Off Season Coaching Carousel

[Fightingscot82]

Wake Forest: Per source, Shippensburg (D-II - PA) offensive coordinator Scott Brisson has accepted an offensive analyst position with the Demon Deacons.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Wake Forest: Per source, Shippensburg (D-II - PA) offensive coordinator Scott Brisson has accepted an offensive analyst position with the Demon Deacons.

Ouch. Certainly not great timing being it's July 8.

[ShipAlum]

Hopefully Ship can hire someone that can provide CPR to their offense. Check-in with Mike Yurcich to see if he can provide some guidance on a temporary basis since he is sitting on the bench at this time. Ship needs to add speed at running back. Look at some of their defensive players (like Tavon Cooper) as possible running backs. Possibly this is an addition through subtraction.]

[Ship69]

Ouch. Certainly not great timing being it's July 8.

These last few years for Ship football seem to encapsule the old Rosanne Rosannadanna phrase, "If it isn't one thing, it's another." Brisson must have a good rep in the football community, because last year's Ship offense certainly didn't give him anything to hand his hat on. Perhaps, as ShipAlum suggests, they can get an emergency consultation with Mike Yurcich or something. In reality, Mac could probably just run the offense himself and not do much worse than the results of last year. With a huge incoming freshman class that his staff will need to coach up, I'm sure Mac is not thrilled to be looking for an OC this late in the game.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

These last few years for Ship football seem to encapsule the old Rosanne Rosannadanna phrase, "If it isn't one thing, it's another." Brisson must have a good rep in the football community, because last year's Ship offense certainly didn't give him anything to hand his hat on. Perhaps, as ShipAlum suggests, they can get an emergency consultation with Mike Yurcich or something. In reality, Mac could probably just run the offense himself and not do much worse than the results of last year. With a huge incoming freshman class that his staff will need to coach up, I'm sure Mac is not thrilled to be looking for an OC this late in the game.

The timing is awful, obviously. That said, it is a coordinator job. Ship is a nice town. I suspect they'll still get some decent candidates, although not likely sitting OCs. I suspect they may be able to grab an up-and-comer type.

You figure there is a sea of WR, RB, etc., coaches in this league making very little money -- all waiting for a spot like this to open. Granted, OC/DC jobs in D2 don't make anybody rich, but it is the next step up the ladder.

There are some exceptions (see the IUP staff) but by and large the goal of any assistant in D2 is to get out of D2. We've even seen numerous HCs leave for down-the-line D1 jobs.

[Fightingscot82]

The money in big time D1 even for entry level positions is pretty attractive for D2 guys. Coordinators are still starting around $45-55k in our conference - and that is about the same for those off field analyst positions at FBS schools. The perks are also pretty good: the tons of free food, flying instead of driving, FBS prestige, etc. I imagine that the work load is MUCH less for the same money.

[Fightingscot82]

St Vincent has fired their head coach, OC, and DC. Those jobs may pull some assistants from PSAC West teams.

[CALUPA69]

St Vincent has fired their head coach, OC, and DC. Those jobs may pull some assistants from PSAC West teams.

It strikes me as a bit odd that with a very strong connection to the ROONEY FAMILY and the STEELERS, SVC has an absolutely awful FB program. I realize it's D3 but 33-68 over the past 10 seasons is abysmal. If CMU, a pretty serious academic institution, can go 77-29 in the same PAC over that time, there doesn't seem to be a good explanation for those results. Is Latrobe really an awful place to spend 4 years ??

[TheBigCat2192]

St Vincent has fired their head coach, OC, and DC. Those jobs may pull some assistants from PSAC West teams.

I know it’s too early to say for sure but how many HC openings are we likely to have in the PSAC? If you’re an OC/DC with HC aspirations but no obvious landing spot in PSAC/D2 do you take the risk of stepping down a level to raise your profile by holding the big job?

[CALUPA69]

I know it’s too early to say for sure but how many HC openings are we likely to have in the PSAC? If you’re an OC/DC with HC aspirations but no obvious landing spot in PSAC/D2 do you take the risk of stepping down a level to raise your profile by holding the big job?

Just a guess but let's say a couple at the bottom 8 (Boro, Clar, GU, SHU, Mill, Ship, LHU, BU) while top 7 are mostly past prime age to move up with the exception of JT at ESU. But you simply never know.

[RockPride]

It strikes me as a bit odd that with a very strong connection to the ROONEY FAMILY and the STEELERS, SVC has an absolutely awful FB program. I realize it's D3 but 33-68 over the past 10 seasons is abysmal. If CMU, a pretty serious academic institution, can go 77-29 in the same PAC over that time, there doesn't seem to be a good explanation for those results. Is Latrobe really an awful place to spend 4 years ??

I feel like the department lacks leadership and vision to be far more successful in most sports. It's a shame too, with their facilities, location, etc.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I know it’s too early to say for sure but how many HC openings are we likely to have in the PSAC? If you’re an OC/DC with HC aspirations but no obvious landing spot in PSAC/D2 do you take the risk of stepping down a level to raise your profile by holding the big job?

Couple points of view here:

(1) Do we have any candidates to move up a level?

(2) Do we have any about to be fired?

(3) The Rumor Mill



Starting with the first question, I'd say maybe a small handful. I think the two leading candidates (if they'd be interested) would be Shawn Lutz (SRU) and Jeff Clements (Kutztown). They are still of the (ballpark) right age and both have strong reputations in the coaching universe. Some of our other top coaches (my opinion) are either too old or are too comfortable at this stage.

The second question:

This one is tricky. You really have to research the contracts. Losses alone aren't enough to get these guys fired as our schools surely aren't ponying up for buyouts. We also don't have 'whale' boosters to cover the buyout. You'd have to research and see which contracts are expiring (for the PA state school members). For the privates / non-PASSHE, I'd say it's 100% safe to say Shepherd isn't making a change. Gannon's athletic department is sporadic so you never know. Daniel Day is safe at Seton Hill.

Now, getting to No. 3, there are certainly some rumors flying around. Most have not been discussed yet (publicly) on this board. I will say this: it's very possible one (or two) of our 'high profile' jobs will be open shortly after the season ends. We'll see.

[TheBigCat2192]

Couple points of view here:

(1) Do we have any candidates to move up a level?

(2) Do we have any about to be fired?

(3) The Rumor Mill



Starting with the first question, I'd say maybe a small handful. I think the two leading candidates (if they'd be interested) would be Shawn Lutz (SRU) and Jeff Clements (Kutztown). They are still of the (ballpark) right age and both have strong reputations in the coaching universe. Some of our other top coaches (my opinion) are either too old or are too comfortable at this stage.

The second question:

This one is tricky. You really have to research the contracts. Losses alone aren't enough to get these guys fired as our schools surely aren't ponying up for buyouts. We also don't have 'whale' boosters to cover the buyout. You'd have to research and see which contracts are expiring (for the PA state school members). For the privates / non-PASSHE, I'd say it's 100% safe to say Shepherd isn't making a change. Gannon's athletic department is sporadic so you never know. Daniel Day is safe at Seton Hill.

Now, getting to No. 3, there are certainly some rumors flying around. Most have not been discussed yet (publicly) on this board. I will say this: it's very possible one (or two) of our 'high profile' jobs will be open shortly after the season ends. We'll see.

I was mostly thinking about point 2. I believe Sheptock’s contract is up this year. Morgan at Ville might be as well (started 2018, no COVID season so this should be 5 or 6). Can’t remember if he got extended. Sheptock is a tough call in my eyes. I don’t really think he’s done enough to merit another contract but firing a guy after a winning season isn’t an easy sell and he’s got a deep-pocketed backer that BU would presumably like to keep donating in Petit. Ville’s cratered over the last two years after reaching 5-6 in ‘22 so there’s merit to letting Morgan go too.

[Fightingscot82]

It strikes me as a bit odd that with a very strong connection to the ROONEY FAMILY and the STEELERS, SVC has an absolutely awful FB program. I realize it's D3 but 33-68 over the past 10 seasons is abysmal. If CMU, a pretty serious academic institution, can go 77-29 in the same PAC over that time, there doesn't seem to be a good explanation for those results. Is Latrobe really an awful place to spend 4 years ??

There's a bit of a connection but not really. The Rooneys are much, much, much more connected to Duquesne and their football program, but even that is aging out. I don't believe the relationship extends beyond what the Steelers are willing to pay for to accommodate pre-season camp.

[Fightingscot82]

I know it’s too early to say for sure but how many HC openings are we likely to have in the PSAC? If you’re an OC/DC with HC aspirations but no obvious landing spot in PSAC/D2 do you take the risk of stepping down a level to raise your profile by holding the big job?

I don't think we have anyone too close to retirement. Tort is getting there but still years left in the tank, especially if he's not on the pension plan. It also depends on what opportunities are out there. I think we'll see Mulrooney shop around regardless. PSAC head coaches don't usually move up. They usually resign to avoid firing or retire. The last PSAC head coach I can think of moving "up" as a head coach would be George Landis going from Bloom to Bucknell in the 80s.

The private schools are always the wild card and I'm not as familiar with Shepherd employee rights since WV is one of the least friendly states in the region for worker rights. As we learned with Gannon basketball, some of those have multi-year contracts.

PASSHE coaches are not at will employees. They have multi-year contracts that operate within a union contract. Most coaches get 3-5 years initially then can be extended at any time. The AD has a couple options: they can not extend the coach and let their contract expire or they can fire them. Firing for cause (gross negligence, malfeasance, significant policy violation, etc) obviously gets them off the hook. Simply forcing a parting of ways means they have to be bought out. This is when that union contract is a b*tch: they have to be paid out in full for the remaining time on their contract. That's all salary, unused time off, make the relevant retirement contributions, and pay out the employer responsibility on health insurance. Back in 2014 when Edinboro fired Scott Browning, that was a very expensive decision. Under the provisions of the coaches' contract, Browning was entitled to the full payout of his contract. His 2015 salary for the approximately 11 months prior to his separation was $93,185. He also received a lump sum payment of $277,611 for the remainder of his contract, $1,878 for unused leave, and $48,814 for insurance coverage under COBRA. This totaled $419,140 to buy out the remaining two years of his contract. This also meant Browning was the second-highest paid state employee in 2015. I share this because most of our schools don't have a half mill to throw around because they're not winning enough football games.

There are salary floors but no hard & fast pay scales like most others. Basic benefits are universal for all coaches but head coaches have the ability to go out and get supplemental income from camps or supplemental benefits like a car lease.