...Michigan naming Muckalt the associate head coach today officially, how quickly can he, Mel and Wise get things turned around next season?
So, with...
- Thread starter Bob Miller
- Start date
Let's hope quickly. I wasn't crazy about retaining Wiseman after the last couple of years, but if that's what they want to do we'll see what happens with Mel in charge and Billy coming in. I like the Muckalt hire, I think he's one of the rising stars in coaching. Of course that will put him in the cross hairs of higher level jobs, but hopefully we see some good things starting this coming year. Can't get much worse than last year, that was the most rough year in decades.
I think they will be very competitive this season. It's not as if they are talentless- I think there was more of a focus issue last year.
oh, the "official" from Mgoblue- http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-hockey/spec-rel/062017aaa.html (since nobody has posted it)
oh, the "official" from Mgoblue- http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-hockey/spec-rel/062017aaa.html (since nobody has posted it)
Since Muckalt is "Associate Head Coach" and Wiseman is "Assistant Coach," I assume Muckalt "outranks" Wiseman on the staff. eh?
Muckalt could quickly be a top candidate for head coaching jobs that come open; but, he could also stay at Michigan for 6-7 years and then Mel retires and Muckalt is the head coach for the next 12-15 years. Worth waiting for, he might say.
Jumping ahead a year - is the LaPointe commit one we can attribute specifically (or largely) to the new head coach, or was he pretty likely to commit to Michigan in any event?
Muckalt could quickly be a top candidate for head coaching jobs that come open; but, he could also stay at Michigan for 6-7 years and then Mel retires and Muckalt is the head coach for the next 12-15 years. Worth waiting for, he might say.
Jumping ahead a year - is the LaPointe commit one we can attribute specifically (or largely) to the new head coach, or was he pretty likely to commit to Michigan in any event?
Associate head coach ranks above assistant coach.
I would expect Muckalt to follow the same path as Mel (a few years as head coach at a D1 school) unless Mel feels he needn't have taken that path. For the record, he says it was the right thing to do.
My sense on Lapointe is that talks didn't get serious until Blade Jenkins fled to the OHL. And, that was after Mel arrived. Very possible that Mel already knew Lapointe from recruiting him at MTU.
I believe Wiseman's role as assistant coach has been way undervalued here both in player development and in recruiting. There are reasons Mel chose to "re-hire" him.
I would expect Muckalt to follow the same path as Mel (a few years as head coach at a D1 school) unless Mel feels he needn't have taken that path. For the record, he says it was the right thing to do.
My sense on Lapointe is that talks didn't get serious until Blade Jenkins fled to the OHL. And, that was after Mel arrived. Very possible that Mel already knew Lapointe from recruiting him at MTU.
I believe Wiseman's role as assistant coach has been way undervalued here both in player development and in recruiting. There are reasons Mel chose to "re-hire" him.
In answer to my question posed at the top, I expect improvement to take time and be measured more gradually than in leaps and bounds. I have always thought that gains are made by most players as they add years of experience. That was a very inexperienced team we watched last season.
Yes, more specifically, I generally view that in college sports, players make their greatest improvement between their freshman and sophomore years. That means, the freshmen who played extensively last year (Lockwood, Slaker, Wimborg, Sanchez, N. Pastujov, Luce, L. Martin, LaVigne, Lafontaine) could show significant improvement next season. But, this is a matter of natural progression, not necessarily incremental improvement due to new coaches.
