Coaching Carousel

[d4_Pace]

This is a hilarious website

[Vasoccer757]

He's had some decent teams, but these are some of the worst ratings for a coach that I've seen on here.  https://www.2adays.com/coaches/jeremiah-kneeland-36039

What even is this nonsense of a website??

[stlawus]

It's like rate my professor but for coaches.  Of course grain of salt etc but there is an athlete verification process so you can't just spam trolling nonsense. 

[Spartan94]

This site needs some work, but I think the idea is phenomenal ... no different than Amazon reviews in my opinion .. remove the ones that seem out of touch with reality of the "product" but the ones that have some detail, and are middle of the road often have pieces of information that are helpful. 

[VASoccer11]

This site needs some work, but I think the idea is phenomenal ... no different than Amazon reviews in my opinion .. remove the ones that seem out of touch with reality of the "product" but the ones that have some detail, and are middle of the road often have pieces of information that are helpful.

Just like any review, id venture to say the majority of them are people that are upset with their experiences who take the time to complain. Most satisfied customers have a positive experience and move on. It only becomes useful if you get an overwhelming majority of the players who played for each coach to review their coach. But by no means should this be the only information by which coaches are judged (not that thats what you were implying - just felt the point needed to be made)

[Ejay]

This site needs some work, but I think the idea is phenomenal ... no different than Amazon reviews in my opinion .. remove the ones that seem out of touch with reality of the "product" but the ones that have some detail, and are middle of the road often have pieces of information that are helpful.

Just like any review, id venture to say the majority of them are people that are upset with their experiences who take the time to complain. Most satisfied customers have a positive experience and move on. It only becomes useful if you get an overwhelming majority of the players who played for each coach to review their coach. But by no means should this be the only information by which coaches are judged (not that thats what you were implying - just felt the point needed to be made)

In this case, seems to be a consistent message year after year...

October 2023 - "his coach does not communicate with anyone. Constantly having to email and text him just to get a quick 10 minute meeting. He doesn't make anyone on the team even the captains and starters feel welcomed or cared about."
April 2023 - "there was a major lack of communication and care for his players. "
May 2022 - "Zero knowledge of the game. Terrible motivator. "
March 2022 - "not a likable person and again, a terrible coach. Do not play for this guy, you will lose your love for the game."
August 2021 - "Two-faced, polarizing, toxic, dishonest, insecure, awkward and a terrible soccer coach."
July 2020 - "gives little to no feedback, cannot communicate well"
July 2020 - "ABSOLUTELY TOXIC TO THE LOCKER ROOM"
Apr 2020 - "Wouldn't recommend playing for him unless you have no other options"
Nov 2017 - "Has no relationship with his players."
Nov 2015 - "seems to lack communication skills especially addressing the group"
Sept 2015 - "Not the most personable coach and struggles with listening to his players. Does not create a good team environment."

[Another Mom]

You all know I judge coaches by how well they run recruiting (because I think it correlate with how well they do other aspects of their job). My son attended an admissions open day, and emailed ahead of time to see if he could come by and meet the coach. No response. My son tried again and the coach said he was too busy to meet (it was preseason). My son was at Skidmore all day -- the coach couldn't find 5 minutes at lunch, or after practice or first thing in the morning? Unimpressive.

If it's not clear, I'm not saying the coach should have recruited my son. But when a potential strong player reaches out, he really needed to have made the effort to meet for a few minutes.

[PaulNewman]

I don't know enough about Skidmore or its coach enough to opine, and so I'll assume the characterizations here are reasonably accurate.  In the years I've been following I've never considered Skidmore an elite program, but, and this is probably based on some of the LL commentators and some decent results against NESCACs, I have viewed Skidmore as being a competitive program. 

Overall, though, I think we often miss a lot of context when comparing coaches, programs, values, behavior, etc.

Put aside the coach behavior, which perhaps is inexcusable, but just thinking about Skidmore, why would a coach waste his or her time with a prospect that you know isn't coming there?  Once you see a kid's profile and realize he is targeting top-half NESCACs (or even lower half), W&L, Haverford, Hopkins, Emory, etc, you know the kid is only considering Skidmore as a safety.  Does Serpone exhibit his impressive recruiting style with the dozens and dozens of players inquiring whom he has no interest in?  I would hope most coaches are polite and professional, but I'm pretty sure even the top-tier coaches, and maybe especially those, do not spend a lot of time with their reject and probable reject lists.

I think it's also important to contextualize schools when talking about things like cards.  I have experienced the character and graciousness of Messiah first-hand, and I am very confident that it is real.  I'm not in a position to judge how much of it is a function of the orientation and mission of the school.  That said, it's probably easier to have a low number of cards every year when you are dominating almost every game year after year.  Cards often are products of frustration and agitation, and in general teams who encounter less frustration should earn less cards (imo)....UNLESS, very physical and sometime chippy play are part and parcel of a team's style and success (a la Amherst). 

While I'm here, I want to clarify my take on Amherst...which may or may not be relatively consistent with the views of other posters here.  In an nutshell, I think you can acknowledge and admire the success of Serpone and Amherst without admiring the tactics and behavior.  There is no question that Serpone has had phenomenal success.  His record of consecutive Sweet 16s may be one of the more underrated accomplishments in all of college sports.  I think one can reasonably argue that this record alone makes Amherst a top 2 program along with Messiah.  That doesn't mean I have to like (or accept) how one of the top 2 LACs in the United States goes about it. 

Let's go Generals!

[Kuiper]

While our attention was on the NCAA Final Four, Joe Clarke from Washington University announced his retirement after 27 seasons as head men's soccer coach at the school and the most victories in program history.

https://washubears.com/news/2023/11/28/mens-soccer-joe-clarke-announces-retirement-after-27-seasons-as-mens-soccer-head-coach.aspx

With an endowed head coaching position, a strong academic school, and a school with a history of success, that will be an attractive position, albeit with big shoes to fill.

[Kuiper]

Looks like Ewan Seabrook is out as coach at Colby.  They posted a listing for a new head coach of men's soccer:

https://ncaamarket.ncaa.org/jobs/19433865/head-men-s-soccer-coach

And if you liked that 2aDays coach rating site, you'll love the (very negative) recent reviews of Seabrook

https://www.2adays.com/coaches/ewan-seabrook-37818

[jknezek]

I think you really have to take these with a grain of salt. W&L's Singleton only has 2, and one of them says he doesn't know soccer and didn't make the team better. First off, you don't get an A license without knowing the game. Anyone who's taken the licensing classes above D these days knows they are comprehensive. The fact that Singleton helped design those courses, once upon a time, says something else.

https://www.2adays.com/coaches/michael-singleton-36240

I think a lot of times the people that come give these reviews are the ones with an axe to grind. One thing we've found helping out our local martial arts place is it's hard to get people who are satisfied to go give a review. It just doesn't really cross their mind and when it does, they feel awkward writing comments instead of just clicking buttons, which no one cares about. But the minute someone is upset, that's the first thing they do is go try and tell everyone about it.

[jknezek]

I think you really have to take these with a grain of salt. W&L's Singleton only has 2, and one of them says he doesn't know soccer and didn't make the team better. First off, you don't get an A license without knowing the game. Anyone who's taken the licensing classes above D these days knows they are comprehensive. The fact that Singleton helped design those courses, once upon a time, says something else. And the overall improvement in the W&L program over 10years says something about making teams better. It's been a slow, steady, climb for W&L from not making the tournament, to first and second round, to sweet sixteens and final fours.

https://www.2adays.com/coaches/michael-singleton-36240

I think a lot of times the people that come give these reviews are the ones with an axe to grind. One thing we've found helping out our local martial arts place is it's hard to get people who are satisfied to go give a review. It just doesn't really cross their mind and when it does, they feel awkward writing comments instead of just clicking buttons, which no one cares about. But the minute someone is upset, that's the first thing they do is go try and tell everyone about it.

[PaulNewman]

PN's top 3 wish list for Colby College....

1) Reuben Burk
2) Reuben Burk
3) Reuben Burk

Apologies in advance to Connecticut College....

[Another Mom]

But why would Coach Burke want yhe job?

[Newenglander]

PN's top 3 wish list for Colby College....

1) Reuben Burk
2) Reuben Burk
3) Reuben Burk

Apologies in advance to Connecticut College....

Interesting choice - or just your wish? I would think Coach Burk's next move could be to D1 possibly but not sure why he'd switch within D3 and especially within conference?