This is the article that appeared in today's Columbus Dispatch.
By Bob Baptist--Dispatch Sports Writer
OHIO STATE HOCKEY COACH STEPS ASIDE
Jerry Welsh resigned as Ohio State hockey coach yesterday after being told by
athletic director Andy Geiger that his contract would not be renewed at the end
of the season.
"It was his choice to step down now," Geiger said. "I would have been happy to
have him coach out the rest of the season. But I wanted to tell him now
because I wanted to get started on the search (for a new coach) prior to the
end of the season, with the hope we could get somebody identified before the
recruiting window closes entirely (April 12). I also think that once you make
up your mind on a situation like this, sharing it with them is better than
not."
Assistant coach John Markell, a former NHL player with Winnepeg, will finish
the season as interim coach. Wlesh will remain in the athletic depratment as a
special assistant to the director. Geiger said the search for a new coach will
begin immediately.
"I think our hockey program can be one of the best in the country," he
said."and I am going to do everything I can to find a coach who will take us to
the level of excellence we expect at Ohio State."
Welsh, in his 20th season as OSU coach, could not be reached for comment. He
is the first coach to be terminated by Geiger since Geiger became athletic
director last May. The move came with the hockey team in the midst of its
ninth consecutive losing season. The Buckeyes have lost 10 of their last 11
games, are 5-22-2 overall and 2-17-2 in the Central Collegiate Hockey
Association with six games left in the regular season. The program will likely
finish with fewer than 10 wins for the third season in a row.
"I just think the program is mired towards the bottom of the league and I don't
see a change in the pattern. It just seems stuck where it is," Geiger said. "I
think a fresh look and new energy is important."
Geiger declined to be more specific about his reasons for making the change.
"This is the hard part of the job," he said. "I really like Jerry Welsh. I
think he's worked hard for Ohio State. This is his place--he played and
coached here. He's given a lot to the program."
Welsh's career record at OSU is 328-381-56. He was 197-124-18 in his first
nine seasons, and his teams finished second in the CCHA five times. His
ability to recruit top players has been severely hampered by the team's home,
the 1,400 seat OSU Ice Rink. Welsh called it "the worst building in Division I
hockey," before the season began.
The athletic department has spent $90,000 to refurbish it, but Geiger
acknolwedges, it remains a problem. "We're going to try to address that in the
short term by playing more dates in the Fairgrounds Coliseum if we can schedule
them," he said. "In the long term, of course, there is the new arena."
A $70 million, 21,000-seat arena for basketball and hockey is expected to open
in 1998 on the northwest corner of Lane and Olentangy River Road.
End Article
Some comments:
First, as the article noted, this is Geiger's first year as athletic
director...perhaps Welsh's firing and his coomments about making the program
competitive are signs that his coming to OSU will mean a true commitment from
the university to the program. We will see. Yes, a nice arena did not make
UMass Amherst a title contender in this year and will likely not have the Bucks
ranked #1 in the polls in 1998 either, but there is a huge difference between a
program in its first year and an established program at a major university with
vast alumni and recruiting networks at its disposal. The university plans to
house hockey in a 21,000 seat arena...it knows it will need to have something
of quality to put on the ice if it is to do that. The new arena will be a
major catalyst...I do think it may see the Bucks being a competitive team
nationally by the end of the decade/century.
Second, Welsh's position in the department now is essentially advisor to his
old assistant. There were quotes from him in the OSU Lantern...he basically
just whined about how this hurts recruiting (which it probably will in the
short term) but also said he will miss not being part of the new arena and new
era in OSU hockey. In the Lantern, Geiger said he is making the change
because he felt it was time for new leadership.
Third, I am aware that the problem with OSU hockey cannot be hung around
Welsh's neck. But, 10 years of losing has a way of following a coach around
and making parents and potential recruits wary of trusting that he can
adequately build and develop his players' skills and rebuild a winning
tradition. On top of that, a coach should at least be able to take the talent
he has and have them show improvement and lead them in a positive direction.
There is no question that changing coaches without support (perhaps even
acknowledgement??) from the university will do nothing for the program. But I
think people have far too long cut Welsh a little too much slack because of the
conditions he works under. He has failed to even take the materials he has and
take them in any particular direction or show any improvement with them. That
is solely the coach's fault. At another program, away from the incompetence
and roadblocks of the university administrtaion, perhaps he will find his edge
again, but sometimes, a coach can become mired and weighed down by his own
baggage at a program over time. I think the fresh look will be as good for
Jerry Welsh as it will be for OSU hockey. I hope both do well in the future.
--
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* Dave [log in to unmask] *
* Cornell '91 OSU Med '95 *
* Nothing good ever comes of a conversation that *
* starts with the words, "Remember the patient *
* you sent home last night?" *
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