Way to "skirt the issue" 'Ref.
I don't recall the length of MS7's contract, or whether it's ever been extended. I believe this is his 7th year on the staff, and fourth season in charge. It's possible he is still on his original deal, which I'd guess would have run 6-7 years (the 3 planned assistant seasons, and 3-4 more as HC to allow him to establish his first few recruiting classes), which means the original deal either ended last summer OR will end this summer. IF the latter, I doubt the outgoing AD would have let Souza start a "lame duck" season without a commitment beyond the term, and it'd be tough to justify extending him more than 2 years, based on what he's shown us so far. So my guess is MS7 is not holding a long-term commitment at this point, and a buyout if the new AD chooses to go with someone else shouldn't be more than another year tops. With BS now being on his way out, I don't see UNH allowing any more extensions on his watch. For all we know, BS may have tried to extend MacDonnell already, and when he tried to sell it to Dean Dean, DD (a new one for Darius) suggested retirement was more appropriate for both men instead??
See ... where you "skirt the issue" 'Ref, yours truly engages in rampant speculation. WAY more fun!!
Now DD seems to be fairly "plugged in" to the Athletics side of things, so (more speculation) I would expect him to be right in the midst of the hiring process for the new AD. With a decision already made on Football (Santos), and with Men's Soccer seemingly in very good hands for the foreseeable future, it's hard not to think DD will be looking for someone to revive Hockey (both sides) and Hoops. I'd guess MS7 is on thin ice, more so than even Bill Herrion, but at some point someone at the top should be demanding that Men's Hoops grow and move back across the street. Women's Soccer HC may also be vulnerable, with these PC times being what they are, and with a man with a nondescript W-L record currently in the job.
I would expect DD (and his blue ribbon panel) to question the new AD candidates on not only philosophy and vision issues, but also to plumb their preparedness to bring in a couple of immediate quality new hires in prominent programs, and with Hockey being at the top of that list. In looking at the possibility of a new Men's Hockey HC, I'd want the new AD to already have a short list of candidates he would be looking to consider, whether he is hired at UNH or
Fill-In-The-Blank D-1 Hockey University. And if one of those folks on the short list is a prominent respected national candidate - as what happened last offseason (whether unexpectedly or not?) in Orono - I would want that AD candidate to guarantee he would act immediately to get that new person in the door.
When things played out as they did up in Orono last Spring, Coach Barr kind of fell into UMaine's lap, but everyone pretty much knew it was his time to move out and run his own show, regardless of whether Red was going to be extended or not (much less what actually happened). Unfortunately for UNH, we had an AD who was still operating on mediocrity auto-pilot, and would never have thought to make a bold move in (say) mid-April to make a move on Barr before UMaine had time to stop diddling around with their decision, which they actually did leave that door open for way too long, until fate stepped in.
That opportunity was out there, and UNH passed. I probably mentioned it a few times last Spring. It's the whole "fortune favors the brave" thing, and while the ship has sailed on Barr, there will be others in the future that are worthy of immediate consideration. IIRC Dan has worked/is still working in college athletics, it would be interesting to get his latest take on all of this ...
To quote our common friend, "We're only immortal, for a limited time." The image of UNH that McCloskey was able to sell started to slip, and once you lose the perception, results follow.
