I haven't seen this one come up for a while. This far into the season, does anyone think any coaches should be worried about their jobs?
This might have been a hot seat job, at least based on performance (1-11-3 this year), but Steve Sampson has announced his retirement from Cal Poly San Luis Obisbo, effective immediately, because of his health issues. This is actually his second retirement announcement from the school. The first came last year around this time, but they convinced him to stay. https://gopoly.com/news/2022/10/18/...tires-as-cal-poly-mens-soccer-head-coach.aspx
Potential Job Changes after this fall below. Michigan - Mind boggling that they haven't won or advanced more. UAB - Just haven't shown any signs of improvement since Kinney has been hired. Mike Getman at least showed that you can win there, and the current regime hasn't even come close to that. Georgia Southern - It just seems time for a change. Columbia- Have been a steady decline for the last half a decade since their Ivy league title. Dartmouth- Probably the last or 2nd to last year on his contract. Oshoniyi needs to show the new AD that he can do the job. Marquette - Beautiful set up, should be in at-large contention every other year at the very least. Wouldn't be surprised if they make a change prior to their new stadium being built. Davidson - Covid might have helped him get an extra year as they just may give Babst til after 2023 to make a decision. Holy Cross - Been struggling for years. Their 2021 season in which they still only finished at .500 is looking to be an outlier in Marco Koolman. Furman - This program needs a spark, similar almost to the waning South Carolina program under Berson. Cal State Bakersfield- Richie Grant has been given more than enough time to get them back to what they were at the DII level. Winthrop - Program needs new life.
What about schools with long term coaches entrenched after 10+yrs that a few bad seasons given them a pass... two that come to mind initially are St. Joseph's and Rider. What about Gonzaga?
Agree on all of these. Would add UNC Asheville into the mix as well. They’re terrible again as usual, but also a place where the expectations outstrip the resources. Don’t know if they pull the trigger this year, especially since he’s an alum, but the seat is surely warm.
Agree. Asheville don’t care that much about it. St Joes and Rider fall into that boat as well. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that programs like their’s exist unfortunately. The schools I mentioned above are solely because they look and feel like they care about men’s soccer… Just enough that is.
Well the past two coaches have been let go due to performance and the current HC was the volunteer who got the job after what was essentially a failed search. It’s a really difficult place to win and underfunded even relative to the big south, but I do think they *can* be better. I don’t have firsthand knowledge but I would guess the administration expects them to be near .500 more often than not. Might be possible for a really good coach that knows how to scrap it, but they’re asking for someone to do a lot with a little.
Unrealistic expectations then. If anyone would be successful, they’d leave in a heartbeat. Everyone who knows DI soccer knows UNCA isn’t a long-term job. It isn’t a job built for success. It has nothing going for it to say it’s a worthwhile gig, at all. Sure, Asheville is okay for a city. But, the campus isn’t in the city. And, there’s tons around that would be a nightmare of a distraction for any coach to navigate with their players. Sure, say there are expectations, but no one would say that program should be winning. Low pay. Low scholarships. Low value of education. Low competitiveness and support.
$50,000 is the salary, $25,000 for assistants total. The HC has about $180K in scholarship money per year. In the team's history of Division I, one regular Big South Regular Season title, a #3 finish in 2016, and a #4 finish in the Covid season. Expectations are above .500 and a top-half conference finish which as stated has only been accomplished 3 times. The Big South has lots of challenges but UNCA is the hardest job in the conference.
Those expectations are in-line with what I've heard. They've shown they'll give someone time as well, but you can't win 2-4 games in perpetuity.
I agreed but then I decided to educate myself on this topic. Again, via my friend Google, they have been D1 since 1998 and have compiled 181 wins. Which is an average of 5.32. Thus, if this seat is warm, it is because of the dumpster fire that is beneath it. I am with ThePonchat on this one....this seat should not be warm.
Most ADs don't give a damns. As the long as the kids or coaches don't get in trouble and create bad PR for the school, then ADs are happy. And if a coach makes revenue for the school through a camp or being good at fundraising or cranking out graduates who give back, then a lot of losses can be forgiven. It's also hard to gauge who "deserves" to be fired on just wins and losses. Tough to make fair evaluations without knowing a recruiting budget, coaches' salaries, number of scholarships the school gives, number of academic exemptions, etc... All that stuff varies dramatically from school to school. I think before the MLS academies and the stabilization of USL and the increase in American teenagers signing abroad, college soccer had a chance to make itself relevant enough that ADs would care about winning percentage. But now, college soccer is such an afterthought in "big time" soccer that I just don't think most ADs prioritize it much.
I have been following this thread since 2009 or so, and a lot has changed. I would argue that the following schools be exempt from ever being on the hot seat unless the coach does something that should get them fired, and some of these are finding success at the moment: VMI, UNCA, Wofford, Longwood, St Peter's, Chicago State, USC Upstate, Drake, Niagara, Navy, Air Force, Army, Manhattan, Howard, Rider, St Francis (Both of them), Purdue Fort Wayne. These are programs that we should actually be celebrating the people that take these jobs as they are literally taking on Goliath without even a slingshot. The service academies, in particular, have a really tough sell, but AFA has been producing lots of pros lately and winning lots of games.
Being in and involved in college soccer at all levels since 2004, not a lot has changed in how departments are operating and managed. Tons have no idea what they are doing. Tons don’t care about soccer. Graduate kids. Hope they stay out of trouble. Recruit kids. Stay quiet. All ingredients to the recipe of keeping the college soccer coaching job.
Couldn't you contend that some of these universities have long standing coaches and maybe a younger hungrier coach with a different style and philosophy may build a new Goliath in these conferences?
The attitude of the administration and some of the long standing coaches seem to align unfortunately and that is why they keep losing. Yes, there are a lot of programs out there where it is hard to win due to all the challenges that have already been listed. That being said, I totally agree that it is possible to turn a program around with a coach that knows what he is doing and is willing to put in the work. It might take some creativity and being smart with scholarships, finding some young assistants willing to hustle and some good coaching but it is possible. A lot of coaches haven't adapted.
Certainly wasn't trying to make the case that it *should* warm, only that it might be given what we've been discussing above. Would be surprised if they made a move this year but they've shown they will if things don't improve over time.
Most of these places have all flipped their coaches in the last 10 years or have had coaches move on. Some of the schools mentioned have had some success as well. Rider and St. Francis (NY) have had multiple championships in the last decade. SFNY actually outplayed IU two years ago in the NCAA Tournament before losing on PKs. VMI on the other hand has not won a Division I game in 8 years and have been through 5 different coaches.
Rider’s Charlie Inverso has announced his retirement: https://gobroncs.com/news/2022/11/1...'s,afternoon's season finale against Canisius.
Jacksonville is open....mutually parted ways. https://judolphins.com/news/2022/11...hletics-ruiz-mutually-agree-to-part-ways.aspx