Today's word, boys and girls, is
Opportunity.
I'm not sure I've read any actual guarantees in the various quotes, other than IF things go fairly well AND Coach Umile does eventually retire, Souza will get an
opportunity to be the head coach (and yes, I know they have to couch the language at least in part so as not to bypass any written protocol for replacements/hirings). And maybe the successor issue is of the typical "wink and nod" variety.
The Wildcats eliminated UConn in the quarterfinals of the league tournament with a two-game sweep last March. A month later, Souza was promoted to associate head coach by the Huskies.
However, the chance to return to his alma mater as the heir apparent to Umile was too enticing.
“That’s sort of how it was presented to me,” Souza said. “It had to be pretty persuasive for me to leave UConn. Hopefully, if things go well and we continue to win, I’ll get that opportunity when Coach does retire. Obviously, that weighed into my decision. I had a lot of responsibilities at Connecticut in terms of coaching, and if I came back I had to have the same opportunity.”
Serious question ... was Souza viewed as the "heir apparent" to Luce Canaan down at UConn?
Not that guys like Al Pike have anything better to do than do interviews that are teed up for them by the UNH SID's offices (or whatever that position is called these days), but I would love to get Coach Stewart's take on all of this. Sure, it makes for a nice read on how the three coaches are all UNH alums ... but one has to wonder what representations may have been made to Coach Stewart to get him to come back to Durham from Merrimack. Was it the "opportunity" to possibly succeed Coach Umile upon his retirement, or is he just one of those guys who prefers to be the guy in the background, without the pressures of having the top job in the program? Did Coach Umile and/or BS35+2 share with him any long range plans, and whether Coach Souza's return was even on the radar at that point?
If Coach Stewart is still in his current job at UNH by this time next year, I'll assume either (1) he has been given similar promises of an "opportunity", or (2) he is copacetic with being the long-term #2 guy in the UNH program.
If it's #1 then I bet he is at the very least quite bemused about the attention being given to Souza's hire, and the lack of similar attention paid to his hire a year ago. It should be interesting to see how this all plays out ...
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