Wow, didn't see that coming for under qualified hire if true. This dude has literally no experience at D1, ever. And only like 3 years as head coach in college where he led D3 program to NCAA tourney once, then got promoted to D2 for a whopping 11 months where he led the team to the most losses and 3 years combined, (granted the previous coach there did amazing, like 37-5-3 record in his three years turning that program around to NCAA tourney team regularly.) So Brophy steps up to the plate at D2 level, and they miss the NCAA tourney for first time in 3 years. Is that a good summary? I don't know him, just thinking he literally has never coached D1, has very very little recruiting experience for any college team unless you consider treasure valley CC in Idaho as an assistant coach for two years. (side note, the staff at TVCC got let go in 2015 for playing illegal players). Now he's jumping in to replace a coach that led them to the NCAA tourney in the last few years. I'm sure he'll do great. But being equal for criticism for inexperienced hires, this one would be right up there for top 5 this hiring cycle I would think. I'm putting the horse in front of the carriage though, he hasn't even been hired/ announced yet. So we'll see if it is indeed true. If it is, wishing him the best at the D1 level.
I know Ian pretty well and have heard which jobs he has put in for at times. Haven’t heard of this one but if true then wow. Nice guy.
Davidson is going with a good young female Asso HC. She did well and is an extremely hard worker. Best of luck to her she will do well
Always nice when folks on here say they know something but don't say that something! You have a name or not? You know this is an anonymous forum right? Why not give it to Gill? She's been there like 5 years. My understanding is Davidson is really under resourced compared to its peers in the A10. So the new coach having to be a "hard worker" is a requirement. Their commitment to WS is a big reason Denton left a 13-win A10 program to coach at 3-win Richmond.
Gill wanted the job but admin made it clear that they were going in a different direction. That’s why she went to Richmond with Adam. Davidson isn’t as under funded as people think . Top facilities and academics and excellent financial packages for good students and minorities. They also did a good job of targeting recruits for whom money is no object.
Denton left, in his words, due to family related concerns in large part. That is what he told the team anyway. Team resources may have pushed it along however. It should be of no surprise that small mid-majors like Davidson are resource constrained. When it became clear that Gill wasn't going to be promoted to HC, she left and joined Denton in Richmond. I am sure justdoit is withholding the name out of courtesy to those involved.
Jessica Nei was someone that Davidson were very interested in. Would be great for Jess if she is the new coach there.
Nei was one of those coaches that you could always expect to see on the sideline recruiting no matter the event, and I always heard good things from families I know with kids playing at Toledo when she was there. I wonder if she is in the mix of any other Midwest openings??
Riley Piechnick is the new head coach at Davidson. Piechnick Named Davidson Women's Soccer Head Coach - Davidson College Athletics (davidsonwildcats.com)
Is hiring Piechnick really "going in a different direction" for Davidson?? Always feel bad for Asst Coaches - so many think they have a chance at the head coach position, that loyalty and continuity may mean something - and then get tossed along with the head coach. Clearly, sometimes different direction really means "we want to start over and that's not with you". ps - that MD club they mention in the Davidson release is like County rec level- can't believe they mention it. Coaches who have any family often say "they want to spend more time with family". Then they take a job that requires them to move that family and start over!
OPEN: Alabama A&M (12/2) Indiana State (12/2) Eastern Illinois (12/16) Northwestern State (1/4) Alcorn State (1/10) Prairie View A&M (2/?) FILLED: Delaware - Kelly Lawrence (Penn State assistant; 10/24-11/14) Tulsa - Jim Rhein (Tulsa interim for 2 years!) Nevada - Vanessa Valentine (Cal assistant;11/7-11/22) South Carolina State - Liz-Amanda Brown (interim; 9/24-12/6) Chicago State - Aulani Fernandez (interim; 7/1-12/6) Cincinnati - Erica Demers (UAB head; 11/14-12/7) Northern Arizona - Alan Berrios (NAU associate head; 10/7 - admin leave; 11/18-12/7) UTEP - Gibbs Keeton (Texas Tech associate head; 11/1-12/7) Jacksonville State - Sean Fraser (Louisiana Monroe head; 10/24-12/7) UMBC - Rick Stainton (Georgetown assistant; 10/17-12/14) Richmond - Adam Denton (Davidson head; 10/27-12/15) Dartmouth - Taylor Schram (Boston College assistant; 11/6-12/15) Toledo - Mark Batman (Ohio Northern head - 10/28-12/19) Coastal Carolina - Jo Chubb (Arizona State assistant; 10/28-12/20) Incarnate Word - Jake Plant (Eastern Illinois head; 8/1-12/20) Abilene Christian - Stephen Salas (Hardin-Simmons associate head; 10/31-12/20) Belmont - Kelsey Fenix (Trevecca Nazarene head; 11/11-12/22) Troy - Stuart Gore (Northwestern State head; 10/31-1/4) St. Bonaventure - Donny George (Niagara assistant; 11/1-1/5) Louisiana Monroe - Will Roberts (ULM Assistant, 11/22- 1/12) MVSU - Kayleigh Lambrechts (John Melvin head; 12/15-1-13) Marist - Nicole Pacapelli (Binghamton assistant; 12/2-1/17) UAB - Lisa Mann (West Virginia State head; 12/7-1/18) Davidson - Riley Piechnick (Bucknell associate head; 12/15-2/9)
Dumb hire at Davidson. Will never understand why a successful program will not hire up their associate head coach to keep the train going. They know the system, they recruited heavily, and understand the admissions process. Why reset with a new coach? Let alone one who has meh qualifications to Meg. shit admin.
The resident stats man has yet to weigh in here on how many HC hires come from within, and your mileage may vary, but I think it's pretty clear from this years hires, and from reasonable considerations, that inertia is not the #1 criteria for HC hires whether the program has been successful or not. Even experience does not appear to prevail over "softer" considerations like fit, motivation, integrity, grit, assertiveness, and even (in the case of an assistant already on staff) the relationship with the team. The list goes on of course. There is so much under the surface that we don't know. It's fun for us to rate these hires, but if you're not on the inside, its really just entertainment.
Bit harsh considering you don't know him, isn't it? Maybe he interviewed really well and those with better on-paper backgrounds didn't. Maybe his references all reached out and gushed about him, and those with better on-paper backgrounds didn't have that. Who knows? Also, I think people drastically underestimate the number of qualified applicants for some of these HC roles in middle-of-nowhere Louisiana, or Mississippi, or Alabama, etc.
Davidson hire---I was told by one of the Administration there that all the assistants were leaving (their choice). Also to whomever said Davidson is well funded, they have 2.5 scholarships--there are some ways to spin that but that is not well funded!
Certainly hope that new young coach was smart enough to know that scholarship budget number at Davidson before she signed anything! and yes - every decent private is discounting tuition as dramatically as ever for smart kids these days. That still doesn't mean it's easy to compete in the A-10 without athletic money. 2.5 is less than a lot of d2s!
@Footyballs Very confusing first sentence there, but I get the idea. I guess I'm glad to see that your bashing of "underqualified" new hires isn't gender based... I get that you have a checklist of qualifications in your own mind, but you have to admit that these "underqualified" candidates keep getting hired, so your checklist might be different than the ADs that do this for a living. Also, nice effort at putting words in my mouth, but maybe go back and read what I actually wrote.