Toot Cahoon Steps Down as UMass Head Coach

[C-H-C]

Re: Toot Cahoon Steps Down as UMass Head Coach

This may have been a key reason Micheletto got the job. He was signalling to the AD that he knows hockey is the 3rd or 4th most important sport at UMass-Amherst and he is OK with that. Some of the other candidates probably wanted the AD to think of the hockey program as having similar importance/prestige to the football, basketball (and lacrosse) programs - which was the major disagreement between Toot and the AD.


"I think that the general premise that because you have big-time football that you have to downgrade other programs is false,” Micheletto said. “The one thing I learned in my previous experience, certainly Notre Dame being one of them, is that if you have a program that is the showpiece and the revenue earner, you have to feed that program and then feed off the resource that provides [all other sports]."


Read more: http://www.uscho.com/2012/07/17/mic...th-set-out-to-find-their-place/#ixzz20vEnXjm6

 

[Vermont Ref]

Re: Toot Cahoon Steps Down as UMass Head Coach

Talk about scraping the bottom of the barrel for a coach...you just needed to grab Kevin Sneddon's assistant? And at the same time, as if UVM didn't suck enough, now they lose Girgensons and an assistant coach within a few days.

If you think you're scrapping the bottom of the barrel, then you don't know John. He is a class act. He is smart, knows the game, is good with the recruits, good with the kids and good with the fans. Give him a couple of years to get his team and system together and I think you will be back at the garden and maybe the NCAA tourney. This is a big loss for UVM in my opinion - wish they would have taken Gasparini away from us. John will be missed. I'm thrilled for John and know he will do terrifically.

 

[J.D.]

Re: Toot Cahoon Steps Down as UMass Head Coach

I was half joking/half serious. I don't know anything about him other than Vermont has been atrocious recently and he wasn't even close to UMass' first choice.

 

[jjmc85]

Re: Toot Cahoon Steps Down as UMass Head Coach

^Vermont isn't all that far removed from back to back NCAA tournaments. He was a part of that. I am cautiously optimistic.

 

[Harry Cleverly]

Re: Toot Cahoon Steps Down as UMass Head Coach

The original question was: could UMass end up better off than they would be with Toot Cahoon in charge?
The actual result won't be known right away, until we see what direction the program goes.

But, this is not looking very promising.
* Cahoon is a good man and a competent coach.
* It is obvious that hockey is not a priority sport at UMass. Maybe Cahoon did as well as could be done, given that circumstance.
* The "resignation"/search came late, but it can not be seen as a positive that several credible replacements wanted nothing to do with the job.
* UMass didn't end up with a proven head coach or an assistant from a marquee program.
* Is there a team that plays a more boring style of play than Vermont? Sneddon is likely more to blame for that, but ... (At least Cahoon usually had fast-skating teams that were interesting to watch!)

So, are the Minutemen better off now, or if Cahoon had stayed?
Time will tell, but it isn't looking very promising.

 

[FRICKER]

Re: Toot Cahoon Steps Down as UMass Head Coach

Every Hall of Fame coach had to start somewhere and get their big break - maybe this is his. Let's give him the chance to prove himself at UMass!!!

 

[claver2010]

Re: Toot Cahoon Steps Down as UMass Head Coach

The original question was: could UMass end up better off than they would be with Toot Cahoon in charge?
The actual result won't be known right away, until we see what direction the program goes.

But, this is not looking very promising.
* Cahoon is a good man and a competent coach.
* It is obvious that hockey is not a priority sport at UMass. Maybe Cahoon did as well as could be done, given that circumstance.
* The "resignation"/search came late, but it can not be seen as a positive that several credible replacements wanted nothing to do with the job.
* UMass didn't end up with a proven head coach or an assistant from a marquee program.
* Is there a team that plays a more boring style of play than Vermont? Sneddon is likely more to blame for that, but ... (At least Cahoon usually had fast-skating teams that were interesting to watch!)

So, are the Minutemen better off now, or if Cahoon had stayed?
Time will tell, but it isn't looking very promising.

Not that I need to tell all of you but the last half decade UMass has finished: 8, 7, 6, 8, 8.

If by competent you mean he didn't torpedo the program sure, but UMass had room to go before they were even mediocre under him.

 

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: Toot Cahoon Steps Down as UMass Head Coach

Not that I need to tell all of you but the last half decade UMass has finished: 8, 7, 6, 8, 8.

If by competent you mean he didn't torpedo the program sure, but UMass had room to go before they were even mediocre under him.

That's funny, I would have picked out this part of the post:

Is there a team that plays a more boring style of play than Vermont? Sneddon is likely more to blame for that, but ... (At least Cahoon usually had fast-skating teams that were interesting to watch!)

Kind of funny considering UMass might have been the one team more boring than Vermont and Cahoon hasn't had a fast-skating team that was interesting to watch since the Mauldin/Pock years.

 

[sterlippo1]

Re: Toot Cahoon Steps Down as UMass Head Coach

That's funny, I would have picked out this part of the post:

Kind of funny considering UMass might have been the one team more boring than Vermont and Cahoon hasn't had a fast-skating team that was interesting to watch since the Mauldin/Pock years.

I agree, the last two years watching them in the HE quarters was like scratching a blackboard.

 

[BC/HE]

Re: Toot Cahoon Steps Down as UMass Head Coach

I find it interesting that the budget has been a major focus in this situation. UMass has perhaps the lowest travel budget in all of college hockey. Hockey East is a true bus league unlike any of the other leagues. One trip a year to Maine is the only extensive drive as Vermont is an easier trip for UMass than anyone else in the league. Not only are they closer to UVM but the route is clear from start to finish as well. They are also close to many ECAC schools being less than 2 hours from Dartmouth,Yale,Quinnipiac,RPI and Union. Many other D1 teams are close by too. Those are schools that they would gladly schedule as they do not have to reach out for the biggest names like BC and BU must. Look at their NC games this year: 2 up in Hanover in the New Years tournament, a game at Yale, and Colgate coming to Amherst for two(still not a bad ride to Hamilton for return games) as well as Quinnipiac and UConn coming in. Return dates amount to very short bus rides. UMass has already cut travel costs as well as anyone while still getting decent OOC games.