Syracuse has new chancellor; new athletics director coming in next week, report says

Syracuse University announced a new chancellor on Tuesday morning, and a new athletics director could be coming soon as well, a report says.

On Tuesday, SU's board of trustees announced that J. Michael Haynie will serve as the university's 13th chancellor, replacing Kent Syverud, who is leaving the Hill to become the next president at the University of Michigan.

Haynie's new role at SU will commence on July 1, the university said in a press release. Currently, he is Syracuse University's vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation, and the executive dean of SU's Martin J. Whitman School of Management.

A former U.S. Air Force officer, Haynie has been a part of the SU community for more than two decades, and he has served as a member of the university's senior leadership team for more than 10 years.

“Few people have demonstrated a deeper commitment to Syracuse University than Mike Haynie, and he is exceptionally well-positioned to carry it forward with the dedication and vision this moment demands,” Jeff Scruggs, chairman of SU's board of trustees, said in the prepared statement.

Next up is hiring a Syracuse Orange athletics director.

Now that a new chancellor is in place, the next key task for SU is to formally hire a new athletics director, as current AD John Wildhack is retiring on July 1 after roughly 10 years in that position. Syverud said last week that the process for finding the next athletics director should move "quickly."

To that end, on Monday, Matt Norlander of CBS Sports said in an article that he's being told the hiring of a new Syracuse Orange athletics director will "be determined before March 10."

That's highly encouraging, for numerous reasons. The main one is that the future of the Syracuse men's basketball staff, including head coach Adrian Autry, is extremely uncertain. Based on comments from national reporters and other observers, Autry will likely be out after the 2025-26 season wraps up.

The ACC Tournament in Charlotte, N.C., runs from March 10 to March 14. Assuming the Orange doesn't win the event to get to March Madness, a decision on Autry's future could soon be made after the ACC Tournament culminates, and a new athletics director in place would be instrumental in that decision and also who to bring in as the next Syracuse men's basketball head coach (and staff).

Wildhack has said that he's planning to make any decisions on Autry's future, but let's be real. Even if that is the case, Wildhack should not be hiring the program's next head coach. Time is of the essence, as the 15-day transfer portal window in men's college hoops will be open from April 7 to April 21.

Some of the names being floated around as possible candidates for the Syracuse Orange athletics director role include Dr. Andrew Goodrich, the athletics director at Akron; Heather Lyke, special advisor to the chancellor and athletics director at SU; John Cunningham, the athletics director at Cincinnati; and Nick Carparelli, the executive director of Coca-Cola Bowl Season, among others.

On Monday, The Daily Orange published a piece on Lyke that I'd recommend Syracuse Orange fans carve out time to read.