NESCAC

[Matnum PI]

Following up on this as it’s been made public, the Amherst head coach position is now open and the team is banned from NCAA tourney in 2021.

Fired and banned? i dunno. To detailed and broad for him to be wrong. With this said, no one is engaging with him. It's just him saying this...

[SneaksBeac]

Just saw the article on Inside Lacrosse including the letter....Not a good look whatsoever for JT. He could have and should have taken the steps to address the culture as soon as he knew. Disappointing for someone with such a high regard within coaching circles

[10 10 2]

I've heard nothing but good things about Jon Thompson and hope this doesn't end up ruining his career as a lacrosse coach.

[jerseyman]

Just saw the article on Inside Lacrosse including the letter....Not a good look whatsoever for JT. He could have and should have taken the steps to address the culture as soon as he knew. Disappointing for someone with such a high regard within coaching circles

So, who are the candidates for the position? Another Div 3 HC, or a highly regarded assistant coach at a Div 1 program?

[Matnum PI]

Complicated stuff. Part of the issue is that no one believes themselves to be racists and also believe that we would've handled the situation much better (because we're so un-racist). Which is rarely true.

[Lax3]

I think it’s a prime job opportunity and will attract a ton of interest. Great school academically - school likes to win in sports - good players already in place - recent winning tradition - best conference in country. It’s a top 10 job in America or better.

[jerseyman]

I think it’s a prime job opportunity and will attract a ton of interest. Great school academically - school likes to win in sports - good players already in place - recent winning tradition - best conference in country. It’s a top 10 job in America or better.

Perhaps, but the culture of that school has changed. This is not your father’s Amherst. The social divide between athletes and non-athletes is vast, and with the controversy surrounding the men’s lacrosse team, the next HC will be navigating a mine field. It will be interesting to watch.

[Lax3]

It’s a bizarre, risky social experiment that Amherst is trying with the student body it has. The divides that the student body composition intends to bridge with everyone singing “lets all get along” together are in fact exacerbated by the structure.

[ergit]

The incident mentioned is in itself an indictment of the culture within the team. There is no escaping it. If you think this sort of thing happens on every collegiate lacrosse team, think again.
It’s not surprising that the administration didn’t get cooperation from the players who were protecting each other. As a result, they all have to go down with the ship.

[LibertyL]

No place for this in our game and it needed to be addressed with the outrage it deserves.
Looks like the President finally did that and I applaud her.

It should have been addressed more firmly earlier but let this be a lesson to the
entire community- all teams and keep talking about it, talk to your Amherst player.

To any players who may read this forum: Do not allow bad apples to do this shi#%#$ on
your team ever! Take action immediately.

[LaxPundit07]

This is the kind of stuff that taints/ruins the reputation of a program on campus for good. Without a significant change in school administration, the new coach will be working side by side with people that are now conditioned to hold animos toward their program—and for good reason. The students will feel the “those racist privileged bigoted lacrosse players” glare from their professors. The following is not a political statement, but just an observation of the reality: Amherst is a very liberal place. Incidents like this will only further supplant the lacrosse stereotypes in the minds of the liberal academic elite on the administration side. (Disclaimer: I am a liberal! So I don’t use that description with disdain; calling the situation for what it is).

Ultimately, what coach wants to come in and take this job? You compete against the NESCAC AND your own administration. No thanks.

[Laxxal22]

I agree that this situation will look toxic to a lot of potential coaching candidates. In terms of who will want or succeed in the job, it could be the right opportunity for a promising young black or minority coach. Whatever transfer/recruiting fallout occurs in the short term, it's still Amherst, he'll be able to recruit and soften the roar of "privileged white males" aside from the most cynical.

[clubball43]

The reported incidents with the Amherst lacrosse team are troubling and clearly the administration took strong action to address the program's culture. That being said, I have been exposed to Jon Thompson for more than 10 years, both as a high-level coach and parent of one of his players. He stressed culture, community involvement and "doing the right thing" more than any other coach I have encountered. My experience is that he held his players accountable and to a high standard. I am saddened about the events that occurred and do not at all question the administration's actions. But, I hope and expect that Coach Thompson gets another opportunity to lead a group of men. I would love to have any child of mine play for him.

[kramerica.inc]

Just saw the article on Inside Lacrosse including the letter....Not a good look whatsoever for JT. He could have and should have taken the steps to address the culture as soon as he knew. Disappointing for someone with such a high regard within coaching circles

So, who are the candidates for the position? Another Div 3 HC, or a highly regarded assistant coach at a Div 1 program?

None of the above.

I cant think of anyone who would want to work in that environment.

They will get a young, biddable new coach. The kids who stay will be made to pay for the sins of their brother (sensitivity training anyone?!) and the new coach will force any (all) remaining players out before bringing in his newly recruited squad.

And Amherst will fall back to the bottom half of the NESCAC.

[Tdemling6]

Amherst was a top DIII job before all of this. Now after seeing all of this come out I can't think of a coach that would want this job. They need someone who will come in and immediately change the culture. Also, I am pretty sure that the school won't want to even attempt to keep any assistants either. Looks like a clean house is in order and can see the new coach possibly identifying bad eggs and getting them out, if that has't already been done by the school admin.

[Sting The Corner]

Amherst had never been to the NCAA tournament prior to Jon Thompson’s arrival. It wasn’t a “top” job when he was hired and it certainly isn’t now. Will take a candidate looking to put in 10 years of work.

[kramerica.inc]

Aside from the panache of coaching in the NESCAC, there's nothing going for this job right now.
I'd imagine the admin will use this as an opportunity to cut the budget, and bring in a company "person."

[Lax3]

With all due respect, some of you guys are nuts about the lack of attractiveness to this job. Amherst is a top two academic school in Division 3 sports, right there with Williams. It has the largest endowment per student amongst all liberal arts colleges. The school routinely resides in the top 5-10 of the Directors Cup, especially impressive given that it is either the smallest or one of the smallest schools in the NESCAC. The school has won national championships in mens and women's basketball, tennis, and soccer, among other programs. Football has a 750 winning percentage under the current coach. Legendary, long-time coaches in both women's and mens basketball, football, and soccer have been there for decades. This problem is an utter anomaly - a legitimate problem that the school acted quickly on. This is a top five job in America for D3 lacrosse, folks.

[LibertyL]

All I cared about (if you look back in this thread) was to get Amherst to act and they have.

It may be an attractive job at some point but recruiting is going to suffer a massive blow.
Kids of this age are extremely sensitive to stigma and embarrassment on social media etc and
would just rather be recruited by another NESCAC team. The impact will be years IMO.

Coaches likewise will be reluctant to jump into this experiment. Many parents will surely
guide their player away from the stigma as well.

If the recruiting trouble raises the bar for acceptable behavior and sportsmanship
(especially between teammates) then this mess will have served a purpose. Change
from this needed and the embarrassment to our entire community is real on this one.

[remote]

Coaches will be all over this job. An opportunity to work at a place that is high academics and has proven success. A coach that wants to change the culture and be paid well.

I say Ivy League assistants and D3 head coaches will be all over this job. Probably some current new accounts coaches too.

I could see an “unemployed” former D1 head coach to come in and take this job.

(Sowell,Nagle, Munro, Murphy, Wojic, Copelan, etc)

I know nagle is at CC but is he still interim? Also what about Coach Corcoran?

Would vanarsdale or Barnard or archbell jump ship to go to a better program in their league?