Coaching Carousel

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

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Dave 'd-mac' McHugh

Quote from: EB2319 on March 20, 2020, 08:05:27 AM
Any updates on the CAC teams/future?

For those who have tuned into Hoopsville during basketball season (and I have written it on the boards in several places especially somewhere on the soccer ones), they know the answer ... I've reported that the CAC and ACAA are merging possibly as soon as next academic year. They are likely not going to play a conference schedule against everyone, though I had an interview recently with a CAC basketball coach who mentioned traveling to distant places around the country. We didn't have time for me to follow up and see what he meant (it could have just been playoff related for all I know).

No one has disputed my report ... because if I was wrong, trust me I would have heard about it immediately or in the last two months since I first reported it.

The merger holds on to the AQs under the CAC umbrella.
Host of Hoopsville. USBWA Executive Board member. Broadcast Director for D3sports.com. Broadcaster for NCAA.com & several colleges. PA Announcer for Gophers & Brigade. Follow me on Twitter: @davemchugh or @d3hoopsville.

PaulNewman

Quote from: midwest on March 22, 2020, 09:49:40 AM
@PaulNewman -- great thoughts about the Bianco hire at Denison. On the swimming and diving program though, the Denison coach, Greg Parini swam for Kenyon in the '80s but has coached at Denison since the late '80s. So, when Denison Men broke Kenyon's grip on the national championship, Parini had been the Denison coach for 20+ years. I don't know enough about the program to know whether a change in assistants contributed to Denison's ascent or if, as Denison became better known academically, it was able to recruit more competitive classes. But, as a Denison family, we hope that Bianco is able to find a way to break into the top 2 in the NCAC.

Thanks for the correction.  I knew the coach had a Kenyon background but was too lazy to search the details.  I was close on  the time frame, though, as 2011 (year my son headed to Kenyon) was the year Denison broke Kenyon's string of 31 consecutive titles.  I think Kenyon has one or two since then, but Denison has most of them, and I think maybe Emory got one.  I've always had a soft spot for Denison after spending the summer of '82 in Cambridge, MA with a house full of outstanding Denison women.  And as a Kenyon soccer family, we've owed Denison a nice plug in exchange for 2014  ;).

College Soccer Observer

Related to NCAC--Allegheny is awful and not competitive in recruiting at all.  Program has declined dramatically in recent years.
As an alum, it is almost like they are good with being poor across the board.  Their highest team sport finish was 5th for women's basketball.  Other results were 6th men's BB, 10th men's soccer, 7th football, 8th field hockey, 6th women's soccer, 9th volleyball. 

Ommadawn

Quote from: PaulNewman on March 19, 2020, 06:30:00 PM
Thanks.  I'd be interested in your thoughts as well.

Coach Bianco's move to Denison is especially interesting because it is, on the surface at least, something less than a lateral move (given the UAA's standing as one of the top few leagues in D3 year in and year out).  I share your sentiment that he will build a strong program at Denison and that Denison may have a higher ceiling.  The OWU palace intrigue hypothesis is also interesting--that's why I sought insight from those with strong ties to the Ohio scene  ;)  My initial thought about the situation is that Coach Bianco found it difficult to recruit at Case with season-long 7:00 a.m. practices due to limitations in field availability. But who would ever let something like that influence a decision as important as choosing a college or university to attend...?  ;)

PaulNewman

Quote from: Ommadawn on March 23, 2020, 03:12:15 PM
Quote from: PaulNewman on March 19, 2020, 06:30:00 PM
Thanks.  I'd be interested in your thoughts as well.

Coach Bianco's move to Denison is especially interesting because it is, on the surface at least, something less than a lateral move (given the UAA's standing as one of the top few leagues in D3 year in and year out).  I share your sentiment that he will build a strong program at Denison and that Denison may have a higher ceiling.  The OWU palace intrigue hypothesis is also interesting--that's why I sought insight from those with strong ties to the Ohio scene  ;)  My initial thought about the situation is that Coach Bianco found it difficult to recruit at Case with season-long 7:00 a.m. practices due to limitations in field availability. But who would ever let something like that influence a decision as important as choosing a college or university to attend...?  ;)

Well, since I am in Massachusetts and have been for a long time, I am NOT an Ohio expert.  It's been at least 3-4 years since I could get even a sliver of inside info about Kenyon, much less all the other schools.  That's why I underscored at the outset that my thoughts are entirely speculative.  I know NOTHING about the goings on at OWU.

I agree that on the surface the change to Denison seems like at most a lateral move and maybe less than that.  But as you seem to concur, I do think the ceiling at Denison over a decade or so may be higher, and perhaps significantly higher.

A couple of words about CWRU....again, NOT as any kind of expert, but as a parent who has had an interest in colleges and the college selection process.  My feeling is that CWRU is a phenomenal school, very strong in STEM, but also having a large range of offerings (akin to many of the UAAs).  That said, I think CWRU is very underrated, especially for many in the Northeast/New England corridor, and in comparison with other UAAs like Chicago, Wash U, CMU, Emory, NYU, etc.    There are some similarities with Rochester, which also often is not one of the first schools that hit you in the face when beginning the college search, but which in reality is another very underrated, outstanding choice.  Many of us education snobs on the East Coast are unfairly and unduly overly influenced by things like admission rates, and while this may have changed somewhat, my recollection is that CWRU's admissions rate ran about 40% or higher.  In that kind of regard, I think CWRU gets viewed as on the lower end of the UAA, which even if accurate, is still really, really good.  Then throw in some folks' initial gut reaction to Cleveland, and there you go.  I would guess that for students more on the academically and/or socioeconomically elite side that CWRU often ends up being a 3rd or 4th choice rather than a top choice.  IIRC, CWRU does offer some of the best merit aid in the country, and perhaps in some cases that tips the scales in CWRU's favor.  CWRU does have the advantage of having a very well respected medical school (again, similar to Rochester) and some affiliation with Cleveland Clinic which mitigates some of the prestige factor.  I'm just saying that in the rarefied of the UAA in general, CWRU may find itself at a competitive disadvantage with most of the other UAAs, and perhaps in some case with respect to top 25-35 LACs.

Back to Bianco.  I didn't see this coming, but I do believe the move will prove to be a very good and even shrewd one for both Denison and Coach Bianco.  BTW, I would be very curious to know if he would have made the change IF CWRU had had another Sweet 16 to Elite 8 kind of a season where at least the near-term picture continued to look very promising.   And, as you intimated, regularly making the top 3 or 4 in the UAA at least now is tougher than making the top 3-4 in the NCAC.

PaulNewman

Quote from: College Soccer Observer on March 22, 2020, 06:38:34 PM
Related to NCAC--Allegheny is awful and not competitive in recruiting at all.  Program has declined dramatically in recent years.
As an alum, it is almost like they are good with being poor across the board.  Their highest team sport finish was 5th for women's basketball.  Other results were 6th men's BB, 10th men's soccer, 7th football, 8th field hockey, 6th women's soccer, 9th volleyball.

Strongly agree.  Allegheny should be much better.  Not sure what has happened there.



Domino1195

Just waking from my winter's slumber . . .
Bianco was a HS standout Olentangy HS, which now has 4 HS programs.  Not sure if his wife is from central Ohio but I'm sure the allure of coming home was part of his decision.  My son went to OWU summer camps for years when Brandon ran them - he's an incredibly nice guy, great communicator.  I think he had a lot to do with the transition of OWU to a predominantly Ohio player based program - going to be interested to see if he adds more Ohio kids to the Denison roster. The idyllic surrounds of Granville, plus an incredible school district, extremely well funded, have to be attractive to families raising young children.

Finances are going to become a larger issue for athletic programs here in Ohio.  The University of Cincinnati just pulled the plug on men's soccer last week.  Some D3 schools in the state are having financial issues and athletic budgets are getting trimmed.  With no paid assistants some coaches have to do it all - recruiting, fundraising, training in the off-season.  That wear and tear, any uncertainty about the future of a program, could all contribute to some of these coaching changes.

WUPHF


Domino1195

Wow on Poe leaving Mt. Union.  I commented on his rapid impact up there, being from Northern Ohio, all-state player - deep roots. I thought his recruiting hurt schools like Baldwin Wallace, and to a lesser degree, ONU.  These schools recruited well from the Cleveland area, but Poe got many above-average players to go to Mt. Union in his 5-6 years there.

Several Ohio schools have announced that fall classes, on campus, will resume - haven't heard about athletics yet.  Akron announced they were trimming three varsity sports (2 men's teams, 1 woman's team) and Bowling Green dropped men's baseball last week.  I do expect other schools to drop sports programs as budgets shrink.


DoubleJ


WLCALUM83

"When you come to the fork in the road, take it."

Ron Boerger

Kevin White named head coach at Centenary (LA):  https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/msoc/2021-22/releases/20210805nmrua6

What's interesting is that this announcement says "former head coach Kyle Symczak [...] recently accepted another collegiate position after five years at the helm" but I cannot find anything out there saying where he is now.  Centenary pulled of a improbable win in the SCAC conference championships; 0-4 on the road during the abbreviated season but won three straight at home (including twice in penalties) to win the championship despite being the #6 seed (of 6).