Coaches

[[email protected]]

Around the leagues: who is the best coach or coaches in each league?

[carney2]

Around the leagues: who is the best coach or coaches in each league?

Patriot League: Dick Biddle, Colgate is number one with Frank Tavani, Lafayette and then, for now, "rest of field.

[Purple Knight]

Have to say in the SoCon, it's Jerry Moore of ASU. Totally revised offense and went to the top of I-AA.

[Pard94]

Patriot League: Dick Biddle, Colgate is number one with Frank Tavani, Lafayette and then, for now, "rest of field.

It galls me to have to agree with your assesment...yet I must.

[MYTAPPY]

Have to say in the SoCon, it's Jerry Moore of ASU. Totally revised offense and went to the top of I-AA.

I agree Jerry Moore is the definition of a great coach.

[DetroitFlyer]

Mike Kelly of Dayton is the absolute class of the PFL and all of 1-AA Mid-Major football. Jim Harbaugh of San Diego is certainly the up and coming coach in the PFL. He is still relatively new and if he has another year or two of success in the PFL, he will probably move on to greener pastures. Rob Ash of Drake is doing a great job as is Matt Ballard, ( I think ), of Morehead State.

[jmuroller]

I agree Jerry Moore is the definition of a great coach.


Weren't they trying to run him out of town last year? Amazing what difference a year can make.

[MYTAPPY]

Weren't they trying to run him out of town last year? Amazing what difference a year can make.

I don't know what the Boone crowd was thinking last year. I've never once questioned whether he should leave. He won't leave. He'll hang it up at App State when the time is right. Pretty soon you'll have the games in Boone being played on "Jerry Moore field at Kidd Brewer Stadium.

Bottom line........he still is a great coach.

[th0m]

Weren't they trying to run him out of town last year? Amazing what difference a year can make.

Pretty much the same that happened to Mickey before he won us an NC ;)

[ngineer]

It galls me to have to agree with your assesment...yet I must.

It's sort of funny--who else is there to compare?--all the other teams, except Bucknell and Holy Cross, all have new faces. Landis still seems to have a way to go before he shows if he can build a program, and Gilmore will get a real test this year with his senior laden team transitioned. Maybe 2006 will be the year of a shocker, but I'm not betting on it.

[LBPop]

Patriot League: Dick Biddle, Colgate is number one with Frank Tavani, Lafayette and then, for now, "rest of field.

I would also have to agree. I was not a big Tavani fan when I "joined" the PL. I am now a believer.

[colgate13]

I would also have to agree. I was not a big Tavani fan when I "joined" the PL. I am now a believer.

Absolutely agree as well. And even if Lembo hadn't left, I think Tavani would be #2 now.

[Pard94]

I would also have to agree. I was not a big Tavani fan when I "joined" the PL. I am now a believer.


just curious, pop, what made you hesitant to jump on the Tavani bandwagon?

[carney2]

just curious, pop, what made you hesitant to jump on the Tavani bandwagon?

I'm going to jump in here and take LBPop's side of the argument. It took me a while to give Frank the "attaboy!" that he deserves. When he took the job, I had the following "reservations:"

Too old. Joe Paterno notwithstanding, I didn't believe that guys in their late 40's or early 50's could consistently make a successful sales pitch to 17 and 18 year olds. I had visions of a 30-something go getter whose resume was filled with hotshot recruiting victories.

Not a good appearance/presentation. Let's be honest, folks, Frank looks like a guy who's forgotten where he parked his camel. (Turns out that it's part of his charm, I guess.)

No experience/responsibility anywhere but College Hill. It had all the appearance of the "old boy" network, with Bill Russo taking care of one of his hangers-on. Looked like more of the same.

With Russo bailing out and leaving a bad taste in everyone's mouth, and the whole "drop football" whirlwind swirling around, Frank honestly looked like the bottom of the barrel. He looked like the best captain that they could hire to sail a sinking ship.

Shows what I know.

[ChickenMan]

I'd put UNH's McDonnell at or near the top of the A10... he is an outstanding offensive mind and seems to get as much or more... out of his talent as does anyone else in the conference.

[LBPop]

just curious, pop, what made you hesitant to jump on the Tavani bandwagon?

My comment should have really been directed at my impression of the program (and not Tavani) based on some telephone conversations and a visit by an assistant coach. While we clearly respected Lafayette College, we were not overly impressed with the football program as it was presented to us. Now I must qualify this by saying that my son was not a "blue chip" I-AA recruit. He received offers from some excellent schools, but he was not in most of their top tier of recruits. Also, I think Lafayette knew who they were matched up with and didn't show us their "A" game. Ultimately LBKid turned down his official visit to Easton.

So like most avid football fans, I made my initial judgement of Tavani without any real information. xidiotx :rolleyes: ;)

Now that I have seen his team play twice and been able to evaluate them in the context of the Patriot League, I am a believer and a fan. I think he has gotten at least as much from his kids as any other coach in the league. Frankly with some obvious exceptions, I wasn't nearly as impressed with their talent as I was with their performance. That points to their coach.

Hope that makes at least a little sense.

[FU97]

I agree Jerry Moore is the definition of a great coach.

That half of the ASU fanbase wanted to fire prior to the 2005 season.

[Pard94]

I'm going to jump in here and take LBPop's side of the argument. It took me a while to give Frank the "attaboy!" that he deserves. When he took the job, I had the following "reservations:"

Too old. Joe Paterno notwithstanding, I didn't believe that guys in their late 40's or early 50's could consistently make a successful sales pitch to 17 and 18 year olds. I had visions of a 30-something go getter whose resume was filled with hotshot recruiting victories.

Not a good appearance/presentation. Let's be honest, folks, Frank looks like a guy who's forgotten where he parked his camel. (Turns out that it's part of his charm, I guess.)

No experience/responsibility anywhere but College Hill. It had all the appearance of the "old boy" network, with Bill Russo taking care of one of his hangers-on. Looked like more of the same.

With Russo bailing out and leaving a bad taste in everyone's mouth, and the whole "drop football" whirlwind swirling around, Frank honestly looked like the bottom of the barrel. He looked like the best captain that they could hire to sail a sinking ship.

Shows what I know.

Funny how perceptions can be off. Tavani was largely (if not solely) responsible for recruiting Tom Costello, Tom Kirchoff, Eric Marsh and I believe he was instrumental in McCourt's courting, as it were. The man can recruit. And I think that's half the battle.

[Pard94]

My comment should have really been directed at my impression of the program (and not Tavani) based on some telephone conversations and a visit by an assistant coach. While we clearly respected Lafayette College, we were not overly impressed with the football program as it was presented to us. Now I must qualify this by saying that my son was not a "blue chip" I-AA recruit. He received offers from some excellent schools, but he was not in most of their top tier of recruits. Also, I think Lafayette knew who they were matched up with and didn't show us their "A" game. Ultimately LBKid turned down his official visit to Easton.

So like most avid football fans, I made my initial judgement of Tavani without any real information. xidiotx :rolleyes: ;)

Now that I have seen his team play twice and been able to evaluate them in the context of the Patriot League, I am a believer and a fan. I think he has gotten at least as much from his kids as any other coach in the league. Frankly with some obvious exceptions, I wasn't nearly as impressed with their talent as I was with their performance. That points to their coach.

Hope that makes at least a little sense.

Very interesting assessment. Thanks.

[ngineer]

I'm going to jump in here and take LBPop's side of the argument. It took me a while to give Frank the "attaboy!" that he deserves. When he took the job, I had the following "reservations:"

Too old. Joe Paterno notwithstanding, I didn't believe that guys in their late 40's or early 50's could consistently make a successful sales pitch to 17 and 18 year olds. I had visions of a 30-something go getter whose resume was filled with hotshot recruiting victories.

Not a good appearance/presentation. Let's be honest, folks, Frank looks like a guy who's forgotten where he parked his camel. (Turns out that it's part of his charm, I guess.)

No experience/responsibility anywhere but College Hill. It had all the appearance of the "old boy" network, with Bill Russo taking care of one of his hangers-on. Looked like more of the same.

With Russo bailing out and leaving a bad taste in everyone's mouth, and the whole "drop football" whirlwind swirling around, Frank honestly looked like the bottom of the barrel. He looked like the best captain that they could hire to sail a sinking ship.

Shows what I know.

My view of Tavani is three fold. I think he's a very good person and personable that allows him to commnunicate effectively with his players. But , secondly, also makes him an effective recruiter. Those two qualities have shown him to get good student-athletes and have them play hard for him.
That being said, having watched a number of Lafayette games over the years, and not just the Lehigh games, I have never been impressed with his play calling/stategy. Not that it's horrible, but I have questioned his stategies on numerous occasions, as have other 'pard alums with me. So, as they say, "Two out of three ain't bad,". The better your players, the more times they will overcome the coach's mistakes. So I give him a B+ and Biddle and A-.

[carney2]

I don't know how this thread got to be all Patriot League and 90% Tavani, but I don't mind. Now that I have become a Tavani fan, I compare him to what I saw in the latter Russso years. With all of the positive statements that have been made, I am surprised that no one has mentioned what I consider to be his greatest attribute: he is a leader; he is a motivator. After the 2002 Lehigh game and "The Drive" a Lehigh player commented that "they just wanted it more than we did, I guess." I compared that to what I saw in the latter years under Bill Russo. I remember one day in the 90's, standing at the gate where the Lafayette players entered the field at that time. The players were waiting to enter the field and a fairly large group of them were having a good time mocking the fans for having nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon and for subjecting themselves to this "s__t." It occurred to me then and it occurs to me now that leadership is a misunderstood and perhaps too lightly regarded factor in the coaching formula for success. Frank thinks that this is important and he convinces the kids that it's important.

[LBPop]

I don't know how this thread got to be all Patriot League and 90% Tavani, but I don't mind.

Well, it's fairly obvious that the PL members of this board suffer from verbosity, pomposity, and and far too much free time for for grown ups during the business day. Oh, there goes the phone, I suppose I will have to answer it... xcoffeex

[catbob]

Big Sky is a toss up

Paul Wulff at EWU
Mike Kramer at MSU
Bobby Hauck at UM
Ron McBride at Weber