Where Would Petro Fit Best?

[HopFan16]

Hard to decide in Finger Lakes region what beautiful lake to spend the day at. Hard to decide in Baltimore what street to safely walk.

Different environments for sure . I prefer urban setting but if you're an outdoorsman who doesn't mind the cold winters...

“Hard to decide in Baltimore what street to safely walk”

Some of y’all have either never been to Baltimore in your lives, or spent like 1 day there and decided the diversity and people of color scare you off. Absolutely hilarious some of the perceptions y’all on here have about the city.

Spent plenty of time in Baltimore and live 45 minutes away. When my in-laws visit, and we watch WBAL morning news with coffee in hand, we have to remind them we don't live near the city. The stories are littered with murders, etc. and they are astounded. The Baltimore population has been in a free fall for decades, it has one of, if not the highest murder rate in the country ( over 2500 murders since 2010, thankfully Hopkins and Shock Trauma MD are there), the military sends their medics and nurses to train at Shock Trauma (!), the city almost burned down 5 years ago because of riots, something like 3 of the last 4 mayors have ended up in jail or forced to resign, and one of those mayors is running for mayor again and is leading in the polls (!). Other than that, though, it is a great town!

Truth be told, I LOVE Baltimore. It is an awesome town with a lot to offer. But you cannot ignore the facts I just listed above. And they are undoubtedly impacting the recruiting and campus life at Hopkins.

Hopkins is about to bring in a Top 3 recruiting class in the country. Doesn’t seem to be impacting it that much

Top 3 according to....? Inside Lacrosse? You have to take those rankings with a grain of salt. Especially from an outlet that writes articles about the “All Name Team” or “Best Swag”. If the same crop of kids was going to Furman, would IL have them ranked 3? I am sure they are talented. But you can’t put much stock in that. If those rankings meant something, Carolina would have 7 championships this decade. They consistently have top 5 classes according to IL. Other than their championship run a few year ago, they couldn’t make it past quarterfinals.

I completely understand the point you are making. It is completely valid. I just don’t find much validity, though, in the rankings and people doing them.

IL rankings may not be accurate in the end but what they do tell you is how coveted recruits are. The highly ranked ones are the same ones getting recruited by many of the top tier schools. So compiling a top 3 class means you are getting more than your fair share of the most sought-after recruits. It might not be an accurate representation of how good the class will ultimately be in college but that's completely irrelevant to this particular discussion, which is that Baltimore has not scared away a ton of the guys who were also receiving offers from ACC, Ivy, and Big Ten schools. Every kid in Hop's upcoming class probably received multiple other offers from schools in those conferences. Yet they picked Hopkins. It's amazing that this still needs explaining to some people.

[MDlaxfan76]

Hard to decide in Finger Lakes region what beautiful lake to spend the day at. Hard to decide in Baltimore what street to safely walk.

Different environments for sure . I prefer urban setting but if you're an outdoorsman who doesn't mind the cold winters...

“Hard to decide in Baltimore what street to safely walk”

Some of y’all have either never been to Baltimore in your lives, or spent like 1 day there and decided the diversity and people of color scare you off. Absolutely hilarious some of the perceptions y’all on here have about the city.

Spent plenty of time in Baltimore and live 45 minutes away. When my in-laws visit, and we watch WBAL morning news with coffee in hand, we have to remind them we don't live near the city. The stories are littered with murders, etc. and they are astounded. The Baltimore population has been in a free fall for decades, it has one of, if not the highest murder rate in the country ( over 2500 murders since 2010, thankfully Hopkins and Shock Trauma MD are there), the military sends their medics and nurses to train at Shock Trauma (!), the city almost burned down 5 years ago because of riots, something like 3 of the last 4 mayors have ended up in jail or forced to resign, and one of those mayors is running for mayor again and is leading in the polls (!). Other than that, though, it is a great town!

Truth be told, I LOVE Baltimore. It is an awesome town with a lot to offer. But you cannot ignore the facts I just listed above. And they are undoubtedly impacting the recruiting and campus life at Hopkins.

Hopkins is about to bring in a Top 3 recruiting class in the country. Doesn’t seem to be impacting it that much

Top 3 according to....? Inside Lacrosse? You have to take those rankings with a grain of salt. Especially from an outlet that writes articles about the “All Name Team” or “Best Swag”. If the same crop of kids was going to Furman, would IL have them ranked 3? I am sure they are talented. But you can’t put much stock in that. If those rankings meant something, Carolina would have 7 championships this decade. They consistently have top 5 classes according to IL. Other than their championship run a few year ago, they couldn’t make it past quarterfinals.

I completely understand the point you are making. It is completely valid. I just don’t find much validity, though, in the rankings and people doing them.

IL rankings may not be accurate in the end but what they do tell you is how coveted recruits are. The highly ranked ones are the same ones getting recruited by many of the top tier schools. So compiling a top 3 class means you are getting more than your fair share of the most sought-after recruits. It might not be an accurate representation of how good the class will ultimately be in college but that's completely irrelevant to this particular discussion, which is that Baltimore has not scared away a ton of the guys who were also receiving offers from ACC, Ivy, and Big Ten schools. Every kid in Hop's upcoming class probably received multiple other offers from schools in those conferences. Yet they picked Hopkins. It's amazing that this still needs explaining to some people.

I agree. Baltimore is no more scaring off recruits than New Haven is with Yale or Philly is with Penn, both of which are significantly more 'urban' than Hopkins' setting.

Of course, some kids will prefer to go a small college town rather than a larger environment. Each to his own.

[Typical Lax Dad]

Hard to decide in Finger Lakes region what beautiful lake to spend the day at. Hard to decide in Baltimore what street to safely walk.

Different environments for sure . I prefer urban setting but if you're an outdoorsman who doesn't mind the cold winters...

“Hard to decide in Baltimore what street to safely walk”

Some of y’all have either never been to Baltimore in your lives, or spent like 1 day there and decided the diversity and people of color scare you off. Absolutely hilarious some of the perceptions y’all on here have about the city.

Spent plenty of time in Baltimore and live 45 minutes away. When my in-laws visit, and we watch WBAL morning news with coffee in hand, we have to remind them we don't live near the city. The stories are littered with murders, etc. and they are astounded. The Baltimore population has been in a free fall for decades, it has one of, if not the highest murder rate in the country ( over 2500 murders since 2010, thankfully Hopkins and Shock Trauma MD are there), the military sends their medics and nurses to train at Shock Trauma (!), the city almost burned down 5 years ago because of riots, something like 3 of the last 4 mayors have ended up in jail or forced to resign, and one of those mayors is running for mayor again and is leading in the polls (!). Other than that, though, it is a great town!

Truth be told, I LOVE Baltimore. It is an awesome town with a lot to offer. But you cannot ignore the facts I just listed above. And they are undoubtedly impacting the recruiting and campus life at Hopkins.

Hopkins is about to bring in a Top 3 recruiting class in the country. Doesn’t seem to be impacting it that much

Top 3 according to....? Inside Lacrosse? You have to take those rankings with a grain of salt. Especially from an outlet that writes articles about the “All Name Team” or “Best Swag”. If the same crop of kids was going to Furman, would IL have them ranked 3? I am sure they are talented. But you can’t put much stock in that. If those rankings meant something, Carolina would have 7 championships this decade. They consistently have top 5 classes according to IL. Other than their championship run a few year ago, they couldn’t make it past quarterfinals.

I completely understand the point you are making. It is completely valid. I just don’t find much validity, though, in the rankings and people doing them.

IL rankings may not be accurate in the end but what they do tell you is how coveted recruits are. The highly ranked ones are the same ones getting recruited by many of the top tier schools. So compiling a top 3 class means you are getting more than your fair share of the most sought-after recruits. It might not be an accurate representation of how good the class will ultimately be in college but that's completely irrelevant to this particular discussion, which is that Baltimore has not scared away a ton of the guys who were also receiving offers from ACC, Ivy, and Big Ten schools. Every kid in Hop's upcoming class probably received multiple other offers from schools in those conferences. Yet they picked Hopkins. It's amazing that this still needs explaining to some people.

I agree. Baltimore is no more scaring off recruits than New Haven is with Yale or Philly is with Penn, both of which are significantly more 'urban' than Hopkins' setting.

Of course, some kids will prefer to go a small college town rather than a larger environment. Each to his own.

https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/loc ... 23091/?amp

Basically on campus. Yale buildings line part of the green.

[FMUBart]

You mean our bootleg men’s soccer field?

[FMUBart]

Apparently suburban Baltimore is shangri la and The Finger Lakes region is just our version of Siberia...

(I lived in DC for 4.5yrs in this Millenium before someone decides to come here and lecture on how awesome Balt is)

You have a had a rough go on this subject. Watch a movie, go shovel the driveway.

Sorry Mr3Putt, we are Hobart grads, we have someone plow our driveways

[stupefied]

If this were the NFL, id say in the booth. His plan to take a year off to refresh, improve and then assess opportunities is a wise choice rather than just jump back in. He should have decent options.

[kramerica.inc]

This isn't the NFL.
I’d guess Petro catches on quickly at another college or he’s out of the college game for good. If he takes a PLL or MLL job he will be gone for good a’la Cottle.
I think that's pretty much the market for coaches.

Sure he could probably get hired at a low end D1 if he took a year off, but IMO, the highest profile job he will get is probably right now, if he takes the job of whoever takes his job at Hopkins - Towson, Yale, Penn, Georgetown, Albany.
There's more coaches out there than positions. A lot of lacrosse is momentum, hitting the right job at the right time. If he sits a year out, I dont think he will get another real high-end opportunity. And pro lacrosse is really where a lot of guys get put out to pasture or where guys go who cant cut it in the college game any more. It's the "soft landing spot" of lacrosse.

[Cheeseandcrackers]

Although I'm sure there are many others, one name that comes to mind is John Haus. All-American d-man on a 2x national championship UNC team, successful coach (not the record of Petro though) at Washington College, Hopkins and UNC. Let go by UNC 12 years ago in his late 40's. Ended up at Lebanon Valley, a D3 startup, where he has been ever since. The comparison is far from perfect, but my point is - the market could be soft for Petro.

[FMUBart]

Although I'm sure there are many others, one name that comes to mind is John Haus. All-American d-man on a 2x national championship UNC team, successful coach (not the record of Petro though) at Washington College, Hopkins and UNC. Let go by UNC 12 years ago in his late 40's. Ended up at Lebanon Valley, a D3 startup, where he has been ever since. The comparison is far from perfect, but my point is - the market could be soft for Petro.

Will all due respect, Petro is not Haus...

[kramerica.inc]

It's not a bad thing. It's all about priorities.
Petro has literally done it all in the lacrosse world.

I can name a few guys who took pay cuts and got away from higher-profile college gigs to settle somewhere that:

1) Admin wants you
2) Pays you a solid livable wage
3) Is in a nice area
3) Job security- School is loyal
4) Job Is low-stress or the pressure to win is low(er).


Lots of people prioritize those things with the reality that ther ejust arent a lot of lacrosse "jobs" out there.There are a ton of lax guys out there, and not a lot of schools, relatively speaking.

John Haus - JHU -> Leb Valley
Mike Pressler - Duke -> Bryant
Stan Ross - Butler -> Oxbridge Academy h/s (Palm Beach, FL)

There are a ton more I cant remember off the top of my head, but guys who have insane resumes that are working for small (er) schools.

[Hail to the Victors]

It's not a bad thing. It's all about priorities.
Petro has literally done it all in the lacrosse world.

I can name a few guys who took pay cuts and got away from higher-profile college gigs to settle somewhere that:

1) Admin wants you
2) Pays you a solid livable wage
3) Is in a nice area
3) Job security- School is loyal
4) Job Is low-stress or the pressure to win is low(er).


Lots of people prioritize those things with the reality that ther ejust arent a lot of lacrosse "jobs" out there.There are a ton of lax guys out there, and not a lot of schools, relatively speaking. <-- This is the key point. As always, supplyXdemand rules.
John Haus - JHU -> Leb Valley
Mike Pressler - Duke -> Bryant
Stan Ross - Butler -> Oxbridge Academy h/s (Palm Beach, FL)

There are a ton more I cant remember off the top of my head, but guys who have insane resumes that are working for small (er) schools.

[MDlaxfan76]

I hear the concerns about staying away, but I'd be willing to bet that Dave finds ways to be busy over the next couple of years as his boys go through high school and he then returns to the fray.

And I'd bet that could be a good opportunity to build something from whatever base it is when he gets there, whether that's a new program, a program in need of a re-fresh or a more established situation.

My hunch would be a relatively new program at a big state school.

I'd work on a book right now. Media.

[44WeWantMore]

To get an advance on a book, you need to pitch it to a publisher. A memoir is very different from https://www.amazon.com/Lacrosse-Techniq ... B003TLMR8K. I expect he would resist the kind of tell-all publishers would demand for a big advance.

[Big Dog]

I'd like to see Coach do media/televsion analyst for a couple of years, work on his health (obesity is not good), and take the opportunity to watch his boys play.

[jrn19]

Although I'm sure there are many others, one name that comes to mind is John Haus. All-American d-man on a 2x national championship UNC team, successful coach (not the record of Petro though) at Washington College, Hopkins and UNC. Let go by UNC 12 years ago in his late 40's. Ended up at Lebanon Valley, a D3 startup, where he has been ever since. The comparison is far from perfect, but my point is - the market could be soft for Petro.

With all due respect to the man, Haus is the worst coach in modern UNC history. They were 0-12 in ACC play his last 4 years. Petro got let go because he could no longer live up to the high standards of one of the most successful programs out there. Haus got let go because he was not very good at his job.

[Farfromgeneva]

Stan Ross built you a nice thing at butler, even had them ranked, but they dropped the program for hoops (risk for non FB programs going forward in the one and done era).

Haus not Petro as pointed out.

Pressler was considered unfairly damaged goods thanks to a dirty prosecutor who was never elected named Nifong and a dirty faculty that never really apologized for the protests and full page gang of 88 ADs. (University Apologized to the kids to the tune of $20mm each which still isn’t enough and the kid who wrote the American psycho email didn’t get jack-great New Yorker piece from that spring about Duke).

None of those are comparable to Petro. Starsia really only comp other than maybe Glenn Thiel. But if hes got dough between salary and bonus plus camps and outside side hustles why go build something when aside from maybe Lars, who took 5-6 yrs at Brown to get that going, when it take like 4-5yrs to build a program in your image? Look at Tambro, Shay, even Breschi at NC, Cornell is still trying to find its footing to get back near where they were last 4-5yrs under Tambro. Tillman a little faster. Warne still not to Uricks level. And the guys doing it faster are like 20yrs younger than Petro. Tierney is only older one who ramped up fast and has some pieces to work with when he took Munros lunch money.

Princeton who I know was interested in Raymond not too long ago seems like only place even w/o Sowers he could step in and do anything quick. Maybe UNC if they were tired of Breschi (doubtful). Think that’s the bigger issue with him landing anywhere else

[Henpecked]

Petro said he is going to be back to coaching "sooner rather than later." I realize that is it bad form to do this, but where do you think the biggest opportunities in coaching will be in the next 6-12 months?

You could argue that Brecht has underperformed at Rutgers. Would that spot be open after another subpar year? 10 years with no tournament appearances. Only 3 winning seasons out of the last 6 years (44-37 during that span) with a team loaded with talent. Does Rutgers administration care? Does NJ have the money to pay Petro? Rutgers financial situation is a mess from all I have read.

How about Michigan? Conry is 16-18 in since taking over three years ago. New stadium. Great recruits EVERY SINGLE YEAR. Middling results is being generous. Do they look to course correct after next year? Will Conry turn it around next season? Another great class of recruits coming in...

What about Denver? Coach Tierney will turn 68 this fall. How much longer is he going to go? Is he ready to step aside in another year? Will Petro be the natural fit out there or do they hand the reins over to Matt Brown?

I tend to agree that the most likely scenario is Petro taking over the program of the coach that replaces him at JHU. I can see him going to Penn or Towson. Not so sure he would take the Hobart job and I think Richmond is unlikely as well. I guess we shall see. Wouldn't be surprised to see the carousel begin to turn in two weeks.

[laxpert]

Options for Petro:
Previously mentioned there are limited options for Former D1 heads.
DeLuca and Stephenson bounced around for a few years as Assistants before finding head coaching positions. Munro and Stagnitta entered the Club Lacrosse & Tournament arena. Kerwick and Copeland went back to coaching at Private High Schools, I hear Kewrick is now with 3d. I believe Chris Bates is involved with both Club and High School.

Within two years I see him coaching at the collegiate level, that's his passion, plus tuition exchange for two kids can be a valuable benefit.

[AOD]

You could argue that Brecht has underperformed at Rutgers. Would that spot be open after another subpar year? 10 years with no tournament appearances. Only 3 winning seasons out of the last 6 years (44-37 during that span) with a team loaded with talent. Does Rutgers administration care? Does NJ have the money to pay Petro? Rutgers financial situation is a mess from all I have read.

Rutgers' financial situation is indeed a mess. It's athletic program is among the most heavily subsidized, if not THE most subsidized, program in Division 1 athletics.

Rutgers' athletics ledger shows a $45.2 million shortfall that was made up by $14.5 million in support from the university’s operating budget, $12.1 million in student fees, $15.4 million from an internal loan and $3.2 million in direct state or government support.
https://www.nj.com/rutgers/2020/01/rutg ... udget.html

And that's before the Schiano hire and its substantial financial commitment to the coach and the football program promised in his widely publicized contract. Rutgers, in fact, is now receiving advances of its Big10 share and deferring its full participation in Big10 distributions until 2027 just to mask this deficit problem.

And, Hobbs just extended Brecht's contract until 2023. So, hiring Petro would require RU to buyout that commitment in addition to offering Petro a boatload to come to New Brunswick. (The school recently bought out the contracts of the football coach and the basketball coach, but doing so for a non-revenue sport is quite another trick). Petro would have made a nice hire, and I think his boys would like Lawrenceville.

[HopFan16]

The Hopkins opening is going to get the carousel moving.

There is a pretty good chance that in a few weeks, either Towson, Penn, Richmond, Albany, Cornell, or Hobart will need a new head coach. Petro would be a candidate for at least a few of those. If that does happen then the carousel stops before it really even gets started. But if a sitting head coach from elsewhere takes one of those jobs, then things could get interesting.

There may not be many other openings (if any) this spring due to coronavirus, but that might just make the carousel even bigger next year. How many were there in 2019? Six?

Richie Meade now qualifies for medicare...he can't be at Furman too much longer. Could be an opportunity for someone like Petro to continue building up a young program in a non-hotbed.

If there were any power 5 schools starting men's lacrosse programs in the next year or two I'd say Petro would be an option there but given the economic situation now that seems rather unlikely.