Coaching Carousel

[Another Mom]

Forgive the hyperbole,  but the Harvard coach has been a dead man walking for some time. I am not alone in thinking Shapiro would be a great fit for the job.

[blooter442]

Forgive the hyperbole,  but the Harvard coach has been a dead man walking for some time. I am not alone in thinking Shapiro would be a great fit for the job.

From what I've heard, I think Shapiro is quite happy in Division III, and does not miss the grind of DI. Ironic that his appointment at Tufts was contingent on the top choice (Carl Junot) accepting before reneging and taking the job at Harvard. Tufts was grateful that Shapiro was still available and interested, and, given their contrasting fortunes — particularly the hardware that Shapiro has brought — I am guessing the Tufts athletics department would say it got the right guy (even if at the second attempt)!

That said, you can never say never, and I'm sure he'd do a great job there, too!

[PaulNewman]

I'd be shocked if Shapiro didn't take the Harvard job if offered.  Or BC.  Or BU.  What more can he do at Tufts?  And at some point a guy with a wife and young kids has got to think about his long-term future.

[d4_Pace]

I could really see Serpone in the running for that harvard job too. An incredible career at Amherst, a school very similar to Harvard in terms of academic prestige and difficulty.  Plus I would have to think that Harvard would be very interested in taking some of the good press coach Serpone got from the New York times a few weeks back. If you haven't read the article it is quite interesting. Either way I think Serpone has got to be one of the top candidates for the job.

[Another Mom]

I could really see Serpone in the running for that harvard job too. An incredible career at Amherst, a school very similar to Harvard in terms of academic prestige and difficulty.  Plus I would have to think that Harvard would be very interested in taking some of the good press coach Serpone got from the New York times a few weeks back. If you haven't read the article it is quite interesting. Either way I think Serpone has got to be one of the top candidates for the job.

I agree with you. Another plus for him is his 3 graduate degrees, and the other 3 he is apparently working towards. He's also started a soccer analytics program at Amherst. In other words, he brings more to the table than merely being a top coach. I suspect academically prestigious institutions are extra impressed by that stuff.

On the minus side, though, he would have to move and his wife is a lacrosse coach at UMass Amherst, she may not want to move.

[blooter442]

I could really see Serpone in the running for that harvard job too. An incredible career at Amherst, a school very similar to Harvard in terms of academic prestige and difficulty.  Plus I would have to think that Harvard would be very interested in taking some of the good press coach Serpone got from the New York times a few weeks back. If you haven't read the article it is quite interesting. Either way I think Serpone has got to be one of the top candidates for the job.

Did not see that article until now. I particularly liked "It might not be easy, but I'll track those two kids down.  They may not have the grades or they may not want to play in college, but I'm going to find out. Still, it illustrates the central point — if diversity matters to you, you'll find kids and take a chance."

I guess I had noticed that Amherst had recruited players from a variety of areas (and I mean both within the U.S. and internationally), but — without getting into the point about Amherst's ability to recruit a more diverse group of athletes vis-a-vis other schools — he deserves credit for finding people (talent) who perhaps didn't have the same opportunities for exposure as some of their fellow players.

[PaulNewman]

Apparently there's room in Boston for both of them.... it's a little weird to see Serpone suddenly being touted when there's a threat to losing Shapiro.  Obviously both have done a phenomenal job but Shapiro seems like the safer pick including personality wise...AND his Middlebury degree fits a tad better at least for Harvard and maybe for BC and BU, although I'm not up to date on Serpone's graduate pursuits. 

[OldNed]

Definitely not on the same scale as the previous New England vacancies, but Lesley College's (Cambridge) coach has resigned.  I haven't seen any news on this, but I have it on good authority from a player's parent, and the coach on the Lesley website is listed as "TBA".

[Mr.Right]

Neither Serpone or Shapiro would be wise to leave a Nescac school for BU...The Patriot league is not a league where u have any chance of winning titles. Navy is the one job in the Patriot League you would leave for(As Brandt did).

[Ommadawn]

Matt Edwards has resigned from his duties at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps:

https://www.cmsathletics.org/sports/msoc/2019-20/releases/20191220mt7f6x

This is kind of a shocker, as CMS has 9 starters returning in 2020.

[OldNed]

Matt Edwards has resigned from his duties at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps:

https://www.cmsathletics.org/sports/msoc/2019-20/releases/20191220mt7f6x

This is kind of a shocker, as CMS has 9 starters returning in 2020.

I was stunned to hear of this, especially given CMS's success this past season.  I've followed Matt's career closely since he coached my son as a 13-14 year old in CT, and I wish him the best in future endeavors.  I do know that he and his wife have a young child, so perhaps that factored into this decision at some level.

[jknezek]

Matt Edwards has resigned from his duties at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps:

https://www.cmsathletics.org/sports/msoc/2019-20/releases/20191220mt7f6x

This is kind of a shocker, as CMS has 9 starters returning in 2020.

I was stunned to hear of this, especially given CMS's success this past season.  I've followed Matt's career closely since he coached my son as a 13-14 year old in CT, and I wish him the best in future endeavors.  I do know that he and his wife have a young child, so perhaps that factored into this decision at some level.

Hard to live with a family in Southern Cal on a DIII soccer coach's salary. Maybe it just got to be too much. Otherwise it does look like an odd resignation.

[Another Mom]

If I was guessing,  and that's all I'm doing,  I am guessing that Coach Serpone is taking one of the openings. Probably Shapiro is too, but to me Serpone would be a little more of a surprise.

[PaulNewman]

Any Tufts' affiliates able to confirm (or refute) that Shapiro is headed to Harvard?

[Ommadawn]

Any Tufts' affiliates able to confirm (or refute) that Shapiro is headed to Harvard?

Assuming that the chatter on Talking Soccer (http://talking-soccer.com/TS4/showthread.php?t=160275) is true, who might be candidates for the Tufts opening?  Does AD John Morris attempt to make lightning strike twice with a D1 assistant or go for someone with a more established D3 resume?  I imagine that the position might attract a different pool of applicants than in 2009, when Tufts hired, in succession, Carl Junot (who bolted for Harvard shortly after accepting the job) and Josh Shapiro.