Guilford College's Coaching Carousel

[QuakerLaxFan]

I wanted to post on here because I just found out that my alma mater Guilford College's head coach just quit... one day into fall ball. This has left 40 players without a coach and more importantly 5 coaches in the last 6 odd years. There has to be someone willing to commit to staying at this program and building something special. With consistency at the helm, I have seen the program able to compete against some of the best schools in the country and they have to with playing in one of the best conferences in D3. It is in prime geographical location being wedged between Raleigh and Charlotte, two of the biggest hot beds in the southeast; also being in a major metropolitan city, a draw that most D3 schools fall short off. The team needs help and they need a person who is going to come in and help them in the long-term as well as the short-term. The players there right now are talented and on the verge of being back to where we were not many years ago.

[creasecone66]

Feel for the players, but it may be worth getting in touch with the Friends of Penn Lacrosse to see how those Quakers fundraise enough to have two endowed positions on their staff. If there has been that much turnover I’d look at the support (or lack thereof) from administration and alumni. I’d open up the checkbook and see if you can get an experienced HC to get the program moving in the right direction. C.R.E.A.M

[MajorMacLax18]

Does anyone know why Coach Frey stepped down?

[Leonard Washington]

The financial problems at Guilford are pretty alarming

[QuakerLaxFan]

Apparently he is going to Alabama Huntsville. Administration in the past has been a viable problem but there has been a lot of restructure from the president down to the athletic director that I am hoping are moving it in the right direction. A lot of the problems that Guilford faced several years ago with financials are being changed now and hopefully trending the right direction. Those can definitely still be a factor going forward without knowing the plans from administration going forward.

[Leonard Washington]

Those can definitely still be a factor going forward without knowing the plans from administration going forward.

Couldn't agree more. There has to be a heightened level of transparency.

[SneaksBeac]

I feel for the players in this situation it's terrible timing and change is rarely good....but honestly, I am not surprised...the track record of the coach speaks for itself

[River Donkey]

I see it as a blessing in disguise. Look what he’s done at other programs. Consider yourself’s lucky.

[QuakerLaxFan]

I was never a fan of him either, taking a coach from schools like Ferrum and Methodist to try and compete in the ODAC was never the right option. I was just hoping we could get a head coach and assistant locked down for the near future.

[MarloStanfield09]

He took over a team with 15 - built it to 40 and the school still gave him no budget or assistant ….. I’d leave too. You alums should call the AD and beg for a commitment or write to the president. Why don’t we post threads when kids quit or leave after one semester or one year????

UAH could have certainly done better….. that’s for a different thread. Wasting time crying about or criticizing a decision someone made to better themselves is sad…….

Guilford folks been crying a while and ya ran off the one decent coach ya had (Carmean)…….

[QuakerLaxFan]

I think a lot of the frustration is what you are talking about, lack of administrative support and resources. To say we "ran off" Carmean is extremely out of pocket and far from the truth. Carmean left because of everything highlighted above, administration and the board. That has since changed but now it seems we lack budget to keep multiple people on staff.

I don't think it is sad and I don't think anyone was crying about the decision, rather the timing of it all being one day into fall ball. My original post was put out to bring light to a good program that needs help and needs it fast being in the middle of a semester now.

[sguy9]

Current President and AD are very big supporters of athletics. The problem at Guilford is $. They are very small school with 21 varsity sports including football.... Resources only go so far when the school is broke. It is too bad really, nice little campus in a great area.

Carmean was an interesting piece of their history. He came from one of the most well funded athletic departments in d3. He was only going to stay for so long so I am not sure he was run out. Being run out of Amherst is a different story.

[MarloStanfield09]

To say we "ran off" Carmean is extremely out of pocket and far from the truth.

Your administration and mess of a school ran him off ….. ya gonna bleed Guilford now, ya might as well bleed it then too. Sounds like ya’ll need to take it up the chain and off the forums if it means that much to ya.

It’s just very evident this thread was created to blast a coach for leaving one day into fall ball…. (That’s my take anyway) It’s ok for kids to leave whenever they want tho ?? Guilford is such a fine institution however and I’m sure those students chose that as their home regardless the coach.

[QuakerLaxFan]

"It’s ok for kids to leave whenever they want tho ??" Im just not sure where this is coming from, everyone has said they wish the best for the kids and hope they are okay. It's division 3, of course its okay for kids to leave.

The president, administration, and AD that Carmean had to deal with is gone and replaced by a group that cares more about athletics so hoping that can change. It seems like the only problem now would be $ which is a big one. Hoping the school and administration can start to turn things around because Guilford is a very special place to those who went there.

[sguy9]

Well now what then? Who do they get to replace at such a late time? Any alums out there in the coaching world?

[TopperLax82]

Feel for the players, but it may be worth getting in touch with the Friends of Penn Lacrosse to see how those Quakers fundraise enough to have two endowed positions on their staff. If there has been that much turnover I’d look at the support (or lack thereof) from administration and alumni. I’d open up the checkbook and see if you can get an experienced HC to get the program moving in the right direction. C.R.E.A.M

The issue with Guilford, and a lot of these small fringe D3 programs, is their school isn't producing grads who are going to write checks back to the school. With an admission rate in the 80's and graduation rate in the low 50's that's a pretty strong indication your athletics are running on the lower end of the competition spectrum - along with every other program in the school. If you're school a high academic school in NESCAC or midwest, with an admissions rate in the teens and a grad rate in the high 80's you're making money - and as a result you have three full-time coaches.

[KnowingWizardofODAC]

The problem is Guilford has awful facilities, a horrible culture, awful team and is full of racists. The alumni network is useless because no one wants to go back to the school. Who would want to coach a program like this????

[Pitt12]

Knowingwizard you seem to know everything? How do you do it my wizard????

[QuakerLaxFan]

I think that is all extremely out of pocket to say. Guilford has a brand new weight room, has updated home locker rooms, and continues to push to update facilities. A lot of the recent alumni still care about the program and want to see it back to where it was when we were there competing for the conference playoffs. To say the team is full of racists is coming from where? Never did we have that problem on the team and we stood up to a lot of those problems against other teams in conference when I was. Let me know if you have faced any of these issues from the team, I would like to hear where you are getting this information.

[Pitt12]

I think that is all extremely out of pocket to say. Guilford has a brand new weight room, has updated home locker rooms, and continues to push to update facilities. A lot of the recent alumni still care about the program and want to see it back to where it was when we were there competing for the conference playoffs. To say the team is full of racists is coming from where? Never did we have that problem on the team and we stood up to a lot of those problems against other teams in conference when I was. Let me know if you have faced any of these issues from the team, I would like to hear where you are getting this information.

Knowingwizard doesn’t know much. Likes to make comments with no knowledge to stir the pot.