Hot Seat 2023-24

I agree but the school just went from D2 to D1 you have to invest resources, whats the point then just stay D2 then if you dont want to hire someone that can get you to a higher level

 

I would throw Louie Rolko from Lake Erie in this mix as well with D2 guys, he was the preffered candidate at canisius but turned it down

 

I was talking more about North Carolina State. I replied to LeMoyne post but should have been NC State. NC State expects to compete for ACC Championship but not sure they invest enough in soccer to do so so expectations without support.

 

Marquette’s woman’s head coach is now no longer. Sounds like they are “moving in a different direction”. Is there a new AD or something?

 

Few other D2 names Id put on there that I think would deserve a look if an AD is going to go that route. That would be Daniel Smee (University of Charleston) and Petsa Ivanovic (Barry University). Both Chris Grassie (Marshall) and Dan Stratford (WVU) cut their teeth at U Charleston.

 

There was reason for this. Actually 2 reasons who happen to live in his home.

 

https://gculopes.com/sports/mens-soccer

 

Happy for Coach Tim Regan at Bradley. He has been loyal, paid his dues and is a players coach. Best wishes for success.

 

Longwood has made a hire: https://longwoodlancers.com/news/20...s-paul-gilbert-as-mens-soccer-head-coach.aspx

 

He's a good guy with experience with youth US soccer which could help. I wish him well and I hope he does well.

 

Fetrow is gonna be busy.

 

Villanova already acquired Cabrini University. Maybe they want a city campus too!

 

Not a "hot seat" question but I don't see a relevant D3 thread to ask my question in.

What happened with John Bluem, former OSU HC, at Muskingum? Why did he only last one season?

 

This story about his hire suggests that he took the job because they posted the job opening about a week before preseason was supposed to start and he felt bad for the program. Sounds like he mostly was doing them a favor for a season. The new (current) coach was announced in March of 2023, so Bluem must have stepped down soon after the end of the season (where they finished 2-14). It's one thing to step up at the last minute and coach a DIII team, but to do the job year-round requires a lot of hands-on work without a lot of full-time (or any) help from assistants, especially at a school like Muskingum.

https://www.dispatch.com/story/spor...-of-retirement-to-save-muskingum/69521049007/

By the way, it wouldn't be a bad idea to start a DIII thread. There's a whole separate board for DIII soccer discussion (https://www.d3boards.com/index.php?board=1522.0), but it's down currently and is basically running on what seems like the same software when it started in the 1990s or something like that. So, it's not always reliable.

 

You could probably say that for every level of college soccer but I understand what you are saying. In IA I would say you have 50-65 programs that actually want to win. Marshall who I fallow is quite new to this group still. From 1979 to 2012 Marshall didn't have a proper pitch to play on and in that time frame had a whopping 12 winning or break even seasons. It wasn't until the AD Mike Hamrick unveiled a new soccer stadium in 2011 that things started to change and it wasn't until Chris Grassie was hired in Jan 2017 that the culture started to change.

No matter what level most ADs are happy and content as long as two things happen 1)The coach follows the rules of the NCAA and accumulates no violations and 2)The coach conducts himself the right way and causes no problems or unwanted attention for the university.

 

How often has this happened in the past, a head coach leaving the school for a new job after 1 season? Jamie Clark comes to mind with his short stop at Creighton.

Although he had to move from Massachusetts, to Nebraska, to Washington, while lasting a lot longer (7 months) than Fetrow (3 and half months), comparatively.

 

At many DIII schools -- not including the higher academic schools that are in demand by students -- and at many D1s that are small and really regional, as well as most DIIs and virtually all NAIA schools, there is a #3 for that list: 3) The coach hits his roster number of full tuition paying students.

For these schools, particularly if they don't have a football team, administrators like men's soccer because they can require large rosters and use it to drive enrollment, especially of male students, who are a declining percentage at many liberal arts colleges. #1 and #2 matter only because they could hurt #3 and enrollment/donations generally.

 

The freshness seal is broken

https://www.instagram.com/p/C1IOXGzOYAt/?hl=en

 

This one is a bit different because Fetrow was the #2 at Villanova for years and left for Drexel right before preseason and did very well and Carlin left so this one was inevitable

 

... and most likely Fetrow does not get the job from Villanova as the assistant, especially after a difficult year there.

 

Todd Yeagley coached at Wisconsin for one season before the Indiana job "miraculously" opened up and he fulfilled his destiny.

Leonard Griffin spent the 2021 season at Grand Canyon (after two years at USF) before bolting for Berkeley.

Todd Saldana coached LMU men for one season, left for UCLA women, spent one season in that job and then replaced Sigi as the Bruins' men's coach.

I'm sure there are others but they are likely at schools with which we're less familiar. The reality is that most of the better college programs have very little turnover with their men's soccer coach.

UCLA has had 5 coaches since 1980. Sigi, Saldana, Fitzgerald, Salcedo and the current guy and that's a lot for a storied program. By comparison...

Clemson 3 (plus an interim) since 1967.
UConn has had 3 since 1969.
Indiana has had 3 coaches since 72, when the programs was founded.
UNC has had 3 since 1977.
Wake Forest - 3 since 1986
Akron - 3 since 1993
UVa has had 2 since 1978.
Georgetown - 2 since 1984.
Maryland - 2 since 1985
Washington - 2 since 1992
St. John's - 1 since 1991


These schools get a good coach, he does OK to very well and stays out of trouble and brings the occasional good PR story and a donation or 2 every few years and he's an AD's wet dream - part of his department he never has to worry about or pay attention to. In turn, the coaches get great job security and a decent salary and a green light for any project they can raise the money for. So if a job like that opens up, you jump at it, even if it means leaving a place you've been just a year or had some success on a smaller scale.

It's why folks leave established programs like UNH or Charlotte for struggling ones in a big conference like NC State or Stanford.