You're going to find this answer very unsatisfying but in my opinion it just takes a lot of time in college hockey before you really own a program. I think the best and fairest way to assess a coach would be to look at what they are doing in years six, seven, eight, nine, etc. I'm sure it's taken Souza some time to figure out what works and doesn't work then implement it.
Yours is actually a fair take all around Drew, so let me focus on the parts where we may still have disagreement. There are a lot of coaches who don't get the benefit of getting to "years six, seven, eight, nine, etc." without showing
some ability to win before that late in the game. Even the MacDonnell/UNH Football comp started to pay dividends earlier than MS7 has. The household names in Hockey East that we've all seen over the past generation - Walsh, Umile, York, Parker, or even more recent names like Bazin, Carvel, Leaman and Barr - they've had the programs they took over turned around in half the time or (much) less. Heck, Borek has done more with less, and more quickly too, than MS7 at UNH up to this point. The only semi-comps to MS7's pattern I can think of in recent HEA history are Madigan at NU, and MS7's "svengali" down in Storrs (my BFF Luce Canaan), who at this point is looking very much like the poster child for not giving a hefty long-term extension to someone who has taken a long time to (barely) get out of the starting blocks. More on that later ...
I thought what UNH did in the second half last year was incredibly impressive. It's easy to play decent hockey when things are going your way but to turn it around when they're not is incredibly difficult. Watching the two games against Maine last winter they clearly had their act together.
Another fair point. One can look at it that way ... or one could look at it as a desperate UNH team led by a desperate HC coming off what, a 10 plus game winless streak in late '22, playing with a "nothing to lose" mentality against a series of overconfident, more talented teams biding their time in the middle of winter for the games that really count come late February into early March. At which point, UNH went pffffttttt ...
Beyond UNH's record this year the fact that Souza got a big donation in the door, the Whitt is filling up again, and UNH has got sone good recruits lined up have to go a long way. I definitely took notice of the fact UNH has four or five guys on the draft watch list and Maine had none. I wouldn't be surprised if he has already signed an extension.
I'm not sure MS7 can take a bow for the huge DiLorenzo gift (I'm sure he'd take credit for it though), my guess is DiLorenzo's interest in UNH Hockey probably attaches more closely to the Umile Era - and of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't state the obvious and point out he is
paisan as well. Then again, one wonders why Blue Skies didn't usher the DiLorenzo largesse into the UNH camp earlier, if it was a Umile thing? Timing is always the key, and it seems like DiLorenzo is starting to shift into "legacy" mode after one of his kids had a close call with death, then bought the island property estate in Portsmouth, fit in the UNH donation, and now is waiting to close on the game-changing McIntyre property. There almost seems to be a race between Joe Faro (Tuscan etc.) and DiLorenzo (Key Auto) to see which borderline boomer UNH grad emerges as the NH Philanthropist of the first half of the 21st century. UNH being on board with one is great; being on board with both would be spectacular.
But the arena is getting closer to its old sold-out glory, and at least for a little bit of time right now, there seems to be a buzz emerging that has been missing for quite awhile. And good for that, Drew, 'cuz otherwise your guy up in Orono is going to dominate the Border Battle for a long, long time. Maybe it took UMaine hiring a guy like Barr, and UNH letting his contract wind down, to get MS7's full attention to apply the necessary urgency to his job??
This will all be a very important decision for our new AD, and hopefully one that she handles like a seasoned professional. She just let a more successful and experienced Men's Hoops HC walk the plank while in the same circumstances last Spring as MS7 will likely be in this coming Spring ('24). If these promising green shoots of growth continue to mature into a good ending of the season, then I can live with a one-two year extension, depending on whether the success is just a winning record (one year extension) or real postseason accomplishment/progress (two years). The worst thing UNH can do is to splurge on a long-term deal for a guy who may (or may not?) be just breaking through into a longer run of success. Look at what's happened to the guys at UMass and UConn, both of whom signed long-term deals not so long ago. In Carvel's case, he transformed UMass (permanently or temporarily, the jury is still out) into a national championship and perennial HEA power, which has seemed to lose some traction recently. But who wouldn't "settle" for a NC, right?? UConn apparently signed Luce to the biggest deal in HEA (D-1?) history to fend off supposedly losing him to BC (see
Umile plays UMass, March 2000) on the basis of one (1) winning season, and one (1) trip to the HEA Tourney in Boston. PLEASE don't fall into that trap, AD Rich.
I'll touch on the actual real glory that is UNH Soccer later tonight after I get back from the celebrations ... ;-)
