LaxPower Back-Up Stick

Wheels wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 11:47 pm If Benson isn't named HC at PC in the next few days, it'd be surprising.

If that happens, does Phipps come home??

Sure, you get to “fifth year transfer” ACs too!

All this talk about Benson going to Providence makes me chuckle. Has done a GREAT job at MD no doubt. What about Kirwan/UVA Phipps/Gtown. All it takes is a really good interview to leapfrog someone. If Benson wants Hop, he would be smart to wait 1 more year and watch that implosion.

getitdone wrote: ↑Tue May 31, 2022 9:57 am All this talk about Benson going to Providence makes me chuckle. Has done a GREAT job at MD no doubt. What about Kirwan/UVA Phipps/Gtown. All it takes is a really good interview to leapfrog someone. If Benson wants Hop, he would be smart to wait 1 more year and watch that implosion.

unless Ocanada or Adam Doneger is coming in as the new ad in the next 12 months I do not think benson who was let go by the current ad and not interviewed for the job that went to PM is going to be the next HC of JHUL.

From the IL article both Benson and Kirwan seem very similar.

Benson, whose wife is a Providence alum, has reemerged as a head coaching candidate since joining the Maryland staff prior to the 2021 season, helping lead the Terps to the Final Four in each of the past two years. He spent 14 seasons as the offensive coordinator at Johns Hopkins and won a national championship in 2007 after joining the program following stints at Loyola and UMBC.

Kirwan, whose wife is also a Providence alum, has spent the last six seasons running Virginia's offense and won national championships in 2019 and 2021. Named the 2021 IMLCA Division I Assistant Coach of the Year, Kirwan previously spent two seasons under Lars Tiffany at Brown before coming to Virginia in 2016. He also won a DIII title as a Tufts assistant in 2014.

jhu06 wrote: ↑Tue May 31, 2022 10:11 am

getitdone wrote: ↑Tue May 31, 2022 9:57 am All this talk about Benson going to Providence makes me chuckle. Has done a GREAT job at MD no doubt. What about Kirwan/UVA Phipps/Gtown. All it takes is a really good interview to leapfrog someone. If Benson wants Hop, he would be smart to wait 1 more year and watch that implosion.

unless Ocanada or Adam Doneger is coming in as the new ad in the next 12 months I do not think benson who was let go by the current ad and not interviewed for the job that went to PM is going to be the next HC of JHUL.

Funny, I met adam many moons ago when he was a junior and hadn't interacted in 15yrs. He's come a long way. Good for him.

ObxTerpFan wrote: ↑Tue May 31, 2022 6:38 am

Wheels wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 11:47 pm If Benson isn't named HC at PC in the next few days, it'd be surprising.

If that happens, does Phipps come home??

You can bet Tills will give him a call. I think Channenchuck and Haus could be on that list, too. Maybe Jake Bernhardt?

getitdone wrote: ↑Tue May 31, 2022 9:57 am All this talk about Benson going to Providence makes me chuckle. Has done a GREAT job at MD no doubt. What about Kirwan/UVA Phipps/Gtown. All it takes is a really good interview to leapfrog someone. If Benson wants Hop, he would be smart to wait 1 more year and watch that implosion.

I'd be pretty damn happy if PC hired Kirwan or Phipps!

Benson was universally loved by the players, staff, and parents. The vibe post-game was that this was Bobby's swan song, though. I'd love it if he stayed.

I think any of these guys could be a good hire for PC. But let's go back a few years.... Gabrielli was coming off a hot few years at Duke and was the new shiny assistant being talked about for every HC job... How is this time around any different?

Alternative is to give up and shutter the program.

I do think Providence may need to be careful with just hiring the shiny new assistant, as you mentioned. Not knocking someone like Kirwan, who I understand to be a great coach, but it seems like he has had the absolute best players wherever he has been. Likewise with Bobby Benson these last 2 years at Maryland, and he did an amazing job with them. Hopkins didn't win as much his last few years there when their players weren't as good. Providence is in a much different place. How will they do trying to develop a culture and coaching less talented players? That is a tough question to answer, and in Kirwan's case, an impossible one. I am surprised a guy like Eric Seremet hasn't been mentioned much - Rutgers has taken a big jump upon his arrival. I look at guys like him, and Phipps, as more impressive with what they have done as assistants because each program is in a much, much higher place now than before they got there. A program jump like that is what Providence needs. But I understand those 2 are not in contention. As a Hoya supporter, I am glad to see that.

FlyEaglesFly wrote: ↑Tue May 31, 2022 12:50 pm I do think Providence may need to be careful with just hiring the shiny new assistant, as you mentioned. Not knocking someone like Kirwan, who I understand to be a great coach, but it seems like he has had the absolute best players wherever he has been. Likewise with Bobby Benson these last 2 years at Maryland, and he did an amazing job with them. Hopkins didn't win as much his last few years there when their players weren't as good. Providence is in a much different place. How will they do trying to develop a culture and coaching less talented players? That is a tough question to answer, and in Kirwan's case, an impossible one. I am surprised a guy like Eric Seremet hasn't been mentioned much - Rutgers has taken a big jump upon his arrival. I look at guys like him, and Phipps, as more impressive with what they have done as assistants because each program is in a much, much higher place now than before they got there. A program jump like that is what Providence needs. But I understand those 2 are not in contention. As a Hoya supporter, I am glad to see that.

Brown was 8-6 the year before Kirwan got there with all the same players / coaches in the locker room. Next two years they went 12-5 and 16-3 and make the final four.

Recruiting-wise UVA always gets too tier recruits yet they were 7-8 the year before the staff change and in the midst of a major ACC losing streak. Three years later they win it all.

Maybe “having the best players” is somewhat connected to a coach staff’s ability to develop players…

Dependsa on the metric. Not everyone is realistically entertaining national championship expectations - that's ludicrous. But FEF is generally correct about the grass on the other side of the fence. In this case they already made the change decision without (as far as we know) having idetified a target that is achievable plus 2-3 alternatives that they are comfortable with.

The reality is they are probably looking at Nova and Marquette, plus cracks in the Denver armor, believing growth is linear and that 7/10yrs the Big East has a shot at an at large and thinking they didn't like the trajectory of the program from Gabrielli's first 3-5yrs vs. his last 3-4yrs and believing they can get a better ROI elsewhere. McMinn didn't suddenly bring in better players at Utah. Seremet did better than Bill Wilson has to date. HC is manager, top recruiter and Xs and O's guy. Rarely will they be elite in all aspects but you hope to get a guy who can be top 10-15 in 2/3 and not useless in the 3rd category. Then line up priorities and gaiting factors, institutional strengths and weaknesses against the (perceived) abilites of the candidate vs. in seat prolongation and then make the decision.

Then I woke up and remembered these are often mediocre AD managers who make emotional and slave to the moment decisions...

Wheels wrote: ↑Tue May 31, 2022 11:57 am

ObxTerpFan wrote: ↑Tue May 31, 2022 6:38 am

Wheels wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 11:47 pm If Benson isn't named HC at PC in the next few days, it'd be surprising.

If that happens, does Phipps come home??

You can bet Tills will give him a call. I think Channenchuck and Haus could be on that list, too. Maybe Jake Bernhardt?

I'd like to shy away from Haus. The track record just isn't there without Ament. Bernhardt OTOH has done excellent stuff the last few years at Vermont. Think you could argue for him right up there with Phipps.

With one Bernhardt already on staff I'd think the other one would be the favorite to come in should they find themselves in need of an OC. I don't think Phipps leaves Georgetown except to be a head coach somewhere. He was just promoted to associate HC last year which I assume came with a raise. Chanenchuck has had some pretty good results at Stony Brook so he'd be an option, would be a very similar move to the one Hopkins just made in bringing in Crawley from Lehigh.

jrn19 wrote: ↑Tue May 31, 2022 4:05 pm

Wheels wrote: ↑Tue May 31, 2022 11:57 am

ObxTerpFan wrote: ↑Tue May 31, 2022 6:38 am

Wheels wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 11:47 pm If Benson isn't named HC at PC in the next few days, it'd be surprising.

If that happens, does Phipps come home??

You can bet Tills will give him a call. I think Channenchuck and Haus could be on that list, too. Maybe Jake Bernhardt?

I'd like to shy away from Haus. The track record just isn't there without Ament. Bernhardt OTOH has done excellent stuff the last few years at Vermont. Think you could argue for him right up there with Phipps.

The Bernhardts are intense dudes. JL and Bobby were nice balances on the intensity scale. I guess that's my pause.

Haus is an interesting case, too, isn't he? How much of it is his offense and how much of it is that their recruiting hasn't fit that style? They have almost no one on the current roster that consistently draws slides. It's crazy how badly they've missed that and haven't adapted at all. Is that Tambroni or Haus?

For as much credit as Benson gets credit for this Terps' offense, Tills and Reppert installed it in 2020. The 2019 loss made Tills reassess the offense and how predictable it was. Benson helped refine the offense and did the serious one-on-one coaching required to help players understand how to play in that system. It requires a high lacrosse IQ to function in that offense. That's where Bobby really helped. Like, true teaching and less strategy/scheme. Much to his credit.

You know who is going to be a really good coach one day? Jonathan Donville. If he ever decides to go in that direction. He'd apparently spend a lot of time with the coaches just talking strategy and tactics. Some people referred to him as "one of the adults."

Wheels wrote: ↑Tue May 31, 2022 5:11 pm

jrn19 wrote: ↑Tue May 31, 2022 4:05 pm

Wheels wrote: ↑Tue May 31, 2022 11:57 am

ObxTerpFan wrote: ↑Tue May 31, 2022 6:38 am

Wheels wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 11:47 pm If Benson isn't named HC at PC in the next few days, it'd be surprising.

If that happens, does Phipps come home??

You can bet Tills will give him a call. I think Channenchuck and Haus could be on that list, too. Maybe Jake Bernhardt?

I'd like to shy away from Haus. The track record just isn't there without Ament. Bernhardt OTOH has done excellent stuff the last few years at Vermont. Think you could argue for him right up there with Phipps.

The Bernhardts are intense dudes. JL and Bobby were nice balances on the intensity scale. I guess that's my pause.

Haus is an interesting case, too, isn't he? How much of it is his offense and how much of it is that their recruiting hasn't fit that style? They have almost no one on the current roster that consistently draws slides. It's crazy how badly they've missed that and haven't adapted at all. Is that Tambroni or Haus?

For as much credit as Benson gets credit for this Terps' offense, Tills and Reppert installed it in 2020. The 2019 loss made Tills reassess the offense and how predictable it was. Benson helped refine the offense and did the serious one-on-one coaching required to help players understand how to play in that system. It requires a high lacrosse IQ to function in that offense. That's where Bobby really helped. Like, true teaching and less strategy/scheme. Much to his credit.

You know who is going to be a really good coach one day? Jonathan Donville. If he ever decides to go in that direction. He'd apparently spend a lot of time with the coaches just talking strategy and tactics. Some people referred to him as "one of the adults."

My thing with Haus that makes me wary is, even if I don't ding him too much for how bad their offenses have been the last few years, there isn't a track record of success without Ament there. He came in in 2018 without Ament and they were 15th, which is pretty good, but not lighting the world on fire. Then Ament comes back from injury and it's historic. Last two years are bad. Just no gauge on his true level. I'm sure he's a solid coach, don't think he's BAD, but too many good options to go in that direction IMO.

It's a fair point on Bernhardt with the intensity. If that indeed is maybe not the best fit, I'd be fine with Channy. He had Sacred Heart in the Top 25 on offense and they've since collapsed; albeit they lost some great players. Stony Brook was awful year before he took over and then were Top 10 in off. efficiency last year.

Phipps is the dream hire, and I do wonder if he would listen. If it's true he's happy living in Annapolis and likes it and isn't pressed to take a HC job, I wonder if his alma mater could be an attractive move till he decides to make the leap to HC and the Tillman tree is certainly a nice one to be under.

BigTom5 wrote: ↑Tue May 31, 2022 1:24 pm

FlyEaglesFly wrote: ↑Tue May 31, 2022 12:50 pm I do think Providence may need to be careful with just hiring the shiny new assistant, as you mentioned. Not knocking someone like Kirwan, who I understand to be a great coach, but it seems like he has had the absolute best players wherever he has been. Likewise with Bobby Benson these last 2 years at Maryland, and he did an amazing job with them. Hopkins didn't win as much his last few years there when their players weren't as good. Providence is in a much different place. How will they do trying to develop a culture and coaching less talented players? That is a tough question to answer, and in Kirwan's case, an impossible one. I am surprised a guy like Eric Seremet hasn't been mentioned much - Rutgers has taken a big jump upon his arrival. I look at guys like him, and Phipps, as more impressive with what they have done as assistants because each program is in a much, much higher place now than before they got there. A program jump like that is what Providence needs. But I understand those 2 are not in contention. As a Hoya supporter, I am glad to see that.

Brown was 8-6 the year before Kirwan got there with all the same players / coaches in the locker room. Next two years they went 12-5 and 16-3 and make the final four.

Recruiting-wise UVA always gets too tier recruits yet they were 7-8 the year before the staff change and in the midst of a major ACC losing streak. Three years later they win it all.

Maybe “having the best players” is somewhat connected to a coach staff’s ability to develop players…

Nah, humans are head cases. They need someone to “whisper” them to greatness.

Has anyone heard much about the St. John's opening? Seems like a lot of what has been reported is about Providence.

FlyEaglesFly wrote: ↑Thu Jun 02, 2022 7:02 am Has anyone heard much about the St. John's opening? Seems like a lot of what has been reported is about Providence.

Interviews start this week. No idea of possible candidates outside of the interim.