Mike Cavanaugh: UCONN Hockey Coach?

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-...,7949226.story

https://twitter.com/goalmouthradio/status/331819970516381697
‏@goalmouthradio: "I can confirm that Mike Cavanaugh has been offered the Head Coach position at UConn."

 

[coachcap]

nice articles in the Courant. Played both hockey & football at Bowdoin. Chief recruiter & associate head coach at BCU. Seems like a solid choice.

 

[freescooter]

This wasn't the choice I expected, though I can't argue with it. I was pretty sure that Gwoz would land the job Be very interesting to hear what the reasoning is behind all this. Purely a guess but I would think that long term commitment and cost might have been Gwoz's problem. According to one report he was the first guy out. I thought Berard would be the choice based on his performance last season, but I suspect two thing came into play. First Warde wanted to signal that this is a completely new day. Keeping Berard, even after doing a fine job, just didn't do that. Second, I think Manuel may have decided that he needed to put his signature on something. Pasqualoni was Hathaway's guy. Ollie is Calhoun's guy. He wanted his "guy." Cavanaugh fits that.

 

[Samoo]

Welcome Coach Cav. Solid choice.

 

[IMind]

You can't really do much better than the top assistant at the best program in the country. Not to mention a guy who has recruited and won in the same area. I'm not sure how much different recruiting is, from program to program, because the talent pool in hockey is much smaller than just about any other sport but you'd have to think there's some regional differences between WCHA and Hockey East.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

You can't really do much better than the top assistant at the best program in the country.

Plus, the mid-40s year old, Mike Cavanaugh, is highly respected by his coaching brethren.

Rumored new UCONN head head hockey coach "... Mike Cavanaugh earned the 2013 Terry Flanagan Award, according to an announcement made by the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA). The Flanagan Award is named in honor of the former New Hampshire player and Bowling Green assistant coach and has been given annually since 1997 to honor as assistant coach's career body of work. Cavanaugh (was) presented with the award at the 2013 AHCA Convention in Naples, Fla., in early May."

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

A very solid hire, indeed. While Gwoz had the wow factor, this is not a bad choice at all. While the players and staff may have held sentiment, Berard would've been entirely the wrong decision. The program is headed in the right direction with Cav. Those concerned about Cav leaving to go back to BC when York retires, he's by no means a lock for that. Mark Dennehy at Merrimack is a BC guy, who has gained lots of experience as a HC, and built the MC program from the bottom of bottoms, below UConn, of the nation to a respectable NCAA tournament contender, and Greg Brown, another current assistant in charge of the offense, is a favorite among many in BC circles. So, when Jerry hangs them up, probably sometime in the next five years I'd say, Cav will certainly get a look, but is not at all a lock to go, nor is he a clear favorite, as was the case with David Quinn succeeding Jack Parker at BU.

And I'm happy that's one less quality guy at BC!

 

[UConnSportsGuy]

Going back a couple of years to our last football coaching search, here is the analogy that I would use:

Gwoz = Paul Pasqualoni
Berard = Hank Hughes
Cavanaugh = Bud Foster

Hathaway chose the easy and safe route and took Pasqualoni. I think this shows where Manuel's mind sits for these type of hires. If Manuel was in charge of our football hiring a couple of years ago, I think our final candidates would have been more in the Bud Foster/Garrick McGee profile instead of the Pasqualoni/Whipple profile.

 

[freescooter]

Sportsguy,

I'm not sure that's a very good analogy. Gwoz has 2 national championships, 12 consecutive 20 game winning seasons and 11 or 12 NCAA appearances. But I get what you're saying about Manuel's approach to hiring. though aren't you one of the folks who says Larry McHugh was behind Pasqualoni's hiring? There is at least some rumor that Malloy and several BoT members were pushing for Cavanaugh.

 

[kibblesnbits]

Gwoz and Pasqualoni aren't even close to similar. Take Gwoz, have him go through several losing/.500 seasons; then take him away from college athletics for 7 year; anchor him down with some "old friends" that he needs to have on his staff; and add 5 years - then you might have Paul Pasqualoni. The man took Denver to the NCAA tournament each of the last six years while competing in the deepest hockey conference in the country. He never had the down seasons or malaise that overtook the Syracuse football program.

 

[UConnSportsGuy]

though aren't you one of the folks who says Larry McHugh was behind Pasqualoni's hiring?

Nope, that was not me.


And while the analogy is not perfect, I think it is more about the type of people each AD was looking for.

Gwoz/PP represent an older and established coach who has had past success at a high level, but who is probably on the down-slope of their career. They are likely to be in the position for somewhere around 5 years, but are less of a long terms hire and more about stabalizing the short term but with limited upside.

Berard/Hughes represent staying with the status quo and keeping the current staff/players happy. While a slight change in leadership, it is still the same regime.

Cavanaugh/Foster represent an established assistant at a successful program or a head coach at a smaller school. Not yet proven, but younger and with a higher upside. You run the risk of them using your program as a stepping stone, but that is a risk you might be willing to take. There is a higher risk of them not working out (as they do not have a proven track record as 'the guy', but have shown the potential to do it). But if successful, the reward much outweighs the risk.

Toner/Perkins seem to be more like Manuel. Calhoun would fall in the Cavanugh/Foster grouping.

It seems Hathaway was more geared towards the lower risk, lower upside type hires (ie PP).

Warde seems to be willing to take the greater risk, but with the greater upside (ie Cavanaugh). Different ways of thinking...and I think most of us are more aligned to the 'Manuel Way'.

If Warde was the AD 3 years ago, I don't think PP would be the coach. I think it would be a Bud Foster/Garrick McGee type instead.

Only time will tell if Cavanough was the right hire...but I at least like the risk we are willing to take.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no Gwoz is in a different galaxy than PP. He has two rings! If anything, he's FAR closer to being someone like a Bob Stoops. Has won it all previously (multiple times), consistently runs a clean, top program, a bit of a knock for not winning it all recently, but a year in year out is a national contender. Gwoz being let go was foreseen by absolutely no one in the college hockey world, and the response was resounding shock and universal panning of the DU administration. It appears that it was strictly a financial move, and not performance-based, especially considering the reports that they'd made their decision to let him go before DU started the NCAA tournament. It made no sense, and DU got lucky to fall into a great replacement hire in Jim Montgomery because Maine is run by a bunch of buffoons.

This takes nothing away from Cav, who was a good hire by WM, and should not be judged in the context of Gwoz's previous achievements whatsoever.

 

[freescooter]

I'm more with Brassbonanza than uconnguy on this one. Gwoz was a serious big time head coach. I just don't think he was the right "fit" in lots of ways.Money, commitment, status...Is a bigtime head coach willing to play 2nd fiddle to the womens basketball coach, for example? I also think there is something to what you say about the approach to coach selection, but it might be as much a result of where UConn is in the athletic world at the times of the selection than the nature of the AD. Take Calhoun. UConn was an afterthought in the Big East at that point. Only Big East team not to have earned an NCAA bid as a Big East member. And not really looked at as a high potential job by most people. John Toner hired Calhoun. If there is a more conservative guy than John Toner, I never met him. But in some ways he was desperate. And Calhoun was the Brad Stevens of his time, who was mostly interested in staying in New England like Stevens is to the mid-west. Hathaway had a program on the rise, had just been to a BCS bowl. And he was looking for someone to bring stability, upgrade recruiting to get UConn to a certain level of consistency. I think it was always assumed that Pasqualoni was a 5-6 year hire, not a 10 year one. He's stabilize the ship, keep it moving in the right direction then hi thte beach. Last thing Hathaway wanted was to bring in a new guy, have him continue the progress and then leave town in 2 years. This hire is interesting because I think Manuel wanted to set a new direction, and in some ways it is reminicent of Randy Edsall more than anyone else. A relatively young assistant who has been on the staff of a some major names (Well, Cav his been on 1 staff mainly, Edsall on a couple) and who can build the program and be its positive face during what could be difficult early seasons. And I honestly believe that deep down he wanted to put a Warde Manuel stamp on this hire. After all he hasn't been able to fill any of the major coaching positions, and that is how ADs earn their bones.

 

[dsturdy5]

I know his family well. His dad was a highly successful football and track coach as well as my high school PE teacher. Coaching and leading is in his blood. UConn hockey hockey will bein good hands.

 

[huskymedic]

It's official... http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/m-hockey/spec-rel/050813aac.html

Nice job playing to the "home crowd" as well:

Coach Cav: "College hockey is at an all-time high in the state of Connecticut right. The national championship teams that we had at Boston College had several players from the state on it and they were integral in our success. There is a wealth of talent in Connecticut and I look forward to recruiting the homegrown players as well as the prep schools. The state of Connecticut will be key in our recruiting efforts."


Chip Malafronte (@ChipMalafronte)
5/8/13, 9:32 PM
UConn will announce new hockey coach Mike Cavanaugh at a press conference tomorrow. #HockeyEast


Well done WM!

 

[CTMike]

Don't read too much in to the analogy. I read it as : overall WM likes the younger up and comer as a hire.

 

[huskymedic]

Mike Anthony (@ManthonyCourant)
5/8/13, 11:00 PM
New UConn men's hockey coach Mike Cavanaugh has signed a 5-year contract that pays him $200,000 the first year.

I think WM is serious about UConn hockey..

 

[Jimdish255]

Mike Anthony (@ManthonyCourant)
5/8/13, 11:00 PM
New UConn men's hockey coach Mike Cavanaugh has signed a 5-year contract that pays him $200,000 the first year.

I think WM is serious about UConn hockey..

Great news! Welcome Coach C! Sounds like a good hire by WM. Can't wait to see us playing the big boys with some top (and local) talent.

 

[huskymedic]

Mike Anthony (@ManthonyCourant)
5/8/13, 11:45 PM
UConn Headed To Hockey East Under Coach Mike Cavanaugh -- Thoughts, Notes And Quotes
http://www.courant.com/sports/colle...rss&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

>>Doug Gnodtke, UConn's senior associate AD and the sports administrator for both hockey programs... "We’re not into participation medals. We’re going in to win championships. We’ll support the program in that manner"<<

 

[upstater]

UConn ramping up hockey in this environment only makes sense if Warde Manuel is seriously planning on the B1G in 10 years.

In 10 years, UConn might be on the cusp of the AAU and with a hockey team, and a lockdown on basketball in the region, both men's and women's, it might be a star.

Otherwise, why ramp up hockey at the exact moment you need more money for football expansion and other sports?

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

While your points are right, hockey investment and B1G expansion are also mutually exclusive. UConn sort of fell into a good situation where HE had an open spot due to western realignment and the formation of B1G hockey, which as you know was 100% unrelated to any football realignment, that caused Notre Dame to move to HE to become team #11, necessitating a team #12. Had ND not made that move and a spot opened up, there was no foreseeable invite to HE for UConn, thus since it was there, it would've been foolish not to accept.

That said, it does make the program a bit more attractive to some of the B1G schools down the road if that were to become a relevant issue, certainly if the program can achieve a level of success in HE and wouldn't be viewed as dead weight in B1G hockey.

 

[IMind]

UConn ramping up hockey in this environment only makes sense if Warde Manuel is seriously planning on the B1G in 10 years.

In 10 years, UConn might be on the cusp of the AAU and with a hockey team, and a lockdown on basketball in the region, both men's and women's, it might be a star.

Otherwise, why ramp up hockey at the exact moment you need more money for football expansion and other sports?

Because you can ramp up hockey for a tenth of the cost of football expansion. Because if you play your cards right you can revamp Gampel and get a Hockey East quality arena at the same time. Because Warde comes from a big time hockey program. Because it's a joke that UConn hasn't had a serious hockey program given the amount of talent in the state... but mostly because the current sitting Gov. pushed hard for this. It might also make us a more attractive candidate for the B1G.

 

[upstater]

Because you can ramp up hockey for a tenth of the cost of football expansion. Because if you play your cards right you can revamp Gampel and get a Hockey East quality arena at the same time. Because Warde comes from a big time hockey program. Because it's a joke that UConn hasn't had a serious hockey program given the amount of talent in the state... but mostly because the current sitting Gov. pushed hard for this. It might also make us a more attractive candidate for the B1G.

Hockey is actually quite expensive. And no, Gampel cannot be revamped for hockey. It would be cheaper to build an entirely new arena for bball and hockey.

In other words, hockey implies a whole heap of money being dumped into UConn athletics.

And that is my original point.

 

[upstater]

While your points are right, hockey investment and B1G expansion are also mutually exclusive. UConn sort of fell into a good situation where HE had an open spot due to western realignment and the formation of B1G hockey, which as you know was 100% unrelated to any football realignment, that caused Notre Dame to move to HE to become team #11, necessitating a team #12. Had ND not made that move and a spot opened up, there was no foreseeable invite to HE for UConn, thus since it was there, it would've been foolish not to accept.

That said, it does make the program a bit more attractive to some of the B1G schools down the road if that were to become a relevant issue, certainly if the program can achieve a level of success in HE and wouldn't be viewed as dead weight in B1G hockey.

Bertagna has been talking about inviting UConn for at least a decade. It was discussed over 10 years ago.

 

[huskymedic]

UConnMHOC 11:56am via Web
Be sure to check out Mike Cavanaugh's introductory press conference at 1:00 pm uconnhuskies.com/allaccess/ #BleedBlue