Coaching needs

Athletics Department, Facilities, etc.
meganeck
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Heard today that WIU had 2 good candidates apply for the softball job, one with a connection to WIU,, but neither had master's degrees, so they were turned down. Who knows how true that is, but something is going on since nobody has been hired yet and like I said previously seems like the job was reposted.

Now that I posted this, they'll probably announce a hire today or tomorrow.
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sealhall74
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I can see a Masters requirement when you are trying to sustain a long time successful program and the world is beating a path to your door, but when you are basically rebuilding from scratch, I would go with my gut and pick the best candidate.
Embrace the pace of the race.
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Tere North
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sealhall74 wrote: Tue Oct 22, 2019 3:09 pm I can see a Masters requirement when you are trying to sustain a long time successful program and the world is beating a path to your door, but when you are basically rebuilding from scratch, I would go with my gut and pick the best candidate.
What is the value of a Master's degree??????????

I thought we put this approach to bed when VanAlstine left. I though the degree req was dumb then and still do.

Need the right person.
meganeck
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Tere North wrote: Wed Oct 23, 2019 11:55 am
sealhall74 wrote: Tue Oct 22, 2019 3:09 pm I can see a Masters requirement when you are trying to sustain a long time successful program and the world is beating a path to your door, but when you are basically rebuilding from scratch, I would go with my gut and pick the best candidate.
What is the value of a Master's degree??????????

I thought we put this approach to bed when VanAlstine left. I though the degree req was dumb then and still do.

Need the right person.
agree just need the best person...and I couldn't remember how that whole Master's degree thing got started. Makes no sense.
rocki
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Tere North wrote: Wed Oct 23, 2019 11:55 am
sealhall74 wrote: Tue Oct 22, 2019 3:09 pm I can see a Masters requirement when you are trying to sustain a long time successful program and the world is beating a path to your door, but when you are basically rebuilding from scratch, I would go with my gut and pick the best candidate.
What is the value of a Master's degree??????????

I thought we put this approach to bed when VanAlstine left. I though the degree req was dumb then and still do.

Need the right person.
The last I knew, the masters didn't even have to be in their area of expertise. Talk about a dumb requirement!
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ST_Lawson
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Regarding Swimming and Diving, we've hired Scott Johannsen as the new S&D coach.
He's a WIU alumni, was on the swimming team from '82-'84, captain during the '83-'84 season, and is a Davenport, IA native. He was most recently the head swimming coach at Augustana College (Rock Island) and had a great deal of success there.

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ST_Lawson
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As for softball, it looks like Holly Van Vlymen will be the interim HC for this season: https://goleathernecks.com/news/2019/11 ... ugout.aspx
Van Vlyman is WIU's Assistant Athletic Director for Academic Services and Student-Athlete Development. Prior to that she was the HC of the softball team from 2006 to 2016.
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wiu bb 31
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This tells me we had zero quality applicants.
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ST_Lawson
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wiu bb 31 wrote: Thu Nov 14, 2019 12:30 pm This tells me we had zero quality applicants.
It was mentioned earlier that we had two that were decent, but both were turned down due to lack of a Masters degree. The only reason I can think of that they have that rule in place is so they make sure the person has experience and is a bit older than the students. They can't discriminate against age by saying "you're too young", but they can essentially make sure they're not straight out of undergrad if they require a masters. I don't really buy it, but that's my best guess on the rule. You'd think that at the DI level you could find someone with at least some DII or DIII coaching experience and a few years out in "the field".
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meganeck
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wiu bb 31 wrote: Thu Nov 14, 2019 12:30 pm This tells me we had zero quality applicants.
Sounds like they had quality applicants, but none had a Master's degree.
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