The CardBoard
Softball - Printable Version

+- The CardBoard (https://thecardboard.org/board)
+-- Forum: C-House! (https://thecardboard.org/board/forum-4.html)
+--- Forum: The CardBoard (https://thecardboard.org/board/forum-5.html)
+--- Thread: Softball (/thread-13507.html)

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

Re: Softball - 2006alum - 07-11-2017

Wow!!! I think most people just assumed we were in for another season and gave up on hoping or thinking about it. Maybe Muir was trying to give her time to find something else so the exit could be more gracious - it certainly looks like she recognized she should not be coaching softball...

Hopefully this has been known internally for a while and Muir has been on it in finding a replacement. I wouldn't be surprised, given the unusual nature of the departure.

Re: Softball - slide - 07-11-2017

(07-11-2017, 12:36 PM)OutsiderFan link Wrote:When have you ever read a "coach is leaving" press release/story from a sports operation that made absolutely zero reference to the record of that coach?  Saying nothing kind of says all that needs to be said.

agreed.  I am sure the AD did not want that record flagged as being under his watch.

Re: Softball - Farm93 - 07-11-2017

I have not really cared much either way.  I understand a Hanson firing idea was the feel good path for many, but that would really have created longer term issues for finding good coaches willing to risk their career for Stanford softball.  Worse, it might have created perception issues for other sports too.

I doubt this Hanson pursuit of other interests was done without a bit of encouragement from DAPER.  This way she gets to exit with some level of dignity AND, importantly, the AD can hire a new coach without needing to overcome the damage of back-to-back firings.

For those quick to blame Muir for this little mess, I think some credit should be issued for finding a decent path out of the Hanson era.    Finding a replacement in July will be close to impossible, but I have hope that this exit will allow the program to continue to rebuild without a total multi-year setback.

Re: Softball - Phogge - 07-11-2017

Interesting release. She is going to a foundation that "...is building curriculum and coursework emphasizing respect, leadership, teamwork and emotional control in youth sports."

Advanced degrees offered for helicopter parents?

Re: Softball - d4cohn - 07-11-2017

I will separate my post into two parts, one with my interpretation of today's developments, and the other with a possible list of candidates for the HC position:

I believe Bernard planned on giving Coach Hanson a fourth year, with the understanding that she would make changes (i.e. pitching coach departure). If the plan, from May on, was to part ways once Coach Hanson found another opportunity, I don't believe the Assistant Coach position would have been posted with Coach Hanson as the supervisor. However, the softball community was aware of the precariousness of the coaching staff's position, and they couldn't fill the job. As the search became more and more drawn out, and the program risked not having a pitching coach for critical upcoming milestones (summer camps, fall practice etc.), I think there was a mutual decision to part ways. From there, it appears Coach Hanson was pursuing other opportunities.


Re: Softball - BobK - 07-11-2017

Certainly agree card.    A point though they have had several camps without the pitching coach. 
excellent post 

Re: Softball - d4cohn - 07-11-2017

Regarding possible candidates to pursue, I agree with Bob that Jessica Allister would be my top "realistic" choice. My top choice would be Lonnie Alameda at Florida State, but she is coaching a professional softball team in Florida in addition to her duties at FSU, so I don't think that is realistic. In addition to Coach Allister, if I were in the AD, I would look at other coaches out of the Big Ten, Big 12 or ACC, who would probably jump at the opportunity to coach in a top 2 conference, with a much better path to the NCAA tournament and great resources.

In some order, I would look at Tyra Perry at Illinois (we have already hired one coach within the last year from Illinois). Coach Perry has taken a program that had missed six consecutive tournaments prior to her arrival, with no softball history, and made the NCAA's each of the last two years. This year, Illinois was a No.2 seed and made a regional final.

I would also look at Kenny Gajewski at Oklahoma State. Similar to Coach Perry, Coach Gajewski revived a program that was in pretty bad shape and has taken Ok State to two consecutive NCAA's. OSU nearly knocked off No.1 overall seed and national runner-up Florida on the road, taking the Gators to a decisive third game in the regional final.

I would also look at Deanna Gumpf at Notre Dame. In sixteen years at ND, she has compiled a .719 winning percentage, and made the tournament all sixteen years (hosting twice), which is really impressive for a "cold-weather" school, where scheduling early season games can be challenging. She recruits extremely well, and has a very good 2019 class, with three Top 20 players. However, Notre Dame has not advanced past the regional round in any of those appearances. Given the amount of time that Coach Gumpf has been at ND, I don't know how realistic this would be.

I would also look at Kelly Kovach at Ohio State. She has Ohio State on the rise, making the tournament in each of the last two seasons. Ohio State also received a No.2 seed in 2017, though they did go 0-2 in the regional round.

Within the Pac-12, one could look at Coach Laura Berg at Oregon State, Coach Hogue at Utah or Coach Ford at ASU. Of the three, I think Coach Berg would be the only realistic choice. I am higher on some of the other coaches above than I am on Coach Berg, but she has made three NCAA's in five years at Oregon State, which probably has the least amount of resources in the Pac-12.

Re: Softball - BobK - 07-11-2017

Thanks.  This is great. 
Ford did great at Stanford as an assistant and great at Fresno State as the head.  But she is new at ASU

Re: Softball - winflop - 07-12-2017

These all sound like MUCH better options than Hanson. I'm glad she's gone but I'm not happy about it taking so long. Firing her the day after the season ended was a no-brainer. Sorry but a graceful exit after such poor performance is not a luxury she earned. These are professionals and head coaching in D1 college athletics is a tough business.

Re: Softball - Mick - 07-12-2017

How about Chelsea Spencer?
http://www.goducks.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1458&path=softball


Re: Softball - Cred - 07-16-2017

News of Hanson's departure brings me full circle, right smack back to my musings of late May on the striking quantitative contrast between (a) Hanson's numerous twitter page contributions of mid to late May of 2015 & 2016, and (b) Hanson's total lack of twitter page contributions for mid to late May of 2017 (even her lone postseason tweet of June 5, 2017 (the 3-word remark, "What. A. Game.") referenced an event of which Stanford was not a part), and how such a major departure from the "usual routine" would be perfectly consistent with the case of a coach who by that time was foreseeing with strong conviction, if not absolute certainty, an imminent experience of "Stanford in the rearview mirror," and whose rapidly declining emotional investment in her soon-to-be former place of employment was showing.

Perhaps this line of thought is spot on, perhaps it is totally off the mark--with so few facts pertaining to the goings-on underlying Hanson's departure available for public consumption, who knows?

In any event, I surely do share 2006alum's hope that Muir commenced putting out some (discreetly) seeking a new head coach feelers long before last Tuesday's announcement. In other words, I very much hope the closing words of that announcement ("Stanford will immediately begin a national search for her replacement") DO NOT indicate what on the surface they seem to indicate: that, as of the day of the announcement of Hanson's departure, no such transitional preparations whatsoever had been undertaken.

I also appreciate Farm93's point that Hanson's "stepping down" was preferable to a firing (so long as not too steep a cost was incurred by allowing things to play out that way, I must add). IF (a) a firing was avoided, with Muir playing a key role in producing that result and (b) Muir indeed commenced putting out feelers long before Tuesday's announcement; then I would be perfectly willing to give Bernard Muir kudos for having skillfully handled the most basic of the challenges of the transition at hand. Again, IF... And, arguably, a rather big IF it is.


A partial list of Hanson's Year 2015 mid to late May tweets:

Coach Hanson Retweeted 26 May 2015 Capping tonight's banquet with a team photo.
Coach Hanson‏ @RachelKHanson 27 May 201 Congrats to @StanfordWGolf on your National Championship! Incredible last couple of holes. Ice in your veins!
Coach Hanson Retweeted 27 May 2015 Congrats to Kayla Bonstrom on being named an @NFCAorg Second Team All-American!
Coach Hanson Retweeted 29 May 2015 Congratulations to Kayla Bonstrom who was named an Academic All-American!

A partial list of Hanson's Year 2016 mid to late May tweets:

Coach Hanson Retweeted 14 May 2016 Thank you and congratulations to our seniors!
Coach Hanson‏ @RachelKHanson 15 May 2016 Good luck to @Stanfordh2opolo and @StanfordWLax today!
Coach Hanson‏ @RachelKHanson 22 May 2016 Flipping between @UA_Softball and @Utah_Softball. Both playing their best on championship Sunday!
Coach Hanson Retweeted 22 May 2016 Watch as #Pac12SB looks to clinch a 5th regional title today!
Coach Hanson‏ @RachelKHanson 22 May 2016 Great year, @StanfordTennis! Way to represent.
Coach Hanson‏ @RachelKHanson 23 May 2016 Good luck tomorrow, @StanfordWTennis! Bring home the hardware!
Coach Hanson‏ @RachelKHanson 25 May 2016 Good luck to @StanfordWGolf! We'll be watching and cheering!
Coach Hanson Retweeted 25 May 2016 Fun evening together at the end of the year banquet.

A complete list of Hanson's Year 2017 mid to late May tweets:




Re: Softball - BobK - 07-16-2017

I think we all agree a failure

Moving on the key player is probably AAD Earl Koberlein who was Hanson's boss.    Certainly Muir has a brobdingnagian role, the buck stops at the top. 

One thing you do point out is that Hanson was aware of her future and thanks for that tidbit.     

In baseball I understand our desire was college head coaching experience a determining factor.  Probably the same for Softball.  Hopefully the stink is gone and great candidates are willing to come here

Re: Softball - Mick - 07-16-2017

(07-16-2017, 11:32 AM)BobK link Wrote:Hopefully the stink is gone and great candidates are willing to come here


I wouldn't count on the stink being gone.  Our major, major problem is that Bernard Muir is still here. 

Muir fired John Rittman, who led Stanford to 16 NCAA appearances in 18 seasons.  He did it for a variety of reasons, not least of which was that the coach falsified time entries, showing 20 hours of practice in weeks when the actual average was 21 hours per week, a clear violation.  Muir also welcomed a player parent rebellion that expressly excluded players who supported the coach.  Not only that, he didn't tell the coach or invite the coach to participate.  At best, he was asleep at the switch when Rittman filed time reports.  Essentially, an end run was planned by two parents of softball players with comparatively little playing time, it was successful and Muir didn't so much let it happen as welcome it.

According to a sports reporter acquaintance of mine who reported on Stanford's softball coach search, four highly-qualified softball coaches essentially laughed at Stanford's entreaties.  Muir's solution was to hire softball's version of  Buddy Teveens, a former Dartmouth coach who crashed spectacularly.  Four conference wins in three seasons.  Team strife that Hanson tried to clamp down on, leading the best players to leave.  Literally unbelievable.

I've thought a lot about the nature of marginal senior management who need to find top-notch candidates.  A friend of mine is an "A" list CMO, one of the titans of our profession, who literally wrote the book on business development.  He once took a job working for a genuinely bad guy, a boss who had a number of execrable habits...among them, like Muir, he encouraged the end run.  I, and other friends of his told him his future boss had a terrible reputation, but the money was good, so he took it.  It was a very, very long 19 months, and after he resigned, they weren't able to hire anyone for more than a year.  I literally laughed when they called me.  After about a year, they hired a "plan B" CMO.  Even he quit after a year, and they have never been able to replace him since.  Toxic management prevents great hires, or as my first boss once told me,  "1s hire 1s and 2s hire 3s."

Muir is exceptionally fortunate in two ways; first, the coaching communities of most Sears Cup sports are in silos, meaning they depend upon each other almost exclusively for information and opportunities.  The gymnastics coach, in other words, will not provide substantial independent information on the experience of working for Muir.  Secondly, Stanford largely sells itself.  I've listened to the pitch, it's pretty darned great.  Stanford is a singular experience, and represents a uniquely appealing option for Sears/Director's Cup athletes who otherwise could not expect to matriculate at a top-flight university.  In other words, if you're a coach and actively recruiting, you don't just have the wind at your back, you have a tornado at your back.

At the same time, recruiting isn't enough, or Hanson would have been successful.  It is mission critical that the actual coaching be superb when competing with Pac-12 level teams.

I genuinely hope we get an A-list coach.  I'm not confident.

Re: Softball - BobK - 07-16-2017

Muir has hired 7 coaches thus far.  One a failure.  Why are the others that bad? 
T&F/XC:  Grade A
Baseball:  TBD
Beach:  Grade B after one year
WVB:  Grade TBD
MBB:  Grade B afrer one year
Men's Tennis:  Grade B

So early to tell on 5, but none looked poor, fair or close to iffy


Re: Softball - Spiny_Norman - 07-16-2017

(07-16-2017, 04:10 PM)BobK link Wrote:Muir has hired 7 coaches thus far.  One a failure.  Why are the others that bad? 
T&F/XC:  Grade A
Baseball:  TBD
Beach:  Grade B after one year
WVB:  Grade TBD
MBB:  Grade B afrer one year
Men's Tennis:  Grade B

So early to tell on 5, but none looked poor, fair or close to iffy

Bob - did the interim AD Dunkley before Muir hire Anne Walker?  That was an A+

Re: Softball - JJJ - 07-16-2017

I never received an email response from Earl "The Pearl" Koberlein. Did anyone?

Re: Softball - BobK - 07-16-2017

Anne pre Muir

JJJ no response from Earl and didnt expect one.    I do expect excellence 😀😎

Re: Softball - terry - 07-16-2017

(07-16-2017, 04:10 PM)BobK link Wrote:Muir has hired 7 coaches thus far.  One a failure.  Why are the others that bad? 
T&F/XC:  Grade A
Baseball:  TBD
Beach:  Grade B after one year
WVB:  Grade TBD
MBB:  Grade B afrer one year
Men's Tennis:  Grade B

So early to tell on 5, but none looked poor, fair or close to iffy

I believe Greg Meehan (women's swimming) was hired on Muir's watch. Meehan is an A+.

Re: Softball - BobK - 07-16-2017

Thanks Terry a brobdingnagian A+.
How about Gunn ?

Re: Softball - Mick - 07-16-2017

(07-16-2017, 04:10 PM)BobK link Wrote:Muir has hired 7 coaches thus far.  One a failure.  Why are the others that bad? 
T&F/XC:  Grade A
Baseball:  TBD
Beach:  Grade B after one year
WVB:  Grade TBD
MBB:  Grade B afrer one year
Men's Tennis:  Grade B

So early to tell on 5, but none looked poor, fair or close to iffy

Bobb, I didn't say, and I don't think I implied that any of the other coaches were disasters.  My sole comment and focus was on the situation before us now, the hiring of the softball coach.  And I would say that Muir's experience hiring Rachel Hanson impacts the hiring process more than his coach hires in seven other sports, simply because Muir has a track record and a reputation now in the softball community.  That's what I meant with this paragraph:

Muir is exceptionally fortunate in two ways; first, the coaching communities of most Sears Cup sports are in silos, meaning they depend upon each other almost exclusively for information and opportunities.  The gymnastics coach, in other words, will not provide substantial independent information on the experience of working for Muir.  Secondly, Stanford largely sells itself.  I've listened to the pitch, it's pretty darned great.  Stanford is a singular experience, and represents a uniquely appealing option for Sears/Director's Cup athletes who otherwise could not expect to matriculate at a top-flight university.  In other words, if you're a coach and actively recruiting, you don't just have the wind at your back, you have a tornado at your back.

In other words, none of his other coaching hires matter, not really.  So that track record irrelevant to this discussion.  His last hire in this sport was a disaster.  Now he could still hire a terrific coach.  It's very possible he could get lucky.  He might find a chafing #2 willing to roll the dice to come work for Muir.  He might uncover a terrific assistant.  Who knows?  Maybe he'll up the financial ante to the point that he attracts a big name.  Should be interesting.