NESCAC

[BendIt007]

As a soccer alum at Conn College, Ken Murphy sent out an email letting us know he was leaving the program yesterday but wasn't too clear why, but it seemed like personal reasons.  I'm sure we'll find out more in the coming weeks.  I checked here to see if anyone knew any more.   

What is very odd, I am also a Camels lacrosse alum, and just got an email this morning from the longtime lacrosse coach, Dave Cornell, letting us know he is stepping down as the season starts next week.  In this case, he explained, his wife isn't doing well and needs to be with her and his family, so very understandable and sad tough situation.

Again, both longtime coaches that really helped bring programs at Conn College to the next levels... announcing their leaving days apart.  Very sad to see them both go, and I know the whole Conn College community wishes them the very best.

[Mr.Right]

Murphy was a big shock when it was announced. However, it is now April and he is still listed as their Head Coach online and I have not seen an official opening. Is it definitive that he is OUT? I am assuming he is done but for Conn College to also get rid of a Head Lax and Head B-Ball Coach and now with Murphy resigning something is not quite right in that athletic department and the Conn College "top dogs" might want to start looking at the AD and administration as the problem. To say the AD at Conn is aloof would be an understatement. Either way to bring it back to Men's Soccer Conn College MUST make a smart hire here. Conn is not like other Nescac's IMO for recruiting and that was why Murphy had so much success. He was a damn good recruiter and you must get creative because Conn is NOT an easy school to recruit to. I DONT think this is a job for a young D1 assistant unless he played in Nescac or has a good working knowledge of Coaching in D3. Just my hunch that for a school like Conn you need a grizzled veteran that knows the ropes and knows how to get the best out of his players....Oh wait that sounds pretty similar to Murphy. I guess in the end none of this matters because Conn will do the exact opposite of my idea and probably hire a young and more importantly CHEAP Head Coach. To me this would be a mistake and if Conn makes a really terrible hire the worst thing that could happen would be in 5 years Conn Men's Soccer could go 0-10-0. If Williams/Amherst/Midd etc make a Coaching hire mistake it hurts but it can be turned around quickly. If Conn makes a mistake it takes much longer to turn the ship around.  Murphy turned the ship around at Conn but it took him about 4-5 years to start making serious progress. Murphy arrived in 2009 and immediately made a difference with Lessig's players as they were much more organized. So right away Conn became a tougher game to win and by 2012 you started to notice Conn getting better players on their roster with more depth and physicality. 2013 and 2014 Conn looked similar to Amherst were just as physical if not more more. They had some success but Murphy progressed even further by staying true to his conservative/defensive tendencies BUT adding more players with skill and speed and mixing that with the physicality. Jump to today and we have a program that for the past 3-4 years have been besides Tufts and Amherst the best team in Nescac. Now Murphy was losing A TON of players after 2018 and maybe that helped him make his decision as maybe he did not want to rebuild it again. This is not like Amherst/Tufts that once they start winning it goes to cruise control mode every year. To win consistently at Conn you have to work harder than anyone else so you better have a real solid work ethic or you will be losing at Conn.

Should be interesting to follow.....

[Mr.Right]

The program under a microscope this season will be Wesleyan. Wheeler has had 2 of his worst years ever the past 2 seasons and this being his 20th season behind the sidelines at Wesleyan he MUST turn this thing around soon. A goal for Wesleyan must be a Top 8 but more importantly will Wheeler change tactically? Doubtful and that is fine because he has had success in his system but has not had the talent to succeed. Based on their recruiting class it looks like he is bringing in a huge class and that is needed as this program must start attracting better talent. I see the kid that has been mentioned on these boards before and Soccer New England Tyler Swanbeck. We know the kid is a stud but it looks like in the end he ended up at Wesleyan. That is good news for Wheeler as that is the type of competitor he needs on the filed. My question is i thought the kid was going to Colgate..either he backed out or Colgate passed and then it looked like Brandeis was in the picture but who knows in the end if it was his injuries that scared Head Coaches away. Nothing like an ACL tear in the kids senior year but that is where programs like Wesleyan need to take risks and take a flier on the kid. I think this is all good news for Wheeler and I truly expect Wesleyan to be back in the conversation in a couple years. Of course if they tank this season and have even more injury problems than Wheeler will be in trouble especially if he misses the Nescac Tournament for a 3rd straight year.

[Mr.Right]

Wesleyan is the only Nescac with its 2019 schedule posted. Wheeler has dropped some of his tougher non conference opponents and that is completely understandable. The guy needs as many Wins as he can get....He did not pick up cupcakes but games that are winnable as he is playing 4 Newmac teams(Clark, Springfield, Emerson and Coast Guard) plus Fitchburg State.

[Mr.Right]

Continuing with the tradition of Head Coaches getting sacked after going 0-10-0 it looks like Bates Women's Soccer who finished with that exact record in 2018 have parted ways with its Head Women's Soccer Coach...Amazingly, the only Head Coach to survive a 0-10-0 in Nescac Soccer is Trinity's Mike Pilger who went winless in Nescac last season. How much patience does Trinity have? Trinity will be improved in 2019 but a Top 8 could be a stretch.

[Another Mom]

Re: Tyler Swanbeck, he isn't going to Wesleyan.  He is already enrolled at Sienna.

Re: Connecticut College-- I can tell you the Asst. Coach seems to be all over recruiting.  He is being proactive with my son, as are some other NESCAC schools; while other NESCACS are not.

[nescacfan94]

Re: Connecticut College-- I can tell you the Asst. Coach seems to be all over recruiting.  He is being proactive with my son, as are some other NESCAC schools; while other NESCACS are not.

FWIW, the assistant coaches are generally all over the recruiting. That's the main part of their job. The CC Asst Coach was among the most proactive in my son's search. Pushed a campus visit hard, and was sometimes too forthcoming with his questions--"I wanted to see where you are in your search. We've got our list down to the top 25 and wanted to see if you were still interested/if we should keep you on the list....." I'm getting the quote wrong because 18 year old boys don't communicate well if it isn't via text , but that was the gist of the conversation with my son. Other coaches were radio silent for months and then came out of the woodwork hot and heavy. It was really odd to see the difference among the programs/coaches.

Mr. Right, I think you're correct about this being an important season for Wesleyan but I wanted to add a little color to your post. Wesleyan is a great school, but it has a reputation (at least in my circles) as more of a liberal campus than most (all?) others in the conference, and whether that's true or not, there is no question this plays out in the recruiting process. I know of a bunch of current NESCAC players and current conference commits that never considered the school simply because of the reputation or took it off the list after taking a tour of campus. My son was never interested even though I wanted him to look. He did have some great talks with Wheeler, including one over an hour that started with "I know you don't want to come here, but I'd like to talk and get to know you a bit...." Very nice man who really does give a hoot about the players (he offered to talk to my son and help with his choice if needed), and my son said he would like very much to play for a coach like that. It just wasn't a school he wanted. I wanted him to give it a closer look, but he was fortunate enough to have other choices that he liked, so there was no point. When kids get something in their head, it's especially hard for a parent to get it out.

Finally, you mentioned that the Wesleyan incoming class is huge. I see 7 on this list (and I recognize a few of those players). Other NESCACs only have a few listed, but that doesn't mean much. I know the 7 names of the 'recruits' at my son's school, for instance, but the current list for his school on this board is much smaller. I doubt the Wesleyan class is much larger than others in the conference. And of course, that doesn't include potential walk ons. 

[Mr.Right]

Re: Tyler Swanbeck, he isn't going to Wesleyan.  He is already enrolled at Sienna.

Re: Connecticut College-- I can tell you the Asst. Coach seems to be all over recruiting.  He is being proactive with my son, as are some other NESCAC schools; while other NESCACS are not.

That is a bummer for Wesleyan...Someone needs to update the sites list...That is good the Assistant at CC is being proactive because in any Coaching transition there are going to be things that fall thru the cracks especially with all the "unknowns" in the next couple months.

[Mr.Right]

Re: Connecticut College-- I can tell you the Asst. Coach seems to be all over recruiting.  He is being proactive with my son, as are some other NESCAC schools; while other NESCACS are not.

FWIW, the assistant coaches are generally all over the recruiting. That's the main part of their job. The CC Asst Coach was among the most proactive in my son's search. Pushed a campus visit hard, and was sometimes too forthcoming with his questions--"I wanted to see where you are in your search. We've got our list down to the top 25 and wanted to see if you were still interested/if we should keep you on the list....." I'm getting the quote wrong because 18 year old boys don't communicate well if it isn't via text , but that was the gist of the conversation with my son. Other coaches were radio silent for months and then came out of the woodwork hot and heavy. It was really odd to see the difference among the programs/coaches.

Mr. Right, I think you're correct about this being an important season for Wesleyan but I wanted to add a little color to your post. Wesleyan is a great school, but it has a reputation (at least in my circles) as more of a liberal campus than most (all?) others in the conference, and whether that's true or not, there is no question this plays out in the recruiting process. I know of a bunch of current NESCAC players and current conference commits that never considered the school simply because of the reputation or took it off the list after taking a tour of campus. My son was never interested even though I wanted him to look. He did have some great talks with Wheeler, including one over an hour that started with "I know you don't want to come here, but I'd like to talk and get to know you a bit...." Very nice man who really does give a hoot about the players (he offered to talk to my son and help with his choice if needed), and my son said he would like very much to play for a coach like that. It just wasn't a school he wanted. I wanted him to give it a closer look, but he was fortunate enough to have other choices that he liked, so there was no point. When kids get something in their head, it's especially hard for a parent to get it out.

Finally, you mentioned that the Wesleyan incoming class is huge. I see 7 on this list (and I recognize a few of those players). Other NESCACs only have a few listed, but that doesn't mean much. I know the 7 names of the 'recruits' at my son's school, for instance, but the current list for his school on this board is much smaller. I doubt the Wesleyan class is much larger than others in the conference. And of course, that doesn't include potential walk ons.

Yes yes we have thru the years consistently talked about the disadvantage sometimes in recruiting that Wesleyan can face because of their reputation, fair or not, of being an off-beat campus like Brown. However, IMO it is now become a bit of an excuse because as we have seen with the successes of other sports at Wesleyan especially Football and Lax it can be done with support. That is actually the key of this whole argument to me...It is not all about getting the talent but how much support you have in the administration / admissions etc to get that talent...I doubt Men's Soccer has much if any support these days at Wesleyan because of the AD change and overall direction that Wesleyan wanted to go in which is really Wheeler's main problem but at some point the problem becomes Wheeler not the school if he doesn't get this going. FWIW I think Wesleyan is a fantastic school and have some of the more thoughtful, insightful and creative kids in the conference. The liberal reputation is fair up to a point but IMO it is "blown up" a bit and is nowhere near like it used to be decades ago. Here's wishing for more revolutionary anarchism.

[truenorth]

It's fun to read the recent exchange on the culture and personality of Wesleyan vs. other schools.  Wesleyan is...by any objective measure...a fantastic school with high caliber academics and a rich history.  I truly believe a coach can sell Wesleyan on its own considerable merits, and not have to compare it to other NESCACs.  i.e. "This is who we are" vs. "we're different from Amherst and Williams but you should still look at us"...

I have a fond recollection from a September weekend in 2007...  My son was a high school senior and being recruited by several NESCACs.  I was his chauffeur to back-to-back official visits to Wesleyan and then Amherst on the same weekend.  You could not choose a bigger contrast among NESCACs in terms of culture and feel.  Geoff Wheeler was great.  Justin Serpone was just starting at Amherst and was recruiting in all of his young, arrogant glory.  I actually came to understand and appreciate him as the years passed.

My son ended up choosing Bowdoin...somewhere between Wesleyan and Amherst on the culture continuum...and had a great experience.

I also remember picking my son up the morning after his overnight at Wesleyan.  He was (not surprisingly) already exhausted.  But the first thing he said to me as we drove away was "Dad, did you see the new dorm?".  I said I had indeed seen the "new dorm" while I was out for a run on campus.  Then he corrected me and said "no Dad, I meant the nude dorm".   

[PaulNewman]

^^^^^^^^In other words, Wesleyan is EXACTLY what at least a few of us think college should be lol...

The psychology of all this truly is fascinating.  When is seeming homogeneous with other schools (in the same or roughly same tier) prove to be advantageous?  And when exactly the opposite?  I'm sure many of the kids who go Wesleyan do so because it is "Wesleyan."  But you can't take all of the New England snob factor (and New England elite prep school influence) out of Wesleyan.  While "different,"  Wesleyan still fits very much within the lines of the classic, elite New England LAC (aka NESCAC).  That combo works for a decent number of folks....kind of activist but still with at least one foot solidly planted in the mainstream.  IMHO, Wesleyan minus the New England thing but still with superb academics, a very long and proud history of being an activist or perhaps more accurately "liberal" institution of higher learning = Oberlin.  I really like the Midwest elite LACs, although some would argue (and I would tend to concede) that those schools have an aspect of snob factor (maybe read:  exclusivity) as well.  A deeper dive might look at whether differences in snobbery are just matters of degree or whether their truly are qualitative differences in what that means at different places.  I tend to think it is mostly degree, which jives with my preference for the Midwest schools versus the New England being only a mild preference.  Sometimes you just fit a little better at different places and those reasons can be subtle.

As at least a mainstream education snob (if not worse), I have looked at the NESCAC this way.... Wesleyan and Tufts, for different reasons, are the most different than the rest of the conference schools.  They are the relative outliers while still being viewed academically and prestige-wise right there with Middlebury and Bowdoin.  The other two that are a little different are Trinity and Conn College, as the well-accepted lower end of the NESCAC.  That leaves Williams, Amherst, Midd, Bowdoin, Colby, Hamilton and Bates (with Bates perhaps being towards the vibe of Wesleyan a touch more than the others (and/or maybe that's about some relative commonalities between Lewiston and Middletown).  There are minor differences in prestige, with most thinking of Williams and Amherst together, Midd and Bowdoin together, and Colby, Hamilton and Bates together...but the vibes are the most similar.  Some comments here seem to suggest that Amherst has a mild conservative tilt (or is that just the always lingering "Serpone" effect?).  My association with Amherst is the great David Foster Wallace,

[blooter442]

As at least a mainstream education snob (if not worse), I have looked at the NESCAC this way.... Wesleyan and Tufts, for different reasons, are the most different than the rest of the conference schools.  They are the relative outliers while still being viewed academically and prestige-wise right there with Middlebury and Bowdoin.  The other two that are a little different are Trinity and Conn College, as the well-accepted lower end of the NESCAC.  That leaves Williams, Amherst, Midd, Bowdoin, Colby, Hamilton and Bates (with Bates perhaps being towards the vibe of Wesleyan a touch more than the others (and/or maybe that's about some relative commonalities between Lewiston and Middletown).  There are minor differences in prestige, with most thinking of Williams and Amherst together, Midd and Bowdoin together, and Colby, Hamilton and Bates together...but the vibes are the most similar.  Some comments here seem to suggest that Amherst has a mild conservative tilt (or is that just the always lingering "Serpone" effect?).  My association with Amherst is the great David Foster Wallace,

I would tend to agree that there are relative "prestige" levels: kind of like the Ivies in that (while all are great schools) there seem to be small delineations throughout the larger group. Again, these are often minimal, but at least somewhat recognized nonetheless.

In addition to Amherst, which I would say seems more conservative than most of the other NESCACs, the other school I have thought of as having a more "conservative" bend within the student body is Colby. Of course, I would say that (relative to the average school) both schools are quite "liberal" on the whole, but that at least from my viewpoint there would seem to be a higher percentage of conservative students at Colby than most other NESCACs. Certainly more than Bates (a Bates friend from high school said that College Republicans at Bates was basically non-existent, while Colby's College Republicans were in the news last week). This being said, most (though not all) of the Colby students I know might call themselves "left of center." Again, not judging them one way or the other for their student body characteristics, but I have always thought of Bates as the most liberal of the Maine NESCACs, Colby the most conservative, and Bowdoin somewhere in the middle.

Fun fact: The last time I was properly at Colby (e.g. more than just driving through and seeing the new field) was six years ago tonight (it was also a Friday night) for a Macklemore concert.

[truenorth]

I generally agree with PaulNewman's and Blooter's observations.  One quick anecdote about the aforementioned recruiting trip...  After leaving the nude dorm at Wesleyan, my son and I drove to Amherst...where we met with Serpone, and I then left him with a team member for his overnight.  I then made a quick round trip to Providence to watch my older son play for Brown in an afternoon game. 

I got back to Amherst about halfway through a night game between Amherst and Curry on the new turf field.  I found my son sitting alone in the stands and joined him for a bit.  A bunch of Amherst "frat boys" had come down to the game and were hooting and hollering on the sidelines while wearing Bermuda shorts and blazers.  I thought that was an odd look, and I don't think you'd find that at any NESCAC other than Amherst...

[Mr.Right]

Re: Tyler Swanbeck, he isn't going to Wesleyan.  He is already enrolled at Sienna.

Re: Connecticut College-- I can tell you the Asst. Coach seems to be all over recruiting.  He is being proactive with my son, as are some other NESCAC schools; while other NESCACS are not.

Does anyone know the backstory of this Swanbeck kid? Since reading the article in SNE I had wanted to follow his college playing career but now I cannot access the article and do not feel like paying to read it. I had wanted to re-read it because IIRC the kid had injuries his JR/SR year and than committed to a school like Colgate and then either player or Head Coach backed off. Then it said there was interest from Brandeis add to that a month later on this site it was posted that he was heading to Wesleyan..Now Siena...Maybe I am not reading the situation correctly as I do not know the full story but from afar it looks like a ton of indecision on the kid and/or the Head Coaches. Of course it also kind of looks like any other normal applicant with a range of different schools but some backstory on this situation would be interesting because there is alot more to this story.

Actually his father was the Head Coach of Clark in the early 90's and lasted about 5 years without much success. I think he bounced around a bit but I do know he was the Head Coach at Army from 02-09 and drove a below average outfit about 6 feet deeper. I am to lazy to check the stats but i would be willing to bet his career Winning % at Army is under .370 and his Patriot League record was even worse. Currently he looks like he has found some success at Hebron Academy and can enjoy watching his boy play for 4 years.

[mom1234]

Murphy was a big shock when it was announced. However, it is now April and he is still listed as their Head Coach online and I have not seen an official opening. Is it definitive that he is OUT? I am assuming he is done but for Conn College to also get rid of a Head Lax and Head B-Ball Coach and now with Murphy resigning something is not quite right in that athletic department and the Conn College "top dogs" might want to start looking at the AD and administration as the problem. To say the AD at Conn is aloof would be an understatement. Either way to bring it back to Men's Soccer Conn College MUST make a smart hire here. Conn is not like other Nescac's IMO for recruiting and that was why Murphy had so much success. He was a damn good recruiter and you must get creative because Conn is NOT an easy school to recruit to.

This is interesting to learn, as my son came close to going there this coming year. An "aloof AD" as you said sure isn't a good fit for a go-getter like him. Another of his frustrations --not that this had any bearing on his departure, but I know because we were caught up in it -- was lack of transparency for ED recruits regarding cost, which he expressed as an ongoing barrier to his recruiting; he lost my kid because of it. He said had been gunning for years for CC to do a financial aid pre-read process for recruits to no avail, and it sure seemed to irritate him that this was a NESCAC-wide issue. So since reading about his departure, my son and I have been joking that it was him who put Murphy over the edge. Obviously that's a joke, but I will note: boy was he pissed off and not good at hiding it. (A reaction that proved my son's misgivings about him in the first place.) My point is that based observing on his personality type, someone who is super ambitious, intense, and puts in 150% -- yet is maybe a little short fused -- I wouldn't be surprised if he suddenly reached a boiling point about something, or a combination of things, and said screw it, I'm done. Maybe he's a better fit for a D1 school.