Lehigh Sports Forum

Excellent choice by JMU. Can Cross find the next coach able to keep the program at the same level??

Many places have "Associate Head Coaches" which can mean a lot of different things in terms of responsibility. Not sure who or how strong their own staff is. But, 'upheaval' or 'change' is never a good feeling..and especially the timing. Kids on the fence between Cross and other similar schools could be tilted in a different direction; so, it will be interesting to see the nature of the impact.

Holy Cross opts for Dan Curran, Merrimack's head coach, to take over for Chesney. A rather ho-hum hire for the Crusaders imo. He has 4 winning seasons in 11 years at Merrimack, never won a conference title or made the playoffs. I expect Troxell and the 'Pards to be the premiere PL program moving forward....

Owl, I agree. I guess they think sticking with the New England guy is the safe bet.

Cross went for speed to get a placeholder. Curran not a rising star like Chesney. He's there to keep recruit class and NOT screw up the program.

Pretty quick appointment. I would think he gave HC a “heads up” that he was planning on leaving, and/or the AD was already preparing his “short list”. One never knows what someone’s ability is until they dive into the deep end. Curran appears to have done a decent job of shepherding Merrimack in its transition to D-1. Now, the quest is whether he can manage a program that has reached a high level .

Curran is a good, hard-nosed football coach, former UNH fullback. Will tap into the UNH tree for adding to his staff. Merrimack improved rapidly with heavy reliance on 5th-year transfers. Seeing how Holy Cross has no graduate programs, that may be difficult. Part of Chesney's wanderlust was pushback from administration that he couldn't extend Covid-era fifth-year eligibility at Holy Cross.

Chalkeye wrote: ↑Mon Dec 18, 2023 12:43 pm Curran is a good, hard-nosed football coach, former UNH fullback. Will tap into the UNH tree for adding to his staff. Merrimack improved rapidly with heavy reliance on 5th-year transfers. Seeing how Holy Cross has no graduate programs, that may be difficult. Part of Chesney's wanderlust was pushback from administration that he couldn't extend Covid-era fifth-year eligibility at Holy Cross.

Probably a PL policy as well?