Mike Machnik wrote:
>If a finger should be pointed, I don't believe it should be pointed at
>Skinner, but maybe it is necessary to understand the situation Lowell was
>in.  I don't know whether or not Lowell actually had the finances to pay
>Crowder what he wanted and what he got from NU.  If they really did not,
>then it was a responsible move by the school to put the brakes on when they
>did and resign themselves to letting him go.
>
>It doesn't make accepting it any easier, but as I think Skinner was saying,
>it is a fact of life in collegiate athletics.  Even in sports like football
>and hoop, we see coaches leave smaller DivI schools for the big names all
>the time, because those smaller schools could not match the offer.
>
>I agree that this is a real setback for Lowell hockey, but now it is left
>to Skinner to do again what Lowell did six years ago.   That was to find
>and bring in a guy who might not yet be able to command the kind of money
>that the big name coaches do but who nonetheless has the ability to build a
>strong DivI program.  Perhaps it will be a rising young assistant or
>DivII-III coach.  Is it better to do this than to have a guy who you know
>will be there for years but may not be as good of a coach?  I bet most
>people would take the several years of success with the knowledge that they
>would probably see the guy walk out the door once that success is achieved.
>Is Lowell better off for having had Crowder, albeit for a short time?
>Undoubtedly, yes.
>
Crowder was interviewed Saturday on Boston radio station WBZ (with the best
fill-in interviewer Gary Tanguay) and said, in the context of a questions
about "what did you tell your recruits" that he had said he didn't expect
to go anywhere until Northeastern, including the (lame-duck himself)
President, made basically an offer he couldn't refuse.  I think the term
"six-figure" was used.
 
He also reiterated how Shawn Walsh took him (at $ 15,000) on as an
assistant coach with no experience and tutored him in coaching.  It did
confirm what I thought about his true influence in his coaching style.
Noticeable was a lack of mention about any coaching mentors at the pro
level.  Sort of says that once you reach the show, most motivation comes
from the individual, rather than the coach, for most people.
 
As I wondered in an earlier post, does UML have access to a pool of funds
generated by the other UMass system members to allow for Lowell to offer
big $$$ to a new coach ?  I mean, Calipari is gone, he being the
highest-paid employee of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts at one time.  I
hope that UML does not degenerate into a coaching-clinic arrangement of a
parade of short-term coaches who use the place as a stepping-stone into
other jobs.
 
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