St. Thomas coach has had three recruiting years at D1 and three losing seasons in a conference that shouldn’t be too difficult to dominate. If she wants to keep her job, she will need to stop relying on local talent - upwards of 70% of her roster is from MN. She probably thought national talent would come to her. Everyone has to work for a good talent pool. So, she better get to work, and fast!
A ‘hot seat’ is an indicator for transition. Your definition is unnecessarily narrow. If you don’t think it’s a discussion point, don’t participate in the discussion. But I bet a lot of folks on this blog will be very interested in the possibilities for replacement.
3 three years starting with covid…where she had to put together a new recruiting class virtually. Would you want your first ever D1 recruiting class for a program to be virtual?
The covid excuse is just crap and I hate when folks use it. EVERYONE was affected by covid at about the same time in about the same ways. I know nothing about this situation but she was already coaching there so knows the school well and knows the challenge she accepted transitioning to D1. If no one else has taken off competitively at that (or any) school new to D1, why would they single out the women's soccer coach to move on?? I would think if anyone has some slack in terms of their won-loss record, it would be a school new to D1....in Minnesota....at a school nearly no one has heard of. You don't get access to the post-season for 4 years when transitioning to D1, when the school fully completes the application process. There are good reasons for that and expectations are usually pretty reasonable until that year 4 or 5 when a full D1 roster is competing. The discussion about this one seems silly.
Everything you say makes sense, doesn’t change the fact that their admin have told coaches if there isn’t signs of being competitive (high level freshman) they will be making changes as contracts expire. Maybe admin wrong but bringing up factual philosophy from their school isn’t silly. Also their school isn’t used to losing. Fair or not the seat is definitely warm and probably hot. And it’s silly for you to make this comment because almost every school that has made this transition in the past the d2 coach didn’t make it to the fully live d1 years. but I agree if she doesn’t get at least 1 season after they are fully live the admin sucks.
I heard this from a former member of the coaching staff at FGCU 3 years ago that he was hinting at retirement, but he didn't give a timeline. Aren't we all hinting at retirement at some point? It is hard to say when that will happen and he will go out on his terms.
I have direct experience with such a transition and their teams are not even evaluated for post-season consideration. Some conferences don't even let such transitioning teams into their conference post-season (i.e. the NEC right now). All I'm saying it that is seems silly to evaluate a coach when post-season access is not even available and they don't have a full roster of scholarship players?? St. Thomas came from d3 with Zero scholarship players right? In my experience, more coaches in non-revenue sports leave on their own during these transitions then are forced out. More travel, more rules, more training, and yes more pressure with a scholarship budget. Lots of players will also leave on their own as they realize no post-season for 4 years. Usually the basketball and football coaches are under super pressure as they are the key to the D1 revenue that is anticipated, and maybe hockey in Minn! The St. Thomas coach could have been prepared for the change and be awesome or could be the opposite but it is a really unique situation.
No. Putting people on this farcical "hot seat" is ridiculous. The witch hunt for peoples' jobs is absurd. Especially when 90% or more of this talk is baseless. Look at the previous one with a list claiming FGCU is retiring and opening. When questioned, it's "this year or next..." C'mon now. That's just a major stretch to continue to do these things and claim things as fact, when it's not. No matter how much it needs to be said, the majority of these programs are not "hot." People think that there's all these great coaches out there that can go turn programs around and they should be winning. Get out of here with that. The St. Thomas situation is being perfectly played out right now as a demo. A school that probably should never have made the jump from DIII to DI. A transition that's basically NEVER made. No coach is prepared for that move. No athletic department is prepared for that move. And, people sit here and claim that a coach should be? Please. Get out of here with that. One of the last things that will happen in this move is a firing with a contractual buyout. Especially with a department that's -$6m yearly (if not more). Contract non-renewals are not the same as a "hot seat." As there is a lot that plays into those, on both sides of the contract. People can criticize all they want, but it's still pretty lousy to do it anonymously and being a keyboard warrior about it. It's not hard to treat people better. In fact, the "interest in the possibilities for replacement" are often criticized just as much as an outgoing coach. These keyboard warriors know so much and think they know so much. No matter how many times they could be proven wrong with facts and common sense.
your post is irrelevant and doesn’t make sense. Nobody on here has said the St Thomas coach DESERVES to be in hot seat. It was simply stated that the coaches (all sports) at St Thomas were told as they get close to end of transition they need to start being competitive (D1 level freshman) nothing to do with wins. The entire thread is about changes that might be made, to be transparent. Also almost every coach fired was a contract non renewal, universities can’t risk all out firing. So yes contract non-renewal absolutely fits the definition of hot seat. If you don’t like the discussion then leave. I have never and will never apply for a college position, but don’t hate on me for wanting our sport to be cared about as much as women’s basketball or volleyball. I think athletic departments should try and win and care if the coach is over their head or can’t recruit. Just like at Wisconsin or Illinois or Ohio State football or basketball. no offense just clarifying. Cheers
Stop this nonsense about Katie Burton at Portland State being on the hot seat. As of writing the Vikings are 5-5-1 (2-0-1 Big Sky). Five wins equals last year's win total and is equal to the most wins for the program since 2017 when they went 9-10-1 (5-4-1 Big Sky). They're 3-0-1 on the road and that haven't done that since 2016.
Yep, and I've never said anyone said that either. Glad we clarified that. And, for clarity, no one is hating anyone, at least not on my end. It's asinine to think that soccer (men's or women's) will ever be cared about at the level of any of these other sports. Especially at probably 90+% of all college athletic departments. It's just not going to happen. Why would they do that, when there's how many athletic programs they'd all be looking at within each institution? It's silly to think all sports will be valued and evaluated the same. Educational institutions don't even value and evaluate academics the same within each institution. You should be semi-thankful that women's soccer is being offered at the rate it is, and funded how it is. That's all due to Title IX. If it weren't for that, there would be much less care for it AND other women's sports (and men's sports) because those sports just don't have as much importance and value to the institutions as others. In the end, there will be winners and losers (and draw-ers). There's going to be a limited amount of talent to actually win in areas. There's going to be an even more limited amount of coaches that will be able to coach at each institution, no matter the level. Administrators know both of these. They'll hire within their spectrum of what they can do internally. Most of which on here, is not considered within all hiring processes. Here's what we see every year: Female hired...complaining Male hired...complaining DII head hired...complaining DI assistant hired...complaining Two losing seasons...complaining One losing season...complaining Literally, very few hires have ever been made that hasn't brought out complaining from many posters on here. It's not hard to be better than that. It's not like these coaches set out to lose. It's not like these coaches enjoy their name being smeared. It's not hard to not complain.
Regarding St. Thomas, they came into D1 in 2021. I had projected they would finish at an RPI rank of #306 that year, based on the first year historic average for teams that already had soccer programs and were transitioning to D1. In fact, they finished 2021 at RPI #301. (Pretty good projection, huh?) In 2022, they finished at RPI #240. This year, based on actual results to date and simulated results for games not yet played, I have them finishing at RPI #209 (and they could do even better than that). With their being 347 D1 teams, in two years they have gone from the bottom third to the middle third of teams and are moving rapidly in a positive direction. In the Summit League, in 2021 they finished 9th out of 10 teams. In 2022, they finished 8th out of 10. This year, I currently have them finishing tied for 5th in a 9 team conference. So in their third year, that would be in the middle third of what appears likely to be the 12th ranked conference (out of 31). If the AD's instruction is they need, as they approach the end of the transition period, to be competitive at the D1 level, it appears to me they already are there (middle third of D1 and of decent conference) and it looks like there is a good chance they will get even better. If she is even on the warm seat after how they have done so far, it seems to me the AD is nuts. All indications so far are that she is a star,
I would think until they are fully transitioned recruitment will be difficult with no postseason offering. And looking at their scores so far this year they certainly appear to be pretty competitive. Surely that seat cannot be hot. You would almost look across town at the gophers and make an argument they could be doing better but I would think the upper north parts of the nation are more difficult to recruit to in general.
Fair. Better location and resources than many schools in the conference. School is not as unknown as you might think in the region. My gut tells me this one doesn’t represent the ordinary leap to D1. Discussion is not silly, but only time will tell.
No, we are not all hinting at retirement at some point. While death is eminent and getting sacked may be just one season away…retirement is a luxury in this profession!
Especially when of the ~347 Division I coaches, probably more than 200 of them have base salaries below 70k (I'm betting many are below 60). There's probably 100 or more that could go and teach high school and make more. I understand these coaches are public people in public facing jobs, but many/most are not earning the wage you think they are and we should, IMO, differentiate between the P5 point ball coach and the mid major woso coach. But here I am reading the Hot Seat board... so there's that.
Wow, the ‘hot seat’ rules of engagement are endless. Let me see if I got this…Don’t define hot seat as a possible near-term vacancy due to retirement. It’s not all-inclusive. Check! Don’t challenge programs on their competitiveness, even though they willingly skip levels to bring in new revenue, because they aren’t eligible for a post season play, and they don’t have athletic scholarship funding - yet likely more academic scholarships. Check! Don’t be a be a keyboard warrior (which would literally shut down this forum). Check! And don’t dare participate in the ‘witch hunt’ despite the irony that this hot seat blog is historically obsessed with proving why coaches should be sacked or unqualified for hire. Check! Oh, and don’t be anonymous. Let’s all schedule a virtual social hour and do introductions and submit resumes, so we can identify the opinions of those who really matter! Do I hear a Check?
Hot: American Boston College Colgate College of Charleston Detroit Mercy Eastern Michigan George Mason – Open? Nicholls State Oregon Temple University Texas A&M Corpus Christi University of Miami UMKC UC Riverside University of San Diego Stetson University Syracuse University Rhode Island
Better yet, here is a link to the NCAA Conference Rankings Report for games completed through October 1. They show the Summit as #12 based on the current RPI rankings. I have them finishing the season at #12, so that looks pretty much set. For those not familiar with the linked area of the NCAA Statistics system, there are links (blue) at the top of the Conference Rankings Report page that take you to pages the NCAA publishes weekly with current RPI and other current game results data. In addition, in the dark blue band at the top if you click on Scoreboard and navigate from there to D1 Women's Soccer, you will get to the daily match schedule and results pages for the D1 women. From there, you can further navigate to team pages, box scores, and so on. In the dark blue band at the top of the linked page, you also can click on other links to find all sorts of D1 women information within the NCAA statistics system.
There should be at least one hot seat rule of engagement if one is going to assert that a coach is on the hot seat: Before posting, do your homework.