Can't wait. AWK rating Huerta as number 1 forward in this class. Really looking forward to her senior season.
I hear that the rumors of Jerry Smith going to Notre Dame seem to be wiped out with SCU giving him a new long term contract. Santa Clara has posted a news item announcing one new incoming player, Kellie Peay: www.santaclarabroncos.com/sports/w-soccer/2013-14/releases/20140210c21uob I guess they will announce the new players one at a time. There should be three more Arghandiwal, Keeth and Uhl. Also note that there are several current freshmen that red shirted this past season so I expect there will be about nine or ten in the 2014 freshman category.
It definitely looks like SCUis announcing the new incoming class one player at a time. The second is Morgan Keeth: www.santaclarabroncos.com/sports/w-soccer/2013-14/releases/2014021rmcoxy There should be two more, Arghandiwal and Uhl.
SC U signs Jerry Smith for 7 moe years and announces the 'Jerry Smith Academy for Life' : www.santaclarabroncos.com/sports/w-soccer/2013-14/releases/20140211cy8hmd
And here is the announcement of Hailai Arghandiwal: www.santaclarabroncos.com/sports/w-soccer/2013-14/releases/20140210id0dwy For some reason they omit the fact that she has played a couple games with the Afgan WNT.
Jenna Holts is a new recruit that I was not aware of: www.santaclarabroncos.com/sports/w-soccer/2013-14/releases/201402107v3lyr
"I want to be clear that Notre Dame did not put a contract in front of me. I also want to be clear that they would have." Jerry, Jerry, Jerrrrry. This is just so unseemly. Why even say this?
Because he is a very insecure man that sees his meager legacy slipping further into oblivion and he realizes he will be destined to be a poor second in the Bay Area until the end of time. Really tacky and atrocious form. Would not be surprised if ND goes public with their side of this as they don't take kindly to this type of public grandstanding.
The quote where Smith says he was definitely Notre Dame's #1 choice is breathtakingly arrogant. And Cliveworshipper accuses ND of arrogance--so ironic. I'm no longer convinced that Mr. Smith is the man of high character I thought he was. Essentially he has contaminated ND's search by making it clear that anyone ND now offers the job was an afterthought. I've observed a lot of coaching searches, primarily in the college football ranks, and have never seen such a self-serving post-mortem from the candidate who declined the offer.
Like I said on the other thread. And I want to be careful not to go on another team's thread and to be overly critical of one of their own. But in this case IMO, Jerry Smith wasted Notre Dame's time but what really burns me is he wasted the kids at Notre Dame's time who are anxiously waiting for a new coach. By saying that he never wanted to leave SCU and reading that article, it appears that he used UND as leverage to get a better deal at SCU. What else can you deduct from this? I understand that many coaches do that. But after reading this article/interview and the way it is worded it makes him look openly and mockingly arrogant about it and in people's opinions here. Good luck to Santa Clara. Good luck to Jerry. I've been a SCU style of soccer fan for a long time. But now I'm tempted to say I hope Notre Dame doesn't schedule Santa Clara for a long time. Maybe for 10 years.
Wait a sec! I thought Amanda Cromwell was Notre Dame's #1 choice. Could Jerry Smith be embellishing things a tad?
The thing that is obvious, to me at least, is that this is a substandard recruiting class. Which, when you graduate 9 seniors, isn't what you need.
This is done in most professions. If you work in a given industry, say tech for example, it's common for an engineer to interview elsewhere, get an offer, present the fact that you have received the offer to your current employer, and give them the chance to match or exceed it. You might try to pull the heartstrings a bit by saying, "But what about the kids?" I don't think that's a relevant argument. Furthermore, an institution with a fine history like Notre Dame should be interviewing multiple candidates anyway. If they aren't, they're the ones being irresponsible. No deal is done until it's signed, sealed, and delivered.
Right -nobody should be arguing that this isn't a standard practice. You don't, however, run to the media and announce I was "clearly the number 1 choice" (BTW if you are having to use "clearly" you are already in trouble) and "I could have had a contract offer if I had wanted one." This guy has some serious issues and I suspect there are going to be longstanding repercussions against him for this. He better never want to leave SCU ever as folks are not going to deal with him in an interview setting after this. He's done nothing from a coaching perspective in the past decade and I suspect that trend will continue. He can enjoy his Jerry a Smith Academy for mediocrity all the while announcing " I was clearly their number 1 choice." Even his own school was embarrassed by his juvenile comments and scrubbed the formal announcement clean. I suspect we will be hearing something from Notre Dame about it when the time is right
The time for Notre Dame's response may be when it's next up for Notre Dame and Santa Clara to be talking about scheduling further games with each other. Some already may be set, so I'm wondering about games that aren't set yet.
Far be it from me to be Jerry Smith's advocate. I am neither a fan nor a supporter of him or SCU but he is a heck of a coach. He doesn't nail down top recruiting classes every year, yet his teams are highly competitive. I've seen enough SCU games over the past decade to know the guy knows what he's doing. In addition, if he's such a bad, mediocre coach, why did Notre Dame, a college with multiple national championships, want him so badly?
Through all that's been said here and on other threads, I'm sure that Santa Clara and Notre Dame, two fine Catholic schools have a relationship that goes way above and beyond women's soccer. I'm not a Catholic myself but I'm sure there is a Catholic hierarchy or Catholic Bishops that will not allow these two universities to have a bad relationship in sports. Life goes on.
Well, even the games that are set aren't set in stone. When Notre Dame joined the ACC they unilaterally cancelled the return match with UP. That's how UP - Stanford got scheduled at a replacement this last year.
Oh, get real. He has 400 wins and a 7 year contract extension. What possible longstanding repercussions could there be?
One thing I notice from this class is the recruiting of some actual defenders, not converted forwards. It gives me hope that there is a good plan in the works.
Making it to the round of sixteen (and leaving with a tie against a top 3 team) is not exactly "nothing". I suspect there are coaches out there who would saw off their own left arms for that level of "mediocrity". I don't even know the guy, but seeing him around for the past few years I get the impression that he handles himself professionally most of the time. Friends of ours who know him well say that he is a great guy. My own thought on the matter is that the comments were meant to make SC look like they made a great move. Besides, when I compare his comments to the ones Dorrance made about Stanford a few years ago, I feel I can give Smith a pass. Remember Dorrance scoffing at the Stanford sculpture garden? Now THAT was unbelievable...