He's officially coming home.
For a little while now, the expectation has been that Syracuse legend Gerry McNamara would return to campus to take over for his alma mater. After the season he just had with Siena, he only strengthened his case to get the job.
While the Gerry McNamara hire is more of the same, major changes are coming at Syracuse
On Sunday, news broke via Pete Thamel that McNamara indeed is going to be taking over for Adrian Autry, who was fired from his role earlier in the month. Plenty of people are fired up about this move and the list includes fellow Syracuse great Eric Devendorf. Yup, this was a decision he also saw coming before it was announced.
Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh 🍊🍊🍊🍊
— Eric Devendorf (@ED23HOOPS) March 22, 2026
Gerry McNamara hired by Syracuse has former players jacked up for the news
Before this latest announcement was made, Devendorf was asked by reporter Samantha Croston on why he believed GMac would be the right man for the job. As you'll be able to see below, Devendorf didn't hesitate with his response, as he's a big-time believer in him.
"I just think what he's done at Siena is incredible," Devendorf said. "i think he's proven himself against the best team in the country, the No. 1 overall seed. Not just the No. 1 seed, the No. 1 overall seed of the whole tournament and he got his guys, despite the discrepancy in talent level, to compete at the highest level - and that says a lot. Like, whatever he's selling, they're buying."
Eric Devendorf and Mookie Jones say they believe GMAC is the right hire for the SU job:
— Samantha Croston (@SamCroston1) March 21, 2026
"I think he's proven himself against the No. 1 team in the country. He got his guys, despite the discrepancy in talent level, to compete at the highest level. And that says a lot." pic.twitter.com/oECNyawcPT
Those words from Devendorf should have fans ecstatic with the move. The hope was that maybe Bryan Hodgson would agree to take the job, but he ended up signing a big contract with Providence instead. Once that happened, it felt like GMac was going to be the top target for new AD Bryan Blair.
There are some fans out there who were hoping to move on from the Jim Boeheim coaching tree, while others are loving that the Orange have 'kept things in the family' here. The pressure is on for McNamara to silence the doubters now that he's taking this next step, but it's clear that Devendorf is fully in his corner.