Coaching Carousel 2024

[Mole]

NJ has lots to offer and FDU has a Nice campus but, outside of Stevens it’s lacrosse at the D3 level is mediocre

I'm not sure it make sense to say something like "NJ has lots to offer" when discussing hiring at a given school. It's an entire state, of course it has lots to offer. So do all states. No one is going to chose to coach a school because it is in the same state as Hoboken. NJ produces lots of excellent lacrosse players, most of the better of whom chose to go to college elsewhere, both at the D1 and D3 level. Rectify that and these schools could attract better coaches. Selling them on the boardwalk at Wildwood is probably not going to cut it.

Madison is a nice area, and yes, Jersey has a lot to offer, in addition to brutal traffic and really high living costs. If you choose to go to school because of Hoboken, you might actually be choosing it because you are down the road from Manhattan, Central Park, etc.

[laxdad1434]

NJ has lots to offer and FDU has a Nice campus but, outside of Stevens it’s lacrosse at the D3 level is mediocre

I'm not sure it make sense to say something like "NJ has lots to offer" when discussing hiring at a given school. It's an entire state, of course it has lots to offer. So do all states. No one is going to chose to coach a school because it is in the same state as Hoboken. NJ produces lots of excellent lacrosse players, most of the better of whom chose to go to college elsewhere, both at the D1 and D3 level. Rectify that and these schools could attract better coaches. Selling them on the boardwalk at Wildwood is probably not going to cut it.

Madison is a nice area, and yes, Jersey has a lot to offer, in addition to brutal traffic and really high living costs. If you choose to go to school because of Hoboken, you might actually be choosing it because you are down the road from Manhattan, Central Park, etc.

The high cost of living is nationwide, and traffic in Jersey is mild compared to other states. When's the last time you drove to Md, Va.? And yes, one of the MANY factors for kids/parents is choosing a school based on location and what that location has to offer.

As you said, "NJ produces lots of excellent lacrosse players" Well, get a coach that recruits those in-state kids and that is what will rectify the issue, build the program. Can't get the players if the program stinks. It all starts with the coaches and admin support.

Stevens is an excellent example of coaching and admin support.

Wildwood...Who from north Jersey goes to Wildwood? Anything south of LBI is Philly territory.

[pcowlax]

NJ has lots to offer and FDU has a Nice campus but, outside of Stevens it’s lacrosse at the D3 level is mediocre

I'm not sure it make sense to say something like "NJ has lots to offer" when discussing hiring at a given school. It's an entire state, of course it has lots to offer. So do all states. No one is going to chose to coach a school because it is in the same state as Hoboken. NJ produces lots of excellent lacrosse players, most of the better of whom chose to go to college elsewhere, both at the D1 and D3 level. Rectify that and these schools could attract better coaches. Selling them on the boardwalk at Wildwood is probably not going to cut it.

Madison is a nice area, and yes, Jersey has a lot to offer, in addition to brutal traffic and really high living costs. If you choose to go to school because of Hoboken, you might actually be choosing it because you are down the road from Manhattan, Central Park, etc.

The high cost of living is nationwide, and traffic in Jersey is mild compared to other states. When's the last time you drove to Md, Va.? And yes, one of the MANY factors for kids/parents is choosing a school based on location and what that location has to offer.

As you said, "NJ produces lots of excellent lacrosse players" Well, get a coach that recruits those in-state kids and that is what will rectify the issue, build the program. Can't get the players if the program stinks. It all starts with the coaches and admin support.

Stevens is an excellent example of coaching and admin support.

Wildwood...Who from north Jersey goes to Wildwood? Anything south of LBI is Philly territory.

No one. Which is why it is a stupid statement to say that “New Jersey” offers a lot in regards to the attractiveness of a program. The kids are staying on campus on close by and the coach is living near campus. What is within a 3 hour driving radius is irrelevant. I’m not sure how much you have seen other campuses outside of NJ laxdad but many top D3 schools are in beautiful areas with lovely campuses. NJ has decades of the best athletes leaving for most sports, hence Rutgers irrelevance in most sports. You are definitely right that success attracts players. That is really the primary driver for a school that is not a traditional power or a top academic destination, which none of these schools are. One great season begets more but the first is always the hardest.

[justanotherperson]

Many of the NJ facilities are very nice and there are certainly many things within a few hours drive (beach, city, hiking) but with regards to recruiting, I dont think any of these are game-changers. As has accurately been pointed out, many of the colleges over beautiful facilities and campuses with many in the Northeast within driving distance of "stuff"

As a NJ-ite at my core but also having lived in a lot of other states, I have anecdotally found that a lot of friends and families were more keen on getting out of dodge, rather than staying in state as compared to a lot of the other places where I lived, where staying home was sometimes the expectation. I don't know why but my thoughts is NJ schools and Rutgers especially, is forever the the bridesmaid; pretty good at athletics and academics but not gangbusters, so the populace is always looking for greener pastures. I suspect the same may hold true for lax as there is no "prestige" program where the luster is so bright, that it becomes a destination. Even athletic wise, they are relative new adoptees of the BIG10 (which to me still sounds weird to me) so recruiting there as a "BIG10 school" hasnt matured completely. Maryland obviously does well and they joined at the same time; I would be curious if Maryland residents, felt the same about staying in the state or getting our of dodge.

Finally as a result of the above with Rutgers (and other NJ schools) being on that bridesmaid tier, I dont feel like there are other "rivals" that Rutgers can say they have. With some of the other states, everyone seems to have a foil in sports: Maryland-Hopkins-Loyola-VA, Duke-NC, OSU-Mich, Ivy's vs each other. I dont know who the NJ schools including Rutgers true rivalries are which also contribute to the "rah-rah" recruiting atmosphere. I will even go as far to say, I dont even know who Princetons true rival is

TL'DR - NJ schools are decent and may have "a lot" to offer but nothing jumps out to me as a destination recruiting location for the incredible in-state talent it develops.

Just the musings on a hot Sunday morning. And for the record, the NJ traffic blows compared to everywhere else I have lived and the shore is definitely North v South, with the exception of Cape May, which everyone who has kids, has gone to at least once.

[Asgot]

NJ has lots to offer and FDU has a Nice campus but, outside of Stevens it’s lacrosse at the D3 level is mediocre

I'm not sure it make sense to say something like "NJ has lots to offer" when discussing hiring at a given school. It's an entire state, of course it has lots to offer. So do all states. No one is going to chose to coach a school because it is in the same state as Hoboken. NJ produces lots of excellent lacrosse players, most of the better of whom chose to go to college elsewhere, both at the D1 and D3 level. Rectify that and these schools could attract better coaches. Selling them on the boardwalk at Wildwood is probably not going to cut it.

Just trying to be nice about the difficulties of attracting lacrosse players to the schools. It after competing with the D1 and top D3 programs the FDU’s and Keqn’s of the world have to get lucky or have some connection to a school to get kids. Kean had a good in with Central but does that go away with Shelly being done. Does Stone’s liability and connections to club teams in NJ help him recruit.
We will see.

[laxdad1434]

NJ has lots to offer and FDU has a Nice campus but, outside of Stevens it’s lacrosse at the D3 level is mediocre

I'm not sure it make sense to say something like "NJ has lots to offer" when discussing hiring at a given school. It's an entire state, of course it has lots to offer. So do all states. No one is going to chose to coach a school because it is in the same state as Hoboken. NJ produces lots of excellent lacrosse players, most of the better of whom chose to go to college elsewhere, both at the D1 and D3 level. Rectify that and these schools could attract better coaches. Selling them on the boardwalk at Wildwood is probably not going to cut it.

Just trying to be nice about the difficulties of attracting lacrosse players to the schools. It after competing with the D1 and top D3 programs the FDU’s and Keqn’s of the world have to get lucky or have some connection to a school to get kids. Kean had a good in with Central but does that go away with Shelly being done. Does Stone’s liability and connections to club teams in NJ help him recruit.
We will see.

Thanks for being nice…but you’re misinformed about the HC connection.

[the_fish_whist1er]

Im all for feeding the positivity with Stones hire, maybe he has some pull w NJ (hence the amount of talent from the state that ended up at Muhlenberg) but it is VERY tough to get a mid-level D3 talent from the state to end up at FDU.

[VTLaxGuy]

Thoughts on remaining jobs.....

Tier 1:
NONE - no slam dunk jobs this year.

Tier 2:
SUNY Potsdam - Coming off a great season, replacing a 30 year coach. There's stability here. It's a good job.

St Joseph's (ME) - Former head coach built something nice up in Maine. Former Coach is now a big shot in admissions...numbers are never going to be an issue here. GNAC is winnable any given year.

Rhodes (TN) - I don't know what the ceiling is for this program, but the school is on solid ground (an A in the Forbes list) with good facilities, so I think the floor is a lot higher than most of the openings this year.



Tier 3:
SUNY Poly - Really nice facilities. Great recruiting location in section 3, close to section 2 and not far from the Rochester area. Was a consistent winner in their old league, earning the AQ this spring. Will be a bit of an uphill climb as they move into the Empire 8...That being said, I believe they are equipped to compete with the lower half of the E8 (despite their outcome vs Utica this year).

Kean (NJ) - Has been discussed on here a lot already. I won't retread those discussions. Conference has two juggernauts in it and an AQ or at large bid is seemingly very far away. That said, if a coach can be content winning 10-12 games a year and falling in the conference semi-finals this isn't a bad place to be. Part time v full time question is why this is tier 3. If it's moving to full time, I think it's a tier 2 job.


Tier 4: - Not going to dive into each of these, but they all have at least one red flag. Some have multiple. A few of these jobs have been open within the past 5 years (repeat offenders if you will)...that never bodes well for a program. *Amherst in the post JT year is the lone exception.

Albertus Magnus College (CT)
Brevard (NC)
Guilford (NC)
Juniata (PA)
LaGrange (GA) -
Northland (WI)
Notre Dame (MD)
Oglethorpe (GA) -
St Joseph's (NY)
Washington & Jefferson (PA)
William Peace (NC)

[HornsLax]

Billy Cameron (HSC Assistant) will be the next HC for Rhodes.

[Asgot]

NJ has lots to offer and FDU has a Nice campus but, outside of Stevens it’s lacrosse at the D3 level is mediocre

I'm not sure it make sense to say something like "NJ has lots to offer" when discussing hiring at a given school. It's an entire state, of course it has lots to offer. So do all states. No one is going to chose to coach a school because it is in the same state as Hoboken. NJ produces lots of excellent lacrosse players, most of the better of whom chose to go to college elsewhere, both at the D1 and D3 level. Rectify that and these schools could attract better coaches. Selling them on the boardwalk at Wildwood is probably not going to cut it.

Just trying to be nice about the difficulties of attracting lacrosse players to the schools. It after competing with the D1 and top D3 programs the FDU’s and Keqn’s of the world have to get lucky or have some connection to a school to get kids. Kean had a good in with Central but does that go away with Shelly being done. Does Stone’s liability and connections to club teams in NJ help him recruit.
We will see.

Thanks for being nice…but you’re misinformed about the HC connection.

I would say that 5 kids in the past fees years from the same program is a connection and he got some good kids out of that school.

[laxdad1434]

NJ has lots to offer and FDU has a Nice campus but, outside of Stevens it’s lacrosse at the D3 level is mediocre

I'm not sure it make sense to say something like "NJ has lots to offer" when discussing hiring at a given school. It's an entire state, of course it has lots to offer. So do all states. No one is going to chose to coach a school because it is in the same state as Hoboken. NJ produces lots of excellent lacrosse players, most of the better of whom chose to go to college elsewhere, both at the D1 and D3 level. Rectify that and these schools could attract better coaches. Selling them on the boardwalk at Wildwood is probably not going to cut it.

Just trying to be nice about the difficulties of attracting lacrosse players to the schools. It after competing with the D1 and top D3 programs the FDU’s and Keqn’s of the world have to get lucky or have some connection to a school to get kids. Kean had a good in with Central but does that go away with Shelly being done. Does Stone’s liability and connections to club teams in NJ help him recruit.
We will see.

Thanks for being nice…but you’re misinformed about the HC connection.

I would say that 5 kids in the past fees years from the same program is a connection and he got some good kids out of that school.

Agreed the 6 kids were/are very good. very good is an understatement for some of them. But, it wasn’t the former coach that got them there.

[HornsLax]

https://rhodeslynx.com/news/2024/7/10/g ... rosse.aspx

[LI_Lax14]

Great hire for Rhodes. About time Coach Cameron got his shot as a HC