Lax Coach-Poll

Poll

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The Search for the Next Lax Coach

	Just Hire Kerwick - He is a "Keeper"
	Need to take a look at who applies

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I am in the "The possibility of getting better coach is not worth the risk of losing the good one we seem to have" camp

Hope this search is more successful than some recent searches (read men's basketball).

The big question in my mind is that if we initate a full search then, Kerwick will likely have to do the same.

I think we can all agree (to the extent that Cornellians ever agree about anything, except Harvard) Kerwick did a good job this year.

1. I don't see Kerwick staying if someone else is offered the job. It would be incredibly difficult for the new coach and Kerwick.

2. Lax is growing by leaps and bounds and I would guess that Kerwick would be a very hot property if he decided to test the market.

3. He might leave even before we have begun a search if we don't make an offer. Who is likely to be on the market that is better?

So, is it worth the risk? I don't think so but others could disagree.

Only coach that intrigues me is Pressler. If Cornell is open to that, he's presumably already been asked if he's at all interested. If not, I say sign Kerwick now.

The other thing that has to be kept in mind: what happened to the last (non-interim) Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Men's Lacrosse at Cornell University. Any prospective coach has to be skittish about taking a job with a boss who fires people with no explanation.

Towerroad
The big question in my mind is that if we initate a full search then, Kerwick will likely have to do the same.

I think we can all agree (to the extent that Cornellians ever agree about anything, except Harvard) Kerwick did a good job this year.

1. I don't see Kerwick staying if someone else is offered the job. It would be incredibly difficult for the new coach and Kerwick.
2. Lax is growing by leaps and bounds and I would guess that Kerwick would be a very hot property if he decided to test the market.
3. He might leave even before we have begun a search if we don't make an offer. Who is likely to be on the market that is better?

So, is it worth the risk? I don't think so but others could disagree.

Report this post to the admins: It's to the point and thoughtful. That will never do.

CU77
Only coach that intrigues me is Pressler. If Cornell is open to that, he's presumably already been asked if he's at all interested. If not, I say sign Kerwick now.

The other thing that has to be kept in mind: what happened to the last (non-interim) Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Men's Lacrosse at Cornell University. Any prospective coach has to be skittish about taking a job with a boss who fires people with no explanation.

Pressler is an interesting choice. However, it looks like he will be too busy this week to return AN's phone call. Bryant's upset over Syracuse is pretty impressive. You know he wants a shot at Duke on Memorial Day.

I suspect that protocol dictates that annoncements will not be made until after Memorial Day.

Mike Pressler was dismissed because he let the team get way out of control. The rape accusations against Duke players turned out not to be true; the only person who went to jail over this was the DA. (Also the accuser, for murder, unrelated case.) But there was the atmosphere of a team that was out of control in ways beyond Cornell's alleged transgressions. Parts of the Cornell lax community think Ben DeLuca was railroaded out of town for modest if any transgressions. So Cornell is going to hire someone with a history that's arguably more problematic? Mike Pressler seems like a non-starter.

billhoward
So Cornell is going to hire someone with a history that's arguably more problematic? Mike Pressler seems like a non-starter.

Cornell's already done that. Didn't Kerwick have a DUI at Georgetown?

Pressler has a history of successful coaching at two well regarded academic institutions (Duke and Ohio Wesleyan) and is probably a better tactician, if you saw how Bryant played SU. He probably would have been smart enough to put a pole on an inbounding player with 9 seconds left in a tie game, or to run his 2nd midfield more on a hot humid day.

I think Pressler has some family ties in Rhode Island, and that's more likely the reason not to expect him.

And there ARE other possibilities. Paul Wehrum was hugely successful at Herkimer CC and now has Union in the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament. Alberici at Army has benefitted by Navy's decline, but really hasn't been able to recruit very deeply there and might be a possibility. Kevin Cassese was successful very quickly at Lehigh, which has had a lacrosse team for a long time, but nobody knew it until he came. Current successful Head Coaches Bates at Princeton and Murphy at Penn were not familiar names before they were hired, so I suspect there are other good assistants available, like Dave Metzbower at Loyola, at one time thought to be the successor to Tierney at Princeton.

Kerwick did a great job handling the team coming out of the troubles of the fall. In my opinion, he should be Ivy Coach of the Year. Not Harvard's guy, he's had years of blue chip recruits. Not Penn's guy, he was expected to be at or near the top of the league. Our guy. But I think it doesn't hurt to see who else may be interested.

Matt Kerwick came in as an assistant not the head guy. He admitted to making a mistake and used that as a teaching moment with the players. [articles.baltimoresun.com] He had Cornell one dropped pass or misplayed Q4 faceoff from being in the quarterfinals and - sorry, I think Bryant's 15 minutes are about up - the final four.

[edit add:] One coach's issue was about the oversight of 30 players. The other's was about an internal weakness, drinking, that he owned up to. Andy Noel might recall Abraham Lincoln's words about Grant's drinking problems: "Find out what whiskey he drinks and send all of my generals a case, if it will get the same results."

Let me ask the opposite question:

You are Coach Kerwick: Cornell decides to do a full search. What other programs might be looking for a new coach?

Towerroad
Let me ask the opposite question:

You are Coach Kerwick: Cornell decides to do a full search. What other programs might be looking for a new coach?

Good point. Off the top of my head, Brown, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Hobart, Navy, Providence, Virginia.

Did I miss anybody? Just to be clear, I am not against hiring Kerwick, just think that it's reasonable to consider options. It's not unheard of that a coach has one good year with inherited recruits then flops. If that happens, you wouldn't want to regret the lack of diligence.

TimV

Towerroad
Let me ask the opposite question:

You are Coach Kerwick: Cornell decides to do a full search. What other programs might be looking for a new coach?

Good point. Off the top of my head, Brown, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Hobart, Navy, Providence, Virginia.

Did I miss anybody? Just to be clear, I am not against hiring Kerwick, just think that it's reasonable to consider options. It's not unheard of that a coach has one good year with inherited recruits then flops. If that happens, you wouldn't want to regret the lack of diligence.

I could easily see Kerwick going to any of those except perhaps Virginia

TimV
Current successful Head Coaches Bates at Princeton and Murphy at Penn were not familiar names before they were hired, so I suspect there are other good assistants available, like Dave Metzbower at Loyola, at one time thought to be the successor to Tierney at Princeton.

In my opinion you lose a lot of credibility referring to Bates as "successful." Are we certain he is even keeping that job? Can't see how he deserves another year.

TimV
... Off the top of my head, Brown, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Hobart, Navy, Providence, Virginia. [possible coaching slots]

Georgetown let him go 2 years ago. Kerwick already coached at Hobart and I think we're agreed Steve Donahue wouldn't return from BC to Cornell, so not sure why Kerwick would return to Hobart, unless he found Ithaca too bustling and noisy. The others are slots to think about: Brown, Navy, maybe Providence, maybe Virginia (you gonna fire a coach with Starsia's resume? 3 years removed from his fourth national championship? Or do we think Starsia will hang it up at 62?) But point taken: Unless he knows he's coming back, Kerwick should be finding out what's out there. But point taken: There's always transition and it's good to know your options.

If you believe you can build a team from scratch, you'd want to be the guy to start the BC varsity lacrosse program. Can't believe the Eagles haven't already moved on lax. BU, which has two soccer/lax/field hockey fields total, just added men's varsity lax this year.

billhoward

TimV
... Off the top of my head, Brown, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Hobart, Navy, Providence, Virginia. [possible coaching slots]

Georgetown let him go 2 years ago. Kerwick already coached at Hobart and I think we're agreed Steve Donahue wouldn't return from BC to Cornell, so not sure why Kerwick would return to Hobart, unless he found Ithaca too bustling and noisy. The others are slots to think about: Brown, Navy, maybe Providence, maybe Virginia (you gonna fire a coach with Starsia's resume? 3 years removed from his fourth national championship? Or do we think Starsia will hang it up at 62?) But point taken: Unless he knows he's coming back, Kerwick should be finding out what's out there. But point taken: There's always transition and it's good to know your options.

If you believe you can build a team from scratch, you'd want to be the guy to start the BC varsity lacrosse program. Can't believe the Eagles haven't already moved on lax. BU, which has two soccer/lax/field hockey fields total, just added men's varsity lax this year.

That is an interesting question. Lax is growing by leaps and bounds for all the reasons we love it. What schools might be thinking about adding a program? Big 10 alread has Hopkins, UMD, PSU, OSU, Rutgers and Michigan. Can Wisconsin, Mich St, Purdue, Northwestern (already a womens power house), etc be far behind. And then there is Tx where Lax is growing in popularity and the west coast. It is a good time to be an experienced Lax coach.

That was the subject line on the Andy Noel email this morning.

It was actually a blurb to sign up for "former Director of Cornell Outdoor Education, will lead Cornellians and their friends on an exciting trek to Nepal, Annapurna Base Camp, and the Himalaya."

Not exciting enough to warrant two exclamation points, Andy. Come on, man!

TimV

billhoward
So Cornell is going to hire someone with a history that's arguably more problematic? Mike Pressler seems like a non-starter.

Cornell's already done that. Didn't Kerwick have a DUI at Georgetown?

Pressler has a history of successful coaching at two well regarded academic institutions (Duke and Ohio Wesleyan) and is probably a better tactician, if you saw how Bryant played SU. He probably would have been smart enough to put a pole on an inbounding player with 9 seconds left in a tie game, or to run his 2nd midfield more on a hot humid day.

I think Pressler has some family ties in Rhode Island, and that's more likely the reason not to expect him.

I think Pressler would be hard to move for two reasons. (1) He's very loyal to Bryant for hiring him when nobody else would. Just as in 1885 Andrew D. White wouldn't take the head coaching President job at Stanford out of loyalty to Ezra Cornell, even though he was retiring from the position at Cornell. (2) The administration at Bryant is trying to be like Quinnipiac and move from unheard of D-II school to D-I with a name for itself, and the administrators are wetting themselves over Bryant beating Syracuse in the dome. Right now lacrosse is about as big-time as you get at Bryant, so I'd expect them to match or beat almost any offer.