2 Maine assistants leave for ODU

[PapaBear]

Two UMaine asistants appear headed to Old Dominion to join the staff of former Maine OC Bobby Wilder, the new ODU head coach.

According to early reports out of Orono, Andy Rondeau (special teams, DBs) and Brian Scott (OL, recruiting coord) have accepted positions at ODU. Not sure just WHAT positions they've accepted.

Scott is a former UMaine QB. Rondeau had only been on staff one year; came from Buffalo. He did some pretty creative things with special teams (unfortunately, helping to find a consistent kicker wasn't one of them ...).

In other news, looks like Spring Ball starts 4/16 for the Black Bears, and ends with the 2nd Annual Jeff Cole Scrimmage on Saturday, May 5.

[th0m]

Was to be expected, I guess.

[JMU2004]

they really need to get some locals on that staff.... I hope they don't give the recruiting coordinator job to the Maine fellow.

[Monarch Nation]

they really need to get some locals on that staff.... I hope they don't give the recruiting coordinator job to the Maine fellow.


I agree about the locals. Frankly I'm not jumping for joy at these assistants. I hope I'm wrong.

Virginian Pilot Article (http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=120586&ran=6605)

[PapaBear]

Frankly I'm not jumping for joy at these assistants.

Nor am I jumping for joy that he took them. Rondeau, especially, showed some real creativity. I don't know Scott well enough to know how much of a contributor he was.

[mainejeff]

Cosgrove should bring back Mickey Fein (OC at Murray State).

[Monarch Nation]

Papa bear, my concern is not with the quality of the coaches from Maine, but with the lack of local ties. It's going to be hard enough to sell a start-up program let alone sell one if you have to get a mapquest to every high school in the area.

[mainejeff]

Papa bear, my concern is not with the quality of the coaches from Maine, but with the lack of local ties. It's going to be hard enough to sell a start-up program let alone sell one if you have to get a mapquest to every high school in the area.

I'm not so sure that it will be difficult to recruit the Tidewater area. I assume that people have heard of ODU in the state of Virginia? ODU will definitely be a player on the recruiting scene in a couple of years. Look out Hampton, Richmond, and JMU.

[PapaBear]

Papa bear, my concern is not with the quality of the coaches from Maine, but with the lack of local ties. It's going to be hard enough to sell a start-up program let alone sell one if you have to get a mapquest to every high school in the area.

Yeah, I hear you.

I'd be curious just how many colleges use "geographic familiarity" as a criteria for building a coaching staff, though. I suspect it's pretty far down the list of priorities, compared to more coaching-related traits.

Besides, I'm sure ODU -- like all scholarship schools -- will divvy up recruiting areas pretty widely among the staff, The guy who recruited my son to UMaine, for example, was not from my geographical area. Neither is the UMaine coach who recruits my geographic area NOW.

[GannonFan]

Papa bear, my concern is not with the quality of the coaches from Maine, but with the lack of local ties. It's going to be hard enough to sell a start-up program let alone sell one if you have to get a mapquest to every high school in the area.

The thing is, if ODU is going to be successful, they will have to recruit more than just the Tidewater area. There are plenty of good kids everywhere, not just local to the school. And besides, these guys will be in the area starting now so they have 2 years to become locals before they even play a game, 4 years of it before they are eligible to compete for a CAA title. They'll be fine, even without being from Virginia.

[Tribe4SF]

The thing is, if ODU is going to be successful, they will have to recruit more than just the Tidewater area. There are plenty of good kids everywhere, not just local to the school. And besides, these guys will be in the area starting now so they have 2 years to become locals before they even play a game, 4 years of it before they are eligible to compete for a CAA title. They'll be fine, even without being from Virginia.

As I've stated on another forum, you and I differ on this. ODU will recruit their first class next year, and those players will be redshirt Juniors when the Monarchs take the field for CAA play in 2011. With Christopher Newport and Coastal Carolina providing the models for being quickly competitive, local recruiting success is central. Matt Kelchner at CNU fielded his first team with almost exclusively kids from Tidewater, and made the Div. III playoffs that year. He had a long history in SE Virginia. There are over 80 high schools in Tidewater, and the ODU staff needs to build relationships over the next six months if they are to have success with their first class. MonarchNation is right about mapquest, and the other problem is knowing who you should be talking to, and who plays for them. Right now the ODU staff is unknown to high school coaches in Tidewater, and they have a short amount of time to get themselves out there. It's also hard to tell if they appreciate the talent level and competitive atmosphere in the area. If they want to go into 2011 with a competitive group, they need quick success in their own back yard.