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UNH 2020 Off-Season Thread: That Rinky-Shrinky Thang And Other Lively Banter :D

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School's like UNH should never try to hire coaches for the 'long haul' - if it works out that way for Hubbard, that's wonderful, but it shouldn't be the goal. Hire coaches who are talented, driven and ambitious and who WILL attract the attention of larger programs. If they attract that attention it means they're doing something right and if they leave - make another good hire. See Gonzaga basketball (pre-Few) and Boise State football, etc. Embrace being a launching pad until the program is good enough that no one wants to leave.

But UNH has to believe its worthy of this type of coach before they'll start attracting them. Same with recruiting. Its Law of Attraction 101 - you get what you give...

Good take. I'll be the first to admit, once I saw the Boise State Football and Gonzaga Hoops teams emerging on the national stage, it felt like "nice story, but it won't last". And yet they pretty much have lasted, and for that you have to give the folks in charge their props for not just sitting on their laurels, hiring a handy in situ assistant, etc. Which of course begs the question, why aren't those AD's more in demand with bigger schools' programs? I won't pretend to know who those AD's are, and whether their records of hiring in other sports even come close to what they've done with their flagship programs (probably not), but if you're good enough to build success out of relatively nothing in a revenue sport, who cares, I guess?

It's not like our current AD hasn't had that job at other schools, so obviously at some point, he was motivated to seek out a growth opportunity in greener pastures. Unfortunately, I guess once he arrived here, he figured he'd hit paydirt, OR his kids were at that age where chasing after the "next job" was less appealing. I get that, and don't hold it against him. Many of us would probably do the same. But jeez, Judy Ray and Dick Umile handed you a program consistently competing on a national level, and McDonnell was also hired by Ray ... so Blue Skies has hired Herrion, Souza, Witt, and a lot of unremarkable-to-date folks, with the exception of Hubbard, and maybe one or two others?

One gets the impression that he's focused on facilities (football), but there's a lot of other work that's fallen behind or hasn't even been gotten to, all while the lifeblood of your program - strong coaches bringing good athletes to compete on strong teams, to provide a good product for your captive AND community customers to invest time/money into - is in a holding pattern at best.

But what's his motivation at this stage of his career? A legacy of multiple strong sports? Or just to have his name on something, like maybe "McDonnell Field at Scarano Stadium"?!? The evidence seems to suggest the latter is most likely ...
 
Marty Scarano is in his 20[SUP]th[/SUP] season as the director of athletics at the University of New Hampshire in 2019-20. (editorial comment -- Maybe the 20th year vests a retirement pension and he is done?) During his tenure, Scarano has heightened national exposure for UNH athletics with academic achievements, facility renovations and programmatic advancement being top priorities. (editorial comment -- Love the corporate speak. Facilities renovation is the legacy. Oddly, the national exposure due to actual team performance had fallen like a rock.)

There has been nearly $50 million in capital improvements since Scarano’s hiring in the summer of 2000. The largest-scale renovation – Wildcat Stadium, a $25 million athletic complex that is home to multiple UNH teams and multi-purposed for other events – was completed in August 2016. The structure, built on the west side of Mooradian Field, offers increased and improved seating, state-of-the-art broadcast capability, concessions and restrooms, as well as a 30’ by 50’ video board. A new synthetic surface was installed in summer 2017. (editorial comment -- lead with the money you brought in from donors based on past results you inherited.)

In July 2017, the University announced the approval of a new $3.7 million soccer and lacrosse facility to be used by UNH athletic teams and the Oyster River Youth Association on the site of the former Lewis Field. Phase I of the project was completed and the stadium opened for use in Summer 2019. Phase I included infrastructure preparation as well as installation of a state-of-the-art synthetic field, goals, perimeter fencing around the field and team benches. The second phase of construction will include field lighting, a 3,000-seat grandstand and storage area, press box with production capabilities, covered team benches and enhanced landscaping. An additional $1.7 million of the total $3.5 million needs to be raised for the second phase of construction. (editorial comment -- More about building and money.)

In the spring of 2015, UNH finished construction on the $2 million Watkins Center for Student-Athlete Excellence at the Field House for its Division I and Northeast Passage student-athletes, funded entirely by private donations. That fall, the Whittemore Center – home to both ice hockey teams and site of the 2016 Women’s Frozen Four – received a substantial facelift ($1.3 million) in the form of a four-sided, center-hung video board, a high-resolution end zone board and LED display band. (editorial comment - More about buildings and money. Sadly, the concept of diverting academic donations to vanity projects is not that repeatable.)

Scarano has helped elevate UNH athletics onto the collegiate national stage. To accomplish that goal, the University has taken on the task of hosting many major NCAA championships. In 2019, UNH hosted the Men’s Ice Hockey Northeast Regional at the SNHU Arena (Manchester, N.H.) for the eighth time in 16 years, and the University will once again host the regionals in 2021. (editorial comment -- Sadly, the own rink is substandard and cannot house NCAA tourneys.)

UNH was host of the 2007 and 2017 NCAA Skiing Championships, the NCAA Women’s Ice Hockey Frozen Four at the Whittemore Center in 2002, 2005 and 2016. In addition, UNH successfully hosted 2005 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Northeast Regional at the Whittemore Center and will once again play host to the NCAA Gymnastics Regionals in 2021.

The women’s hockey team played in the first outdoor game in the history of NCAA women’s hockey in 2010 at the Sun Life Frozen Fenway game and defeated Northeastern, while the men’s squad played at Fenway Park in ’12 and ‘17. Football also competed in Colonial Clash games at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., in 2010 and 2011; the Wildcats were victorious on both occasions against the University of Massachusetts.

Student-athletes have excelled both in academics and athletics during Scarano’s tenure. In October 2019, the UNH athletic department earned an NCAA Graduation Success Rate of 96 percent, which matched Cornell as No. 1 among all land-grant Universities. UNH was the conference leader in nine sports (field hockey, football, gymnastics, lacrosse, men’s soccer men’s skiing, women’s skiing, women’s soccer and swimming & diving).

seven UNH teams (men’s cross country, women’s cross country, football, gymnastics, men’s skiing, women’s skiing and women’s track & field) received NCAA Public Recognition for posting a multi-year Academic Progress Rate score in the top 10 percent of their respective sport, and six squads received a perfect score in the NCAA Academic Progress Rate. (editorial comment -- oddly, the hockey team is not on these lists.)

UNH has won the America East Academic Cup four times in the last five years (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019) by recording the highest GPA among all conference student-athletes. UNH's other notable outstanding academic achievements in 2018-19 included a league-high 79 percent of Wildcats named to the America East Winter/Spring Academic Honor Roll, as well as a conference-high 60 student-athletes on the 2018 Fall Commissioner's Honor Roll.
In 2007, Scarano was awarded the National Association of College Directors of Athletics (NACDA) AD of the Year for the FCS. Additionally, Scarano was also named the All-American Football Foundation Athletic Director of the Year for FCS football in the Northeast region. Scarano was the chair of the executive committees for Atlantic 10 football, Hockey East and America East from 2003-07. He was a member of the NCAA D-I Football Championship Committee from 2013-17. Most recently he was both the Chairperson of Athletic Directors Council for America East and the chair of CAA Football from 2015-17.

He also served as chair of the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee in 2005-06 and 2006-07. Scarano was a member of the Hockey East restructuring team that successfully recruited Notre Dame and University of Connecticut to the conference. (editorial comment -- Chuck, do you want to handle this one?)
 
Just saw on Facebook a kid from UNH was taken in the second round of MLS draft, that’s really impressive.

Josh Bauer, local kid (Bedford), defender yet he scored 10 goals and assisted on 10 others in 60 games at UNH. That's pretty off-the-hook for a defender in the sport. Played club ball with GPS, one of the two top clubs in the state (also played summer ball for Seacoast United, the other top club). If developed properly in MLS, he could vie for a spot on the USMNT someday. He's only 22, tall and strong, and defenders in the sport tend to develop at a later age, so the sky is the limit.
 
I’m pretty sure unless a safety and a field goal by UNH then this needs to be the sign of the end. Maybe a few years of a bad record.... oh wait... but this isn’t working. One game doesn’t define a season but this is close

I honestly don't have much to say about the state of it all; just like a lot of other things, I'm getting numb to it. Bring on June. But oh, it sure would be nice to see some good hockey out of them.
 
I honestly don't have much to say about the state of it all; just like a lot of other things, I'm getting numb to it. Bring on June. But oh, it sure would be nice to see some good hockey out of them.

You have an AD that’s past his prime (if he ever had one) and the fix was an alumni. That rarely ever works. You need a recruiter. I’d rather have someone who can recruit talent and not coach versus a great coach with less talent. MS7 is a great guy but that doesn’t equal wins. Fresh blood throughout is now needed
 
"What? Over? Did you say 'over'? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? He11 no!"
 
"What? Over? Did you say 'over'? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? He11 no!"

ha! well, I guess if you say so! Up late into the night I see! :D yep, I'm over it alright. I would like to say it's exciting to see Patrick Grasso score some points as he moves toward 100 career points.
 
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Fun game to watch, as JvR picked up two goals in the dirty areas in front of the net, yet his alma mater pulled out their second shoot out win of this young season.

You got some 'splainin' to do on this one, Snives ...

So I didn't follow last night's UNH game, and this is the last post at the bottom of the page I left this on with this thread, so here I am, opening up my browser this morning, and I'm thinking "Hey, at least UNH got two out of three points last night".

Then I ticked over to the next page and ... UGH. Reality hits me smack-dab in the face.

You dippin' into the moonshine a little bit early last night, mon ami?!?!?
 
You have an AD that's past his prime (if he ever had one) and the fix was an alumni. That rarely ever works. You need a recruiter. I'd rather have someone who can recruit talent and not coach versus a great coach with less talent. MS7 is a great guy but that doesn't equal wins. Fresh blood throughout is now needed

Hopefully today brings better news, but it's starting to feel like his players are quitting at midseason ...
 
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