My guess is word will get out about BC/BU by end of this week with official press conferences early next week. For any media coverage at all, might be good for these schools to have em on separate days! Or at least a couple hrs apart on the same day.
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BU 2021-22: Albie's Great Adventure
- Thread starter Harry Cleverly
- Start date
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My guess is word will get out about BC/BU by end of this week with official press conferences early next week. For any media coverage at all, might be good for these schools to have em on separate days! Or at least a couple hrs apart on the same day.
Harry Cleverly
New member
If it is JP, we did fine with the last JP, who was about 26 and had no college head coaching experience when hired and went on to win four straight ECAC titles and a NCAA championship in his first five years.
ColinWilsonFan
Registered User
Well then you do not know how a College Program works... Or how Albie worked... Simply put new guy comes in as an Assistant doesn't just come in and impart his will on the program without stepping on toes. As most hockey guys are , Pando is an outstanding human being and standup guy who also has a long term relationship with Albie. However, when push came to shove he figured out a way to get more involved. It is not really that complicated...
defkit
New member
So if I add up all the innuendo, rumors, guesses, and add in the comment made to me by a player parent a few years ago that I mentioned awhile back:
- Albie was great recruiter, was next in line to be HC. When Quinn left, there was a token search done, with only one other candidate seemingly considered.
- It didn't take long to realize that Albie was in over his head. Recruiting and game coaching/player development are two different things, and Albie wasn't effective on what counts as a HC.
- This being BU and Albie being on a 4-year contract meant that the admin wasn't going to do anything until the end of the contract unless it got dire.
- The COVID shortened season resulted in a good record thanks to talent like Zegras, Farrance, and Harper. Perhaps this kept things out of the "dire" zone and let Albie stay for the last year of his contract.
- The Admin/AD already knows that this is likely AOC's last season, so Pandolfo is brought in as a likely successor. The season starts off terribly, the AD hears complaints from parents, insists that Pandolfo be given a bigger role in running the team, and the results improve significantly.
- Pandolfo has shown his worth, is expected to get the job, but the Admin feels they need to be sure they have done a more thorough search this time. Which is why this has taken so long.
That's how I am viewing it at this point...
- Albie was great recruiter, was next in line to be HC. When Quinn left, there was a token search done, with only one other candidate seemingly considered.
- It didn't take long to realize that Albie was in over his head. Recruiting and game coaching/player development are two different things, and Albie wasn't effective on what counts as a HC.
- This being BU and Albie being on a 4-year contract meant that the admin wasn't going to do anything until the end of the contract unless it got dire.
- The COVID shortened season resulted in a good record thanks to talent like Zegras, Farrance, and Harper. Perhaps this kept things out of the "dire" zone and let Albie stay for the last year of his contract.
- The Admin/AD already knows that this is likely AOC's last season, so Pandolfo is brought in as a likely successor. The season starts off terribly, the AD hears complaints from parents, insists that Pandolfo be given a bigger role in running the team, and the results improve significantly.
- Pandolfo has shown his worth, is expected to get the job, but the Admin feels they need to be sure they have done a more thorough search this time. Which is why this has taken so long.
That's how I am viewing it at this point...
ColinWilsonFan
Registered User
Well done!!
brassbonanza
Super Serial
There was most definitely not a token search when Albie was hired. Rick Bennett was a very serious candidate and by all accounts I've heard was Drew's preferred choice over Albie until President Brown overruled the decision and chose Albie.
ColinWilsonFan
Registered User
I wholeheartedly disagree with that. Rick Bennett had a very challenging reputation and there were tons of rumors swirling all over the place (seems many of which are now substantiated) and there was great trepidation about bringing him in. I will be the first one to say that I felt that even with all the knowledge of who and what Albie is/was that I felt he should have been given the shot. A lot of people grow into roles, step up to the challenge and develop. Some don't , and even more so some cannot it is just not in their DNA. I think had it not been for Covid there was a high likelihood he would not have made it the full 4 years. I think it is time to move on! Support our new coach (at least who I believe it will be) and whatever team and assistants he might bring in!
brassbonanza
Super Serial
While I agree with your sentiment, my original post wasn't an opinion but a recitation of information so I'm not sure what you're disagreeing with. I was only recounting what was told to me regarding the process in the last hire to discredit the notion that there was a "token" interview process - which implied Albie was always going to be the hire from the beginning and that Drew's preferred candidate was Bennett. The information I was told at the time, and subsequent to that, suggested Albie was not the shoe-in hire from the start. I also agree with you that Rick Bennett has a challenging reputation (and from what I understand that's what bristled Brown) but that doesn't change that the last coaching hire was not predetermined the day DQ left.
I agree with you that Covid likely gave Albie a one-year reprieve and that we should move on and support the new coaching staff - it'd just be nice if they finally announced something.
defkit
New member
I can't speak to how it went down last time, but I heard firsthand some of the things that happened (re: Bennett) and was curious why it wasn't getting out there, perhaps it was in some fashion (before the ones that officially led to the end).
mookie1995
there's a good buck in that racket.
Then type that out to start and don’t pussifoot around with “bigger role”. QED
brassbonanza
Super Serial
It would seem so. Not sure what they're waiting around for at this point.
brassbonanza
Super Serial
Spot on. The AD does not come off well from this process. Gave a deadline of the coaches conference initially then reportedly did not conduct formal interviews until he was at the convention. Jay reportedly did not meet with President Brown until last week. What were they doing for four weeks? Chasing down the Quinn pipe dream? Waiting around for Hastings to decide? Neither of those two things should've delayed the process.
I don't believe it was a lack of takers, though. More lack of decisiveness.
Either way, this:
https://twitter.com/MikeGrinnell_/status/1521948443916316674?t=V900uMW24r7HylCPn3p2Pg&s=19
ericredaxe
Veteran
Or they just 99% knew it was Jay all along?
This is where I am conflicted. I have believed all along that BU brought in Pandolfo to replace Albie. So I sorta just expected them to name him HC and get on with it. But they were then linked to Hastings and Mike McMahon reported Eric Lang interviewed for the job. So I don't know if they were all in on Pandolfo or not. Certainly not if they kicked the tires on Mike Hastings.
brassbonanza
Super Serial
If that were the case, why did BU:
- Wait approximately four weeks to give him a formal interview with President Brown (told to me from several unrelated people)
- Have at least an informal interview with Mike Hastings (reported by many)
- Have at least an informal interview with Nate Leaman (reported by Mike McMahon)
- Have at least informal discussions with Quinn (reported by many)
- Have at least an informal interview with Eric Lang (reported by McMahon)
- Say they targeted to hire someone before the coach's convention then not make the hire and then wait to conduct interviews until during the convention
The most concerning thing is the reported timeline of events. They announced Albie would not return on March 30 - all available reporting indicates little significant movement on Jay or anyone occurred until at least 3 weeks later during the coach's convention. Then the suggestion of having to wait for Albie's contract to expire instead of buying him out. Rumors of chasing down Quinn and Hastings in what may have been little more than distractions.
From the outside (admittedly, a very incomplete view) this suggests a disorganized process without a good plan and frought with indecision. Of course, there's likely more to the story that we don't know and I'm open to being wrong here - but it's difficult to believe that this was a smoothly run operation and suggests some organizational mishaps among BU administrative leadership.
And this is where we get to the root of the problem - the decision to bring on Jay as associate last year. Like you, I never fully bought the whole story given last year about how Albie reached out to him because he'd be a big help or whatever. I suspected Jay was brought in as the expected replacement for Albie. If that were the case, then it was a mistake from the beginning and BU should've made the move to make Jay HC last summer.
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They'll ultimately say that they did a national search and that after doing interviews Pandolfo was clearly the guy. But IF they showed interest in Hastings that signals to me they knew they had Pandolfo in their back pocket.
Would be nice if anyone knew who actually interviewed. Only person I saw mentioned as getting an interview was Lang.
Would be nice if anyone knew who actually interviewed. Only person I saw mentioned as getting an interview was Lang.
brassbonanza
Super Serial
McMahon's newsletter from last Friday indicated BU had some kind of discussions with Leaman as well. Not clear how formal. Also not clear to what extent Hastings was a thing. He and DQ are very close, so it's possible DQ connected him to Drew but beyond that I have no idea.
Much earlier in the process a name I heard through the grapevine was Cavanaugh. Clearly, that went nowhere.
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