Potter out at Ohio State

[brookyone]

Re: Potter out at Ohio State

look, it's unfortunate that these kids signed up for ohio state thinking potter would be their coach and now she won't for whatever reason. But this is the real world and there are coaching changes every year and the commits at every school with a change face the same situation. The commits should have considered whether ohio state was a good school fit for them as much (actually way more) as whether potter would be their coach. As long as the school and new coach honors the commitments, they should be in a good place. And let's be honest - the worst thing ohio state or the new coach could do now would be releasing their recruits so that isn't going to happen. They have an athletic scholarship commitment at a good school with a reasonable hockey program in the awesomely superior superlative superlative best conference in the universe - the only thing that has changed is the coach - they are in a good place and shouldn't panic.

Also - even if duggan signed on at uconn as an assistant, if osu called her to be the head coach wouldn't she take the job?

fyp

 

[BigFan]

Re: Potter out at Ohio State

I would doubt very much that Duggan would have been a candidate for a position at OSU. Would she return as an assistant when she just resigned from the same position? Furthermore, in my opinion, she is not quite experienced enough to take on the lead role. Let's move on. Next!

Not sure how you can say not qualified, she was Head Coach at the same school Potter coached prior to going to OSU and had excellent results. She was an assistant for 3 years at OSU……will have learned something in 3 yrs as a assistant of a Div 1 program. Program needs some stability……..IMO.

 

[Puckdrop14]

Re: Potter out at Ohio State

Not sure how you can say not qualified, she was Head Coach at the same school Potter coached prior to going to OSU and had excellent results. She was an assistant for 3 years at OSU……will have learned something in 3 yrs as a assistant of a Div 1 program. Program needs some stability……..IMO.

Point taken however one could also question whether or not JP had the qualifications to take on a D1 lead position? It will be interesting to see if OSU move to a seasoned/experienced coach, look for an up and comer or find a candidate that is somewhere in the middle.

 

[HappyGilmourCaddy]

Re: Potter out at Ohio State

A likely interim coach could be none other than the long time OSU men's coach, John Markell. He still resides in C'Bus and is the head coach of the AAA Blue Jackets. They also have Lisa Chesson, although she signed to play for the Beauts. He is an outstanding coach but would need an experienced assistant group surrounding him for recruiting and administrative tasks. I would hope that OSU can do better than this, but he might fill an interim need.

 

[osualum86]

Re: Potter out at Ohio State

A likely interim coach could be none other than the long time OSU men's coach, John Markell. He still resides in C'Bus and is the head coach of the AAA Blue Jackets. They also have Lisa Chesson, although she signed to play for the Beauts. He is an outstanding coach but would need an experienced assistant group surrounding him for recruiting and administrative tasks. I would hope that OSU can do better than this, but he might fill an interim need.

Both of those names popped into my head. I think OSU could do a lot worse than either of those candidates, although I am not 100% sure what Gene Smith and his staff are looking for in the next women's hockey coach. I think they need to move quickly as the season is almost upon us.

 

[crutch]

Re: Potter out at Ohio State

Look, it's unfortunate that these kids signed up for Ohio State thinking Potter would be their coach and now she won't for whatever reason. But this is the real world and there are coaching changes every year and the commits at every school with a change face the same situation. The commits should have considered whether Ohio State was a good school fit for them as much (actually way more) as whether Potter would be their coach. As long as the school and new coach honors the commitments, they should be in a good place. And let's be honest - the WORST thing Ohio State or the new coach could do now would be releasing their recruits so that isn't going to happen. They have an athletic scholarship commitment at a good school with a reasonable hockey program - the only thing that has changed is the coach - they are in a good place and shouldn't panic.

Also - even if Duggan signed on at UConn as an assistant, if OSU called her to be the head coach wouldn't she take the job?

Highly doubtful any commitments were made directly in regards to a coach. That should never be a top priority of a commit. JP was extremely well liked by returning and incoming players but only a couple of this years recruits, and only a few of next years, actually committed under her. Most committed under Handrahan. The impact may be more for the commitments a couple of years out.

In any case the girls are doing well. This kind of event could lead to a extremely close knitted team. Girls are on the ice and skating and appear to be quite positive regardless of the circumstances.

 

[EastFan1]

Re: Potter out at Ohio State

Highly doubtful any commitments were made directly in regards to a coach. That should never be a top priority of a commit.

Have to disagree. A bad coach can make a great school a miserable.

 

[NoChangeOnIcing]

Have to disagree. A bad coach can make a great school a miserable.

I agree with EastFan1, when looking at a school you look at the full picture. Education, school environment, team success, and coach. Coach can be and usually is the final push to get someone to find comfort in a school. If you build a relationship with a coach and you are eager to play for them, under their style of coaching, but they suddenly vanish... That's a big ? for a 15,16,17 year old to handle. They may still love the school, hockey, and education, but the unknown that a new coach can and will bring is enough to make anyone nervous. Better for them to look and either find another place they feel comfortable at or to hold out on their commitment, and see what the new coach brings to the table. We are talking about teenagers here with limited life experiences and a decision that impacts their entire life, not just 4 years of hockey. A bad college experience under a bad coach can have repercussions forever after. You only get 1 shot to get it right, so I think it's worth every recruits time to shop around and find the right fit with the total package especially due to the unknown with coaching changes.

 

[BigFan]

Re: Potter out at Ohio State

Have to say if I'm a recruit with options I would really have to take a long look at OSU women's hockey program before committing. This will be third coach in 3 years, lack of stability in program…….maybe has already hindered "recruiting", will take some time to build a foundation. They have some top end players now, just not enough of them to make the team competitive with the upper echelon.

 

[agfire]

Re: Potter out at Ohio State

I agree with EastFan1, when looking at a school you look at the full picture. Education, school environment, team success, and coach. Coach can be and usually is the final push to get someone to find comfort in a school. If you build a relationship with a coach and you are eager to play for them, under their style of coaching, but they suddenly vanish... That's a big ? for a 15,16,17 year old to handle. They may still love the school, hockey, and education, but the unknown that a new coach can and will bring is enough to make anyone nervous. Better for them to look and either find another place they feel comfortable at or to hold out on their commitment, and see what the new coach brings to the table. We are talking about teenagers here with limited life experiences and a decision that impacts their entire life, not just 4 years of hockey. A bad college experience under a bad coach can have repercussions forever after. You only get 1 shot to get it right, so I think it's worth every recruits time to shop around and find the right fit with the total package especially due to the unknown with coaching changes.

Have to totally agree. This may be the most salient thing said on this thread thus far.

Has there been any updates to what actually happened?

 

[osualum86]

Re: Potter out at Ohio State

Have to say if I'm a recruit with options I would really have to take a long look at OSU women's hockey program before committing. This will be third coach in 3 years, lack of stability in program…….maybe has already hindered "recruiting", will take some time to build a foundation. They have some top end players now, just not enough of them to make the team competitive with the upper echelon.

I completely agree with this. Three different coaches in three years definitely constitutes a lack of stability in the program. It's imperative that Gene Smith and his staff get it right this time. We need to bring a coach in here who can keep the good players we already have and also keep the recruiting classes intact.

 

[osualum86]

Re: Potter out at Ohio State

Has there been any updates to what actually happened?

I talked to someone close to the program and he was told it was recruiting violations. That makes the most sense. Some on here said it was players saying they were transferring if Potter wasn't removed. I didn't really buy that as most of the team really liked Jenny Potter and played hard for her. If that would have been the case, the players would have come forward in March or April, not August right before the season started. That scenario simply doesn't add up.

 

[hocper]

I talked to someone close to the program and he was told it was recruiting violations. That makes the most sense. Some on here said it was players saying they were transferring if Potter wasn't removed. I didn't really buy that as most of the team really liked Jenny Potter and played hard for her. If that would have been the case, the players would have come forward in March or April, not August right before the season started. That scenario simply doesn't add up.

I'm hearing recruiting issues also but I guess we'll all know once OSU self reports those violations?? Stay tuned for that..but .don't forget 2 rising seniors transferred out, both players played big roles. That probably got some attention! Two other players who hardly played a lick were cut after the season, think they were happy? Could they have created some animosity?
Do not rule out that the admin waited til the bitter end to keep players around......best way to keep players.....I feel bad for Potter....

 

[OnMAA]

Re: Potter out at Ohio State

I agree with EastFan1, when looking at a school you look at the full picture. Education, school environment, team success, and coach. Coach can be and usually is the final push to get someone to find comfort in a school. If you build a relationship with a coach and you are eager to play for them, under their style of coaching, but they suddenly vanish... That's a big ? for a 15,16,17 year old to handle. They may still love the school, hockey, and education, but the unknown that a new coach can and will bring is enough to make anyone nervous. Better for them to look and either find another place they feel comfortable at or to hold out on their commitment, and see what the new coach brings to the table. We are talking about teenagers here with limited life experiences and a decision that impacts their entire life, not just 4 years of hockey. A bad college experience under a bad coach can have repercussions forever after. You only get 1 shot to get it right, so I think it's worth every recruits time to shop around and find the right fit with the total package especially due to the unknown with coaching changes.

Agree. Had two daughters go through a coaching change experience at college. It was a bad experience for both. Both had chosen the school partly because of the coach. Having said that, you do have to look at the bigger picture. Both did well in school academically and ended up in places where they wanted to be after school with great promising careers. In the end is that not why you go to college in the first place. !!! The moral of the story. You should always pick your school for the right academic fit first. That thought process seems to be a foreign concept for way too many prospects. This is also the reason I do not like early commitments and early verbals. Many 17-18 year olds do not really know what they want, this is magnified even more for 15-16 year olds.

 

[Rightnut]

Re: Potter out at Ohio State

I'm hearing recruiting issues also but I guess we'll all know once OSU self reports those violations?? Stay tuned for that..but .don't forget 2 rising seniors transferred out, both players played big roles. That probably got some attention! Two other players who hardly played a lick were cut after the season, think they were happy? Could they have created some animosity?
Do not rule out that the admin waited til the bitter end to keep players around......best way to keep players.....I feel bad for Potter....

What kind of recruiting violations are there likely to be in women's hockey? Are we talking (speculating) about communications with recruits that's not allowed or what? Its not like they were paying recruits or giving them stuff similar to what happens in football etc. What kind of violations could be serious enough to fire a coach one year in to her tenure?

 

[KTDC]

Re: Potter out at Ohio State

I believe she left sometime after the season ended; her LinkedIn page says her coaching at OSU ended in March 2016. Not sure where she's going to end up. As for Olson, it looks as if both are not listed in the OSU directory anymore, per osualum86.

The early rumors floating around are violations with regards to recruiting; sounds like Potter had her husband Rob recruit on her behalf, which is a big no-no. Again, just rumors, so that could all be 100% false, but that's what I've gathered from the grapevine.

What kind of recruiting violations are there likely to be in women's hockey? Are we talking (speculating) about communications with recruits that's not allowed or what? Its not like they were paying recruits or giving them stuff similar to what happens in football etc. What kind of violations could be serious enough to fire a coach one year in to her tenure?

Info from early in the thread.

 

[Rightnut]

Re: Potter out at Ohio State

Info from early in the thread.

Thanks - I didn't look that far back. As for the statement about when she left - that is incorrect. She was still recruiting in the middle of July so it had to have happened very recently.

 

[Puckdrop14]

Thanks - I didn't look that far back. As for the statement about when she left - that is incorrect. She was still recruiting in the middle of July so it had to have happened very recently.

Believe that statement was in reference to Carson Duggan.

 

[bc6696]

Re: Potter out at Ohio State

Agree. Had two daughters go through a coaching change experience at college. It was a bad experience for both. Both had chosen the school partly because of the coach. Having said that, you do have to look at the bigger picture. Both did well in school academically and ended up in places where they wanted to be after school with great promising careers. In the end is that not why you go to college in the first place. !!! The moral of the story. You should always pick your school for the right academic fit first. That thought process seems to be a foreign concept for way too many prospects. This is also the reason I do not like early commitments and early verbals. Many 17-18 year olds do not really know what they want, this is magnified even more for 15-16 year olds.

I have told my daughters to picture yourself not playing hockey...is this a school you would want to be at? If the answer is "NO" without hockey, the answer shouldn't change with it. Just my opinion.

 

[BigFan]

Re: Potter out at Ohio State

Took a look at OSU website, no updates on this years roster, anyone know what Freshman or new players(transfers) will be playing this year ? Website is lacking given school starts on Monday.