By Bill Nestor
Typically the coaching dominos don’t begin to fall until after a season is complete. Poaching is usually reserved for the end of the campaign. There have to be some unwritten rules that need to be followed behind the scenes between schools that are in need of a coach and coaches that are either unhappy with their current job or are looking to climb the coaching latter. The school has a different perspective than the coach. The sooner an institution has a leader of the program in place, the better off they will be. Players who are in the transfer portal are hot commodities. It’s the pursuers who are quick on the draw that reel in the big fish. A university without a program head is like a fisherman without a pole. There is no way they will reach out to the desired coach or coaches (they will have a wish list of possible hires) as early as possible.
The coach will ponder the opportunity and once they reach an agreement, they will keep the move under wraps until the dust from the season settles. The secret keeping is key when a team is in the running for the grand prize. A case in point is Glenville State. Kim Stephens was preparing her team for a Final Four game this past week. The Pioneers were looking to defend their national championship from a year ago when it was leaked that she was taking the head coaching position at Marshall. The last thing that Stephens wanted to happen did and her players had to be depressed when they heard the news. Glenville State would go on to lose to Ashland by nine points and the final score told the story. The 76-67 outcome was proof that the Pioneer players were distracted to say the least. It was the second lowest point production compared to the lock-up with West Virginia Wesleyan. In the four NCAA Tournament wins over Elizabeth City State, Shippensburg, West Chester and the University of Tampa, the average margin of victory was over 22 points per game. Stephens had asked that the announcement be made after the completion of the season but it didn’t work out that way and it had a negative impact on her squad.
The other side of the coin is when a coach wants to come out of retirement. A prime example of this is legendary coach, Mike Carey. Carey spent 21 years at the helm of the West Virginia University women’s program. Casey has won 735 collegiate games between WVU and Salem College where he started his career with the men’s team. Carey is a fan favorite, revered by the entire state, and he expressed interest in returning to the university for an encore performance of epic proportions. The talks behind the scenes have not gone the way Mountaineer fans wanted them to go because the search for the new coach continued. Carey told WDTV’s Ally Osborne that he is coming back and that he plans on coaching next season whether it is at WVU or somewhere else. It was a great move for Carey because his ideal situation would be a return to the Mountaineer program and and now boosters and backers of the school can rally behind him. This move also alerts other schools of his intentions to roam the sidelines once again. Carey’s love for the game makes him a no-brainer for any school that needs a leader because that is exactly what he is! That will do it for now. Until next week… take care and God Bless!
