Should He Stay or Should He Go 2014

[Towerroad]

At the end of the day the Coach is responsible for the team and its performance. Does the performance justify continuation?

[Jim Hyla]

Thanks, for doing this poll. Some of the silent majority may come out.

[MattS]

It would be interesting if there was a poll like this one after each season to see how the results have changed over time.

[Trotsky]

Thanks, for doing this poll. Some of the silent majority may come out.

The Dump Schafer crowd is neither.

[Jim Hyla]

Thanks, for doing this poll. Some of the silent majority may come out.

The Dump Schafer crowd is neither.

I think I agree with you. I thought there might be a "silent majority" to keep.

[ajh258]

It's rather biased to host this poll here. A more accurate barometer would be the amount of attention that the sport gets during the season - I would measure that with a mix of attendance, news coverage, total dollars spent by fans on tickets/gear/away games travel. If I had to guess on this barometer, people still want Schafer around, but it's been on the decline for the past few years.

[Towerroad]

It would be interesting if there was a poll like this one after each season to see how the results have changed over time.

I did this poll last year (almost exactly a year ago). The result then was 93% Stay, 7% Go

I think there is more doubt this year but I did not include an Unsure category last year. For the record I am in the Unsure camp.

[MattS]

It's rather biased to host this poll here. A more accurate barometer would be the amount of attention that the sport gets during the season - I would measure that with a mix of attendance, news coverage, total dollars spent by fans on tickets/gear/away games travel. If I had to guess on this barometer, people still want Schafer around, but it's been on the decline for the past few years.

I think this is pretty accurate. Of the people who sit near me at Lynah, I think that most are supportive of Schafer but not to the point of having tunnel vision and believing he is the next coming. However, there are the extremes. They guy who sits next to me would fire Schafer in a heartbeat if he was in charge. Then on the other end of the spectrum there is a older alumni couple that sit a couple of rows behind me who think Schafer can do no wrong.

I am personally unsure. 3-4 years ago I was a ardent supporter of Schafer. Today I not so much of one. The main reason I say keep him around is that I don't think there is anyone that Cornell can realistically get to come to Ithaca that I can say with reasonable certainty would be an upgrade.

My three complaints are that I believe Schafer's offensive system (if there even is one) comes from some type of peewee league, the PP scheme is even worse, and finally the his apparent refusal to change and/or adapt his offensive beliefs.

[ugarte]

If you can think of a viable, available replacement I'm all ears but ... I don't think anyone has that in mind. I'll stick with the devil I know can be successful.

[Rosey]

I said "unsure", mainly because that was the closest option of the three to how I actually feel. If it wasn't obvious from the other thread, I think Schafer is doing a (mostly) bang-up job on defense, and a lousy job on offense. I would be satisfied if he brought in a talented assistant to take control of the offense, because the last 10 years have made it abundantly clear that he's got no idea how to coach it himself.

A man's got to know his limitations.

[MattS]

If it wasn't obvious from the other thread, I think Schafer is doing a (mostly) bang-up job on defense, and a lousy job on offense. I would be satisfied if he brought in a talented assistant to take control of the offense, because the last 10 years have made it abundantly clear that he's got no idea how to coach it himself.

A man's got to know his limitations.

+1

[Trotsky]

Schafer's teams have always been built from the goal out and I don't expect that will change during his tenure.  He looks for defensibly responsible recruits and defensibly responsible recruits look for him.  There have probably been a few offensively-oriented players with the grades to get into Cornell who have gone elsewhere because of Schafer, but I would bet there have been far more defensively-oriented players who have chosen Cornell because of Schafer.  As a recruiting differentiator, he is a net positive.

That's what you get with Schafer.  Since you can't just will an offensive juggernaut into existence, I think the burden is on the Go crowd to put up somebody who is available and has a track record of coaching successful teams, and can (and would like) to operate under Ivy restrictions.  Otherwise it's just throwing stuff against the wall and praying.

[Towerroad]

If it wasn't obvious from the other thread, I think Schafer is doing a (mostly) bang-up job on defense, and a lousy job on offense. I would be satisfied if he brought in a talented assistant to take control of the offense, because the last 10 years have made it abundantly clear that he's got no idea how to coach it himself.

A man's got to know his limitations.

+1

I feel pretty much the same way. If you look at team stats over the last 4 years our defense is solid rating somewhere between 11th and 27th in goals per game (out of 59). Our offense on the other hand 42nd and 24th. We are also not too good at staying out of the box running between first and 24th and our PK is really not that strong at 18th to more than 40th. We have a team with solid defense that can't stay out of the box and cant score. That is not a record that gets you to the NCAA tournament except by luck. It is what it is.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

[Rosey]

That's what you get with Schafer.  Since you can't just will an offensive juggernaut into existence,

You don't need a juggernaut. When you have a top-quarter defense, all you need is a competent (read: average to good) offense with a plan to win games. We don't even have that.

[CAS]

Anyone like to set up a similar poll for men's basketball?