Coaching Carousel

Started by Ommadawn, April 07, 2018, 04:50:19 PM

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Ommadawn

The "2014-2015 Coaching Carousel" thread can probably be replaced with one that is not time-bound.  Here's a move with implications for both SUNYAC and the Liberty League:

http://gocardinalsports.com/news/2018/4/3/chris-taylor-11-named-head-mens-soccer-coach-at-plattsburgh-state.aspx

Mr.Right

I did not realize this coach is so young. Pretty good resume to start his career though with some solid results to boot. I would imagine Clarkson offered him ZERO support as I am sure they only care about Hockey up there and doubt they offer any significant aid packages for Soccer so considering all that he did a fantastic job to get them in the Top 6 in the LL in his 2nd year. Still putting aside the fact that he is a Plattsburgh alum I really do not see how the situation at Plattsburgh will be any easier to recruit to. Waterbury had a great career and was a solid coach but some of those records were a bit inflated because he usually had 3-4 absolute CUPCAKES on his non-conference schedule every year. I will say his outfit in the mid 2000's were pretty nasty sides but for whatever reason he could not get the same type of players the past 10 years or so and they were never a REAL factor on the National scene after they got to the 2005 NCAA Final Four. They have had some good sides since 2005 but not to level they were at back then. If he was not a Plattsburgh alum would he of taken this job? Let's pretend the 2 jobs are equal money but all the other intangibles are unknowns to us. Would you jump to Plattsburgh? Obviously. it depends what the individual is looking for but I am not so sure I would. I would be looking to keep building on what I just managed to accomplish at Clarkson this year. I cannot remember the last time Clarkson made the LL Tournament. Maybe 1 year under the younger Steinrotter? Not sure and to lazy to look but just something to think about. Will be interesting to follow and certainly more interesting to see who Clarkson hires and what he does with the players that are already there. IIRC they were a pretty young outfit.

Gregory Sager

Quote from: Mr.Right on April 10, 2018, 12:26:09 AM
I did not realize this coach is so young. Pretty good resume to start his career though with some solid results to boot. I would imagine Clarkson offered him ZERO support as I am sure they only care about Hockey up there and doubt they offer any significant aid packages for Soccer so considering all that he did a fantastic job to get them in the Top 6 in the LL in his 2nd year.

I hope that the part in bold was meant to be sarcastic.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

Falconer

Quote from: Gregory Sager on April 10, 2018, 10:42:57 AM
Quote from: Mr.Right on April 10, 2018, 12:26:09 AM
I did not realize this coach is so young. Pretty good resume to start his career though with some solid results to boot. I would imagine Clarkson offered him ZERO support as I am sure they only care about Hockey up there and doubt they offer any significant aid packages for Soccer so considering all that he did a fantastic job to get them in the Top 6 in the LL in his 2nd year.

I hope that the part in bold was meant to be sarcastic.

Indeed. Those very words jumped out at me as I read Mr Right's comment, before I even read Mr Sager's comment. With regard to financial aid in a D3 context, favoring athletes in any sport over other athletes in another sport, or over non-athletes, is simply against the rules. I do wonder where Mr Right was going here...

The bar against giving athletic scholarships, per se, is just the tip of the financial iceberg. You can't bump up the $$ for an athlete (in any sport). Or, bump it down for that matter: a student good enough to qualify for a full scholarship on (say) academic merit or some other stated criterion (the student might qualify for a scholarship designated by the donor for left-handed men from NY who major in physical education), or whose demonstrated financial need justifies a full ride, cannot be disqualified from that aid simply b/c he or she plays a sport.

CU_GKnight

As a Clarkson alum, I have followed these boards the past 4-5 years but never had much to say, so haven't posted until this point.  As far as Coach Taylor taking the job at Plattsburgh vs staying at Clarkson I think it wasn't that hard a choice in the end, although I know he gave the decision a lot of thought.  He is a Plattsburgh alum and has a lot of family in the Plattsburgh area so it is a homecoming in many regards.  He was very well liked and respected at Clarkson at all levels from what I can tell, but the lure of returning to Plattsburgh was too strong.  I have interacted with him on several occasions and can say he is one of the classiest individuals I have come across in the game.  I do believe he is one of the best young coaches in the field and I disagree that he will have a difficult time recruiting.  He is an excellent recruiter and put together solid classes each year with each class being stronger than the last.  He was, by far, the best person at selling Clarkson to prospective students that I have seen in my 25-year association with the University.  The pool of potential recruits at Plattsburgh is quite large (at least compared with the one for Clarkson) and I think he will be successful in competing with the likes of Oneonta and Cortland for the strongest in-state/state school talent. My guess is that he will restore Plattsburgh to being a national power within the next 5 years.  To be honest, I really can't say enough positive things about him and he will be sorely missed.

As far as Clarkson moving forward, the job is certainly more desirable than it was four years ago when Chris was hired and they have a very solid squad with a good deal of experience returning.  The point about Clarkson being a hockey school is true in some regards, but not in others.  The tail end of the Steinrotter era was defined by the hockey only mentality, which is part of what caused him to flee to SLU.  The University as a whole and the Athletics Department seem to have much more balance over the past 5-10 years and have increased the support for the D3 sides, although I have no idea what level of aid they offer these days.  I'm sure the pay isn't great, but there is at least is support for the program to a level where they can be competitive and a coach can go out and recruit top talent.  The key to being successful at Clarkson, which coach Taylor excelled at (as opposed to the former coach who disregarded it) is the alumni relations.  Five years ago there was practically zero support for the program from alumni, but now alumni have contributed almost $30,000 to the soccer program over the past 2 years in their annual one-day fundraising campaigns.  I think the opening provides a great opportunity for a strong young coach to come in and make their mark (much as Chris did).  There is solid institutional support, strong alumni support, a good returning team, a quality educational institution to sell to recruits and a team that has been on the rise each of the past four years.  Hopefully we find another diamond in the rough like we did four years ago.

Mr.Right

#5
No I did not mean to be sarcastic. Thank you for correcting my mistake but I meant to say Clarkson probably does not offer significant aid to kids compared to other LL teams. That is a guess and I could be wrong but I would be willing to bet they are in the bottom tier of the LL in offering aid to students compared to the other LL schools. If I am wrong please correct me.

I have never met Coach Taylor but he has had definite success so far in his career. I DO NOT agree that he will be able to turn Plattsburgh into a National contender within 5 years. That is a big stretch. I would be willing to bet he has success at Plattsburgh in competing with Oneonta and Cortland and keeps Plattsburgh in the Top 4 of the SUNYAC and competing for titles but I just do not think we will be seeing Plattsburgh in a NCAA Final 4 anytime soon. We will see.

CU_GKnight

I think I may have misspoken on Plattsburgh becoming a "national power".  What I meant was I think that in the next 5 years they will return to being competitive on the national stage.  I think they will return to being regular participants in the NCAA tournament as I believe 2010 was their last appearance. As far as them returning to the final four again, that is a whole other level and I'm not ready to go there at this point.  I think any team that can get to the NCAA's consistently has the ability to make a run to the final four, but I don't foresee them having the caliber of team to make numerous runs to the latter rounds of the tournament while Iain Byrne is still at Oneonta.  I just don't see enough in-state talent to feed all of the SUNYAC schools and Oneonta seems to be getting the lions share of the quality players. 

I would also agree that Clarkson is likely to be in the lower tier of where they are with their financial aid packages compared with others in the LL.  I think things are a little better than they were a decade ago, but Clarkson doesn't have the endowment that many of the other schools have.

gustiefan04

Gustavus announces the hiring of their new head coach...

https://athletics.blog.gustavus.edu/2018/04/16/tudor-flintham-named-head-mens-soccer-coach-at-gustavus-adolphus-college/

Not so sure about this one, on the surface. Pretty limited experience/success. If they are going to take a chance on a younger, less experienced coach, I'd have rather seen our AD give the nod to a few alumni that were after the job. Hopefully this guy can keep the turn around going at GAC and bring the boys back to the NCAA's...

Ommadawn

Springfield announces their new head coach:

http://www.springfieldcollegepride.com/sports/msoc/2017-18/releases/20180501mpn9su

I suspect a good word from Jay Martin (Springfield alum) may have helped out his candidacy...

Mr.Right

Quote from: Ommadawn on May 03, 2018, 02:39:16 PM
Springfield announces their new head coach:

http://www.springfieldcollegepride.com/sports/msoc/2017-18/releases/20180501mpn9su

I suspect a good word from Jay Martin (Springfield alum) may have helped out his candidacy...


While I would guess Martin gave him a solid recommendation, I am betting Erin Sullivan was Crabill's "eminence grise". Sullivan, who Crabill has assisted at Williams since he took over in 2015, MUST still have considerable influence in the Springfield area. He was very well liked at WNEC and his reputation is highly regarded in that region. While Sullivan I am sure had the influence to get Crabill an opportunity to interview at Springfield, Crabill still had to bag the job all by himself during the interview(s). Crabill did just that and will now be one of the youngest Head Coaches in D3 in what I am guessing is his late 20's or early 30's.  He has a really solid resume as right after a 4 year playing career at OWU he immediately started his coaching journey at his alma mater. From there he heads east to SLU and then Williams. That is a good 7-8 years of assisting some pretty good coaches so he should be well groomed for this position. I have heard that Springfield has lost a couple decent players to transfers as they were pretty loyal to the previous coach. It still boggles the mind that players would love to play a style that Springfield played under the previous coach but apparently some players did. So Tommy will be starting from behind the eight ball a bit and will be interested to monitor his progress as he moves forward. My guess is Springfield might dip a bit in the next couple years until he can put his stamp on the program and get the kind of kids he wants. No doubt Springfield should become a much more attractive team to watch than they have been the last 6 or 7 years BUT he will struggle recruiting IMO. Families just are having a harder and harder time coming up with the money to send kids to schools like Springfield that offer VERY weak financial aid packages compared to other similar schools and kids are opting for State schools more and more these days. Would you pay $50,000/year for Springfield or $25,000 for say a Westfield State? I would imagine these type of schools are already feeling the hurt and it will only get worse.


NEsoccerfan

Quote from: Ommadawn on May 08, 2018, 03:42:47 PM
...and Clarkson's new coach announced here:

https://clarksonathletics.com/news/2018/5/7/carter-lincoln-chosen-as-new-head-coach-for-clarkson-mens-soccer.aspx

2015 graduate? Wow. He has got to be one of the, if not the youngest head coach in all of college soccer.

Saint of Old

Quote from: NEsoccerfan on May 08, 2018, 05:34:57 PM
Quote from: Ommadawn on May 08, 2018, 03:42:47 PM
...and Clarkson's new coach announced here:

https://clarksonathletics.com/news/2018/5/7/carter-lincoln-chosen-as-new-head-coach-for-clarkson-mens-soccer.aspx

2015 graduate? Wow. He has got to be one of the, if not the youngest head coach in all of college soccer.

Not looking good for the Golden Knights for the forseeable future.
This could be a great Coach, but to begin the rebuild all over again in a conference that is pretty stromg will be rough.

Clarkson had a good year last season with Seniors recruited by the previous Coach leading the way to their first conference playoff in years.

Good news for the coach is that expectations will not be unrealistic as he begins his career which is really really important.

D3soccerwatcher

Quote from: NEsoccerfan on May 08, 2018, 05:34:57 PM
Quote from: Ommadawn on May 08, 2018, 03:42:47 PM
...and Clarkson's new coach announced here:

https://clarksonathletics.com/news/2018/5/7/carter-lincoln-chosen-as-new-head-coach-for-clarkson-mens-soccer.aspx

2015 graduate? Wow. He has got to be one of the, if not the youngest head coach in all of college soccer.

The Head Coach at Eastern University is also a 2015 grad and a two time D3 NPOY.

CU_GKnight

Quote from: Saint of Old on May 09, 2018, 03:42:54 PM
Quote from: NEsoccerfan on May 08, 2018, 05:34:57 PM
Quote from: Ommadawn on May 08, 2018, 03:42:47 PM
...and Clarkson's new coach announced here:

https://clarksonathletics.com/news/2018/5/7/carter-lincoln-chosen-as-new-head-coach-for-clarkson-mens-soccer.aspx

2015 graduate? Wow. He has got to be one of the, if not the youngest head coach in all of college soccer.

Not looking good for the Golden Knights for the forseeable future.
This could be a great Coach, but to begin the rebuild all over again in a conference that is pretty stromg will be rough.

Clarkson had a good year last season with Seniors recruited by the previous Coach leading the way to their first conference playoff in years.

Good news for the coach is that expectations will not be unrealistic as he begins his career which is really really important.

I can't say I'm too surprised by the choice.  It fits with what Clarkson typically does when hiring coaches.  I think Steinrotter, Hillary, Taylor and now Lincoln were all within a few years of graduation when they got the head job.  I think it is a good opportunity for a young coach and hopefully Carter will be up to the task, but only time will tell.

I would disagree with Saint of Old that the expectations will be low and that this is another rebuild. I know Saint has an affinity for the former coach, but to say this team was "lead by players recruited by the former coach" would be a vast overstatement.  The senior class only had two regular starters and outside of the first weekend, when Calnan scored 4 of his 5 goals on the season, this was a team whose quality came more from the freshman and sophomores than from the seniors.  Freshman and Sophomores accounted for 55 percent of both the minutes played and the scoring.  While the seniors on this past years team are all fine young men, who I am sure will do well in life, they were not a key factor in Clarkson getting to the Playoffs for the first time in years.

From a near term perspective it should look pretty decent as many of the remaining players were recruited by Carter Lincoln. I would guess many of the incoming class were also identified before he left to go to Vermont last year and should at least have some familiarity with him.  I would think the expectations would be that Clarkson would be fighting for the 5-6 spot in the Liberty League again this season and looking for a few upsets along the way.  How things go long term is an unknown and only time will tell.