Bob Gross writes:
>head coach at Northeastern. Although this may be the right move for Ben at
>this time in his career, he leaves behind some very disappointed and some
>angry players at Dartmouth (how can the 14 new recurits feel?).
 
Well, there's no doubt about it.  From what you have said, they have every
right to be upset.  It's a difficult situation because I believe both sides
have valid reasons for feeling the way they do.  When I replied to your
first message, I was trying to relay the way I thought Smith might be looking
at the situation and what some of the factors that might cause him to leave
would be.  I really don't believe it is a case where one side is completely
right or wrong.
 
As you say, the real losers throughout all this are the players and the
recruits.  It's difficult enough when a player commits to a school and a
coach and then the coach gets fired.  I know it has to be even more difficult
when a coach leaves of his own will after enticing a player to commit.  The
fact that things like this take place is definitely one of the few things I
do not like about college hockey.  Unfortunately, I cannot think of a way to
prevent it.  I don't like to see players go through this, but I also don't
believe a coach should be prevented from taking another job if he so chooses.
 
Legality aside, which is on the coach's side anyway, I believe he should be
free to go elsewhere.  I see a similarity with players accepting scholarships
and then leaving early to turn pro.  Some people do not believe this should
be allowed, but I think that the freedom we claim to espouse in this country
carries over into these situations.  It might seem to be "fair" if, say, a
coach or player was forced to honor a commitment to coach for three years or
play for four years - but is it really fair if that prevents a coach from
being awarded an extremely prestigious job elsewhere or a player from
signing a huge pro contract before suffering a career-ending injury his senior
year?  I think the edge goes to the individual here.  This is starting to
sound like hockey-l-rights-of-man. :-)
 
The morality of this whole thing is certainly debatable, as Wayne and Bob
have stated so eloquently.  I don't claim to have all the answers and I
sure don't think it's an easy thing to decide.
 
Wayne said:
>I can't comment on whether Smith should be listening to offers as I
>don't know his situation, but I'd like to think that the rest of the
>points in the paragraph should not be thought of as strictly true, but
>true only under some circumstances!  I don't think a coach should
>"accept" a position and then go elsewhere after one year.  "In the real
>world", many will not think highly of you if you take a "better job" a
>few times after 6 or 12 month stays.
 
This is true, and I did not mean that what I wrote should be the be-all and
end-all of job hunting. :-)  Part of success is cultivating good work and
personal relationships, in my opinion, and that's not possible to do if
you hop around from job to job every six months.
 
As for a coach accepting a job and leaving after a year?  My response would
be almost what yours was to mine: in some circumstances, I do support it.
I do not know for sure, but I suggested that this may be one of the factors
behind Smith's decision: that he simply couldn't work with the administration
at Dartmouth.  In a case like that, I could certainly understand his leaving.
 
It's also important to note that Smith did not have a history of hopping
around from job to job; he spent nine years at BU prior to accepting the
Dartmouth job.
 
Bob said:
>                                                                I wish Ben
>well and hope that some of his spirit remains with the Dartmouth team in the
>coming year.
 
I agree completely.  I'm not sure how people at Dartmouth feel, but I hope
they are not condemning Smith, though as I said I understand their being
upset.  Hopefully some of the positive things Smith brought to the team this
season will be remembered and carried over.  I just hope the team does not
feel "rejected" by Smith.  I'm sure the last thing he wanted to do was hurt
the players.
 
>   So... hockey sages... how does one go about filling a new head coaching job
>at the end of May? Is anyone available? Is it right (ethical) to talk to other
>head coaches to induce them to leave their current positions this late in the
>year (as my grandfather always used to say - two wrongs don't make a right!)?
 
There are people available, but it's always a question of whether or not they
are the type of people you would want to hire.  There are always the assistants
at other schools who are looking to move up.  How about at Dartmouth itself?
I don't know who Smith's assistants were this year; are any of them considered
strong candidates?  That would make for as unturbulent a turnover as possible
with someone who is already familiar with the program and has already met the
new recruits.
 
Ethical?  I don't know, that is going to vary from person to person.  Some
people may say it isn't ethical to try to pull away a coach at this point in
the year, and some may say you have to find the best guy you can for the job,
no matter what you have to do (apparently Northeastern's position here).
 
>Would anyone want the Dartmouth head coaching job?
 
I hope so.  Again, I think this goes back to the administration and its
interest in trying to maintain a program that is at least competitive with
the rest of the ECAC.  Last year Jeff Kosak resigned on April 30 after just
10 days on the job at Dartmouth.  Bob, at that time you said:
 
>>Date:         Wed, 2 May 90 13:22:15 EDT
>>Subject:      Re: New Dartmouth coach
>>
>>   This is correct.  RUMOR has it that the real reason for the resignation
>>(did his personal and family situation change that dramatically in 2 weeks?)
>>is that there was disagreement in recruiting practices with the
>>administration.
>>   I believe that (former) Dartmouth coach Brian Mason was right in saying
>>that Dartmouth cannot expect to maintain its strict admissions policies and
>>have a winning hockey team - they are mutually exclusive.  If Dartmouth wants
>>to continue these admissions policies, it should run the hockey program to
>>allow student-scholars to participate in intercollegiate athletics - solely
>>for the "life experience".  This is one philosophy that might be acceptable,
>>but the outcry from alumni seems to indicate that this is not a vialbe
>>alternative.  Whoever take the Dartmouth job (anyone interested?) will have
>>their hands full.
 
I don't want to claim that Smith left Dartmouth because of this when I don't
know for sure and when other factors may have played a bigger part in his
decision.  But at the very least, it appears that he did have clashes with
the administration and I wouldn't be surprised if this, combined with a
Northeastern administration that has been very supportive of its program
in recent years, helped finalize his move to NU.  This will probably
remain speculation, I don't expect Smith to talk about it now publicly.
 
What is the atmosphere up there?  Has anyone been openly critical of the
administration?
 
I wish Dartmouth the best in its search for a new coach, and I wish Smith
the best of luck at Northeastern.  Most of all, I'd like nothing more than
to see the Dartmouth players rebound with a good 91-92 season.  I still
believe Dartmouth hockey is on its way up despite this latest setback.
 
 
- mike
 
p.s. Yesterday, a women's lacrosse player at Thayer Academy with *91* goals
    needed 9 goals in her team's final game to reach 100.  She scored 11 and
    added two assists in a 21-7 win over Nobles.  What does this have to do
    with college hockey, you ask?  Her name is Kelly Amonte.