Coaching changes 2020

[Plebe]

Ok, so I looked up the situation, the article I found in Dec 2018 didn't say when the original was to expire only that the school decided to extend it through the 2023 season (expiring in February of 2024. She seems to have revived/created the program to be a national contender coming over from Tennessee (ouch!). Enticing Mike White from Oregon was unbelievable and proves that Texas wants National contenders in their sports. So with @southie input from above (thank you Southie!), I am inclined to think Karen's days are numbered (and should be) as she is trending the wrong way. What I am not clear on is are you saying that the AD will renew Aston's contract similar to the Angela Kelly situation or only they were/are in the similar situation?

In reading the Texas board, everyone seems unanimous that a coaching change should happen, but opinions are divided on whether it will actually happen this year. Some of the skeptics cite the Angela Kelly situation. I haven't done the research to know whether Kelly was actually in an analogous situation at the time her contract was renewed.

The AD's latest comments (about his coaches' employment status being overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic) has certainly fueled concerns that he'll be unwilling to undertake a search for a new coach at this time.

 

[Plebe]

Raoul just relayed that Lynette Woodard has been let go by Winthrop.

Since the Big South is @triaddukefan 's specialty, I'll let him opine on this move.

 

[triaddukefan]

Raoul just relayed that Lynette Woodard has been let go by Winthrop.

Since the Big South is @triaddukefan 's specialty, I'll let him opine on this move.

1) I didnt realize Woodard was that old. 60
2) Her overall record at the school.. was 24-70 in three years. At one point.. they had a respectable record 9-9... but things fell apart down the stretch
3) One thing about Winthrop WCBB.... it suffers in comparison to the men's program.... which is undoubtedly the premier program in the Big South... and has been that way for probably 20 years or so. The women's program only has one tournament appearance. (thrashed by the mighty blue devils in 2014).
4) As far as job attractiveness.... I would put it in the middle of the Big South.

 

[Plebe]

1) I didnt realize Woodard was that old. 60
2) Her overall record at the school.. was 24-70 in three years. At one point.. they had a respectable record 9-9... but things fell apart down the stretch
3) One thing about Winthrop WCBB.... it suffers in comparison to the men's program.... which is undoubtedly the premier program in the Big South... and has been that way for probably 20 years or so. The women's program only has one tournament appearance. (thrashed by the mighty blue devils in 2014).
4) As far as job attractiveness.... I would put it in the middle of the Big South.

Lynette Woodard should be more remembered than she is. Her career ended just before the NCAA began sponsoring women's basketball in 1981. That would make her about 3 years older than Kim Mulkey, whose college career ended in 1984.

When the AIAW era is included, Woodard is the #2 career scorer in WCBB.

"The NCAA era for women's athletics started in 1981-82. As for the pre-NCAA era, Francis Marion's Pearl Moore (1975-79) scored 3,884 points. Second on that list is Kansas' Lynette Woodard (1977-81) with 3,649. Montclair State's Carol Blazejowski (1974-78) is the leader for career scoring average in that era, at 31.7 PPG."

Washington's Plum is espnW's player of the week

Kelsey Plum had 57 points -- fifth-most in a single game in women's D-I history -- to pass Jackie Stiles as the women's NCAA leading scorer. Plum is a three-time player of the week this season.

www.espn.com.sg

 

[Plebe]

A couple more coaching changes in recent days:

— Brown's coach, Sarah Behn, has resigned.
— Kayla Ard, most recently an AC at Denver, has been hired at Utah State. (The previous HC, Jerry Finkbeiner, had stepped down last November for medical reasons.)

 

[southie]

Just to clarify, the Texas softball head coach who did not have her contract renewed at the end of the 2018 season was Connie Clark. Angela Kelly is the women's soccer head coach.

Not sure why some on the Texas board cite Angela Kelly's situation as comparable to that of Karen Aston, as it just isn't.

December 2011 - Kelly signed to 5.5 year contract
November 2016 - Kelly's contract extended 3 years
September 2018 - Kelly signs 5.5 year extension (through the 2023 season)

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Just to clarify, the Texas softball head coach who did not have her contract renewed at the end of the 2018 season was Connie Clark. Angela Kelly is the women's soccer head coach.

Not sure why some on the Texas board cite Angela Kelly's situation as comparable to that of Karen Aston, as it just isn't.

December 2011 - Kelly signed to 5.5 year contract
November 2016 - Kelly's contract extended 3 years
September 2018 - Kelly signs 5.5 year extension (through the 2023 season)

Connie Clark - whom I liked as much as any coach I watched on TV - was a perfect example of many coaches across many sports - no one could say her program wasn't successful - but it couldn't make the leap to the level that fans really want at a school like Texas. My WBB classic case was Jim Foster at Vanderbilt (his issue at Ohio State was different) - but Vandy was quite successful in his day without ever getting over the hump.

 

[southie]

Connie Clark - whom I liked as much as any coach I watched on TV - was a perfect example of many coaches across many sports - no one could say her program wasn't successful - but it couldn't make the leap to the level that fans really want at a school like Texas. My WBB classic case was Jim Foster at Vanderbilt (his issue at Ohio State was different) - but Vandy was quite successful in his day without ever getting over the hump.

Connie Clark led the Texas softball program from its infancy. Whenever she had a stud pitcher (Christa Williams, Cat Osterman, or Blair Luna), she was able to lead her team to Women's College World Series (national Top 8). Highest finish was Top 4 as she just didn't have the hitting to battle for more. But, when she didn't have a stud pitcher, her teams were marginal Top 48-64; and, that was the norm her last 5 seasons at Texas.

 

[donalddoowop]

Lynette Woodard should be more remembered than she is. Her career ended just before the NCAA began sponsoring women's basketball in 1981. That would make her about 3 years older than Kim Mulkey, whose college career ended in 1984.

When the AIAW era is included, Woodard is the #2 career scorer in WCBB.

"The NCAA era for women's athletics started in 1981-82. As for the pre-NCAA era, Francis Marion's Pearl Moore (1975-79) scored 3,884 points. Second on that list is Kansas' Lynette Woodard (1977-81) with 3,649. Montclair State's Carol Blazejowski (1974-78) is the leader for career scoring average in that era, at 31.7 PPG."

Washington's Plum is espnW's player of the week

Kelsey Plum had 57 points -- fifth-most in a single game in women's D-I history -- to pass Jackie Stiles as the women's NCAA leading scorer. Plum is a three-time player of the week this season.

www.espn.com.sg

Woodard and Carol Blaze were very special players. It's a shame that the AIAW is not included when WCBB history is talked about.

 

[Plebe]

I will say, I felt a twinge of fear for the Texas fans when I saw this quote from the ESPN article about Boston College's renewal of its MBB coach (who had been on the hot seat):

"There is so much uncertainty right now with everything," Jarmond told the Globe. "You need to be steady and you need to have calm in uncertain times."​

Boston College opts to retain Christian as coach

There has been speculation over Christian's job status for the past couple seasons, as Boston College has never finished .500 or better in ACC play in Christian's six seasons.

www.espn.com

 

[DefenseBB]

I will say, I felt a twinge of fear for the Texas fans when I saw this quote from the ESPN article about Boston College's renewal of its MBB coach (who had been on the hot seat):

"There is so much uncertainty right now with everything," Jarmond told the Globe. "You need to be steady and you need to have calm in uncertain times."​

Boston College opts to retain Christian as coach

There has been speculation over Christian's job status for the past couple seasons, as Boston College has never finished .500 or better in ACC play in Christian's six seasons.

www.espn.com

Hey, I know that guy, I went to college with him! Good job BC, good job!

 

[Plebe]

 

[DefenseBB]

Ok, so who did they interview??? Inquiring minds want to know...

 

[Dillon77]

Drexel Coach and Villanova Alum Denise Dillon gets the Villanova HC position.

She played for Harry Perretta "back in the day" (and he's had a lot of them!) and more recently was named Coach of the Year in her conference this past season for Drexel winning the regular-season CAA championship.
Coached 17 years at Drexel.

Villanova names Denise Dillon new women’s basketball coach, Amy Mallon takes over at Drexel

Dillon will return to her alma mater after 17 seasons as Drexel's head coach.

www.inquirer.com

Love the team picture on her twitter home page:

Denise Dillon (@DeniseDillon) | Twitter

The latest Tweets from Denise Dillon (@DeniseDillon). Go Cats!. Philadelphia

twitter.com

 

[domerduck]

Strange that they wouldn't renew her before the end of the expiration season. Doesn't send a positive message for recruiting purposes.

They must have been peaved she has yet to beat Muffet and ND. She lost her last home game to ND on senior day. This was the year to stop that FSU blemish as even 8-23 Clemson ended their ofer streak against 13-18 ND this year.

Still I like her as a coach and loved she beat Walz & L'ville at the ACC tourney this year. I'm sure she'll be back unless she is holding out for more money or thinks she needs to move on. FSU won't do better.

 

[DefenseBB]

Drexel Coach and Villanova Alum Denise Dillon gets the Villanova HC position.

She played for Harry Perretta "back in the day" (and he's had a lot of them!) and more recently was named Coach of the Year in her conference this past season for Drexel winning the regular-season CAA championship.
Coached 17 years at Drexel.

Villanova names Denise Dillon new women’s basketball coach, Amy Mallon takes over at Drexel

Dillon will return to her alma mater after 17 seasons as Drexel's head coach.

www.inquirer.com

Love the team picture on her twitter home page:

Denise Dillon (@DeniseDillon) | Twitter

The latest Tweets from Denise Dillon (@DeniseDillon). Go Cats!. Philadelphia

twitter.com

I want to be more excited by this hire but unfortunately I am not. I was hoping for someone with a tab more P6 experience. 306-204 career record at Drexel doesn't get me too excited. Was this really the best candidate? I know it's the safest and has Harry's fingerprints all over it. That's a bad sign if you ask me when the former coach has a say in the new hire-see Tennessee, see UConn men, see Texas Tech (Bob Knight to Pat Knight)...

 

[Lorcan]

I want to be more excited by this hire but unfortunately I am not. I was hoping for someone with a tab more P6 experience. 306-204 career record at Drexel doesn't get me too excited. Was this really the best candidate? I know it's the safest and has Harry's fingerprints all over it. That's a bad sign if you ask me when the former coach has a say in the new hire-see Tennessee, see UConn men, see Texas Tech (Bob Knight to Pat Knight)...

Denise Dillon is a fantastic coach and has done a fabulous job with a tremendous Drexel program, which has got to be a challenge to recruit to. She’s even led her team to a WNIT championship in 2013 and has consistently been a thorn in the side of many teams. Drexel has always been fun to watch, and it’ll be interesting to see what she can do with a bigger program.

 

[domerduck]

Connie Clark led the Texas softball program from its infancy. Whenever she had a stud pitcher (Christa Williams, Cat Osterman, or Blair Luna), she was able to lead her team to Women's College World Series (national Top 8). Highest finish was Top 4 as she just didn't have the hitting to battle for more. But, when she didn't have a stud pitcher, her teams were marginal Top 48-64; and, that was the norm her last 5 seasons at Texas.

They spent a lot of money to get White from the Ducks and he took 4 of their players (all of whom were on the PAC12 Freshman team) including their best pitcher (Elish-all PAC12) and the Duck's top pitching recruit (O'Leary from Cal) with him from the Oregon team to Texas. It certainly worked and got them jumpstarted. They obviously were trying to get by Oklahoma in softball and the Ducks hiring Ok's top assistant as a head coach was a double blow.

In BBall they have to figure out how to get past Kim and Baylor which may be tougher, but Aston hasn't done the job. They certainly are willing to throw money at these problems. If they can take transfers who can play immediately that can make a difference.

 

[UConnCat]

Good hire by Villanova.

 

[DaBball]

 

[Plebe]

 

[Plebe]

I want to be more excited by this hire but unfortunately I am not. I was hoping for someone with a tab more P6 experience. 306-204 career record at Drexel doesn't get me too excited. Was this really the best candidate? I know it's the safest and has Harry's fingerprints all over it. That's a bad sign if you ask me when the former coach has a say in the new hire-see Tennessee, see UConn men, see Texas Tech (Bob Knight to Pat Knight)...

Well, she was an assistant at Villanova for four years (1997-2001) before being hired at Drexel.

I'm guardedly optimistic about this one. Not a "wow" hire, but I'll go with "solid". Drexel isn't a perennial NCAAT team like Gonzaga or FGCU, but they've been consistently in that next submaximal layer of the mid-major sphere. It's all too easy to underestimate what it takes to even be a perennial WNIT team when you're operating at that level of resources and exposure.

I think a 306-204 (.600) record isn't at all bad when you factor out her first four years, when she went 54-63 while building the program from virtually nothing. Before she was hired in 2003, Drexel was both highly mediocre and unstable: She was their 4th HC in a 12-year period that included only one winning season. (Drexel had also just moved in 2001 from the America East to the Colonial — a significant step up in strength of conference.) So after her first 4 rebuilding years, Dillon logged a record of 252-141 (.641) and finished in the top 2 of the CAA in five of the past six years.

As an analogous "alumna hire" it reminds me somewhat of Marquette's hiring of Carolyn Kieger, but with a couple big differences: (1) Kieger had no HC experience; she'd been an assistant at Miami for 7 years; (2) Kieger built a high-octane, guard-oriented offense at Marquette that was not exactly known for expending energy on the defensive end.

My biggest misgiving is not over Dillon's record per se, but over style of play. I was hoping for more of a departure from Perretta's heavily defensive style of play, but this hire doesn't point in that direction. Drexel was #17 in the nation in scoring defense this season (55.4 ppg) but #254 in scoring offense (60.7 ppg). I'll be interested to see if that style continues.

 

[Plebe]

They must have been peaved she has yet to beat Muffet and ND. She lost her last home game to ND on senior day. This was the year to stop that FSU blemish as even 8-23 Clemson ended their ofer streak against 13-18 ND this year.

Certainly, losing to ND this year should've been enough to get any coach fired -- and maybe even tarred and feathered

At the very least, that probably costs her at least 100k in bargaining position.

 

[DaBball]

Well, she was an assistant at Villanova for four years (1997-2001) before being hired at Drexel.

I'm guardedly optimistic about this one. Not a "wow" hire, but I'll go with "solid". Drexel isn't a perennial NCAAT team like Gonzaga or FGCU, but they've been consistently in that next submaximal layer of the mid-major sphere. It's all too easy to underestimate what it takes to even be a perennial WNIT team when you're operating at that level of resources and exposure.

I think a 306-204 (.600) record isn't at all bad when you factor out her first four years, when she went 54-63 while building the program from virtually nothing. Before she was hired in 2003, Drexel was both highly mediocre and unstable: She was their 4th HC in a 12-year period that included only one winning season. (Drexel had also just moved in 2001 from the America East to the Colonial — a significant step up in strength of conference.) So after her first 4 rebuilding years, Dillon logged a record of 252-141 (.641) and finished in the top 2 of the CAA in five of the past six years.

As an analogous "alumna hire" it reminds me somewhat of Marquette's hiring of Carolyn Kieger, but with a couple big differences: (1) Kieger had no HC experience; she'd been an assistant at Miami for 7 years; (2) Kieger built a high-octane, guard-oriented offense at Marquette that was not exactly known for expending energy on the defensive end.

My biggest misgiving is not over Dillon's record per se, but over style of play. I was hoping for more of a departure from Perretta's heavily defensive style of play, but this hire doesn't point in that direction. Drexel was #17 in the nation in scoring defense this season (55.4 ppg) but #254 in scoring offense (60.7 ppg). I'll be interested to see if that style continues.

Off topic, but I’ll be interested to see if Kieger can turn it around at Penn State. They were pretty awful this year, and a few key players are transferring now. She does have Kapinus coming in.

 

[Plebe]

An interesting change by Illinois coach Nancy Fahey to her staff. She's just hired Marquette assistant Scott Merritt, who was an original member of Kieger's staff and was then retained by Duffy.

Merritt replaces longtime Illinois assistant LaKale Malone, who was a holdover from Matt Bollant's staff.

Fahey makes change to coaching staff at Illinois

Scott Merritt joins program after six season at Marquette; LaKale Malone let go

www.news-gazette.com