Bob Gray is part of the old school. Lovely guy. Bob Grey doesn't get to stay 22 years anymore at Marshall. Times have changed and there is pressure to win without necessarily the resources like facilities for full compliment of scholarships...and the revolving door of ADs also leads to that since most guys want their guys. ADs who come from admin or business side, never coached anything and assume you should win whether you are supported or not. You are not going to find coaches who work any more than 5-7 years without winning very often anymore even at the lowest of mid-majors - maybe the Ivies but there is still pressure there. It's just not happening... and some coaches will get less time than that.
You may have some validity in some of what you say, but at least get it accurate. Northern Kentucky has had two since 2017: Riddle (5 years) and now Poitras (2 years). Those two come after 37 years with three coaches combined.
Will be curious to see how much longer a lifer like Cam Rast gets at his alma mater. When he took over 20 years ago, Santa Clara was a national power and he reached the Cup his second year, losing in the SFs to Indiana. Now, the Broncos are a college soccer afterthought. The past decade or so they've had more losing seasons than winning ones and even when they do win, they aren't really a threat to do any damage in the postseason and top players aren't going there. This is, like most (all?) schools in the WCC, an athletic department without football to distract the AD and the soccer program has long been a source of pride. But Rast is off to an 0-3 start after winning just a few games last year. Sure, he's an alum who was on the national title team way back in 89, but how long is he gonna be able to milk that for job security?
In 2021 the year Santa Clara beat Akron in the first round before losing to Kentucky was the last year of his contract. The athletic department went on to give him a new contract after that season. In what has been the pattern for Santa Clara over the last decade is be a tournament team once every 5 years or so. (Their last time prior to 2021 was 2015.). For a program like theirs, making it that little is an embarrassment. Now Rast's son is currently a Junior in the program, so he could presumably step away from the program after the 2024 season once he graduates. (That last statement is a pure conjecture from me!)
... but if you make the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament, you deserve a new contract for sure. In basketball and football, they get rewarded with 10-year contracts for the same thing (for recruiting purposes) and then just buy them out when they want them gone and pay them millions of dollars to do nothing. You may be right about coaching his son (and most likely the free tuition). He is only 53 though.
They were in the Sweet 16 five years ago and have BY FAR been the most successful academy team (over Army/Navy). I'm guessing there is no hot seat there considering they've had winning seasons for most of the last ten years. I'm sure things are cyclical there and this is a down year most likely.
Coach Gray was pretty successful at Alderson Broaddus and his 2 years at the University of Mobile. He would have had more success at Marshall if the 3 ADs prior to Mike Hamrick just gave him a little help. For 18 years he started the season behind the 8 ball, he played on a soccer field pushed up against Joan C Edwards Stadium, that the university didn't even build. It was built and paid for by alum Sam Hood, that's how little the university cared. It wasn't until Mike Hamrick unveiled an 8.9 million dollar soccer facility that anyone seen any good at all for the soccer program. But then again at that time all I heard from most were, why build that for a losing program, put it in basketball or football. Well Hoops Family Field opened up in 2013 and under a decade (8 years) produced a national championship. Bob Marcum tried to kill the program in 2003, if not for a former soccer player working in the athletic department he would have. He blew the whistle on Marcum to the two newspapers in Charleston and the HD in Huntington 24 hours before Marcum was set to cut the program. Even though the Marshall soccer program was never good the soccer community in and around Huntington rallied around the soccer program to where Marcum couldn't cut it. He eventually cut men's track and field claiming Title IX. Which just last year was proven to be totally bogus as Christian Spears just brought men's track and field back. Bob Gray would no longer get 22 years but Chris Grassie will be at Marshall as long as he wants. As the highest paid soccer coach in the NCAA and the newly minted #1 team in the nation Coach Grassie isn't going anywhere. Also Coach Gray is still a fixture at Hoops Family Field, he goes to almost every home game and is usually at practices. Heck on occasion you can see Jack Defazio there too.
For the last 30 years Ive wondered how VMI keeps doing DI. They started deemphasizing their athletics in the middle of the 1970s and it was complete by the early 1980s. I don't understand having an athletic program if you aren't going to try and be your best. If what we seen now was their goal in the mid 70s, why not just drop athletics all together.
They could also move to D3 ---I am surprised more schools don't choose this option--so much less money and you still have coaches out there drawing kids to your school--reinvest your scholarship money into financial or general student scholarships. Maybe schools will watch Hartford and see how they do.
I don't see DIII as an answer for them. There are a lot of DIII programs with really healthy athletic programs. Programs committed to doing good things. Almost as long as Ive been on this earth that hasn't been the case for VMI. Marshall was in the SoCon with VMI from 1981 to 1996 they played every year, VMIs only win came in the 1st year 1981 20-16 in football. In men's basketball they met 36 times (32 reg season, 4 tournament) and Marshall went 31-5 against them in that time frame. Its not like they want to be good and just don't know how, you can actually learn how to win over time if you want to. VMI just puts athletics on the back burner and really doesn't watch it that often.
There’s also a lot of pitiful DIII programs and athletic departments. Can’t lump anything together like that for college athletics. Transitioning to DIII isn’t a trend that will catch on. Centenary did it as well. Barely registers anything in the athletic world. Brooklyn College did it way back in 1992. Add onto this, five DIII schools have closed (*that had men’s soccer) since 2020. It’s not like DIII is truly a fall-back plan for sustainability or success.
Along with Birmingham-Southern which was on the brink of collapse in the spring (and still may be yet). Will be interesting to see how Hartford does — Hartwick has been mostly poor to mediocre since transitioning 5 years ago.
Whether they call it DIII or not, a lot of programs could be run like DIII programs (or cut altogether) if the courts determine that college athletes have to be paid as employees and can be unionized and colleges cut their non-revenue sports budgets drastically to fund salaries for those revenue sport athletes.
Not a hot seat issue, but a job opening after this season... ODU's longtime coach, Alan Dawson, will be stepping down after this 27th season as head coach of the Monarchs to enjoy retirement... ODU is 2-0-5 on the current campaign. https://odusports.com/news/2023/9/2...n-dawson-to-final-odu-mens-soccer-season.aspx
Dawson had a pretty good run at ODU, 19 winning seasons, 14 NCAAs, 2 Sweet 16s and finished ranked 7 times the highest in 2006 at 14th. Tennant McVea who will take over is in his second stint at ODU. He was on the staff in 2014 and 15, spent 16 at Elon and rejoined Dawson and ODU in 2017. Dawson could be hard to replace. For the Sun Belt and ODUs sake lets hope McVea is the right person to take over.
I would put Virginia Tech on this list personally, i know its the ACC but its not expensive to go to school there. I just feel like right when it gets time to cut it then the coach finds a way to win, the same way Carlin has done at Villanova
Tech has a winning record and an RPI of 15. They keep that up the rest of the season they'll go the NCAAs and that makes making a coaching change tough to justify.
OPEN Le Moyne - Callum Donnelly (Le Moyne assistant; 7/5-7/18 *interim) FILLED Drexel - Mark Fetrow (Villanova associate head; 7/19-7/28) Old Dominion - Tennant McVea (ODU associate head; 8/15) Evansville - Robbe Tarver (Evansville interim HC - 10/9) Accidentally left Evansville off the list, as Robbie was interim initially, that tag now removed and he’s officially the head coach.
Out of all the teams with 0 to 1 win, who might be in danger? Elon - no, as they had at large last year UNCG - no, due to recent success Utah Valley, Bucknell and Georgia Southern - no, due to relatively new staff? Indiana Southern - newly transitioned from D2 UC Riverside, Air Force, Villanova, Niagara or Radford?