2021-22 Hot Seat

A school like High Point, who have invested well in their facilities and department as a whole, have pretty much 7 guaranteed conference wins every season against the underfunded dregs of the Big South. Radford, Campbell, and Longwood - at a push - are their only consistently difficult opponents. The new High Point coach will benefit from this. Brandi did indeed do a good job there, but it'll be an adjustment not having a slew of underfunded, overmatched opponents all over the conference schedule.

 

What kind of dining privilege's does the High Point coach have at the on campus steak house? That alone should create some interest.

 

I've known a lot of kids who would do anything to go play at HP, and not because they were an amazing program but they loved the school. I remember back when Marty was still there, they always seemed to be the first mid-major to finish recruiting classes, done before many peer programs had even really seriously started into the same recruiting class. I think MB has probably found that recruiting at other programs is not nearly as easy as it was there, Brandi will probably find the same. HP should be able to find some folks ready to jump at that job.

 

It has been a long time since I’ve been on that campus but I agree, from what I recall it is pretty darn nice there. Brandi will do a great job in Charlotte though and once again, a mid major school has hired someone much more qualified than UCLA, USC, Arizona and Florida IMHO.

 

They put on quite a show during the visits for sure. Probably the most polished campus tour I attended with my daughter. I do recall saying "this is ridiculous" under my breath on more than one occasion, as the campus is a little over the top. OK, a lot over the top. Distance from home ended up checking them off the list before we got too deep in the process, but I wouldn't have been too disappointed if HPU stayed in the mix longer. Coach Fontaine always said hi when we saw her at showcases after the visit and she seemed like a quality person. Wish her the best in Charlotte.

 

Illinois State hired:

🚨 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗖𝗢𝗔𝗖𝗛 𝗛𝗜𝗥𝗘 🚨

Pleased to welcome 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗮 𝗞𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗴𝗲 as the head coach of Illinois State soccer! 🤩⚽️@marisakresge was an assistant at ISU in 2016 (MVC 🏆, NCAA 2nd Round) before spending five seasons as an assistant at Wisconsin! pic.twitter.com/1mQE1l32mF

— Illinois State Soccer (@Redbird_Soccer) May 23, 2022

 

does anyone have insight on this hire? Good hire??

 

She appears to be a pretty solid hire. She has good playing experience at Mayland & Wisconsin and some solid AC experience at ISU & Wisconsin. Paula Wilkins & Eric Golz both speak highly of her.

As a 2016 college graduate, Kresge is surely young but ISU is a good starting point for an HC position as a young coach. Also, with Loyola heading to the A10, the conference is pretty winnable. With ISU being in Normal, Illinois, there is a pretty good pool of talent to recruit from in and around Chicagoland. She should do reasonably well.

 

Marisa is awesome and good for her. But she's never been a head coach and was the 2nd asst, or 3rd in command at Wisconsin.

The profession is so peculiar. Would anyone want someone leading your heart surgery or even fixing the brakes on your car who had never done it before? Who had only been the assistant? What about when it's your kid's college soccer experience that is at stake? It's nice to talk about giving young coaches a chance until it's your kids coach. I guess for some of your own kids, the 2nd assistant for a .500 team in the Big10, who is a 2016 college graduate, is good enough. I mean they gotta start somewhere right?

Totally, IMHO, I like the Florida hire better than many of you, better than this one. A proven head coach at a lower level is better than some pedigree, or experience at a higher level.
There are several head coaches on the list that's about to be updated who have never actually put a scholarship dollar figure offer out there for a player and never had to close the deal, or actually secure a commitment, from a player. and that could be the most important part of the job.
Just sayin...

 

You answered your own question. They do have to start somewhere. All HCs were ACs before they were HCs. Also, consider the conference. The MVC probably ranks between 18-20 in terms of strength. It is not in the upper tier of mid-majors. Additionally, with Loyola going to the A-10, it is even less strong. It really is not as big of a jump as you're making it out to be.

And since you're being a bit dramatic with your heart surgery example, it's not heart surgery. But since you're bringing in an example from the medical field, we do have a saying in the medical field that primarily applies to teaching hospitals...

Learn one (procedure), do one, teach one

Perhaps you're right and Kresge is in over her head but I don't see it.

 

I like that cliche about the medical procedure, but yes, it is 'just sports' and just women's soccer.
Marisa could do awesome at ISU, it's just more of a gamble than Florida or say, UNCC made with their hires - going for leadership that's just moving up a level, or two... I've just seen soooo many assistant coaches, many with good gigs who worked with good head coaches, blow shi* up.

To be clear, I'm not necessarily knocking giving asst coaches a chance at becoming a head coach, I just want it to happen at the other schools in my conference, not at mine!

 

The fact that people are comparing the UF hire with Charlotte or Illinois St is all you need to know. UF is a top tier job in the country. They should be comparing the hire to FSU and UGA. FSU just hired a SEC winning coach. A coach who has been the coach of the year in the ACC and the SEC. A coach who has recruited and coached at the highest level. A Coach who has been the D1 National Coach of the Year.

UGA hired a coach who has won a D1 National Championship. Florida should not be hiring avg D2 coaches for any sport. Even Iowa and Mich St (not even close to the jobs that UF is) hired D2 coached with multiple National Championships.

 

Agreed. I also don’t think the Illinois State hire is based on merit but rather gender. Had the new Florida hire been the new coach at Illinois state I could have seen that as a good hire; a coach that had done well at the Division II level moving up to a Division I program that has had some years of very good success at the mid major level. A school such as Florida should be hiring coaches with a proven ability to win championships.

 

I don’t disagree with much of your point but it seems people are forgetting that Florida will have to pay Amato for the next 5 years on top of the new hire. I would guess they went really cheap with this hire so with those things considered I think it’s a hire that makes sense. Wish they would do more, but unfortunately this seems to be the trend for many schools as of late. This isn’t just for Women’s soccer. Cheap hires are everywhere in Olympic sports.

 

It’s a good hire. She’s been in the region for years. ISU has a solid recruiting base, one of which she’s been part of. This is not about gender but someone who could bring stability for a shaky program which have had numerous of transfers. She’s highly licensed, experienced in the recruiting region and a strong region with SLSG Eclipse and Hawks. And she’s a good recruiter. This is a solid hire. If you want to make this about gender… she’s played in the B10, coached in the MVC who went to the 2nd round during her time there as an assistant and coached in the B10 under an amazing head coach as her mentor. This is a great step in her career and a solid move on her part and ISU. For those who aren’t women competing in D1 soccer, the presence and playing experience from a D1 player holds a lot of weight in the recruiting process for young teenage girls making the biggest decision of their lives at the time playing for a coach who has gone though the process each PSA is going through. I’m excited to see how she does in a winnable conference. Solid hire.

 

I would argue it is about gender, again. Jim S (I’m not going to even attempt to spell his last name lol) at Purdue went after that job and didn’t get a call. Same with Blair Quinn at Iowa. On paper both of these coaches have far superior resumes so how they didn’t get a call is really for only one reason. I don’t know if this is a strong hire or not but I know that when resumes are reviewed these two have great experience and success so for them not to even get a call stinks of excluding guys from the position.

 

Last night the Western Michigan University head coach told team he was leaving for an assistant job at U of M

 

Confirmed. Heard about this a few days ago. Have never been a fan of his.

 

WMU has been a mess since Lauren left. Crazy they can't find someone that can last.

 

W

Western has been a mess since Suzie left. No consistency at all.

 

Boateng isn’t known for being the most dialed in coach or diligent recruiter so I’m not shocked the program didn’t get back to the level it was at several years back

 

Agreed. So you’re saying it’s a great get for UM