OT: Question about Soccer coaches
- Thread starter RUich
- Start date
I'm not the most familiar with the programs, but Mike O’Neill has been with Rutgers for fifteen years, which means that he arrived at the same time as coach Crooks (give or take a year). He spent ten of those years as associate head coach during which he led the local club team to multiple nation championships, so he wasn't an unknown. The way coach Crooks put it, coach O'Neill could have left to become head coach somewhere else a long time ago, but wanted to stay with Rutgers, so I would assume that he is pretty solid.
As far as Donigan, he is a native of New Jersey (as is O'Neill), and he left a team that he coached to seven NCAAs in nine years, so there is certainly something that brought him here. Of course, money is money.
As far as Donigan, he is a native of New Jersey (as is O'Neill), and he left a team that he coached to seven NCAAs in nine years, so there is certainly something that brought him here. Of course, money is money.
Women's coach Mike O'Neill was (and still is) a prominent figure at PDA, one of the top 3 girls clubs in the US. Probably gets some coin from PDA in addition to Rutgers and it provides great pipeline of talent. I would think he would only leave for a top ACC or PAC 12 gig (Duke, UNC, UVA, Stanford, etc). I think he's very safe for a while.
If you are asking, are they in danger of being fired the answer is no. Are there better coaching opportunities at the collegiate level? Not really. Could they be poached by another school for more money...interesting question. First, there just aren't a ton of coaching moves made at the top of D1 soccer. As far as the men's coach he has done pretty well and may have turned the corner with the program but I don't think he is yet at that stage where his name comes up for coaching vacancies or anything. The women's coach has really had two outstanding years to start off his head coaching career. Almost crazy good seasons. He is very much a NJ guy with close ties to PDA, an elite NJ soccer academy that has supplied RU with a ton of talent. He also gets national level recruits as well. As a coach you want to win championships...he pretty much has what he needs to do that here, even national championships. I could see interest from the national team at some level, olympics, pro soccer or a D1 program with an elite history looking for a HC. But, it would be hard to recreate this kind of success elsewhere, and he was handed the job with a program in very good shape. I suppose money could be a factor but I just don't know who pays what or if he's paid well in comparison etc.
I think it would take a lot for O'Neill to split for another program. He basically runs PDA so he has control of both a top ranked feeder program and a B1G program with the potential to be a perennial powerhouse. Plus, I'm sure he likes the fact that his daughter plays for PDA.
Julie hired the women's coach.
Donigan was hired by the same guy that hired Rice and Elmer. You want to celebrate that? Was your favorite part the total non competitiveness in both football and basketball or the national embarrassment by idiocy gone viral?
The one thing is - these coaches are alot cheaper. IF they wanted to leave, its not hard to imagine coming up with the difference from donors (presuming we have a couple of high rollers who really like soccer.) Its not like FB where you are talking a T Boone Pickens coming in and upping the ante by $1 million.
We are in the BIG 10 when are you going to realize that. We are not a stepping stone to greener pastures
Crazy that both our Men's and Women's soccer teams are the highest ranked in the Big Ten. And Carli Lloyd had a breakout year. RU is a soccer powerhouse!
"RU is a soccer powerhouse!"
...and should always remain so. Men's soccer here used to be a perennial top 10 program with 3 final fours to its credit and an oh-so-close loss on penalty kicks after two OTS in the national championship game in 1990 (or 91?). High school soccer in the state has always been strong, a reflection of the ethnic mix of the NJ population (I say this as an alum of Steinert, aka Hamilton East) so there is always a strong pool of talent coming out of the high schools going a long way back to the pre-soccer mom days when many of the states to the west of Pittsburgh had relatively few high schools that even had soccer programs. I think that B1G membership will help keep our soccer programs at the high level they have achieved this season and hopefully even yield a national championship or two sometime soon.
...and should always remain so. Men's soccer here used to be a perennial top 10 program with 3 final fours to its credit and an oh-so-close loss on penalty kicks after two OTS in the national championship game in 1990 (or 91?). High school soccer in the state has always been strong, a reflection of the ethnic mix of the NJ population (I say this as an alum of Steinert, aka Hamilton East) so there is always a strong pool of talent coming out of the high schools going a long way back to the pre-soccer mom days when many of the states to the west of Pittsburgh had relatively few high schools that even had soccer programs. I think that B1G membership will help keep our soccer programs at the high level they have achieved this season and hopefully even yield a national championship or two sometime soon.
