[Owen Tufornomor]

I have no skin in this game - I don't follow women's softball, and don't especially care, beyond my desire for Stanford to kick a$$ at everything. So, on behalf of the uninitiated, a few questions for those in the know:

1. Do we realistically think we can get a better coach than Hanson? Given everything that has happened, would someone be willing to step in and fill that role at the moment who has demonstrably better credentials?
2. If Hanson were fired, do we think we'd lose any of our current players and/or incoming recruits? Do we have reason to believe a newly hired coach could get a better incoming recruiting class than Hanson has secured?
3. Most importantly, do we think any coach would want to come in if Hanson were fired mid-season, i.e., right now?

I guess the reason why I ask is that I am skeptical that firing Hanson right now would make things any better. Who would want to take this job NOW, mid-season, after the previous coach was barely given 2 seasons, and the prior coach was fired amid an enormous amount of drama?

And if we don't think we could get someone better than Hanson right now, might it be better to hold our horses until the season ends and, if the team's record really does support firing her, make a strong pitch to Muir then?

I guess I just feel like I see a ton of hate being poured on Hanson, and whether or not it's all deserved, I wonder whether, at this moment, it's productive?

I absolutely would not favor a firing of Hanson before season's end myself. I believe there is more than sufficient merit in "sticking it out" to the completion of a third year, thereby bolstering the selling point of stability (read: job security) in the eyes of possible successors. But we need not consider the question of Hanson possibly being dismissed "before her time" anyway because Muir has no intention of doing that, and that settles that.

Earlier, dcohn4 made the following good and relevant point (see emboldened text below):


"When evaluating the poor state of the softball program, one shouldn't forget that what Rittman did was bad enough that the NCAA put a show-cause penalty on him and he caused half of Stanford's first ever major NCAA violations report. Muir really had no choice but to get rid of him.

If that is the case, then if the job ever opens up again, coaching candidates would seemingly recognize that, and not turn down the job because of how they felt Coach Rittman was treated. That certainly happened in 2014, and it remains to be seen if that would happen again."


I've already composed a 2000-word "pitch to Muir", so to speak, myself and will post it here by the end of the week (no reason it can't be recirculated toward or at season's end).

With keen perception, BC has picked up on the true-to-reality notion that "it seems to go a bit beyond the fact that she is not a good coach," technically speaking. Indeed it does "go beyond," but more than "a bit." In fact, the aforementioned 2000 words cover little other than  "beyond" considerations.

Stay tuned for your initiation, alum.

[Owen Tufornomor]

I have no skin in this game - I don't follow women's softball, and don't especially care, beyond my desire for Stanford to kick a$$ at everything. So, on behalf of the uninitiated, a few questions for those in the know:

1. Do we realistically think we can get a better coach than Hanson? Given everything that has happened, would someone be willing to step in and fill that role at the moment who has demonstrably better credentials?
2. If Hanson were fired, do we think we'd lose any of our current players and/or incoming recruits? Do we have reason to believe a newly hired coach could get a better incoming recruiting class than Hanson has secured?
3. Most importantly, do we think any coach would want to come in if Hanson were fired mid-season, i.e., right now?

I guess the reason why I ask is that I am skeptical that firing Hanson right now would make things any better. Who would want to take this job NOW, mid-season, after the previous coach was barely given 2 seasons, and the prior coach was fired amid an enormous amount of drama?

And if we don't think we could get someone better than Hanson right now, might it be better to hold our horses until the season ends and, if the team's record really does support firing her, make a strong pitch to Muir then?

I guess I just feel like I see a ton of hate being poured on Hanson, and whether or not it's all deserved, I wonder whether, at this moment, it's productive?

I absolutely would not favor a firing of Hanson before season's end myself. I believe there is more than sufficient merit in "sticking it out" to the completion of a third year, thereby bolstering the selling point of stability (read: job security) in the eyes of possible successors. But we need not consider the question of Hanson possibly being dismissed "before her time" anyway because Muir has no intention of doing that, and that settles that.

Earlier, dcohn4 made the following good and relevant point (see emboldened text below):


"When evaluating the poor state of the softball program, one shouldn't forget that what Rittman did was bad enough that the NCAA put a show-cause penalty on him and he caused half of Stanford's first ever major NCAA violations report. Muir really had no choice but to get rid of him.

If that is the case, then if the job ever opens up again, coaching candidates would seemingly recognize that, and not turn down the job because of how they felt Coach Rittman was treated. That certainly happened in 2014, and it remains to be seen if that would happen again."


I've already composed a 2000-word "pitch to Muir", so to speak, myself and will post it here by the end of the week (no reason it can't be recirculated toward or at season's end).

With keen perception, BC has picked up on the true-to-reality notion that "it seems to go a bit beyond the fact that she is not a good coach," technically speaking. Indeed it does "go beyond," but more than "a bit." In fact, the aforementioned 2000 words cover little other than  "beyond" considerations.

Stay tuned for your initiation, alum.