Academic Year 19/20 Hot Seat

I knew Pensky somewhat a while back and he just looks miserable to me. His interviews are sometimes painful to watch. Could it be he would rather take some pressure off and find more balance in his life? When your own kids start playing soccer, that changes your perspective an awful lot. Lots of very good coaches not in P5 and at smaller colleges. Most are likely pretty happy I'd guess.

 

Yeah I get that, but Greg was last the HC back in 2017 and his AC came in from Arizona State. What is the Miami connection? Prior to that it was Dean Duerst. Both Greg and Dean are fine men, so if the AC you speak of is a dirt bag - not sure who you are referencing here.

 

Tom Anagnost became the volunteer under Greg Ryan after he was fired from Miami

 

As above clearly Tennessee was a relatively strong program before Pensky. I think if Bunny Shaw (big fan) hadn't come into Pensky's world he may have had trouble securing the second (third?)contract. Looks like Tennessee under performed again this year. But that doesn't seem like enough to terminate a contract mid term. What do you mean regarding ethics issues?
But then it could be his wife's job or something whatever that he thinks is worth $50k to forfeit his current contract. If he really did interview at Penn then he should be a shoo in given the listed competition. Still a head scratcher for me.

 

Maybe it is because, relatively speaking, the banks of Schuylkill River smell a lot better than the Nyland Drive Knoxville waste water treatment plant.

 

If true, Smart of Pensky, and he can renegotiate his contract to get paid more(even if it’s a small amount as coaches do this all the time). He has nothing to lose, rather everything to gain by speaking with other schools

 

I don't know anything about him, but based on his wife's background (according to a previous poster), and his history at Maryland, the geography makes sense for an interest in Penn. He has also been at UT for quite awhile. Could be looking for a fresh start, after his superstar (Shaw) graduated.

 

Pensky is not leaving TN. I can only assume he was just listening but not ready to leave until his contract is up.

 

If Brown gets Penn she will be bringing in an overall record of 17-35-14 in her four years at Holy Cross. Crazy that she won Patriot League COY with just 5 wins this past season. 5-3-8 season may be the wackiest record I have ever seen. If Nick gets it she would have an overall record of 32-30-8 and won her COY during an 11-win season in 2018 within her four years at NJIT. Knows the area well from her time at La Salle as well.

On a different note I’d be interested in hearing from other posters if you know of any other high level athletics administrators similar to Rudy Fuller at Penn. He had to be the reason why Pensky is even on the radar. We can complain and whine about bad hires in our sport but that’s going to be the case if we don’t fill in athletics administrations with soccer backgrounds. Anyone know of anyone else other than Fuller with a soccer background in athletic administration?

 

Pine Bluff update, alumni not in the mix anymore I was told, she already has a good full time job in Dallas. But a D-2 coach from Oklahoma who had some success there is apparently the front runner. We'll see if he takes it.

 

Shawn Flynn (Assoc Athletic Director) at UMD is a big soccer guy, owns a DA club in Baltimore
Stephanie Ransom (SWA, CFO) at UGA is a former All-American player
Carleigh Collins (Compliance Director) at ULL is a former college player

Just a couple I could think of off the top of my head. Def not many out there

 

I guess it wasn't Pensky or Nick but it was the Brown: https://goholycross.com/news/2020/3...eave-holy-cross-pursue-new-opportunities.aspx

 

Big time hire

 

Lol, how does Penn choose a coach that has a career head coaching record of 17-35 with one season of .500 soccer, excuse me, one game above .500 as her crowning achievement? Yet again, another silly hire that begs to ask, were there not a lot more successful candidates out there who applied? The answer would be yes I imagine their were. And then the obvious, why are HR and search committees overlooking experienced successful coaches, for ones that haven't had any proven success, ie this hire. One trip to.a playoff game in career, a loss. Averaging in her career 4 wins per season. Welp, I'm spent. Great hire.

 

She was probably the more inexpensive alternative!

 

It’s good to know that if I win 5 games this fall I can get a better job!

 

It does seem a bit of a weird hire. Maybe she's a good coach but I think the best that can be said about her record at Holly Cross is that she made the team less bad that it had been for years--and maybe significantly less bad, which is a crazy phrase but perhaps one that fits a coach who turned a lot of past losses into ties, and did it with players recruited by the previous coach, by and large.

I read the other day that a lot of Ivy League coaches are now paid through endowments established by wealthy benefactors. In the case of Penn, some well-heeled contributor recently ponied up $1.5 million, as I recall, for the soccer program, which is being used to pay the coach and for other unstated purposes. I don't think the article said whether the endowments are used entirely to pay coaches or just partially, but apparently this has become a common practice in the Ivy League in a variety of sports. Maybe some of you here knew this, but it was news to me.

 

This is another example of gender bias. A guy would never get this job with this type of record as a head coach.

 

Well, from 2007 through 2012, when the Patriot League had 8 teams, Holy Cross finished 7th or 8th every year. From 2013 through 2015, before she arrived, when the League had 10 teams, they finished 7th once and 8th twice. Her first three years, they finished 8th, 7th, 8th. Her fourth year, not yet all her own player plus the lag of recruiting, they finished 2nd.

How many who applied for or wanted the job could have achieved that?

I'm not arguing that makes her qualified for the job or the best of those available, but it's certainly a consideration. An AD at one of the premiere football schools in the country has said that one of the things you look for in hiring a head football coach is a person who has overachieved with their current school's program.

 

Holy Cross to Penn is going up - a better resume needed.

national team coach to Oklahoma is going down - failed at higher level and moves to a lower level to try and succeed and rebuild.

many examples of D1 coaches for example who get fired for failing at the level and going down to D2 and having success, maybe even getting back to D1.

the Oklahoma hire cannot be compared to the Holy Cross hire. Getting a national team coaching position is not something everyone can achieve, I believe you are comparing apples and oranges.

This theory is applied at every level...certain coaches reach a high level and can’t cut it, go back to a lower division or standard and are a success.

 

What a pathetic spin job caslking. Oklahoma is a power 5 job, that was certainly desirable. The new coach was a failure as a head coach at the NCAA Division I level prior to his national team job. The national teams have historically been filled with fired college coaches (see Matt Potter being hired this year after being fired from Oklahoma). So yeah, it doesn't take much other than connections to get those national team jobs.

The Penn hire is someone who improved a Division I program, something the Oklahoma coach has failed to do. She has a better college resume than he does.

 

Name 3 at the D1 level if you want to validate your theory.

 

What were both their college coaching records as head coaches? Does anyone have them? I’m just asking as I haven’t looked.