Coaching Hot Seats

[LacrosseFan33]

I'm very curious (and have no inside knowledge) on which coaches may be or should be on the hot seat after this year. Mostly, I'd love to hear everyones thoughts on the who and the why. Also, if a coach is let go, who would you like to realistically take the job?

NJIT - Travis Johnson - 1st HC hired Dec 2013 - Career Record | 7 - 95 (6.86%)
2015 | 0 - 12
2016 | 1 - 14
2017 | 1 - 14
2018 | 1 - 15
2019 | 2 - 13
2020 | 1 - 6
2021 | 1 - 10
2022 | 0 - 11

I don't know anything about NJIT outside of seemingly nice facilities, near some lacrosse hot beds, and with desirable majors that should fit into a lacrosse mold.

[jrn19]

There’s a few perennially awful teams but those schools probably don’t care much about results as long as the team is out of the headlines and graduating their players

I suppose there’s the question of whether Seth Tierney moves on or if Hofstra eventually decides results compared to their peers just aren’t enough anymore. But you could have said that for awhile.

I think Conry gets another year at least at Michigan, especially if they pull off a win or two here next couple of weeks.

Penn State has had a rough last two years but i can’t see a change unless Tambs decides to take some time off or resign.

So yeah, don’t think it’s going to be a particularly busy silly season.

[LacrosseFan33]

I agree with Tierney, Conry, and Tambs - but I'm a bit confused on NJIT - why go through all the trouble of starting a program and then be okay with 7 wins in 8 years? It just seems strange.

The only other potential big move - I wonder how much longer Tierney is in the game - he'll be 70 in September. Also I would think somewhat tied to that, how long does Matt Brown wait in the wings? From the outside it looks like they have a great relationship, but time is always a factor.

[hofpride]

ST graduated JHU in 1991 - hes gonna be 70 in sep??????

[HopFan16]

ST graduated JHU in 1991 - hes gonna be 70 in sep??????

Bill

[bearlaxfan]

NJIT moved up from D2, or 3? Might they return? Are they at 12.6? Thus far it seems an inefficient use of scholarship resources.

[xxxxxxx]

New AD getting hired at Penn State, I wouldn't be too comfortable if I was Tambroni. In Happy Valley success is measured at a high level. Cael Sanderson was hired as the wrestling coach in the same year Tambroni arrived and has won 9 national titles and like JT inherited an underachieving team. Ice Hockey is a new sport with no history and is now a top D1 program. 7 and 16 over the last two years isn't going to get it done.

[ICGrad]

New AD getting hired at Penn State, I wouldn't be too comfortable if I was Tambroni. In Happy Valley success is measured at a high level. Cael Sanderson was hired as the wrestling coach in the same year Tambroni arrived and has won 9 national titles and like JT inherited an underachieving team. Ice Hockey is a new sport with no history and is now a top D1 program. 7 and 16 over the last two years isn't going to get it done.

I wonder if you fire a guy who had taken the programming to its highest-ever level just before the pandemic, though?

I can see him being put on notice - deliver or else - but would be surprised if they fired him given the events of the last couple of years.

[LongIslandLacks]

I would think Tambroni stays and perhaps some performance expectations are reiterated. He’s had too successful a career and by all accounts is a solid manager and high quality individual.

I would think that NJIT moves in but are they able to pay what it takes to get the program a respectable record?

Seems like with Michigan/Conry it is time to rip off the bandaid and get in with life with a new coach. They need to pay up though, as it sounds like they got where they are by trying to save $50k on salary. The cupcake supreme scheduling gimmick as Anish called him out on was a big blunder and has the feel of a man who was responding to some feedback from the AD’s office but turned out to be horribly miscalculated. If he beats Ohio State, maybe he gets another year?

[HopFan16]

Even if the new Penn State AD comes in and cleans house of perceived underperformers, don't think that'd happen till next year or at least well after it's too late to make a change in the men's lax program. Deadline for that AD hire is apparently July 1. Doesn't seem feasible for them to hire that person and then have him/her fire the lacrosse coach within a timeframe that doesn't put the program at an enormous disadvantage for bringing in a new staff. At that point it's a lot more likely they'd wait till after the 2023 season — if they were going to do it at all.

[xxxxxxx]

Even if the new Penn State AD comes in and cleans house of perceived underperformers, don't think that'd happen till next year or at least well after it's too late to make a change in the men's lax program. Deadline for that AD hire is apparently July 1. Doesn't seem feasible for them to hire that person and then have him/her fire the lacrosse coach within a timeframe that doesn't put the program at an enormous disadvantage for bringing in a new staff. At that point it's a lot more likely they'd wait till after the 2023 season — if they were going to do it at all.

I def see him coaching next year but another 3 or 4 win season would make three in a row and things would get interesting. The bar is very high in happy valley, and considering all they have to offer they should be a consistent top 10-15 team.

[Njlaxx11]

NJIT moved up from D2, or 3? Might they return? Are they at 12.6? Thus far it seems an inefficient use of scholarship resources.

njit went straight to d1. they hardly even had a club team. in all reality, NJIT is in a terrible location. Newark, NJ is one of the worst cities in the tri-state area. trust me, i work here. that probably isn't too appealing to great recruits, especially those from NJ that know what newark is all about.

[Njlaxx11]

I'm very curious (and have no inside knowledge) on which coaches may be or should be on the hot seat after this year. Mostly, I'd love to hear everyones thoughts on the who and the why. Also, if a coach is let go, who would you like to realistically take the job?

NJIT - Travis Johnson - 1st HC hired Dec 2013 - Career Record | 7 - 95 (6.86%)
2015 | 0 - 12
2016 | 1 - 14
2017 | 1 - 14
2018 | 1 - 15
2019 | 2 - 13
2020 | 1 - 6
2021 | 1 - 10
2022 | 0 - 11

I don't know anything about NJIT outside of seemingly nice facilities, near some lacrosse hot beds, and with desirable majors that should fit into a lacrosse mold.

i'm actually shocked as to how bad NJIT has been. amazed this HC is still here. as i said in my other post, NJIT is in a real poor area, nothing really to do around campus. probably not too appealing. the new facility is amazing - not sure that's enough.

[lilax]

I'm actually shocked as to how bad NJIT has been. amazed this HC is still here. as i said in my other post, NJIT is in a real poor area, nothing really to do around campus. probably not too appealing. the new facility is amazing - not sure that's enough.

NJIT's first 6 years the Highlanders didn't even have their own facility. They played games at D3 Drew College. How are you going to attract recruits to that?

The school doomed the program from the start.

[FlyEaglesFly]

Even if the new Penn State AD comes in and cleans house of perceived underperformers, don't think that'd happen till next year or at least well after it's too late to make a change in the men's lax program. Deadline for that AD hire is apparently July 1. Doesn't seem feasible for them to hire that person and then have him/her fire the lacrosse coach within a timeframe that doesn't put the program at an enormous disadvantage for bringing in a new staff. At that point it's a lot more likely they'd wait till after the 2023 season — if they were going to do it at all.

I def see him coaching next year but another 3 or 4 win season would make three in a row and things would get interesting. The bar is very high in happy valley, and considering all they have to offer they should be a consistent top 10-15 team.

I feel like PSU being a consistent 10-15 team is a little bit of a stretch. Certainly they can be that any given year though. But consistently I don’t know.

[jhu06]

I believe the polite lacrosse term is coaching carousel.

[ICGrad]

I feel like PSU being a consistent 10-15 team is a little bit of a stretch. Certainly they can be that any given year though. But consistently I don’t know.

I don't see why that wouldn't be the expectation. I mean, they're in the Big 10; I would think that their expectation is that they compete for a tourney spot year-in, year-out.

[xxxxxxx]

I feel like PSU being a consistent 10-15 team is a little bit of a stretch. Certainly they can be that any given year though. But consistently I don’t know.

I don't see why that wouldn't be the expectation. I mean, they're in the Big 10; I would think that their expectation is that they compete for a tourney spot year-in, year-out.

The wrestling team was average before Cael and he has won 9 nattys. A top 10- 15 for lacrosse is a minimum expectation.

[Njlaxx11]

I'm actually shocked as to how bad NJIT has been. amazed this HC is still here. as i said in my other post, NJIT is in a real poor area, nothing really to do around campus. probably not too appealing. the new facility is amazing - not sure that's enough.

NJIT's first 6 years the Highlanders didn't even have their own facility. They played games at D3 Drew College. How are you going to attract recruits to that?

The school doomed the program from the start.

youre right! i completely forgot about that.

[Henpecked]

I feel like PSU being a consistent 10-15 team is a little bit of a stretch. Certainly they can be that any given year though. But consistently I don’t know.

I don't see why that wouldn't be the expectation. I mean, they're in the Big 10; I would think that their expectation is that they compete for a tourney spot year-in, year-out.

The wrestling team was average before Cael and he has won 9 nattys. A top 10- 15 for lacrosse is a minimum expectation.

Didn't Penn State Football just sign Ron Franklin to a 10 year extension after going 11-11 over the past two years? Maybe mediocrity is the new standard at Penn State?