Nevada Sports Net columnist Chris Murray is thought to be a bit wordy, so we’re giving him 1,000 phrases (however not more than that) each Friday to share his ideas from the week that was on the earth of sports activities.
* GENERALLY SPEAKING, the Christmas season is not an excellent time to be unemployed. Not with all of the required present giving that may rack up credit-card debt. But two Nevada Wolf Pack head coaches seemingly opted for that actuality within the final week with Vanessa Valentine stepping down as the college’s soccer coach and Shannon Wyckoff-McNeal resigning as volleyball coach inside one week. Toss in Jake McKinley leaving Nevada for a field-coordinator job with the Seattle Mariners and Nevada misplaced three of its 14 head coaches in a 13-day span. Not very best.
* McKINLEY’S MOVE MAKES sense as he basically turns into third in cost of the Seattle Mariners behind supervisor Dan Wilson and bench coach Manny Acta, a former big-league supervisor. It’s a foot within the door to the majors, and most coaches would take that. There are extra questions on Valentine and Wyckoff-McNeal stepping down with a number of years left on their contracts. All three coaches owe Nevada buyouts; we’re not sure if these will truly be paid out. Not a lot of a cause was given for Valentine’s transfer. Wyckoff-McNeal cited a need “to put my family first.”
* HOW RARE IS it for a sitting Wolf Pack head coach to step down from the job with no new job in hand? Since the Wolf Pack joined the Mountain West in 2012, it occurred as soon as previous to this month. That was snowboarding coach Mihaela Kosi, who resigned a 12 months after Nevada took over Sierra Nevada University and basically inherited its ski staff and ski coach, Kosi. Her quitting made some sense as she did not initially signed as much as be a Division I head coach. But within the final eight days, Valentine and Wyckoff-McNeal tripled the quantity of Nevada coaches resigning with no job in hand because the Wolf Pack grew to become a MW member.
* WHATEVER THE REASON, it does not look good for Nevada. Whether the coaches have been pressured out, had real-life explanations to maneuver on or did not assume they may thrive within the new transfer-heavy world of school athletics, it does not actually matter. Losing greater than 20 % of your head coaches in two weeks is not good. It both speaks poorly of (a) the coaches you employed being prepared to battle by way of the lean durations to push to success or (b) having a tradition that is not conducive to retain coaches long run, a vital ingredient for long-term success and viability.
* WHEN YOU HIRE a head coach, you are entrusting that program to the coach for not less than a half-decade, therefore the five-year size of contracts Nevada has awarded new hires underneath athletic director Stephanie Rempe. It’s one factor if you happen to rent a coach, that individual is profitable and will get poached by an even bigger college. It’s one other to rent a coach and have that individual depart on their very own with out one other job lined up. Frankly, it is odd these strikes have come rat-a-tat-tat during the last two weeks, which follows key losses within the Wolf Pack’s higher administration during the last 18 months. If you are main the college, there are inquiries to be requested about what is going on on.
* NEVADA SOCCER AND VOLLEYBALL have not had a lot success during the last 20 years, with the previous posting two successful information in 26 seasons of existence and the latter notching successful information 3 times within the final 20 years. Couple that with low-level salaries and it is laborious to know what variety of coach Nevada will be capable to land. It’s definitely not essentially the most enticing place for a longtime head coach or up-and-coming assistant. Whoever the Wolf Pack finds, it must be any individual married to the aim of a long-term construct.
* WITH NEVADA LOSING three coaches in brief order, I assumed again to 1 of soccer coach Jeff Choate’s press conferences. Those are all the time must-see, extremely entertaining affairs. This one particularly was in early November with the Wolf Pack in a tailspin and bonafide questions being requested about his job certainty. “Whether you believe I’m the right guy or not, hopefully you believe I’m tough enough to deal with it and I’ll persevere through it and we’ll get to the other side of this,” stated Choate, including, “You ain’t gonna get anything if you quit.” That’s the type of DNA the Wolf Pack wants from its coaches.
* NEVADA’S FALL SPORT season has wrapped up, and it was one other dangerous one. Nevada soccer, soccer and volleyball all completed second-to-last within the MW. Men’s and ladies’s cross nation completed backside two within the Mountain Regional. That’s 5 packages with bottom-two finishes. Fall sports activities set the tone for an athletic division as a result of they’re the primary set of groups to begin play in a given 12 months. Play effectively and it will get the group invigorated and engaged. Play poorly and it results in apathy. The tone being set by Nevada’s fall sports activities has been bitter for a while.
* A WOLF PACK fall sport hasn’t gained a convention championship since Nevada joined the MW greater than 13 years in the past. The final Nevada fall sport to win its league was soccer in 2010. Wolf Pack soccer has gained one convention title in its historical past (the 2006 WAC Tournament). Volleyball has by no means gained a convention title. Women’s cross nation final did so in 2003. Men’s cross nation final did so in 1983. It’s not like Nevada’s winter or spring sports activities have been great through the college’s MW period, both, however the fall sports activities have largely been a multitude.
* THE EARLIEST IN an athletic season Nevada has gained a MW title is Feb. 20, 2016 when swimming and diving did so. That’s greater than 190 days — nearly three-quarters of a season — after the athletic 12 months begins. That’s the type of momentum — or lack thereof — fall sports activities have constructed for Nevada during the last decade-plus. Certainly that begins with fixing the soccer program. But curing Wolf Pack soccer and volleyball, which now have open head-coaching spots, aren’t far behind.
Columnist Chris Murray gives perception on Northern Nevada sports activities. Contact him at [email protected] or observe him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.