Re: Providence College 2010-2011 - Things are looking up.
I'll begin by echoing Freds and as I noted a couple of days ago. Hockey is different then basketball, jobs are fewer, turnover far less, and jumping seems far less prevelent. I went through the exercise to show how few D1 head coches would even consider a jump. I also noted that in general the jump directly from juniors to college is rare. Two fold one the control some of the better junior coaches have far outweighs what they would have for control in college and possibly even (especially at a place like PC) a step back in pay. I don't know D3 well enough but I looked at the eastern D3 coaches and none of the one more likely to be willing to leave a cushy enivronment really made my heart race.
At least in the east right now Ricky is probably the hottest assistant out there. As Hokeydad notes what has been accomplished at Union is extremely impressive. I think it has also provided him with skills which would translate well at PC considering how little support he really will get. He know has 11 years as an assistant. I would certainly discount your criticism of him for his time at PC for two reasons. First those were his first 5 years as an assistant (the 2nd guy in fact), his primary role was teaching and you might remember it was he who took over the defense in his first year 2000-2001 and got us to the finals. In the last 6 years he has taken on more responsiblity and has had a chance to cut his teeth with a coach most knowledgeable people consider one of the best. I would judge him on those years first. Then second I would look at the PC years and now in hindsight you very well might not like wat Pooley did but he kept the ship from sinking. As I noted before PC never recovered from the downgrade of sports in '99 and the last class they recruited was the class of '03. From that point on it was survival mode. I actually think you do need a PC guys. You have to sell the program and while an outside can do it (as I noted below I think Deraney does a good job) I think a PC guy has the potential to do it.
For the other names mentioned. I thought Bavis was Parker's heir apparent. If he is not and would be interested I would hope the Hockeyguy would check it out. Cavanagh not so much....because of BC's advantages it is hard to say how he would adjust to the slums. Tremblay would be interesting also. The Monarchs are always one of the best teams, he clearly has contacts, however again I would wonder about the control issue.
Kurt Kleinendorst doesn't really do it now. He's been all over the place. He has 1 year of non professional hockey experience, a year with the national team a couple of years ago. Army at least had the 6 years as McShane's assistant. Trouble is PC's stock feel an awful lot in the 10 years he was gone and the power structure was much more of a have and have not situation. I do agree he did express no interest back in '95, though it was understanding with Smith coming on board the guys who had come through PC were advised not to take the job, it would be a dead end (turned out that way for Pooley). He was not a candidate 6 years ago. The three who even got interviews were Army, Berard, and Hughes. I would not even be enamored with Hughes anymore though since he was a more defensive minded coach he might have staved off disaster slightly better.
On a side note I should say I've heard several times now the rumor is in the next couple of years a major upgrade will happen at Schneider. Tie it in with building a garage. Not really sure of how they will ft it in. If I understand correctly the softball field now goes up to Hendricken field, the track facility ties into the garage also. The lobby becomes locker rooms at Schneider and the entrance comes from the softball field side. Because of the new fitness center though I understand there is no plans to add that in which still puts them behind the other schools
