Monday, April 26, 2010

The Search

Written for your enjoyment by: Raff

There aren't a lot of new bits of information out there. But a couple things to pass along. I think the desire to have someone with head coaching experience is real. However, Kevin Nickelberry won't be that guy. Nickelberry just landed the head coaching job at Howard.

Mackenzie Limited
So if that becomes a major factor - and a deciding one, I think the options are likely Cliff Warren - who has proven he can win at this level at Jacksonville - and can recruit to the school Chris MacGuthrie and Riley Inge. I have a lot of friends in the Penn State area - and maybe the Kurt Kanaskie option has more legs than I originally thought. Chris Harney the head coach at St. Mary's also makes some sense. His team was 28-4 last year and made the NCAA Division III second round. Harney is a 1997 graduate of St. Mary's and has been the Seahawks coach for 5 years - improving the win total each year. The other name still left with coaching experience is Pat Flannery. It might be far-fetched to think he wants to get back in the coaching game. But if he does, this is a good fit.

If it is an assistant coach - Brion Dunlap has a good of a resume as anyone - and he has the support of the present and past players. Marty Ingelsby of Notre Dame has a lot of support, including leading our non-scientific poll here on the Fan Blog. However, I wonder how his lack of experience as an assistant coach will keep him off the final list. Robert Burke certainly has the experience as an assistant, and has great ties in and around the area. I heard the name Mike McKee, a Denver assistant, mentioned yesterday. And that is intriguing, I like the resume, assistant to Joe Scott at Denver and Air Force - assistant at Richmond. But I just don't like that whole Princeton offense. And it looks like that is what they've run - or a variation of it - everywhere he's been. Jamion Christian was on campus last week, we assume for an interview. He's an alum and he's doing a nice job working through the assistant levels.

So we'll continue to wait for the official word. I'll let you know as soon as I know anything concrete. It looks like we're closing in on that.

9 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:36 PM

    Some of the candidates (one in particular) has the reputation for cutting some corners. Because this is a rather accusatory statement, I will only mention it is NOT Courtney and the individual will NOT be hired at the Mount. Of this I am 100% certain. Sorry I cannot give more information about the specifics.

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  2. Anonymous6:38 PM

    Just got a real good recommendation for Chris Caputo. Two sources that know him well. One of them previously recommended Bill Courtney. Is any of this useful? I don't know.

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  3. Didn't want to throw this out there last week but Brion's interview is Wednesday, so we probably won't know anything until after then. It seems like he could be the last interview. Why else would they wait so long to schedule the man who is readily available? Maybe they were just trying to see if they could do any better (they can't) before interviewing him last. Hopefully about the same time I take a stranglehold on the lead in the back nine of the final round of the NEC Championships on Sunday, coach Brion will get his due and be hired as head coach.
    All of this is my speculation as I have zero inside information. But if Brion was hired I bet I could name his entire staff including a real shocker.

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  4. Richard11:00 PM

    Gerick, I hate all these surprises, lol.

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  5. Richard11:01 PM

    By the way, some anonymous person said that there was a recruiting surprise that we would know by this past weekend. well, we haven't heard anything yet- at least I didn't. So Anonymous, it is time to kick it out!

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  6. Anonymous11:13 PM

    Citadel just hired...

    MSM must be expanding the search ...

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  7. Anonymous11:17 AM

    Heres my top candidates
    Steve Wojciechowski--Assistant Coach, Duke University
    Robert Burke-- Assistant Coach, American University
    Brett Gunning--Assistant Coach, Villanova University
    Andre LaFleur-Assistant Coach, University of Connecticut
    Phil Cunningham-Assistant Coach, Mississippi State University

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  8. Richard4:18 PM

    I vote Cliff!

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  9. Joe C.10:11 PM

    I will say if Brion becomes coach, he needs to change his focus to recruiting to the Baltimore/DC area. And the shocker on the coaching staff i believe will be Jamion Christian!

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