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Soccer Citowicki leaving for Wazzu?

GrinningGriz said:
I feel like I can unequivocally shut down this interpretation of what happened. I've talked to nearly every single player or their parents of girls who are entering the portal (My kid is a soccer ALUM). Synopsis of how the conversations actually went (which were almost entirely initiated by the players after Kyle's tweet)

Player: Hey Coach, I saw Kyle's tweet about you maybe leaving.
Coach: Yeah, it's going to be a hard decision but I think it's the right move for my career and family.
Player: yeah, I get it.
Coach: Would love to have you come to WSU if you're open to it.
Player: Wow. Is anyone else going?
Coach: I know X, Y and Z plan on coming.
Player: I'll think about it and talk to my parents.
Coach: totally understand, no pressure. Do what's best for you.
Player: Thanks.

Sorry... but to me that doesn't sound like strong arming to me. Yes, they all felt rushed... cause Spring semester is right around the corner. One of the players Dad's told me they've expected Chris to be leaving for years (even while his kid was being recruited) and his daughter always said if he left and wanted her to go with, she would.

At least two of the players that aren't going called Chris to talk to him because they also wanted to go. My family will continue to root on the Griz and Coach J, and cheer on the new coach, but will also root on the girls who are going to WSU from afar.
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So.... you are a "parent" of a "soccer alum" who has talked to nearly all players AND sets of parents AND you registered yesterday for this one post. Yeah right. Why the Do Not Contact demand, "if no pressure, do what's best for you"? Not saying many girls aren't excited to go. I'm sure most are, and I'm sure it is a great opportunity. But the people who don't meet his agenda have a VERY different view of the man. Both can be true at the same time.
 
astutegriz said:
So.... you are a "parent" of a "soccer alum" who has talked to nearly all players AND sets of parents AND you registered yesterday for this one post. Yeah right. Why the Do Not Contact demand, "if no pressure, do what's best for you"? Not saying many girls aren't excited to go. I'm sure most are, and I'm sure it is a great opportunity. But the people who don't meet his agenda have a VERY different view of the man. Both can be true at the same time.
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Of course the players/families that weren’t picked feel differently. That sucks for them. Everyone understands that. No different than players who were on the short list of recruiting and don’t get chosen oftentimes then have a new, negative view of the coach instantly. This same thing happens in all college sports. I know a football player who thought he was going to the Griz. His parents said Hauck is the greatest guy UNTIL Hauck said there wasn’t room on the roster for him and all of a sudden he was trash to them. THIS IS A BUSINESS. Coaches have to keep talking to all the maybe kids until they find out if their higher picks says yes. Same things happens in the corporate world for interviews.

Yes, you got me. I made THIS account yesterday after one of the mom’s alerted me to the drama, cause I wasn’t going to jump into this with my regular account, which I can be identified by some of my previous posts. Do I need to show you my kids birth certificate, her diploma, and her letterman’s jacket to prove I am the parent of an alum. How many of the players/families that decided to take on this opportunity have you talked to in person or through text?

Chris’ Legacy will stay intact. All of the trophies are still in the case (Many are in coaching offices as they didn’t fit in the case and UM next Expanded their case). The soccer culture he helped create is alive and well in Missoula and will carry on. The records are still on the books. Just as when Betsy left. (I’m still much more concerned about the Legacy that Mark Plakorus left cause that actually was a scandal that shed negative light on Griz Soccer). Yes, there will likely be some rebuilding that has to happen. Which is also what is going to happen at WSU and will happen at Ole Miss. This is all chain reaction. I’ll still be supporting Griz soccer just as I have been since my daughter left.

Half of the girls considering going will be closer to home… their parents will be closer to them within driving distance to games. Their other family members will be closer. Which means they’ll likely be at more games. If you think that doesn’t matter to players, it does. This is home state to some of these girls.

As far as the DNC part, from what I’ve researched that is really common when kids already know where they plan on going. That’s literally what it’s there for. Why wouldn’t they have put that designation?

We can all still be excited for Chris’ new opportunity, cheer on the girls deciding to leave, cheer on the girls who already had been in the portal and committed elsewhere, and cheer on Griz Soccer while it rebuilds. I have no doubt that Coach J and whoever comes in will hit the ground running.
 
GrinningGriz said:
Of course the players/families that weren’t picked feel differently. That sucks for them. Everyone understands that. No different than players who were on the short list of recruiting and don’t get chosen oftentimes then have a new, negative view of the coach instantly. This same thing happens in all college sports. I know a football player who thought he was going to the Griz. His parents said Hauck is the greatest guy UNTIL Hauck said there wasn’t room on the roster for him and all of a sudden he was trash to them. THIS IS A BUSINESS. Coaches have to keep talking to all the maybe kids until they find out if their higher picks says yes. Same things happens in the corporate world for interviews.

Yes, you got me. I made THIS account yesterday after one of the mom’s alerted me to the drama, cause I wasn’t going to jump into this with my regular account, which I can be identified by some of my previous posts. Do I need to show you my kids birth certificate, her diploma, and her letterman’s jacket to prove I am the parent of an alum. How many of the players/families that decided to take on this opportunity have you talked to in person or through text?

Chris’ Legacy will stay intact. All of the trophies are still in the case (Many are in coaching offices as they didn’t fit in the case and UM next Expanded their case). The soccer culture he helped create is alive and well in Missoula and will carry on. The records are still on the books. Just as when Betsy left. (I’m still much more concerned about the Legacy that Mark Plakorus left cause that actually was a scandal that shed negative light on Griz Soccer). Yes, there will likely be some rebuilding that has to happen. Which is also what is going to happen at WSU and will happen at Ole Miss. This is all chain reaction. I’ll still be supporting Griz soccer just as I have been since my daughter left.

Half of the girls considering going will be closer to home… their parents will be closer to them within driving distance to games. Their other family members will be closer. Which means they’ll likely be at more games. If you think that doesn’t matter to players, it does. This is home state to some of these girls.

As far as the DNC part, from what I’ve researched that is really common when kids already know where they plan on going. That’s literally what it’s there for. Why wouldn’t they have put that designation?

We can all still be excited for Chris’ new opportunity, cheer on the girls deciding to leave, cheer on the girls who already had been in the portal and committed elsewhere, and cheer on Griz Soccer while it rebuilds. I have no doubt that Coach J and whoever comes in will hit the ground running.
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Excellent post. That designation is essentially "I am already going somewhere". Happens all the time in football. Doesn't change how it looks, and honestly there is probably a little mix of truth to all of it. I just hope they keep it up and RTD within a couple of years max.
 
GrinningGriz said:
Of course the players/families that weren’t picked feel differently. That sucks for them. Everyone understands that. No different than players who were on the short list of recruiting and don’t get chosen oftentimes then have a new, negative view of the coach instantly. This same thing happens in all college sports. I know a football player who thought he was going to the Griz. His parents said Hauck is the greatest guy UNTIL Hauck said there wasn’t room on the roster for him and all of a sudden he was trash to them. THIS IS A BUSINESS. Coaches have to keep talking to all the maybe kids until they find out if their higher picks says yes. Same things happens in the corporate world for interviews.

Yes, you got me. I made THIS account yesterday after one of the mom’s alerted me to the drama, cause I wasn’t going to jump into this with my regular account, which I can be identified by some of my previous posts. Do I need to show you my kids birth certificate, her diploma, and her letterman’s jacket to prove I am the parent of an alum. How many of the players/families that decided to take on this opportunity have you talked to in person or through text?

Chris’ Legacy will stay intact. All of the trophies are still in the case (Many are in coaching offices as they didn’t fit in the case and UM next Expanded their case). The soccer culture he helped create is alive and well in Missoula and will carry on. The records are still on the books. Just as when Betsy left. (I’m still much more concerned about the Legacy that Mark Plakorus left cause that actually was a scandal that shed negative light on Griz Soccer). Yes, there will likely be some rebuilding that has to happen. Which is also what is going to happen at WSU and will happen at Ole Miss. This is all chain reaction. I’ll still be supporting Griz soccer just as I have been since my daughter left.

Half of the girls considering going will be closer to home… their parents will be closer to them within driving distance to games. Their other family members will be closer. Which means they’ll likely be at more games. If you think that doesn’t matter to players, it does. This is home state to some of these girls.

As far as the DNC part, from what I’ve researched that is really common when kids already know where they plan on going. That’s literally what it’s there for. Why wouldn’t they have put that designation?

We can all still be excited for Chris’ new opportunity, cheer on the girls deciding to leave, cheer on the girls who already had been in the portal and committed elsewhere, and cheer on Griz Soccer while it rebuilds. I have no doubt that Coach J and whoever comes in will hit the ground running.
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I appreciate your perspective on this situation and I'm sure a lot of us here do, too. I would presume your daughter must have played under Chris so chances are I watched your daughter play in person, as I go to all the home games (and have largely been going to every home game dating back to Chris' predecessor first taking charge of the program in 2011).

While I wish Chris (and any Griz players that may follow him to Pullman) all the best, we'll just have to be content with backing a team that at best will be scrapping their way into the Big Sky tournament in the short-term, but I know that they will be a very good team again. We just need to get the right coach, whether it's J. Landham or someone else.
 
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astutegriz said:
So.... you are a "parent" of a "soccer alum" who has talked to nearly all players AND sets of parents AND you registered yesterday for this one post. Yeah right. Why the Do Not Contact demand, "if no pressure, do what's best for you"? Not saying many girls aren't excited to go. I'm sure most are, and I'm sure it is a great opportunity. But the people who don't meet his agenda have a VERY different view of the man. Both can be true at the same time.
Click to expand...
 
Juiceut22 said:
I’m also a parent of a transfer player and it was told to me much different and more like what was reported earlier.
Chris has his favorites and if your one of them it probably went down like they said. If you are not a favorite it went down that u have two hours to decide.
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incoming transfer player? I have no knowledge of how those conversations went obviously and can imagine they went down differently.

No surprise players who he's never coached were informed differently than players he has coached. I feel for all the young women on all sides of this, but also excited for the players that are going to benefit from this and have a chance to come to the Griz.
 
He's been trying to leave for years so it's no surprise and should be no surprise with how he's leaving. How you leave something says a lot about you. I hope it works out for all involved but usually there will be some damage, could be next season here. Could be with players that follow him and it doesn't go how they imagined, could be with the wsu or um players that stay.
 
Griz til I die said:
Isn’t Molly Rouse the coach that just got fired at Ole Miss? Which is what led to the Wazzu job opening up?
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Yes. She was also the HC at Utah Tech at one time.

I think Steven Cavallo would be great. He was the HC at MSU Billings for six years (on top of two more as an assistant) and is currently the HC at Missouri-St. Louis, which is a D2 school like MSU Billings; he led the Tritons to a D2 quarterfinals apperance this season.

I'm sure there will be other names that will come to mind over time.
 
Steven would be a great hire and his time at MSU B would help a lot. Not sure on Molly. I agree that J should get an interview if he wants it, since he isn't going to WSU...that loyalty should be praised. Anyone know if we have WSU on the schedule next year?
 
Juiceut22 said:
I think they should hire J and try and retain Ashley as assistant head coach.
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Coach J has zero head coaching experience. Love him as a person and coach, but he isn’t ready for that. There’s a reason coaches cut their teeth at lower levels. He loves Missoula and it’s great he’s staying but if he ever wants to be a d1 head coach he’ll likely need to go elsewhere to get the foundational experience needed
 
GrizGirl said:
Coach J has zero head coaching experience. Love him as a person and coach, but he isn’t ready for that. There’s a reason coaches cut their teeth at lower levels. He loves Missoula and it’s great he’s staying but if he ever wants to be a d1 head coach he’ll likely need to go elsewhere to get the foundational experience needed
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In my 40+ years of observing the seemingly endless transition (upward, downward & out) of coaches at all levels, I've come to the tenuous belief that the best coaches are probably both born & made. Eh. I think that's why the "position" of Associate Head Coach -- often applied to top level assistants who have never been head coaches, but who probably have experience -- evolved. In my limited exposure to, and exchanges with coach J Landham, I'd say he has the experience. But there are so many indeterminate "qualities" that emerge only through actually learning "how-to" on the job. How's that for waffling?
 
Very much the landscape of college sports now and foreseeable future. The chase is on…..follow the money
 
After doing some research on the two rumored candidates, I would probably pass on Rousse. She went winless in SEC play her last two years on the job. Not exactly a glowing resume.

Cavallo doesn't seem too bad though. Looks like he was pretty successful at MSUB and then spent two years at Denver where during his time there they won a Summit League title. That's his only D1 coaching experience but that's double the amount of years Citowicki had. Plus he's got ties to MT so maybe he would see this as his last job potentially.
 
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