Syracuse Next Head Coach Odds: Top Candidates to Replace Adrian Autry

By Christopher Boan

Mar 17th, 2026 2:00 PM EDT

(USATODAY)

Last Updated: March 17, 2026 — Josh Schertz officially off the board after signing a Saint Louis extension. Hodgson and McNamara emerge as frontrunners.

As the madness of March rolls on at US betting apps, a team that’s been a tournament mainstay is officially on the market for a new head coach. That’s because the Syracuse Orange fired men’s basketball head coach Adrian Autry, ending his three-year tenure.

Autry went 49-48 overall and failed to reach the NCAA Tournament in any of his three seasons, extending the program’s drought to five consecutive years — the longest since the early 1970s. The Orange finished 2025-26 at 15-17 (6-12 ACC) and lost their final six games, capped by an 86-69 first-round ACC Tournament loss to SMU.

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Why Is Syracuse Moving On Now?

Autry succeeded Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim, who coached Syracuse for 47 years. The succession plan has now officially failed, and the program is at a crossroads. Outgoing AD John Wildhack made the firing and has already begun candidate outreach, but the incoming (yet-to-be-named) athletic director will lead the actual hire.

Perhaps the greatest challenge that faced Autry (besides replacing a legendary head coach) was the fact that the former Syracuse star guard had zero prior NCAA head coaching experience.

That’s because Autry’s background before taking over the head coaching role at his alma mater was serving as an assistant coach at Virginia Tech (from 2010 to 2011) and with the Orange from 2011 through 2023, potentially setting him up to fail as he had no experience running the show himself.

That weight is especially heavy when you’re tasked with replacing a man who coached Syracuse for 47 seasons, winning the program’s lone national title in 2003 and reaching six Final Fours during that stretch, making Autry’s paltry 49-48 record with zero NCAA Tournament appearances all the more cumbersome for school leadership.

With that in mind, the team at kobe.bookies.com compiled hypothetical odds for the Syracuse head coaching search 2026, with one of the program’s most accomplished guards leading the way out of the gate. You won't find these odds on college basketball betting sites, as these were provided by Bookies' in-house experts.

Who Replaces Adrian Autry At Syracuse? A Look At The Candidates 

Gerry McNamara (Siena head coach): +175 

The man whose jersey is hanging in the JMA Wireless Dome rafters has done good work in his first stop as an NCAA head coach, leading neighboring Siena to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010, thanks to knocking off Merrimack in the MAAC Championship Game on Tuesday night, 64-54. McNamara’s connection to Syracuse is about as deep as it gets, as the former guard for the Orange’s 2003 title team started all 145 of his games with the team, with CBS Sports confirming that the 42-year-old has already been contacted by the school’s leadership team. McNamara represents the ultimate cultural fit for the Syracuse job, as a man who thrived on the Hill before leading Siena to 37 wins across two seasons, including this year’s 23-11 campaign that’ll roll on into March Madness.  

Bryan Hodgson (South Florida head coach): +200 

If Syracuse is looking to land a head coach with deep ties to the Empire State and surrounding areas, then current South Florida and former Arkansas State head coach Bryan Hodgson could be a good fit. Hodgson is from Olean, New York and has experience as an assistant with Buffalo (from 2015 to 2019), while he’s proven to be a winner, winning the American Athletic Conference crown in his first season with the Bulls. He’s proven to be an elite recruiter and hails from the Nate Oats coaching tree, meaning he’d likely succeed at getting NBA level talent with the Orange. Hodgson will likely be a hot ticket this offseason as a modern-era program builder, making him a smart choice to keep in mind this offseason for the Orange.  

Joe Gallo (Merrimack head coach): +600 

Few coaches have done more with less than Gallo, who has led the Merrimack Warriors since 2016, helping the program transition from Division II to the upper echelon of the sport while leading the program to a 23-11 record this season. While the Warriors ultimately came up short in the MAAC title game (falling to McNamara’s Siena squad), his ascendance with the Warriors has helped him make a name as a rising mid-major candidate, with a real shot at being the dark horse cultural reset hire for the Orange this offseason.  

Kimani Young (UConn associate head coach): +600 

Young, like Murray, is a well-traveled man, having played collegiately at UTEP form 1993 to 1997, before assistant coaching stints at FIU (from 2011 to 2013), Minnesota (from 2013 to 2018) and UConn (from 2018 to now). Throw in a two-year stint as St. John’s video coordinator and you have Young’s full coaching résumé, as the Queens native looks for his first NCAA head coaching job in 2026. Based on his success under Dan Hurley in Storrs, that opportunity could come knocking sooner rather than later, with Syracuse being a natural landing spot for the longtime assistant coach from the Empire State.  

Luke Murray (UConn assistant coach): +1000 

Murray (the son of comedian Bill Murray) has paid his dues as an NCAA assistant, coaching alongside Danny Hurley in Storrs since 2021 and helping guide the Huskies to consecutive titles in 2023 and 2024, after working at Louisville (from 2018 to 2021), Xavier (from 2015 to 2018), Rhode Island (from 2013 to 2015), Towson (2011 to 2013), Wagner (from 2010 to 2011) and Arizona (from 2009 to 2010). His championship pedigree should help Murray overcome his lack of head coaching experience, potentially opening the door for his first opportunity with the Orange in 2026.  

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Syracuse Basketball Coaching Search 2026

While the five men named above likely have the best shot at replacing Autry, other names to keep an eye on include former Washington head coach and Syracuse head coach-in-waiting Mike Hopkins (+1200), Yale head coach James Jones (+1400), Colgate head coach Matt Langel (+1600) and George Mason head coach Tony Skinn (+1800).  

Hopkins is the former Syracuse head coach-in-waiting that ultimately decided to not wait for his longtime boss to retire, moving on to get his first NCAA head coaching role with the Washington Huskies in 2017. While Hopkins’ time in Seattle wasn’t pretty, it did start well, earning the Pac-12’s Coach of the Year award in each of his first two seasons with the Huskies (and a Pac-12 regular season crown in 2018-19), before his time in the Emerald City ultimately petered out, with UW going 70-84 between 2019-20 and his final season in 2023-24.  

Still, Hopkins is about as connected a candidate as Syracuse will find, having played for Boeheim from 1989 to 1993 before serving as an assistant under him for 22 and earning that head coach-designate role in 2015. If Syracuse wants a prodigal son hire this go-round, McNamara and Hopkins serve as the closest the program will come to finding it.   

Jones has been a star on the bench for the Bulldogs, leading Yale to the NCAA Tournament five times since he took over in 1999 while going 442-325 (.576) at one of the toughest academic programs in the country, illustrating his unique player development skills.  

Langel has been at Colgate since 2011, reaching the NCAA Tournament five times, including four years in a row from 2021 to 2024, with a 259-218 (.543) record at the Patriot League program. Prior to that, Langel served as an assistant with Temple from 2006 to 2011 and at Penn from 2004 to 2006, giving him some serious recruiting chops in the greater New York area, which could help him get the Syracuse job if Orange brass are looking for a fresh face in 2026.  

Skinn is the 2024-25 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year at the school he led to an improbable Final Four run in 2006 (George Mason), going 70-30 across three seasons in Fairfax, including this year’s 23-9 run. Skinn’s strong recruiting ties in the ‘DMV’ (District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia) area could make him an intriguing candidate this offseason, though we’re giving him longshot odds of replacing Autry for now. 

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