John Hughes resigns as associate head coach

[HFO]

I am of school of thought you recruit 2 per year of the best talent you can attract (8). Then distribute each Fall the remaining 1.9 scholarship to reward 2 other emerging student athletes on the team.

I am of school of thought of Performance-Trust Matrix and coaches. Head Coach has to have his guys whom produce performing athletes and whom he highly trusts. Top Right Quadrant guys. Then also use LVWC to get enough training talent coming through the room. I don't feel we have leveraged LVWC as much as was expected. I think we need a new Head Coach there and obviously better budget ($$$) to attract Top 4 US Open talent to be here or as joint athletes with NYAC.

I expect Pat will elevate Zach Rey to an assistant. LEHIGH has been a good home for 285 and expect Lehigh will recruit well there as long as Zach is a coach. The volunteer coach is the one you fill based on NCAA high placement need. As Kutler is best chance at NCAA finalist and also Humphreys, it makes sense to have Chance here through at least 2021 if he wants it. He or Darian may not be available if they are fully committed to making Olympic Team. Each will need 2 international tournaments and then the gruel of US Open and WTT in Spring/Summer. Whomever is brought in from December on should be someone who can push Kutler to peak performance.

[OldMan]

They have a history of not offering 100%, dating back to Trenge. There are obstacles recruiting elite kids but Jeff Buxton as the RTC coach is absolutely not one of them. He is one of the biggest positives of the program

[jdalu75]

For that reason I've wondered if Cornell hasn't made a mistake with a head coach nearing 30 years on the job and three of his graduates as his assistants.

very nice tongue-in-cheek humor.....hopefully

Not really. The lack of diversification in Cornell's staff is recent. It remains to be seen whether it works out over time or not.

[Mountain Hawk]

Not really. The lack of diversification in Cornell's staff is recent. It remains to be seen whether it works out over time or not.

Yeah we'll have to see how glaring his mistakes are as they hoist their first NCAA trophy over their heads sometime in 2021 or 2022.

[jdalu75]

Maybe, maybe .... seems to me that I've heard that before, though.

[LUEngineer]

Mountain Hawk clearly has never heard of need based aid to fill out a team to supplement the 9.9 scholarships. Right now we have too many kids on the roster that don’t get a chance to ever wrestle in Grace Hall in a dual meet. Most of those are need based aid guys sitting behind 2-3 others.

[Mountain Hawk]

Mountain Hawk clearly has never heard of need based aid to fill out a team to supplement the 9.9 scholarships. Right now we have too many kids on the roster that don’t get a chance to ever wrestle in Grace Hall in a dual meet. Most of those are need based aid guys sitting behind 2-3 others.

yeah, no other schools offer "need-based" aid right? If you had some idea what you were talking about MH would love to continue the debate. However, MH will refer you directly to the coaches about how competitive our TOTAL package is relative to other (especially) state schools (cheaper + stipends), but also Ivy privates who can offer the same or greater academic prestige. Coaches know. Ask them directly.

[HFO]

Every program has obstacles to recruiting.
Hell, if every backup joined Army ROTC they would have a full scholarship. Not uncommon in history of LEHIGH wrestling. Same is true for PA State schools, join PA National Guard and you get full tuition plus your monthly drill pay. Just options that some schools use better than others.

LEHIGH offers a good need based aid. Much better than a decade ago for families under $50k income. The Ivy, they take it up to $100k obviously expanding universe of talent coming in. The numbers would be big to take Lehigh up to that number for full athletic department and University. However, if it were a priority of BoT it would get done.

My friend's grandson plays FCS football of a top tier Missouri Valley Conference team. Undersized for his position, school gave him a shot as preferred walk on. Made starting lineup as a r-FR and given room and board from Athletic Department budget. As a Sophomore he joined Army ROTC, as Junior he went full ROTC scholarship from Department of the Army. Wakes at 4:30 am, does his morning Army ROTC with unit, goes to class, then all late afternoon football practice while doing his minimum NCAA +12 credits per semester. Then studies until bed at 10pm. On a plane on Friday night for away games and back late on Saturdays. There are other ROTC in his University sports teams. Why? They want opportunity to be D1 athletes, but didn't get the big deal coming out of high school.

Lehigh and it's athletes have options to come and get through Lehigh. It is not like the days of past where a coach could intervene for a loan from Financial Aid or days where ALL employees who had children at Lehigh got tuition free. However, Lehigh is better off than possibly 10 programs. It's biggest disadvantage for past few presidents and admissions directors is unwavering policy of getting athletes into Lehigh. Likely now that an athlete under 1200 SAT is not getting in. In the days of Sam Missimer, he would get guys in at 1000 or higher. They had that level of power and options under Likins and previous presidents.

[RichH]

Interesting take. One caveat as to admissions. Admissions standards have risen dramatically at Lehigh since Missimer's time. However, flexibility still remains just the numbers are different. For major PL sports the league has an AI minimum. All recruited frosh players must be at or above that floor. Each class must come within a set variation of the AI for the entire incomimg class. Oddly, the rule does not apply to incoming transfers.
Wrestling does not face the same hurdles. Neither Simon nor the Admissions Dept are anti sports. Santoro is given ample leeway for his recruits. Even so the reality is ,as it always has been, there are great prospects that wind up at PSU Ohio St et al that we couldnt even approach.

[OldMan]

i absolutely tried pushing my wrestlers to Lehigh. Unfortunately despite a great offer from Lehigh, not being equal to the scholarship offers from Big10 & Power 5 schools it wasn’t close financially. In the end, it’s the extra those schools offer that makes a huge difference. A fully staffed life skill department along with numerous athletic specific programs, housing, facilities, & training table.