For those who may not have seen it, this was my post on the decision of Brian Pensky to leave Maryland and take the job at Tennessee, posted Friday evening:
Honestly, this is one of those stories where I had to step away from the computer, take a walk around the block, drink the decaf, and think it over more. I am angry and upset about this -- not at Brian Pensky who deserves to go where he will be properly compensated for his worth, which has become considerable. I am upset that one of the nicest guys that I have ever met in sports or anywhere else is leaving us. A really decent, down to earth guy to whom any parent would want to entrust their daughter to play for in college.
I am also upset at what we have become at Maryland: a financial basket case that is cutting non-revenue sports and as a consequence is turning into a stepping stone for coaches to move on elsewhere. I do hope people understand what this means for the future of the non-revenue sports; in this budgetary environment it is only going to get harder to hold onto the really good young coaches at Maryland. Anybody who thinks either wise is drinking the Kool-Aid.
Brian Pensky is a rising young coach in American soccer. He was Soccer America magazine's 2010 National Coach of the Year; living proof that there are teams that can go toe to toe with North Carolina in the ACC and come out on top. It would only have been a matter time before he would have gotten Maryland to the Final Four; a fact that I am certain was not lost on Tennessee.
Keith mentioned in his post on this yesterday that the SEC schools have the $$$, the "bright, shiny facilities", etc. and I have no doubt that played a role in Brian's decision to leave. The simple fact is we used to be able to protect our interests against schools like Tennessee in a sport like Women's Soccer, in no small part because the ACC is still considered from top to bottom the best soccer conference in the nation on both the men's and women's sides. The evidence now would suggest that ACC prominence in soccer is not enough to keep someone like Brian Pensky, here at home. For their part, Tennessee has a pretty good soccer tradition, but they have not made it to the NCAA Tournament the past three years. I have little doubt that Pensky may have been targeted by Tennessee for more than a year.
Meanwhile, Pensky and Maryland just saw a huge senior class finish their eligibility; the cupboard would not have been completely barren, but there is no doubt that he would have been facing a rebuilding project next year, and I have little doubt that was a factor as well.
At the same time, Pensky was a home town guy. He grew up in Montgomery County and his entire coaching career has been in the DC/Baltimore area. In fact, the only time in his life that he lived outside the area was his undergraduate years at Emory in Atlanta. His long time roots in the area was one of his strengths as a coach: he recruited the local area very hard and got the results. After what he built here at Maryland, I find it hard to believe that he suddenly just got tired of living around here.
What jumped off the page of the Tennessee press release was the following: "Pensky led the Terrapins to their most successful three-year run in program history, with a 44-14-9 record and a .724 win percentage over the last three years. Pensky guided Maryland to NCAA Tournament appearances in each of the last three consecutive seasons, including Sweet 16 appearances in both 2009 and 2011."
The 'most successful three-year run in program history', it says. When I read that, I thought of all the other fine coaches this program had previously: April Heinrichs, Alan Kirkup, and Shannon Higgins Cirovski. The record shows that Brian Pensky surpassed them all in his tenure and he managed to do it at a time when there are more Div 1A schools putting more money and effort into this sport and producing more good teams than ever before. The SEC isn't the only conference making a move in this sport. The Big Ten has become a major power and there are a ton of Left Coast schools like Stanford and UCLA that have become a force.
On the matter of whom Maryland will hire to replace Pensky, given the fact that Maryland cannot match what Tennessee has to offer, it is academic as to whom we will be able to attract. Obviously, the rest of the country knows our financial situation. By all rights, the Maryland job should attract top candidates with prior head coaching experience, and under normal circumstances that is what I would expect to see. Again, the ACC affiliation should be more than enough to draw good candidates and there will undoubtedly be very good coaches from mid-majors that would jump at the chance.
One name that comes to mind is Dave Nolan at Georgetown. It was his Hoyas that upset Maryland in the 2010 NCAA Tournament; they went 15-6-0, 8-3-0 Big East this past season. And after all the insanity that is Penn State Athletics, I have to wonder if their fine coach, Erica Walsh, would be interested in making a move. She has a 76-30-5 record over five years in Happy Valley and has been at least 2-and-done in the NCAA's every year except in 2008 when they were 1-and-done. If she is available, she would have to be considered a top candidate. Another more outside possibility might be Glenn Crooks at Rutgers who has made the Sweet 16 twice and has a 121-83-27 record in 11 years. I would have loved to see ex-Terp Leslie Wray (nee' Kerhin) who played under Heinrichs here and had a fine career at Towson, but she just got hired last week at UMBC. She is the wife of another ex-Terp, Sean Wray who played here back in the early 90's. One very interesting possibility might be Katherine Remy Vettori of Loyola. She was an assistant to Shannon Higgins Cirovski here in 99-01 and has done a good job in four years at Loyola, going 42-32-8 and making it to the NCAA Tournament in 2009; they have won the MAAC title three times and have also had the highest team grade point average at Loyola for three of the years she has been there. She was also formerly director of girls soccer programs in Howard County, MD.
I will keep you up to date as matters develop. The simple fact is that whoever gets the job MUST be an ace recruiter simply to survive. The Washington/Baltimore/Northern Virginia area is still one of the great hotbeds of youth soccer talent in America. Brian Pensky did a fine job of mining that talent. He was utterly patient and quietly relentless in how he went about building his program. I am glad to have known him and now am keeping my fingers crossed about the future of this program.
Honestly, this is one of those stories where I had to step away from the computer, take a walk around the block, drink the decaf, and think it over more. I am angry and upset about this -- not at Brian Pensky who deserves to go where he will be properly compensated for his worth, which has become considerable. I am upset that one of the nicest guys that I have ever met in sports or anywhere else is leaving us. A really decent, down to earth guy to whom any parent would want to entrust their daughter to play for in college.
I am also upset at what we have become at Maryland: a financial basket case that is cutting non-revenue sports and as a consequence is turning into a stepping stone for coaches to move on elsewhere. I do hope people understand what this means for the future of the non-revenue sports; in this budgetary environment it is only going to get harder to hold onto the really good young coaches at Maryland. Anybody who thinks either wise is drinking the Kool-Aid.
Brian Pensky is a rising young coach in American soccer. He was Soccer America magazine's 2010 National Coach of the Year; living proof that there are teams that can go toe to toe with North Carolina in the ACC and come out on top. It would only have been a matter time before he would have gotten Maryland to the Final Four; a fact that I am certain was not lost on Tennessee.
Keith mentioned in his post on this yesterday that the SEC schools have the $$$, the "bright, shiny facilities", etc. and I have no doubt that played a role in Brian's decision to leave. The simple fact is we used to be able to protect our interests against schools like Tennessee in a sport like Women's Soccer, in no small part because the ACC is still considered from top to bottom the best soccer conference in the nation on both the men's and women's sides. The evidence now would suggest that ACC prominence in soccer is not enough to keep someone like Brian Pensky, here at home. For their part, Tennessee has a pretty good soccer tradition, but they have not made it to the NCAA Tournament the past three years. I have little doubt that Pensky may have been targeted by Tennessee for more than a year.
Meanwhile, Pensky and Maryland just saw a huge senior class finish their eligibility; the cupboard would not have been completely barren, but there is no doubt that he would have been facing a rebuilding project next year, and I have little doubt that was a factor as well.
At the same time, Pensky was a home town guy. He grew up in Montgomery County and his entire coaching career has been in the DC/Baltimore area. In fact, the only time in his life that he lived outside the area was his undergraduate years at Emory in Atlanta. His long time roots in the area was one of his strengths as a coach: he recruited the local area very hard and got the results. After what he built here at Maryland, I find it hard to believe that he suddenly just got tired of living around here.
What jumped off the page of the Tennessee press release was the following: "Pensky led the Terrapins to their most successful three-year run in program history, with a 44-14-9 record and a .724 win percentage over the last three years. Pensky guided Maryland to NCAA Tournament appearances in each of the last three consecutive seasons, including Sweet 16 appearances in both 2009 and 2011."
The 'most successful three-year run in program history', it says. When I read that, I thought of all the other fine coaches this program had previously: April Heinrichs, Alan Kirkup, and Shannon Higgins Cirovski. The record shows that Brian Pensky surpassed them all in his tenure and he managed to do it at a time when there are more Div 1A schools putting more money and effort into this sport and producing more good teams than ever before. The SEC isn't the only conference making a move in this sport. The Big Ten has become a major power and there are a ton of Left Coast schools like Stanford and UCLA that have become a force.
On the matter of whom Maryland will hire to replace Pensky, given the fact that Maryland cannot match what Tennessee has to offer, it is academic as to whom we will be able to attract. Obviously, the rest of the country knows our financial situation. By all rights, the Maryland job should attract top candidates with prior head coaching experience, and under normal circumstances that is what I would expect to see. Again, the ACC affiliation should be more than enough to draw good candidates and there will undoubtedly be very good coaches from mid-majors that would jump at the chance.
One name that comes to mind is Dave Nolan at Georgetown. It was his Hoyas that upset Maryland in the 2010 NCAA Tournament; they went 15-6-0, 8-3-0 Big East this past season. And after all the insanity that is Penn State Athletics, I have to wonder if their fine coach, Erica Walsh, would be interested in making a move. She has a 76-30-5 record over five years in Happy Valley and has been at least 2-and-done in the NCAA's every year except in 2008 when they were 1-and-done. If she is available, she would have to be considered a top candidate. Another more outside possibility might be Glenn Crooks at Rutgers who has made the Sweet 16 twice and has a 121-83-27 record in 11 years. I would have loved to see ex-Terp Leslie Wray (nee' Kerhin) who played under Heinrichs here and had a fine career at Towson, but she just got hired last week at UMBC. She is the wife of another ex-Terp, Sean Wray who played here back in the early 90's. One very interesting possibility might be Katherine Remy Vettori of Loyola. She was an assistant to Shannon Higgins Cirovski here in 99-01 and has done a good job in four years at Loyola, going 42-32-8 and making it to the NCAA Tournament in 2009; they have won the MAAC title three times and have also had the highest team grade point average at Loyola for three of the years she has been there. She was also formerly director of girls soccer programs in Howard County, MD.
I will keep you up to date as matters develop. The simple fact is that whoever gets the job MUST be an ace recruiter simply to survive. The Washington/Baltimore/Northern Virginia area is still one of the great hotbeds of youth soccer talent in America. Brian Pensky did a fine job of mining that talent. He was utterly patient and quietly relentless in how he went about building his program. I am glad to have known him and now am keeping my fingers crossed about the future of this program.
