Looks like we’ll have another team transitioning to Division 1 here in the coming days or week. Rumors are Mercyhurst making the D1 jump to NEC.
In terms of WSOC, I think Mercyhurst will do fine in NEC. They have been pretty good recently, and reasonably well funded, and in general a team that makes the NCAA in D2 is better than a < 300 RPI team in D1. There were 5 such teams in the NEC last season. I'm not sure if the decision makes sense for the institution as a whole, as playing D1 in a conference like the NEC tends to suck lots of money out of the school...
I don't disagree with your statement about how the women's soccer will do in the NEC. However, anonymous they will still be. Is Kennesaw State a talked about D1 program? Not at all. In 2003 they were 25-1 and won the D2 National Championship. When the school decided shortly thereafter to go D1, everyone thought how well they would do....not so much.....just another nameless/faceless D1 program. Now have people heard of Grand Valley? Of course they have. Why? Because the school made the wise decision to be the best, where they are - D2. I agree with you - the decision is bad across the board, as they will soon realize how much money it takes to run a successful D1 athletics department
Based on Massey's 2023 rankings of all NCAA teams (not just Division I), Mercyhurst is likely to be at roughly the same rating level as St. Francis, PA. Occasionally, a team that transitions to DI does pretty well, but the norm is as described by oneofnine. It will be interesting to see how they do, given their past success.
That's an interesting ranking. Based on low end of DI and high end of DII and DIII I've seen with similar records to the teams in question, I think it underrates the non-D1 squads. I would expect Mercyhurst to make the NEC conference tournament next year, but like @oneofnine noted, that may be a good result but also still an anonymous one.
Quite a few posters and readers seem pretty interested in this 'anonymous' school! I think it's a bit condescending to refer to them that way. This is the BS forum I guess. But there are good coaches and good teams at every level. You might say at least 1 or 2 in each conference in every division. You know some of the smartest coaches are coaching some of the smartest kids in the country.....in Division 3. Saw this write up about the change. We'll see. I think Mercyhurst will drop some of their sports...AFTER they become full D1 members. Mercyhurst will make the jump to DI and join the Northeast Conference.... According to a feasibility study conducted by Collegiate Consulting, Mercyhurst’s current $17M athletic budget will increase 33% by FY30, while student-athlete financial aid will increase from 182 scholarships to 211. Collegiate Consulting recommended a $1.6M increase across Mercyhurst’s 25 varsity programs sports’ operating budgets. For athletic staffing, it was proposed to add three full-time and three part-time administrative positions with four new assistant coach positions and transition three part-time coaching positions to full-time.
You can find the Massey all-NCAA rankings here: Massey NCAA Rankings The easiest way to find the rank for a particular team is to click on the Team column header. That will arrange the table in alphabetical order by team and you can scroll down to see where his system puts the team. As a matter of interest along these lines, here are the teams that joined Division I in 2022 and 2023. First comes where their Massey rank put them relative to DI teams the previous year and then comes their NCAA RPI rank in their first DI year: 2023 LeMoyne 346 - 331 2022 Lindenwood 331 - 294 (330 in 2023) Queens 316 - 256 (259 in 2023) Southern Indiana 318 - 325 (274 in 2023) Stonehill 327 - 329 (322 in 2023) St Thomas 291 - 240 (226 in 2023) Texas Commerce 295 - 113 (220 in 2023)
Lets stay on track people....This is the hot seat thread, there is a conference realignment thread to talk about this stuff in.
It's not condescending to say "they will join D1 and become anonymous"....you know the point that was being made. It wasn't that they are an anonymous university in general, just that they will go from a quality D2 side where they could stand out and make an impact at that level, to a move where they will be absorbed into the mass of schools that are interchangeable, don't make an impact and are therefore "anonymous". And it isn't hurting anyone to have a few posts on this topic.....don't like it, then don't read it.
Actually this is pretty relevant for the hot seat, because high performing D2 & in some cases NAIA coaches are one of the options to fill some of the spots (leaving off D3 because recruiting is so different). If building a good D2 team is similar to building a good team at the low end of D1, then a successful D2 coach is a good choice. Take the example of Saint Rose, which is closing, and had a hugely successful program--their coach is pretty settled in the area, and I don't know that she is interested. But given her success at Saint Rose, if I was trying to fill a low end D1 vacancy in the NE, I would absolutely expect someone with her profile to win some at a place like Long Island, and if I were an AD I would work hard to get someone like that in rather that recruiting a D1 assistant with no head coaching experience.
I agree with this sentiment but its not reflected enough in reality and been debated here often over the years. Its a sense of “pedigree” -being familiar with a D1 level athlete and environment. See it with P4s and private school conferences as well. The hard-working head coach at the lower level gets overlooked for the assistant from a similar level or conf. For many ADs, being a successful head coach, even recruiting good internationals, is not the same as working at “our level”, in D1 or in our conference as an asst. References, so who you know and knows you, is big as well of course. I understand the logic of it, but have always liked to see when successful head coaches move up.
Heard a rumor tonight that Weber State U just sacked their head coach, that's what the players were telling people. Hasn't been announced yet. Give it a week or two, see if it comes to fruition. He's a good guy if so. Wishing him well.
Why would an AD choose to make a change in April rather than November, setting the new coach up for a bad first season (and increasingly you don't get many)? Other than something particular to a given situation, I've never understood this.
If it is nothing nefarious, I would guess the contract runs through the school year. If the AD doesn't have the ability to pay out the remainder of the contract and hire a new coach, they probably figure keep the old coach in place as long as we are paying them, and then hire when there is funding available.
-life happens. Coaches have life changes or do stupid things that force their hand. -they have no choice if the HC leaves, or has issues, and the asst is not ready to be interim, or also leaves -they need to balance their budget by June and are looking for expensive out of season coaches to save money on salary -they don't care so much and have bigger problems There are reasons why changes are made 'out of cycle'. Some more public than others. Some are financial. Sometimes that coach pops up as a club DOC or at another school after a week or so and it makes more sense.
Hi, anybody hearing anything about Wyoming? Assistant Coach, maybe??? Or are they taking Weber State’s coach???