br30302004 Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 The University of Akron will interview four candidates for its vacant soccer coaching position this week, a university source said Saturday.The list of candidates to replace Ken Lolla includes: Notre Dame assistant Mike Avery, Indiana assistant Caleb Porter, California assistant Brad Agoos and Pennsylvania assistant Bob Butehorn.All four men will meet with Zips athletic officials and each will spend an hour with the team. Former Zips assistant and potential candidate Mario Sanchez has accepted the coaching position at UNLV.Agoos won three NCAA titles as a player at Virginia and has a wealth of pro playing experience. His brother, Jeff, played for the U.S. national team. Porter played at Indiana and was an assistant on back-to-back NCAA titles (2003-04).Butehorn was a head coach at St. Bonaventure and an assistant at Maryland. Avery was a head coach at Cal State-San Bernardino before joining the Irish staff.After leading the Zips to the NCAA round of eight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a-zip Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UAZipster0305 Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 What ever happened with Coastal Carolina's head coach and UA alum, Sean Docking as a potential candidate? That school, which isn't a powerhouse and is relatively small, has been to several consecutive NCAA tournament births under his direction. He is also very well networked in the national soccer community (http://www.goccusports.com/menssoccer/?coach=81). I emailed him encouraging to apply. Other concerned Zips soccer fans should do the same: sdocking@coastal.eduImagine what he could do with a national power like UA!I hope the coaching change hasn't hurt our recruiting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingZip Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 You'll have to imagine because Docking is not in the class of the guys that are listed above. Akron is one of the top teams in the nation and needs a national rep and a solid recruiter. Docking has not recruited in the Midwest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sloopy Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 You are obviously not a strong soccer fan if you do not see the advantages of Avery and Porter. Both are the chief recruiters for two of the finest soccer programs in the nation and will bring great talent to UA. Agoos was part of three NCAA titles as a player. Don't know much about the guy from Penn.Docking has not moved outside of the State of SC in his coaching career. Winning smaller D-1 leagues and getting bounced in the first round of the NCAA's is not very impressive to me. Hiring him because he is an alum is also not a priority for keeping the program strong. Recruiting is the name of the game and Docking has not recruited the midwest or players at a top 10 school level of play. Indiana, Notre Dame and Cal have all been top 10 programs either this year or in the immediate past few years.If Docking is so great, why is he still coaching in Conway, SC - not exactly the hotbed of the soccer universe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z.I.P. Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 You are obviously not a strong soccer fan if you do not see the advantages of Avery and Porter. Both are the chief recruiters for two of the finest soccer programs in the nation and will bring great talent to UA. Agoos was part of three NCAA titles as a player. Don't know much about the guy from Penn.Docking has not moved outside of the State of SC in his coaching career. Winning smaller D-1 leagues and getting bounced in the first round of the NCAA's is not very impressive to me. Hiring him because he is an alum is also not a priority for keeping the program strong. Recruiting is the name of the game and Docking has not recruited the midwest or players at a top 10 school level of play. Indiana, Notre Dame and Cal have all been top 10 programs either this year or in the immediate past few years.If Docking is so great, why is he still coaching in Conway, SC - not exactly the hotbed of the soccer universe?Hang on Sloopy! You said it. We can get a young coach recommended by a Jerry Yeagley or Bruce Arena with experience coaching and recruiting for a Final-4 program, or we can get a succesful mid-major head coach who's a UA alum. This is a no-brainer. Where the guy went to college is irrelevant -- unless he was a Hermann Trophy runner-up like Porter or a three-time national champ, like Agoos.I am willing to put my trust in the committee and coach recruiting process put together by Mike Thomas and UAM. They are proven winners! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zip Watcher Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 You are obviously not a strong soccer fan if you do not see the advantages of Avery and Porter. Both are the chief recruiters for two of the finest soccer programs in the nation and will bring great talent to UA. Agoos was part of three NCAA titles as a player. Don't know much about the guy from Penn. Recruiting is the name of the game and Docking has not recruited the midwest or players at a top 10 school level of play. Indiana, Notre Dame and Cal have all been top 10 programs either this year or in the immediate past few years. What he said there about recruiting sounds strong to me. UA needs a guy who's been living in and around the college cup .. and all 4 of these guys seem to have done that a lot recently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a-zip Posted January 19, 2006 Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 I like the "glass half full" mentality but there is no way you could say any of these candidates are better qualified than Shawn Docking. The guy recruits in the middle of the ACC from a small school and makes it to the tourney. So he can recruit. He moves to the midwest and adapts. He has a nice story to tell from many different angles.Being a UA alum does not entitle him to the job, but it would be a nice story to tell recruits about. (Playing in the national championship against Duke). We missed the recruiting boat this year anyways.Think about staffing, strategy too. Our team is loaded to make a run, should be ranked top 10/5.I would love to have these other guys playing, but coaching?Is there any insight as to whether Shawn was pursued or interviewed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted January 19, 2006 Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 Is there any insight as to whether Shawn was pursued or interviewed? I was told "no" to both. He was never considered. Why?...don't ask me. I agree with the guys above that the final four candidates all seem to have a lot of "pitch 'cred" and the best of that crop should allow us to continue to build on what Lolla and his predecessors established. I like all four. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwilly Posted January 19, 2006 Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 Give me this foursome over some alum in a no where league any day of the week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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