5.8 million. That's actually
13:03
more than T.J. Ulzelberger's buyout at $4 million. But I do think that there is a decent chance that
13:09
Porter Moser is fired by Oklahoma by the end of the season. And that would mean that Oklahoma is
13:15
on the hook for the buyout, so you could potentially get this guy for no buyout whatsoever. You just
13:21
have to pay him normal salary. His resume, he has been the head coach at four different places. He's
13:28
got a career win percentage of $5.49. His most memorable tenure was actually at Loyola Chicago from 2011
13:37
to 2021. If you recall, 2018 was a magical Cinderella year for Loyola Chicago, Sister Jean,
13:45
all that fun stuff. They go all the way to the final four, and he was the MVC coach of the year
13:52
for that season. In 2021, back in the NCAA tournament, and again, Loyola Chicago goes pretty far,
14:00
they go all the way to the sweet 16. Then he was hired by Oklahoma. And unfortunately for Oklahoma,
14:08
Porter Moser has been a pretty big disappointment. Only one tournament appearance as the head coach
14:17
at Oklahoma. And that appearance came last year as a nine seed, and they were knocked out right away
14:24
round of 64, one and done. This year, you look at Oklahoma. It's not like they're a terrible team.
14:30
They are above 500 right now, but they are not even on the bubble to make the NCAA tournament.
14:37
So overall, when I look at Porter Moser, if Syracuse wants him, I do think they could get him.
14:45
It's not like TJ Olsler-Burderwoods. It's going to be extremely difficult. But with Porter Moser,
14:49
I don't think he's a desirable candidate, even though he is a high major at coach,
14:54
even though he does technically have a final four appearance on his resume. Yes, he is an
15:00
improvement on Adrian Entry, which isn't saying much. Yes, he is a better version of Mike Hopkins.
15:06
Again, that is not saying much. It doesn't make him a good head coach. I think Porter Moser honestly
15:14
is better off going the Travis Steel route. Travis Steel was the head coach at Xavier.
15:20
He wasn't awful at Xavier, but he wasn't that good at Xavier. Now he is the head coach at Miami,
15:28
Ohio. Miami, Ohio is undefeated this season, and his stock is all the way back up.
15:36
To the point where I do believe that Travis Steel is going to get a high major head coach job,
15:42
this cycle assuming that he wants it. So at Porter Moser, it's probably best doing that.
15:49
I don't know if there's going to be a school out there, at least a high major school that's
15:53
offering him to be the head coach. So if he wants to be a head coach, probably has to become a mid major
15:58
head coach, which should tell you all you need to know about him, which is for Syracuse,
16:03
doesn't make a lot of sense. In my opinion, no, I would stay away from Porter Moser. Next up,
16:10
Randy Bennett. Randy Bennett is currently the head coach at St. Mary's, and know what you're
16:18
probably saying right now. Well, there's probably a few things that you're saying right now, but one
16:22
of those things that you're probably saying is that Jackson, this is high major head coach candidates,
16:27
Randy Bennett is in the WCC. That is not a high major conference, and you would be correct. However,
16:34
they are not a mid major program. For being honest, they're not. They are a high major program
16:42
that is playing in a mid major conference because St. Mary's and Gonzaga rule the WCC. That is
16:50
their conference. Those two teams are the teams that consistently get to the NCAA tournament.
16:58
So if you're going to sit here and try to tell me that St. Mary's by technicality is a mid major
17:03
program, then what I would tell you is by technicality Gonzaga is a mid major program. And of course,
17:09
you don't believe Gonzaga is a mid major program. So Randy Bennett, he counts as a high major head coach.
17:15
His resume, it's a great resume. He has been the head coach at St. Mary's since 2001. His win
17:21
percentage is 723. So very high. He is a seven time WCC coach of the year. And St. Mary's
17:33
has only bottomed out, which by my definition would be under 500 one time. And that was in his first
17:41
season. He's been to the NCAA tournament 14 times. But he's only been to the sweet 16 one time,
17:56
which I think was in 2010. So overall, Randy Bennett has not left St. Mary's for one obvious
18:05
reason. He is happy at St. Mary's. He probably doesn't want to leave St. Mary's because
18:13
make no mistake. If he ever wanted to leave St. Mary's, he could have very easily gotten a better
18:20
job that would give him more of a chance to win. But could Syracuse hypothetically get Randy Bennett?
18:32
Could they offer him more than what St. Mary's could offer? Maybe? I think it's possible. They could
18:41
probably give him more funding. Maybe they can give him a better chance to win at Syracuse. But
18:47
he's also a West Coast guy. So I don't think he would leave for Syracuse. I think if he wanted
18:54
to leave St. Mary's, he would probably stay on the West Coast. And this isn't necessarily coming
19:00
for me. This is coming from ESPN's Jeff Boresello. He was speculating about Arizona State and the
19:06
fact that Arizona State could become available this offseason. And Randy Bennett would be a natural
19:13
fit there. That's a West Coast team. That's a power conference team. So look, if Syracuse could get
19:21
in a race for Randy Bennett, should he want to leave St. Mary's? By all means, go for it. Again,
19:27
do your homework. Do your due diligence. There's no harm in doing your homework,
19:31
doing your due diligence. Even if at the end of the day, it doesn't work out because Randy Bennett
19:36
is a really good head coach. And I would of course love him to come to Syracuse. Do I think it's
19:41
going to happen? Unfortunately not. Similar to TJ Olsbert. Now coming up here on Lockdown Syracuse,
19:49
we got one more high major head coach to talk about. But this high major head coach is currently not
19:56
coaching, but could he return to coaching next year? We'll talk about it next on Lockdown Syracuse.
20:06
Workplace chaos, deadline stacking up, inbox overflowing, in the one position you have to fill,
20:12
still sitting open. When the pressure is on, you need the right hire. This is a job for sponsor jobs.
20:18
Indeed, sponsor jobs helps you reach the people who actually fit what you're looking for,
20:22
stills experience locations. So you're not just hoping the right candidates stumbles across your
20:26
post. And here's a stat that says it all. And the minute I've been talking to you,
20:29
companies like yours made 27 hires on Indeed, according to Indeed data worldwide.
20:35
So if you're hiring, spend less time searching and more time interviewing candidates who check
20:39
all your boxes with indeed sponsored jobs. Spend less time searching and more time actually
20:44
interviewing candidates who check all your boxes, less stress, less time, more results.
20:48
When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for indeed sponsored jobs.
20:52
And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help get your job.
20:57
The premium status it deserves at indeed.com slash podcast. Just go to indeed.com slash podcast
21:02
right now in support or show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com slash
21:07
podcast terms and conditions apply need to hire. This is a job for indeed sponsored jobs.
21:13
Welcome to the five hour energy flavor draft with 18 different flavors to choose from,
21:18
including new options like confetti craze, fruity rainbow or cotton candy. There is something
21:23
for everyone. The board is set. The flavors are ready. And I've got my number one pick
21:27
for the five hour energy draft. Sorry, I don't make the rules like at the number one pick.
21:31
And I'm going to take cotton candy. No, why? Because I like cotton candy. You can find your new
21:37
favorite flavor of five hour energy shots available online at fivehourenergy.com or Amazon.
21:48
Locked on Syracuse. I'm Jackson Holzer. Again, part one of high major head coach candidates.
21:55
There's one more coach that we have to talk about here on this show to end part one, I guess.
22:04
Kevin Keats. He is currently out of a head coach job. However, he was most recently a head coach
22:14
last season at NC State. His resume from 2014 to 2017. He was at UNC Wilmington.
22:23
He made the NCAA tournament twice in his three years there. He gets the NC State job and he's
22:29
there from 2017 to 2025 at NC State. He made the NCAA tournament three times with five 20 plus
22:37
win seasons and for what it's worth. They could have made the tournament as well in 2020. They
22:43
worked 2012 at the time of the shutdown. So I'm not going to give him a tournament appearance.
22:50
But I'm also not going to say that he didn't make the tournament that year. So we'll kind of count
22:54
2020 as a net neutral for Kevin Keats. But he is most known for the legendary run that he and NC
23:04
State had in 2024. If you recall, NC State was ready to fire Kevin Keats at the end of the
23:13
2024 season. And also, by the way, Syracuse beat NC State twice in the regular season that year.
23:21
They were done with Kevin Keats. It was over. Everyone knew about it. NC State was going to be
23:28
looking for a new head coach. They're in the ACC tournament. They're playing on the absolute
23:36
first day. So they're going to have to win five games in five days in order to make the NCAA
23:40
tournament. And lo and behold, they win five games in five days. They win the ACC tournament.
23:51
They beat Syracuse in the second round. If you remember, knock Syracuse out.
23:56
Not only do they win the ACC tournament in fluke fashion, they carry that momentum into the
24:04
NCAA tournament and they go all the way to the final four. It was a Cinderella run for NC State
24:14
in 2024. What did they have in store for all of us in 2025? Well, there is a reason why Kevin
24:23
Keats is no longer the head coach at NC State because in 2025, they bottomed out. They miss
24:31
the NC, not the NCAA tournament, apologies. They miss the ACC tournament. If you recall,
24:38
last year was the first year in the ACC where they said, you know what, we're not taking every team
24:44
in the conference tournament. We are only taking 15 teams and NC State was one of the bottom three
24:50
teams that was left out of the conference tournament. And so Kevin Keats was promptly let go by NC State.
24:58
So when you look at Kevin Keats' resume, it's not that it is a horrible resume. He has done some
25:05
nice things. He does have the Cinderella appearance to the final four. Good for him, but he is not a
25:11
desirable candidate for Syracuse basketball. I would not be happy if Syracuse hired Kevin Keats
25:17
as its next head coach. In many ways, he reminds me of Porta Moser, who I also would not want
25:24
as the head coach of Syracuse basketball. They both share the fact that they have final four
25:29
appearances on their resume, both achieved in fluke fashion. Porta Moser, Loyola Chicago 2018.
25:37
That was a fluke. NC State final four appearance, 2024. And that was a flu.
25:43
If you actually compare resumes, they have very similar career win percentages as well.
25:51
So both of these guys just wouldn't make a whole lot of sense. Yeah, they're better than what
26:00
you have right now, but you lack the upside with both of these head coach candidates. So with Kevin
26:07
Keats, I wouldn't want him. I just don't think you're getting a big boost in NIL if you hire him
26:14
and I don't think you guarantee much better results. Maybe you get slightly better, but I don't
26:20
think it's enough. I agree with me, disagree with me, comment your thoughts right now in a comment
26:25
section below your thoughts on Kevin Keats as the next head coach of Syracuse basketball.
26:31
So to recap everything now today that we discussed here on Lockdown Syracuse, part one of high
26:37
major head coach candidates. Again, these guys are all coming from ESPN's Jeff Borzello. I am not
26:44
just throwing out these names for the sake of throwing out names. These were legitimate names
26:50
named by a legitimate insider of college basketball. The four people that we talked about as the next
26:57
head coach, potentially T. J. Olsenberger. He would be a home run for Syracuse. Not really that
27:04
realistic. Porter Moser. Meh, he's done some nice things, but I'm not that interested in him.
27:12
Randy Bennett, he would be nice. I don't know if he's a home run, but he would be nice.
27:18
High major head coach, a lot of experience, pretty good results. Could maybe do better with more
27:26
resources, but it's not realistic. If he wants to leave St. Mary's, he's probably going to stay
27:32
on the West Coast. And then he got Kevin Keats. Meh, just not that interested.
27:39
So that's just about does it for part one of high major head coach candidates. We will likely have
27:44
a part two coming out very soon of high major head coach candidates to discuss. We'll go over maybe
27:51
Richard Patino from Xavier, the head coach also at Vanderbilt, maybe as an option.
27:58
Is Will Wade an option? Because he was listed in that article. All that and more
28:05
could possibly be discussed on another edition of locked on Syracuse high major head coach candidates.
28:11
But what I can guarantee you is that tomorrow Syracuse basketball has its final game of the 2025-26
28:19
regular season for 30 PM Eastern. They are at home taking on pit. There will be a full
28:26
post game reaction show. And hey folks, thank you so much for tuning into this edition of locked
28:32
on Syracuse. If you've never missed an episode, the every day or club is built for you. You can get
28:37
locked on Syracuse at free plus members only discord access and more. You can head to the locked on
28:42
Syracuse page in the description below to join the club. You just hit the link that is right there.
28:48
For now folks, thank you all so much for watching. Thank you all so much for listening. If you like
28:52
this podcast, be sure to hit that like button. If you really enjoy the podcast, be sure to hit
28:56
subscribe. Till all your friends, see you all again soon.
29:19
This is the test of the Reese's broadcast system. If you're currently eating Reese's,
29:26
this is just a test. Continue living the dream. If you aren't, oh boy, drop what you're doing. Go.
29:31
Get Reese's now. Do not stay calm. Push people out of the way.
29:35
When you want spring break to feel like
29:39
and a moment away from the kids to feel like
29:43
and your reward status to feel like. Thank you for being a Hilton Honors Gold member.
29:47
Enjoy your daily food and beverage credit. And now that nightcap in the lounge can feel like
29:53
it matters where you stay. With Hilton Honors, earn the most valuable gold status faster
29:58
and unlock benefits at over 9,000 locations worldwide. Hilton, for this day.