[Mick]

Stanford offers subsidized housing to coaches at the Olmsted road.  Ironically, this site features a quote from Rittman:

https://giving.stanford.edu/stanford-ben...ff-housing

"After commuting an hour and a half every day for 14 years, it's nice to actually enjoy eating meals with my family. ... I have been able to attend so many more of my children's school and athletic activities."
—John Rittman, Head Softball Coach

Obviously, the Bay Area is expensive and not for everyone, and yes the cost of living could be a big issue for some potential coaches.  But I think it is reasonable to expect that with less chaos going on, the prospects for being able to hire a quality coach are much better now than they were three years ago.

Are you suggesting we not fire Hanson because we won't be able to get anyone better?

BC

Heavens, no.  Hanson is insufficient to the task.  We need a world-class softball coach.  I think most Director's Cup sports at Stanford can attract those people, because most of those sports don't have the built-in baggage.  Softball is different.  I know that last go-round we had a handful of superb coaches decline us.  I'm wondering if they'll be much more accepting now or if program stench has lessened at all.  And candidly, I wonder how many of the very finest softball coaches have practices longer than the NCAA allows, but don't have watchdog parents (or others) jotting down start-and-stop times.

And housing isn't the only cost, although I note you said "subsidized" versus "free."  I did a cost of living comparison between Ann Arbor and Palo Alto.  PA is way more expensive, and if you include housing it's WWWAAAAYYYYYY more expensive.

There are nine Pac-12 softball teams.  Six of them are in the top 25, Cal is #26. Only Stanford and Oregon State are unranked.  Here's the current pac-12 rankings and records.  I don't see Hanson doing well here.

Oregon, #3 (27-0)
Arizona, #5 (29-1)
Washington, #6 (24-3)
Utah, #11 (21-4)
UCLA, #15 (21-8)
Arizona State, #21 (19-8)
Cal, #26 (17-8)
Stanford, unranked,(16-10)
Oregon State, unranked, (15-11)

[Mick]

Stanford offers subsidized housing to coaches at the Olmsted road.  Ironically, this site features a quote from Rittman:

https://giving.stanford.edu/stanford-ben...ff-housing

"After commuting an hour and a half every day for 14 years, it's nice to actually enjoy eating meals with my family. ... I have been able to attend so many more of my children's school and athletic activities."
—John Rittman, Head Softball Coach

Obviously, the Bay Area is expensive and not for everyone, and yes the cost of living could be a big issue for some potential coaches.  But I think it is reasonable to expect that with less chaos going on, the prospects for being able to hire a quality coach are much better now than they were three years ago.

Are you suggesting we not fire Hanson because we won't be able to get anyone better?

BC

Heavens, no.  Hanson is insufficient to the task.  We need a world-class softball coach.  I think most Director's Cup sports at Stanford can attract those people, because most of those sports don't have the built-in baggage.  Softball is different.  I know that last go-round we had a handful of superb coaches decline us.  I'm wondering if they'll be much more accepting now or if program stench has lessened at all.  And candidly, I wonder how many of the very finest softball coaches have practices longer than the NCAA allows, but don't have watchdog parents (or others) jotting down start-and-stop times.

And housing isn't the only cost, although I note you said "subsidized" versus "free."  I did a cost of living comparison between Ann Arbor and Palo Alto.  PA is way more expensive, and if you include housing it's WWWAAAAYYYYYY more expensive.

There are nine Pac-12 softball teams.  Six of them are in the top 25, Cal is #26. Only Stanford and Oregon State are unranked.  Here's the current pac-12 rankings and records.  I don't see Hanson doing well here.

Oregon, #3 (27-0)
Arizona, #5 (29-1)
Washington, #6 (24-3)
Utah, #11 (21-4)
UCLA, #15 (21-8)
Arizona State, #21 (19-8)
Cal, #26 (17-8)
Stanford, unranked,(16-10)
Oregon State, unranked, (15-11)