Head Coach Opening/ Cecchini Departing

[NWIGuy]

Every good AD should have a short list of potential candidates for head coaching positions for every sport in the program ready at all times. Whether you need to make a change because someone chooses to leave or you need to let someone go, the AD should never be without some idea of who would be a good replacement.

As someone said previously, DC's flirtation with the job at Lehigh starting immediately after the end of 2018 season, should have but some things in motion for MLB.

The short time frame my provide some leverage for a new hire... salary, asst. pool, or other program benefits may be on the table if MLB wants to get it right.

[FieldGoodie05]

Every good AD should have a short list of potential candidates for head coaching positions for every sport in the program ready at all times. Whether you need to make a change because someone chooses to leave or you need to let someone go, the AD should never be without some idea of who would be a good replacement.

As someone said previously, DC's flirtation with the job at Lehigh starting immediately after the end of 2018 season, should have but some things in motion for MLB.

The short time frame my provide some leverage for a new hire... salary, asst. pool, or other program benefits may be on the table if MLB wants to get it right.

Are there any other hires in athletics during this winter/spring that are ongoing?  (Other than WTennis of course)

If not I suppose we should be thankful MLB gets to dedicate his limited resources/time on football solely (as far as new hires go).  This could have been MBB, WBB, Football and WTennis all at once ...

[tiny707]

Hire Ted Karras or Tony Karras for head coach position!

[JD24]

Are there any other hires in athletics during this winter/spring that are ongoing?  (Other than WTennis of course)

As others mentioned, WTennis will probably be filled after the conclusion of that season. The guess is that the family stays in Indiana until school (kids school that is) is out and then follows Dave to Pennsylvania. Of course, we could all be wrong as well and they may have scattered like the rats they are.

I always accept change well!

[IndyValpo]

Miran and Giacalone have been removed from the shackles of the Valpo Athletics site. We're now down to Coaches Moore, Greiner and Smith.

Valpo now has to hire a new coach. the coach has to hire a nearly completely new staff. Spring Ball has to be scheduled and that typically begins a week or two after the return from spring break. That's maybe 5 weeks away. A very short time to prepare.

There's also usually some recruiting occurring which goes on through the Spring Game. One recruit, IIRC, who committed that late after a visit was Seewald. So it's a big deal and I can't figure getting a recruit to show up right now or introducing him to the "Head Coach" looks all that great for the program.

In short. A complete mess.

You have to believe that Coach Moore was guaranteed an interview. Given that he will miss out an any openings elsewhere is he the DC if he isn't named head man?

[NWIGuy]

Tomorrow marks 1 week since DC left and Valpo has been without a football coach. Hoping that MLB has an update coming soon...

[VULB#62]

I got an email reply from MLB a few days ago in which he mentioned that there is a lot of interest being shown by potential candidates in the HC opening.  That's good thing. The fact that it came as a surprise so late in the typical fall sports annual cycle coupled with having to vet some new possibilities means to me that it'll take a while to sort this thing out.  So I doubt we'll hear anything until a hire is made and that could take a while (as much as a month, maybe?).

[JD24]

Bucknell's coach stepped down (at least reported) Jan 14/15. It took about 3 weeks to announce a replacement. That's probably an accelerated search timeline. It's possible that the Lehigh search earlier in the off season helped Bucknell with their search in getting Cecchini.

The Lehigh search seemed to provide significant information as to candidates. The last Valpo search there was little to no news until Dave's name came up about a day before I saw any news either official or unofficial.

[usc4valpo]

You are always going to have a bunch of candidates interested in the position. Of course, the question is if any of them are qualified.

[JD24]

It was exactly a month between Carlson's firing and Ceccini's hiring under a bit different circumstances....season still going on being one of them. I'd guess a slightly shorter timeframe here unless there is no one acceptable.

I'm in agreement with uscvalpo in that MLB's comment that there is interest is fairly meaningless since I wouldn't expect him to say anything else unless he had no resumes on his desk or contacts to make.

"Good Lord! No one wants this job!!" would certainly be more entertaining though.

[vu72]

It was exactly a month between Carlson's firing and Ceccini's hiring under a bit different circumstances....season still going on being one of them. I'd guess a slightly shorter timeframe here unless there is no one acceptable.

I'm in agreement with uscvalpo in that MLB's comment that there is interest is fairly meaningless since I wouldn't expect him to say anything else unless he had no resumes on his desk or contacts to make.

"Good Lord! No one wants this job!!" would certainly be more entertaining though.

Almost regardless of the job, any assistant would want to be the head guy, unless you are an assistant at, say, Clemson, and making ten times the head coaching salary at Valpo. 

As a result, there is little doubt that there is significant interest, at a minimum, and for many a very high desire to get the position.

[IndyValpo]

It was exactly a month between Carlson's firing and Ceccini's hiring under a bit different circumstances....season still going on being one of them. I'd guess a slightly shorter timeframe here unless there is no one acceptable.

I'm in agreement with uscvalpo in that MLB's comment that there is interest is fairly meaningless since I wouldn't expect him to say anything else unless he had no resumes on his desk or contacts to make.

"Good Lord! No one wants this job!!" would certainly be more entertaining though.

That was November this is middle of February...huge difference. A month would not be a good thing.

[usc4valpo]

We need quality not quantity of candidates. Who knows - maybe Carlson is ready for a return.

[Valpo89]

I heard there were two interviews today of highly qualified candidates. One in particular had an excellent interview. He had an excellent record at an Indiana non-scholarship school.

[VULB#62]

Non scholarship in Indiana means D-III, right?  That's because NCAA D-II and NAIA schools do award FB schollys.

Excellent Record in D-III.  Hmmmmmmmm....   There are 9 D-III football schools in Indiana.  Three conferences are represented among them with the HCAC having 7 teams, the MIAA having one and the NCAC having the other.

Of the nine, the following have shown consistent winning performances in the last decade or so:

DePauw - HC Bill Lynch (43-17)
Franklin - HC Mike Leonard (124-50), 11 HCAC championships since 2003)
Rose-Hulman - HC Jeff Sokol (53-28), NCAA playoffs in 2016, never had a losing season
Trine - HC Troy Abbs (33-10) 2 consecutive MIAA conference championships the past two years
Wabash - HC Don Morel (25-5, 73-64 overall)

Interesting karma....
In 2010 and 2011 our Dale Carlson-coached Crusaders lost consecutive games to D-III Franklin 42-7 and 49-35.
Trine was the place where Dale Carlson got started

[JD24]

Non scholarship in Indiana means D-III, right?

....or stealing Jeff Voris from Butler 

VULB62 gets the board research award for the day!

Trine owes Valpo one. Bring in Troy Abbs.

[bbtds]

We need quality or quantity of candidates. Who knows - maybe Carlson is ready for a return.

Yes, and the return of the Joel Osteen, not related to Claude Osteen, quotes. I miss usc's reaction to those Osteen quotes the most. 

[VULB#62]

If any of the guys on the list in my previous post are considering the job, they should know that this is a complex situation.

First of all, they have to change recruiting gears. At the PFL level we recruit the kids who might not be FCS scholarship talent but just might be. The kids these guys have been recruiting, generally but not always, are not in that conversation.

Next, some of these D-III institutions have football facilities much better than Valpo. Whoa, come down.

Then, there is the pressure to not just compete, but strive for championships. Many of the D-III schools in Indiana have held onto their HC regardless of record. One is 0-50 at this point.

On the attractive side is the much higher profile and the fact that success at Valpo could translate to even better offers at a national level that people actually follow - few keep track of all the D-III schools that go to the NCAA playoffs. And you seldom ever see any D-IIIs on the ESPN crawler.

Also there is the PFL national schedule. The travel is really cool -  coast to coast. Plus the body bag games that all PFL teams schedule result in some extra cash and extra notoriety and personal exposure. Cases in point:  Valpo giving Montana a run for its money, Butler beating YSU, Stetson beating Brown.

[bbtds]

DePauw - HC Bill Lynch (43-17)
Franklin - HC Mike Leonard (124-50), 11 HCAC championships since 2003)
Rose-Hulman - HC Jeff Sokol (53-28), NCAA playoffs in 2016, never had a losing season
Trine - HC Troy Abbs (33-10) 2 consecutive MIAA conference championships the past two years
Wabash - HC Don Morel (25-5, 73-64 overall)

It would seem that a move to Valpo might be considered a lateral move for the majority of these head coaches, at the time they coached at these schools.

[VULB#62]

DePauw - HC Bill Lynch (43-17)
Franklin - HC Mike Leonard (124-50), 11 HCAC championships since 2003)
Rose-Hulman - HC Jeff Sokol (53-28), NCAA playoffs in 2016, never had a losing season
Trine - HC Troy Abbs (33-10) 2 consecutive MIAA conference championships the past two years
Wabash - HC Don Morel (25-5, 73-64 overall)

It would seem that a move to Valpo might be considered a lateral move for the majority of these head coaches, at the time they coached at these schools.

Some of these guys are still pretty young (graduating in the late 70s- early 80s).  Might still have that upward mobile gene still at work and, though it is non-scholarship (just like DIII), it is a move up in the NCAA hierarchy. Instead of massed among 300 or so DIII schools, the number is more like 100+ FCS.

Oh, and I believe Valpo would pay a bit better than a lot of DIII schools.  And they would pay assistants better as well which could come into play in terms of pulling together a staff that is in lock step with the HC.

One more thing. I may be wrong about this, but I believe DIII Coaches cannot recruit off campus. Meaning, there is no travel budget to visit kids in their respective high schools. Someone correct me if this is incorrect. Valpo has a recruiting budget that flies coaches to the 4 points of the compass and flies recruits in for visits. Big difference.

[Valpo89]

I did not say a current coach at one of those schools. None of those names are the name I heard. It's a former coach at one of them though.

[JD24]

One more thing. I may be wrong about this, but I believe DIII Coaches cannot recruit off campus. Meaning, there is no travel budget to visit kids in their respective high schools. Someone correct me if this is incorrect. Valpo has a recruiting budget that flies coaches to the 4 points of the compass and flies recruits in for visits. Big difference.

Div III coaches recruit similarly to Div I and II....or are certainly permitted to. If a particular school has no budget for travel, that obviously plays into things. On the other hand, Div III recruits have unlimited official visits unlike Div I and II which have limitations.

[JD24]

I did not say a current coach at one of those schools. None of those names are the name I heard. It's a former coach at one of them though.

Two names would be Erik Raeburn who's currently free from duty after 3 down years at Div II Savannah St. He had a great record at Wabash. 78-13 (54-6 in conference. 5 of 8 years in Div III playoffs.

The other is Mike Land of Trine. He's their AD currently but had a solid record prior to Abel taking the job. Much less likely in my view.

No other logical choices (my logic) and therefore can't POSSIBLY happen!

[VULB#62]

I did not say a current coach at one of those schools. None of those names are the name I heard. It's a former coach at one of them though.

OMG, does his last name begin with...... Carlson?

[IndyValpo]

I did not say a current coach at one of those schools. None of those names are the name I heard. It's a former coach at one of them though.

Two names would be Erik Raeburn who's currently free from duty after 3 down years at Div II Savannah St. He had a great record at Wabash. 78-13 (54-6 in conference. 5 of 8 years in Div III playoffs.

The other is Mike Land of Trine. He's their AD currently but had a solid record prior to Abel taking the job. Much less likely in my view.

No other logical choices (my logic) and therefore can't POSSIBLY happen!

Savannah State has been at the FBS level in the MEAC now heading back to D2. Honestly not sure why you would leave Wabash for that disaster of an athletic department.