Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
Re: UNH Wildcats - Marty Scarano
Very interesting situation. Without drawing too many conclusions, I think the BU Women's Hoops situation (and likely the UNH Women's Hockey situation) really points out the pressure at the D-1 level for student-athletes AND their coaches to perform. Some of it comes with the territory; some of it no doubt arises from the scenario where these highly-recruited HS athletes move that next step up the competitive pyramid, and instead of being the "superstar" of their school/district/state, they are lumped in against every other "superstar" of every other school/district/state. And the simple fact of the matter is, not everyone is going to succeed when that happens. Some kids will rise to the challenge; many more will fall short. And of those who do not measure up to their past successes, some will be mature and realistic enough to know this was a possible outcome, and they will handle things just fine. Others won't be as well equipped, and to those kids, this can be devastating.
I guess what we are beginning to see more and more are concepts like "bullying" being injected into the discussion as far as how a coach handles his/her business. And with pressure on the coach to produce results on and/or off the field of play with their student-athletes, this "pushback" on the other side of the performance spectrum only makes their job more demanding.
But these coaches are big boys/girls and are usually pretty well-compensated, full-time professional coaches, so they should have the time to develop honest relationships with their players on what to expect when they arrive on campus and show up for their first practice. It's their JOB to do this. IF the coach oversells the athlete on their future role, without being 100% honest and telling them they'll have to compete for their playing time/role, then shame on the coach. But if the coach puts his/her cards on the table from the outset, and promises nothing other than a fair chance to compete, then it shifts those expectations. Frankly, if the recruit finds that unacceptable, and decides to go play for someone else who promises them the moon and the stars, you know what ... if I'm that coach, then I can live without that player. Very nicely actually, thank you.
I'm drawing more of this out of the BU situation than the UNH situation, as the media investigation of the circumstances at the BU Women's Hoops program is a lot more in-depth as to the players' situations. The media coverage of the UNH Women's Hockey situation has mostly steered clear of that in-depth handling. I have had folks share their insights with me, both pro and con, and I'm not comfortable putting those thoughts out there as mine - because they aren't. So all you are left to do is look at a stat sheet, and take that for what it's worth. And I'd be the biggest hypocrite on these boards if I were to come on here and draw conclusions about certain players in the UNH program based on stats alone.
It's interesting though that BU is taking some time with this situation, even though there was a prior history, and has not let Coach Greenberg go already. Granted, she is apparently at the end of her extended deal, so maybe they will just let it expire and move on to the hiring process for her replacement. Yet in the meantime in Durham, the UNH AD's offices (headed up our hero BS35) pulled the plug on a coach with NO past history, after an investigation that lasted a few days (2-3?), turned up no definitive video evidence, and apparently ignored the accounts of numerous players on the team.
I still say UNH is a case of "buyer's remorse", where an opportunity arose to quell the remorse, and here we are ...
Very interesting situation. Without drawing too many conclusions, I think the BU Women's Hoops situation (and likely the UNH Women's Hockey situation) really points out the pressure at the D-1 level for student-athletes AND their coaches to perform. Some of it comes with the territory; some of it no doubt arises from the scenario where these highly-recruited HS athletes move that next step up the competitive pyramid, and instead of being the "superstar" of their school/district/state, they are lumped in against every other "superstar" of every other school/district/state. And the simple fact of the matter is, not everyone is going to succeed when that happens. Some kids will rise to the challenge; many more will fall short. And of those who do not measure up to their past successes, some will be mature and realistic enough to know this was a possible outcome, and they will handle things just fine. Others won't be as well equipped, and to those kids, this can be devastating.
I guess what we are beginning to see more and more are concepts like "bullying" being injected into the discussion as far as how a coach handles his/her business. And with pressure on the coach to produce results on and/or off the field of play with their student-athletes, this "pushback" on the other side of the performance spectrum only makes their job more demanding.
But these coaches are big boys/girls and are usually pretty well-compensated, full-time professional coaches, so they should have the time to develop honest relationships with their players on what to expect when they arrive on campus and show up for their first practice. It's their JOB to do this. IF the coach oversells the athlete on their future role, without being 100% honest and telling them they'll have to compete for their playing time/role, then shame on the coach. But if the coach puts his/her cards on the table from the outset, and promises nothing other than a fair chance to compete, then it shifts those expectations. Frankly, if the recruit finds that unacceptable, and decides to go play for someone else who promises them the moon and the stars, you know what ... if I'm that coach, then I can live without that player. Very nicely actually, thank you.
I'm drawing more of this out of the BU situation than the UNH situation, as the media investigation of the circumstances at the BU Women's Hoops program is a lot more in-depth as to the players' situations. The media coverage of the UNH Women's Hockey situation has mostly steered clear of that in-depth handling. I have had folks share their insights with me, both pro and con, and I'm not comfortable putting those thoughts out there as mine - because they aren't. So all you are left to do is look at a stat sheet, and take that for what it's worth. And I'd be the biggest hypocrite on these boards if I were to come on here and draw conclusions about certain players in the UNH program based on stats alone.
It's interesting though that BU is taking some time with this situation, even though there was a prior history, and has not let Coach Greenberg go already. Granted, she is apparently at the end of her extended deal, so maybe they will just let it expire and move on to the hiring process for her replacement. Yet in the meantime in Durham, the UNH AD's offices (headed up our hero BS35) pulled the plug on a coach with NO past history, after an investigation that lasted a few days (2-3?), turned up no definitive video evidence, and apparently ignored the accounts of numerous players on the team.
I still say UNH is a case of "buyer's remorse", where an opportunity arose to quell the remorse, and here we are ...
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I'm admittedly in need of an attitude adjustment. "Blue Skies" may be just the remedy.
