Re: Severe Ronaldstorm Warning: the Michigan Tech 2010-11 Season Thread, Part the Sec
MTUHatTrick84, You have to remember the team's transition from Watters to Sertich to Russell that happen over those 6 years. Many of the younger players that were recruited by Sertich were not retained by Russell and probably have an adverse affect on the 2001, 2002 and 2003 numbers.
I can see how the coaching change would affect the 2001 cohort especially, since they were going into the sohphomore year when Russell was named head coach. I would also accept that the coaching change would affect the 2002 cohort, since they signed under Sertich to play for Tech and then Russell came in at the same time they did. It should not have had an effect on the cohort of 2003, since Russell was already in and established, and players that had made verbals would be allowed to rescind them. Anyone that signed in that cohort knew they were coming in with Russell, and coaching instability should not have played a factor, and yet it was the lowest number of the bunch.
It is interesting to me that the earlier cohorts that would have been sophomore through senior during the coaching instability still managed to maintain a high GSR. One would have really expected a hit to the numbers with players that were here during the change, not those who came in after.
A few notes on the process:
FGR measures the percentage of students that graduate from the school in which they started, and do so within six years.
GSR, as far as I can tell, counts overall graduation of an athlete within the 6 years from any school, and excludes calculation of those who do not graduate but leave in good academic standing (I think?).
The other sports at Tech used to actually measure below hockey on both terms. For the five year period (1999-2003), the GSR was consistently between 80-85, while the FGR (which is a more accurate measure of an individual school's academic success in my opinion) has hovered around 60. The other programs at Tech are consistently producing numbers, while the hockey numbers fall off. Of course, it can also be noted that the other sports have more players, so one player's failure has less of an impact on the overall number.
It isn't an exact science, and it may not be an entirely accurate picture, but I worry about the academics of our hockey program with a consistent trend like that. It would be even more alarming next fall if we see a continued drop, or a failure to rebound back up to high standards, with the 2004 cohort.
