Mazzoleni out of Harvard?

[Tom \'06]

Mark Mazzoleni has been offered the job of head coach of the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League. He is in Green Bay right now to go over his options. An interesting development.

[KeithK]

The previous Green Bay coach left to take a college asistant coach job at Wisconsin.  Seems to me that this would be a step down for Maz.  Only seems to make sense if he thinks his days are numbered in Cambridge.

Then again, maybe he just hates working for Harvard. Hey, who wouldn't?

[pfibiger]

in the story on uscho, as well as the messageboards, people are saying that this might be a way for Mazz to leave and save face. Apparently a group of players has been lobbying the administration to have him removed, player parents are unhappy, and he's looking to go back to Green Bay where he has family. So it doesn't sound so far-fetched.

[David Harding]

On June 3, the Green Bay Press-Gazette had Mazzoleni on its list of "three coaches with area ties might be among those considered by the Gamblers"
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/sports/archive/sports_16366338.shtml

The other two are the Gambler's assistant coach, who said he "would be extremely interested," and the head coach at DIII St. Norbert College, who said he "certainly wouldn't rule it out."  The Press-Gazette doesn't seem to have contacted Mazzoleni.

[RichS]

Well, if he wants top leave, so be it but for the admin to consider a change because of "player parent unhappiness" is absurd.

Parents should have no influence in the running of a program, not even at the high school level.

[Tom Pasniewski 98]

The USCHO article mentions about what Mazz's salary is at Harvard and I agree that he is probably paid well.  When Bob Scalise took over for Bill Cleary as AD at Harvard, he came from the head of Harvard Business School under the condition that he would not take a pay cut as one might expect moving from the head of a prestigious business school to the AD position, even if it is the (or one of the) largest NCAA DI programs in terms of athletes.  I would assume that Mazz's extension last year was good financially and that, as a businessman, Scalise is less inclined to listen to parents whining than someone else might be.  Though if suddenly fans stopped coming, then he'd notice and do something like require fans of a certain school to buy a four-game package although I'm not implying that he had anything to do with that.

[Al DeFlorio]

[Q]Tom Pasniewski 98 Wrote:

 The USCHO article mentions about what Mazz's salary is at Harvard and I agree that he is probably paid well.  When Bob Scalise took over for Bill Cleary as AD at Harvard, he came from the head of Harvard Business School under the condition that he would not take a pay cut as one might expect moving from the head of a prestigious business school to the AD position, even if it is the (or one of the) largest NCAA DI programs in terms of athletes.  I would assume that Mazz's extension last year was good financially and that, as a businessman, Scalise is less inclined to listen to parents whining than someone else might be.  Though if suddenly fans stopped coming, then he'd notice and do something like require fans of a certain school to buy a four-game package although I'm not implying that he had anything to do with that.[/q]
Scalise was Associate Dean for Administration at the B-school, meaning he was the school's chief business officer.  Not the same as being Dean of the school.  Apparently, on his application to attend the B-school in 1987, Scalise wrote that his goal was to be director of athletics at a major university.

[The Rancor]

GBG is a Junior team?

[thew]

Yes, in the USHL, a tier 1 junior A league. Same league Topher Scott played in this past season.

[The Rancor]

thanks, i figured as much. too lazy to lookit up myself.

[David Harding]

[Q]The Rancor Wrote:

 GBG is a Junior team?[/q]

They are Stephen Baby's old team.  Also, Evan Salmela played with them for a year before moving to the Chicago Ice for a year.

[Greg Berge]

Allegedly Mazz and Schafer work well together.  If he takes the job, who's to say he won't steer players our way?  Now, wouldn't that be a kicker?  :-P

[billhoward]

[Q]RichS Wrote:

 Well, if he wants top leave, so be it but for the admin to consider a change because of "player parent unhappiness" is absurd. Parents should have no influence in the running of a program, not even at the high school level.[/q]

Depends what player-parent unhappiness means. In youth sports, it often means griping that "your Jeffrey plays more than my Kyle" and for that the coach should tell the parents where to take a hike. If it means players and parents think the coach is a jerk and he doesn't know the basics of coaching and they think it's why the team won 15 not 20 games, then they've got a point.

Regardless, Mazzolleni has not been fully unsuccessful if you count the two ECAC titles and NCAA appearances the past three years. While it wasn't on his watch, Fair Harvard doesn't have to go back as far as Cornell to show off an NCAA champsionship tropy or Hobey Baker award.

[KeithK]

[q]If it means players and parents think the coach is a jerk and he doesn't know the basics of coaching and they think it's why the team won 15 not 20 games, then they've got a point. [/q]Not really.  The AD shouldn't listen to parents when deciding how successful a coach has been.  Presumably the administration should have enough knowledge of sports to make it's own judgement between 15 and 20 games and whether here's a good chance for 20 in the future.

OTOH, if there's so much revolt among the team that it's reasonable to expect that the players/families would likely try to scare off potential recruits then you have a problem.

[ugarte]

[Q]KeithK Wrote:

 [Q2]If it means players and parents think the coach is a jerk and he doesn't know the basics of coaching and they think it's why the team won 15 not 20 games, then they've got a point. [/Q]
Not really.  The AD shouldn't listen to parents when deciding how successful a coach has been.  Presumably the administration should have enough knowledge of sports to make it's own judgement between 15 and 20 games and whether here's a good chance for 20 in the future.

OTOH, if there's so much revolt among the team that it's reasonable to expect that the players/families would likely try to scare off potential recruits then you have a problem.
[/q]It also might mean (having nothing to do with Mazz, just generally) "my son is miserable playing for that tyrannical sonuvabitch" and it could reflect player dissatisfaction.