It was only the second question of the night that drew the sarcasm out of Jim Boeheim. As media flooded the postgame pressroom, the Syracuse head coach could barely contain himself when he heard the question.

‘What about your job status, coach?’

The first part of his response was a booming cackle, as if he couldn’t believe that was even a thought. The second part was the explanation for that laugh.

‘Can I tell you something?’ Boeheim said. ‘I’ve not worried about my job status in 36 years. Many years I didn’t have a contract extension. I didn’t have anything. When I worry about that, I may have to get a job with you guys.’

Boeheim has received support in the last two days since former Syracuse associate head coach Bernie Fine was fired Sunday in the wake of allegations that Fine molested three boys during his time as an Orange coach. But although he garnered support from Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor and the SU fans Tuesday, Boeheim left the door open to take heat and potentially put that job status on the line should the allegations against Fine be proven true.

‘Ultimately, the head coach is responsible for everything,’ Boeheim said. ‘Everything that I can control, I hold myself responsible for.’

Orange fans also made it clear Tuesday before SU’s 84-48 win over Eastern Michigan in the Carrier Dome that they supported Boeheim, Syracuse’s head coach for the last 36 years. When he made his way through the tunnel to the team bench just before opening tip, the crowd rose to its feet for a standing ovation as he stepped onto the court that is named after him. And the fans gave him another boisterous ovation when his name was called during the pregame announcement of starting lineups.

‘I think the fans are always going to stay behind coach Boeheim,’ sophomore Fab Melo said. ‘He’s been here for 36 years. Everybody loves him.’

Melo and some of the other Orange players seemed to expect that type of reaction from the Carrier Dome crowd of 19,649. Brandon Triche said that because Boeheim has been with the program for so long, it’d be hard for fans not to support him. James Southerland added that the SU fans ‘will always have your back no matter what.’

Kris Joseph also voiced his own support for his head coach when asked if it bothered him when people talked badly about Boeheim and the university.

‘I haven’t heard anything, but I’ll back my coach,’ Joseph said. ‘Coach Boeheim is a great coach. He’s a great person. I’m going to stick by him. I haven’t heard anything, but if I did, I would definitely stick up for him just because I know he would do that for us.’

But though Cantor, Syracuse fans and his players showed their support for the head coach Tuesday, Boeheim may have put himself in a dangerous position should more evidence corroborating the allegations against Fine come out.

He made sure to emphasize that the investigation was still ongoing and that nothing had been proven in the current investigation or any of the previous investigations over the last 10 years.

But he also repeatedly used the phrase ‘what happened on my watch’ in reference to the allegations.

‘What happened on my watch?’ Boeheim said. ‘We will see. When the investigation is done, we will find out what happened on my watch. We don’t know what’s happened on my watch right now. There’s an investigation underway. There are no charges, there are no indictments, there is no grand jury, there is no action being taken. When that is done, then we will see what happened on my watch.’

Boeheim also said though many people view him as the face of Syracuse basketball and the ultimate representation of the university, the basketball program will be fine without him.

Whenever that day may come.

‘If I was gone today, this program would be fine,’ he said. ‘This program would do great. Ten years from now, this program will do great. This is not Jim Boeheim. This is Syracuse University. This is the Syracuse University basketball program. It is not about me. It has never been about me.’

zjbrown@syr.edu

Published on November 29, 2011 at 12:00 pm