Not surprised at all. Was just hoping UM would get a couple more years
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grizzlyjournal said:Congrats to coach Pinkerton who, in many ways, is returning to home, as explained in this attached story from GoGriz. He wasn't looking for a job, but one dropped into his lap.
http://www.gogriz.com/news/2017/8/2/softball-pinkerton-hired-by-iowa-state.aspx
I'm not very familiar with the softball coaching pool, but I hope that Mr. Haslam sits down for a long discussion with Melanie Meuchel. Certainly -- as a native Montanan who knows the state very well -- she deserves first consideration. Something that'll be hard to replace w/Pinkerton are his extensive recruiting contacts, but I'll bet Meuchel has tapped into his knowledge in that regard.
Maybe the toughest thing to replace will be the extensive teaching experience Pinkerton developed... and the fact that he had an ability (by my limited observation) to communicate with his players on a one-to-one level.
The biggest problem is timing: Kent Haslam doesn't have much time to get a coach into place. I'll be interested to see how fast this develops.
grizzlyjournal said:No interim coaching position for the Griz softball program. Kent Haslam announced a national search and it's estimated a new coach will be hired by late fall. Meanwhile, Sydney Stites announced yesterday she's following Pinkerton to Iowa State.
There's a good interview story featuring Delene Colburn now up at GoGriz. It's entitled "We're Going to be OK," and pretty much indicates that Colburn has already stepped up as the team's player spokesperson for the program. A good read.
http://www.gogriz.com/news/2017/8/9/softball-we-re-going-to-be-okay.aspx