Coaching Carousel 2024

[laxdad1434]

Ryan Licht might be an interesting name for FDU. Current DC at Stevens and was formerly the Montclair DC. Also a Hall of Fame inductee at FDU. Personally trying to follow FDU the last few years they could use a new energetic guy, and from what I’ve heard about Licht, he’s that. The defense at Stevens has been statistically one of the best in the country the last couple of years with him there. Would be tough to go from the top of the conference to the bottom however. The coordinator jobs at Stevens have been a rotating door recently, wonder if he could be another one to leave for a “higher” position.

heard rumblings this weekend about some nonsense going on at stevens. wonder if his alum status at FDU would drive him there vs staying on at Stevens.

Interesting. I’d imagine it’d be very hard to pull him away, especially with how FDU has fared recently. It would be a tough rebuild. However, I also can’t see FDU having enough pull to bring in a guy who isn’t at least familiar with the program.

fdu has always been relatively solid, for the mid to low d3 programs, as you seem to know. nice campus, great field. i don't know much about their facilities. it's in a lacrosse rich area, i'd imagine it's harder to keep that talent in town, per se.

EDIT: i didn't realize how bad FDU has been the last 5 years. i remember them being somewhat good.

Coach Scarpello had some great years with the program, but yes, the last few have been almost unwatchable. Definitely a lacrosse rich area. Even if you aren’t getting the top tier talent in the area, which is far fetched (Delbarton, Madison, Mountain Lakes etc.) they still should be able to compete in the conference with what’s left after the D1 and high D3 guys are gone.

FDU is bad, really bad. They will never get the top kids from Mo. County, but they don't need those kids to be successful. Plenty of good athletes in the area looking to play. Great area to go to school.

The problem goes beyond lacrosse. A lot of NJ kids simply do not want to go to college in state, they would rather go play D3 elsewhere or not play at all. If you are a parent of a recent NJ high school grad, just count how many of their friends are at Penn State, Ohio State, Clemson, South Carolina, Indiana, etc. vs in-state.

The trend is to go play MCLA at a bigger school they may enjoy more. Can you blame them??

Nope

I can certainly appreciate the draw of of those schools. As laxdad knows, I am a NESCAC guy, so I am definitely biased in that respect, so I have mostly been exposed to kids that did not look at the NJ or MCLA schools as an option. Not to suggest that those schools do not offer a solid education, just not the path for a lot my son's lacrosse peers. Outside of the kids going top 20 D1, most were headed to NESCAC or comparable schools like W&L, Swarthmore, etc. I agree that the FDU location is great, I just do not see them drawing in a ton of NJ talent, especially with the other in-state options. I know that it is an apples to oranges comparison, but outside of a major name hire, I do not think that a good coach could come in and make a meaningful difference at FDU in the same manner as say Eric Wolf at NJIT.

As I said before, if they get the right guy and support him, they will do well. Beautiful campus, train stations, Morristown, nice athletic facilities. It all depends on what the school puts into it, we shall see.

[Leonard Washington]

I hear you, God forbid you pull into a NJ country club with any other school than an Ivy or NESCAC sticker on the back window. Oh the embarrassment…

Northland in Wisconsin is open

[Doxology]

Hearing Rhodes could be open . . . I always thought Zazzaro did a good job there . . .

What's the latest count?

Guilford
FDU
VA Wes

......

[MajorMacLax18]

Looks like Zazzaro is no longer listed at Rhodes.

[LacrosseFan33]

Benedictine (IL)
Brockport (NY)
FDU (NJ)
Guilford (NC)
LaGrange (GA)
Northland (WI)
Rhodes (TN)
Virginia Wesleyan (VA)

[sguy9]

Hearing Rhodes could be open . . . I always thought Zazzaro did a good job there . . .

Time for Coach Z to move on, personal decision, family in NE. Wishing him the best in his next job. Did a great job of creating a program that is well respected at Rhodes.

Dominoes are starting to fall.

[monkeywrench]

Looks like Juniata (PA) might be open. No coach listed.

https://juniatasports.net/sports/mlax/coaches/index

[Leonard Washington]

Time for Coach Z to move on, personal decision, family in NE. Wishing him the best in his next job. Did a great job of creating a program that is well respected at Rhodes.

Dominoes are starting to fall.

+1

Whomever takes over for Coach Z will definitely have a team ready to be in the mix. The cupboard is far from bare

[Old&InTheWay]

Then why would the HC leave if the team was "ready to be in mix"

[D3LaxFan2]

Coaches who leave on their own are not unceremoniously removed from the roster without an announcement of their leaving, especially after being there for 13 years.

[River Donkey]

Maybe he used a bad word during practice.

[Leonard Washington]

Then why would the HC leave if the team was "ready to be in mix"

Family, other opportunities, current "state" of athletics etc

He has been at Rhodes for over a decade and coaching for over 3 decades.

Maybe it was just time

or maybe

Maybe he used a bad word during practice.

[Old&InTheWay]

Hopefully, it's not a case where players and parents ran him out.... Does anyone have any information on what's really going on?

[Leonard Washington]

Hell of a run for Coach Berkman

Unless I have been informed incorrectly, you can add SUNY Potsdam to the list

[Leonard Washington]

Looks like VA Wesleyan is open now:

https://vwuathletics.com/sports/mlax/coaches

Filled (in house)

https://vwuathletics.com/news/2024/5/19 ... coach.aspx

[LacrosseFan33]

Albertus Magnus College (CT)
Benedictine (IL)
Brockport (NY)
FDU (NJ)
Guilford (NC)
Juniata (PA)
LaGrange (GA)
Northland (WI)
SUNY Potsdam
Rhodes (TN)
Virginia Wesleyan (VA) - Sam Jones (Virginia Wesleyan AC)

[choochooCharlie]

Lots of talk on the forum of some big spots coming up.

-WAC
-Denison
-Middlebury
-Stevens

Any validity to the rumors?

HPU Coach headed to Brown. Is this the music starting to get the musical chairs game going?

[ChopMan23]

Lots of talk on the forum of some big spots coming up.

-WAC
-Denison
-Middlebury
-Stevens

Any validity to the rumors?

Other than a few trolls with no connection to the program, curious to see where you saw WAC was potentially opening up? Dont think that is remotely true.

[Leonard Washington]

HPU Coach headed to Brown. Is this the music starting to get the musical chairs game going?

Not yet

Torpey moving to Brown won't really have a ripple effect on Division III based on who is taking over at High Point

[ReturnOfTheWAC]

Lots of talk on the forum of some big spots coming up.

-WAC
-Denison
-Middlebury
-Stevens

Any validity to the rumors?

Other than a few trolls with no connection to the program, curious to see where you saw WAC was potentially opening up? Dont think that is remotely true.

Agree Washington College will not be even considering a change. Alums I know are very happy with the progress especially down the stretch of the season.

Do find some of these jobs could be interesting but do not expect anything crazy this summer