Coaching Carousel

[Kuiper]

You've got a better chance of the boards nominating Serpone for the Nobel Peace Prize than Burke leaving Conn for Colby. I think Jordie Ciuffetelli is a great suggestion for the job, obviously I'm biased having worked with and played for him, but he'd be great there. I've also done the recruiting circuit with Billly Schmidt and Zach Grady and think they would both be good fits. An underrated aspect of these jobs is the personal life of the coaches. Not saying this is the case for any of those guys specifically, but if you're a single guy in your late 20s/early 30s Waterville, Lewiston, Bowdoin etc can be a tough sell. Just an off the radar factor that does come into consideration that you may not think about initially.

You may be right (and I wasn't the one pegging Burk for Colby), but I'm not sure he's single anymore.

[PaulNewman]

You've got a better chance of the boards nominating Serpone for the Nobel Peace Prize than Burke leaving Conn for Colby. I think Jordie Ciuffetelli is a great suggestion for the job, obviously I'm biased having worked with and played for him, but he'd be great there. I've also done the recruiting circuit with Billly Schmidt and Zach Grady and think they would both be good fits. An underrated aspect of these jobs is the personal life of the coaches. Not saying this is the case for any of those guys specifically, but if you're a single guy in your late 20s/early 30s Waterville, Lewiston, Bowdoin etc can be a tough sell. Just an off the radar factor that does come into consideration that you may not think about initially.

You're right, what was I thinking...the Chili's in New London, CT is outstanding.

Really?  New London is very much part of a metropolitan corridor. Waterville is a long way from anywhere. Even when I was at W&L the preference was for married coaches. The experiences of holding on to young, single coaches/professors at smaller, rural colleges is well known.

Corridor is pretty generous.  Guessing now, but over 2 hours from Boston, over an hour from Providence, an hour to New Haven, and 45-60 minutes to Hartford?  We all have different preferences.  That said, do we know that Burk is single?  I know nothing about him personally but did seem to have a ring on a ring finger in SC interview.  I mean Waterville isn't Caribou, ME.  There's two colleges in Waterville, Bates within distance, and not that far to Portland.  My pitch is that Colby is trending and this would be a great time to get in on it.  Conn from what I can gather is considered to have the weakest facilities in NESCAC with Colby now arguably the best.

Anyway, my take here is far more about Colby than Burk or any particular coach...and we've seen at a bunch of schools including W&L that getting the right coach can make a huge difference.  I'm just hoping they take their time, think big, and see what happens.

[Newenglander]

You've got a better chance of the boards nominating Serpone for the Nobel Peace Prize than Burke leaving Conn for Colby. I think Jordie Ciuffetelli is a great suggestion for the job, obviously I'm biased having worked with and played for him, but he'd be great there. I've also done the recruiting circuit with Billly Schmidt and Zach Grady and think they would both be good fits. An underrated aspect of these jobs is the personal life of the coaches. Not saying this is the case for any of those guys specifically, but if you're a single guy in your late 20s/early 30s Waterville, Lewiston, Bowdoin etc can be a tough sell. Just an off the radar factor that does come into consideration that you may not think about initially.

You're right, what was I thinking...the Chili's in New London, CT is outstanding.

Really?  New London is very much part of a metropolitan corridor. Waterville is a long way from anywhere. Even when I was at W&L the preference was for married coaches. The experiences of holding on to young, single coaches/professors at smaller, rural colleges is well known.

Corridor is pretty generous.  Guessing now, but over 2 hours from Boston, over an hour from Providence, an hour to New Haven, and 45-60 minutes to Hartford?  We all have different preferences.  That said, do we know that Burk is single?  I know nothing about him personally but did seem to have a ring on a ring finger in SC interview.  I mean Waterville isn't Caribou, ME.  There's two colleges in Waterville, Bates within distance, and not that far to Portland.  My pitch is that Colby is trending and this would be a great time to get in on it.  Conn from what I can gather is considered to have the weakest facilities in NESCAC with Colby now arguably the best.

Anyway, my take here is far more about Colby than Burk or any particular coach...and we've seen at a bunch of schools including W&L that getting the right coach can make a huge difference.  I'm just hoping they take their time, think big, and see what happens.

I think the other possible plus for Conn from a coaching/recruiting perspective is they may be the only NESCAC (maybe Trinity) that offers merit scholarships......

[jknezek]

You've got a better chance of the boards nominating Serpone for the Nobel Peace Prize than Burke leaving Conn for Colby. I think Jordie Ciuffetelli is a great suggestion for the job, obviously I'm biased having worked with and played for him, but he'd be great there. I've also done the recruiting circuit with Billly Schmidt and Zach Grady and think they would both be good fits. An underrated aspect of these jobs is the personal life of the coaches. Not saying this is the case for any of those guys specifically, but if you're a single guy in your late 20s/early 30s Waterville, Lewiston, Bowdoin etc can be a tough sell. Just an off the radar factor that does come into consideration that you may not think about initially.

You're right, what was I thinking...the Chili's in New London, CT is outstanding.

Really?  New London is very much part of a metropolitan corridor. Waterville is a long way from anywhere. Even when I was at W&L the preference was for married coaches. The experiences of holding on to young, single coaches/professors at smaller, rural colleges is well known.

Corridor is pretty generous.  Guessing now, but over 2 hours from Boston, over an hour from Providence, an hour to New Haven, and 45-60 minutes to Hartford?  We all have different preferences.  That said, do we know that Burk is single?  I know nothing about him personally but did seem to have a ring on a ring finger in SC interview.  I mean Waterville isn't Caribou, ME.  There's two colleges in Waterville, Bates within distance, and not that far to Portland.  My pitch is that Colby is trending and this would be a great time to get in on it.  Conn from what I can gather is considered to have the weakest facilities in NESCAC with Colby now arguably the best.

Anyway, my take here is far more about Colby than Burk or any particular coach...and we've seen at a bunch of schools including W&L that getting the right coach can make a huge difference.  I'm just hoping they take their time, think big, and see what happens.

Take a look at this map from the 2020 census. Most of my family lives up that way, so I'm pretty versed in the New London/CT area. It's a high density area, definitely in the dark red of 500-1000 people per square mile at least, and is fully surrounded by areas with at least that density. Waterville, ME on the other hand, is in the 10-150 people per square mile, surrounded by those types of rural areas, until you get to Bangor, which for a relatively small area matches New London.  Either way, they are not comparable in density, not even remotely. And yes, New London is part of the metro corridor, or megalopolis, that runs from Boston to D.C, Waterville is not.

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Frx6dueqiyvl71.png

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_megalopolis

As for whether he is single, I have no idea. I was just laughing about someone thinking a joke about a Chili's being the big draw in the New London area is remotely accurate. It's not Manhattan, but it's definitely suburban at the very least, with significant urban areas around.

[PaulNewman]

@jknezek, if you wanna be fair please keep in mind that I was using a little sarcasm in response to our even more sarcastic Tufts alum who suggested Burk going to Colby was less likely than us nominating another well known coach for the Nobel Prize.  Aside from the usual laments about the location of the Maine schools, imo the Colby job is an enormous opportunity for someone.

I've lived in New England for 31 years, visited Conn a couple of times, and have driven through the New London/Old Mystic/Old Saybrook corridor probably a 100 times.

I would not consider New London significantly more of a mecca for an active dating life than Waterville while of course understanding that New London is nicely situated halfway between Boston and NYC.

In an odd twist, both New London and Waterville are on/off I-95.

[northman]

This debate has some amusing dimensions.  If I were a young and aspirational D3 coach, I'm not sure I'd be putting population statistics at the top of my priority list.  In fact, it's sometimes easier to meet an interesting person in a smaller market than a larger market. 

As one anecdotal story, I moved from Boston to Portland, Maine 40 years ago...and found it far easier to meet people and develop friendships in Portland.  In fact, I met my wife to be in Portland 38 years ago, and she had recently moved there from the DC area.

All things being equal, I'm not convinced that someone would forego Waterville, Maine for New London, Connecticut.  New London is neither Manhattan nor Providence...

[Ejay]

As of 7:26pm today, the weather in Waterville, Maine is 18 degrees.  In New London, CT it's 42 degrees.  That would be my barometer - lol.

[PaulNewman]

41 degrees currently in Northfield, MN.

[EnmoreCat]

And for comparison, 32 degrees Celsius in deepest, dark Enmore right now.  Quite a change from the 2 degrees C I was getting Tuesday evening in DC.

[northman]

 

[Lonestar418]

D3 Men Open
Wisconsin – River Falls (10/27, FT)
Hood College (11/3, FT, $50k)
Elmhurst University (11/7, FT)
Capital University (11/8, FT)
Rivier University (11/10, FT)
Elizabethtown College (11/10, FT)
Norwich University (11/10, 10-month)
Mount St. Joseph University (11/10, FT)
Carroll University (11/15, FT)
Kueka College (11/15, FT, $47-50k)
Skidmore (11/16, 10-month, $60-70k)
Framingham State University (11/16, PT)
East Texas Baptist (11/16, FT)
University of St. Thomas – Houston (11/17, FT)
Worcester State University (11/20, PT)
Colby College (11/21, FT)
Lasell College (11/29, PT)
WashU (12/1, FT)

Filled
Millikin (10/18 – 12/6) Charlie Ward (DII Illinois-Springfield assistant)


D2 Men Open
D'Youville University (11/6, FT, $50-55k)
Salem University (11/6, FT)
Southern Wesleyan University (11/9, FT)
Erskine College (11/13, FT)
USC Aiken (11/14, FT)
Spring Hill College (11/30, FT)
Fort Hayes State (12/4, FT)

Other Men Open
Columbia College – NAIA (11/20, FT, $45k)
Great Lakes Christian – NCCAA (11/22, FT, $32-36k)
Penn St. – York – USCAA (12/7, PT)

[Ejay]

This thread got me thinking... if you were an AD, what kinds of questions would you ask potential coaching candidates? And would you be more interested in a HC moving schools, or a long time assistant looking for their first HC gig?

[camosfan]

I don't think the game means the same to every school, at some schools it is the main sport, at others it is just to accommodate part of the community. So, the profile of the sport in a school will help formulate the approach to hiring. Are you hiring a replacement for a successful program,  are you looking for someone to build such a program.

[Kuiper]

Vermont State University Lyndon is advertising for a new head men's coach.

https://ncaamarket.ncaa.org/jobs/19523050/head-men-s-soccer-coach

Chris Gilmore, the school's athletics director and the former long-time head soccer coach at Green Mountain College, has been interim head coach

[Kuiper]

University of St. Thomas (TX) has announced it has hired Occidental Men's soccer Assistant Coach Ernesto Ramirez as its new head coach of men's soccer.

https://ustcelts.com/sports/msoc/2023-24/releases/20240220hr0oas

This is a bit of a "if you can't beat them, hire someone from their staff" hire since Oxy beat St. Thomas in NCAA tournament this year.

He'll have his hands full there, especially trying to wrangle a group of talented, but not necessarily disciplined, group of players.  Based on what I have seen of him in youth coaching at the MLS Next/EA level as well as at Oxy, he'll connect with the players (probably better than the last head coach), but needs to take a step from being a player's coach to being a head coach to maximize their potential and minimize the fighting and griping with referees.  He's definitely a very hard worker and he is uber-organized, though, so that's a good start.  His last experience as a head coach at the college level (at DII Salem University in WV soon after he graduated college) was a tough situation at a school where it has been difficult for anyone to succeed.

I also saw the UST women's soccer coach post on Linkedin last month that they were still searching for candidates, so I'm guessing it was a difficult job to fill.  Getting an assistant coach from another western power that was just voted Region X Coaching Staff of the Year was probably about as good an outcome as they could have expected.