Cornell @ Michigan MLax C15-14 OT

[mountainred]

If Andy doesn't hire a talented coach the program is going to fall mightily. DeLuca was not recruiting well and team has shown that by struggling to beat two of the weakest teams in the country, and has its hands full with Michigan.

First, aren't Cornell fans supposed to run Bill Courtney out of town before turning on Matt Kerwick? We're jumping the gun. Second, we knew there'd be a falloff losing the NCAA's all-time scoring leader and a solid senior class including the #2 scorer and the top defender. The transition - the dismissal - cost Cornell a year of recruiting, or two years because so many players commit two years in advance and also the players headed to college next fall could still back out. This is a year for team solidarity, for the parents and friends of Cornell lacrosse to be faithful and supportive, and let's see what happens. Is it possible the team would be 3-0 with a couple squeaker victories early on even without a coaching change? Even in an off year, Cornell fans are pretty supportive. There's a story that high school student Ken Dryden went on a recruiting trip to see Princeton play a home game, and the fans at Princeton helped cement his decision to attend Cornell. So hang in there.

Kerwick's an interim head coach and as long as that's his status I'll keep hoping Cornell hires someone else after the season. His 111-101 career record makes me think Cornell can do better and, more importantly, needs to do better. The fact that the team is struggling against a weak schedule (currently 63/67 according to laxpower) thus far reinforces the notion that DeLuca was not getting the job done in recruiting.

I still send money to the program and I've stood in the snow plenty of times watching the team play. That's not going to change...well, hopefully the snow part changes.

I'll play devil's advocate for Kerwick.  Going 11-17 at Jacksonsville isn't bad considering those were the first two years at D1 for the program.  And I think he led Hobart to their last two NCAA appearances and league title.  He's probably not the next Richie Moran or Jeff Tambroni, but there are worse coaches.  I grant you the team hasn't looked great (not that I watched the UM game), but a ton of talent graduated last May.  

Still, I have no problem with hitting the proverbial "reset" button and finding someone new and unaffiliated with the program to be the next full-time HC.

[billhoward]

Exactly. Accidental coach Matt Kerwick may be underrated. (Hard not to be based on this thread.) We may get steamrollered in a couple games this year. Or maybe not. Based purely on USILA rankings, we're looking at a 9-5 season and the 4-seed in the Ivy lacrosse tournament, losing to Virginia, Yale, Syracuse at home, Princeton on Long Island, and Penn in Philaelphia. Our 15 ranking now and our future prospects are due more to who graduated than to who's coaching.

[ithacat]

I'll play devil's advocate for Kerwick.  Going 11-17 at Jacksonsville isn't bad considering those were the first two years at D1 for the program.  And I think he led Hobart to their last two NCAA appearances and league title.  He's probably not the next Richie Moran or Jeff Tambroni, but there are worse coaches.  I grant you the team hasn't looked great (not that I watched the UM game), but a ton of talent graduated last May.  

Still, I have no problem with hitting the proverbial "reset" button and finding someone new and unaffiliated with the program to be the next full-time HC.

Starting up a program has to be a challenge (Michigan was only 2-26 in their first two years). I just think he's an average coach and the program deserves more. Andy's given him the chance to impress those who really matter.