Womens Golf Coach Moves On

[geezer]

https://lamarcardinals.com/news/2019/6/27/steward-steps-down-as-womens-golf-coach.aspx I hate to see coaches from the more minor sports leave if they are having success. I hope Born is attempting to identify a plan to keep these kind of coaches in the fold. Why are they leaving? Is it to get closer to home, more money, stronger conferences? What is LU missing?

[SportsGuy]

You’re obviously not a fan and while you are entitled to your opinion.... the progress he’s made is indisputable. Coaches leaving for a better opportunity doesn’t mean we have a bad AD.

[Dracula]

The reality, of lamar's place in the pecking order, is that coaches will come and go. Thank them for their time here and wish them well. Seems to me, with no direct knowledge of whether Marco Born is doing better or not, I can't recall a negative comment, on his work here. His agreement, with Under Armour, sounds like a pretty good deal, his hiring of WBB coach Aqua Franklin seems like a solid choice, and the opening of the Market Basket Nutrition Center should be considered a plus accomplishment. Unfortunately, competent and ambitious AD's are like coaches. Enjoy him while you have him.

[puddin tane]

Maybe they left cuz they are tired of it raining every ...frickin .....day!

[geezer]

As far as Born is concerned, I don't have an opinion. The results of the people he hires and what money he can bring in will define him soon enough. I agree LU is a stepping stone for the successful coaches if they want to move on to a better place. Just wonder what makes Georgia State a better place, or Texas Pan Am or Charleston? A few years back when the men's golf coach left for Arkansas, I could understand. Edited June 29, 2019 by geezer

[lamarfan360]

As far as Born is concerned, I don't have an opinion. The results of the people he hires and what money he can bring in will define him soon enough. I agree LU is a stepping stone for the successful coaches if they want to move on to a better place. Just wonder what makes Georgia State a better place, or Texas Pan Am or Charleston? A few years back when the men's golf coach left for Arkansas, I could understand.

 

I totally agree with this comment!

[coachacola]

I was born and raised in Southeast Texas and have fond memories but most places are better than Southeast Texas.

[Dracula]

https://lamarcardinals.com/news/2019/6/27/steward-steps-down-as-womens-golf-coach.aspx I hate to see coaches from the more minor sports leave if they are having success. I hope Born is attempting to identify a plan to keep these kind of coaches in the fold. Why are they leaving? Is it to get closer to home, more money, stronger conferences? What is LU missing?

What is LU missing, nothing. Maybe, the reason why they are leaving is that there is a new ambitious sheriff in town and they have seen the handwriting ,on the wall. Coach's are like salesmen, they are a dime a dozen. There are always young ambitious ones, with pretty good resumes, in the pipeline,and there will be others following them. The coaches and their (ages), that have moved on, are Holly Bruder(42), Jessica Steward (34), and Robin Harmony(57). They were replaced with Amy Hooks(30),TBA, and Aqua Franklin (33). Coach Franklin's staff's ages are Davenport(25ish),Hill(26ish), and Mitchell, mid to late 20's.

Yes, they all have had success, but, like Woodard, have they shown an inability to lead their respective teams, to the next level. Apparently, Born thinks so and the pipeline is just a click away.

[SportsGuy]

You clearly have it out for the guy. Thanks for your passionate posts, though.

[Dracula]

At most schools, the athletic crown jewel is the football program. The pecking order, at Lamar, is no different. Schultz was rewarded because the football program looks to be on the rise. Do you agree or not agree about the trajectory of the football program?

You list over 30 coaches and staff members as having left but how many left AFTER Born became AD? Marco Born was named Lamar AD, in March 2018.

Let's go over your list and see what we shall see.

 

Ray woodard fired by then AD Jason Henderson, in November of 2016. Henderson hired Mike Schultz, in December of 2016. With the exceptions of Darcy and Yonker, Schultz axed the entire Woodard staff. How many of those coaches were counted in your list? Marco Born had nothing to do with the firing of Woodard or the hiring of Schultz.

 

Jim Gilligan Gilligan retired after the 2016 baseball season. That's almost 2 years before Born was named AD.

 

Pat Knight was fired, in February 2014. Marco Born was working at Middle Tennessee State.

 

Brian White was fired by Jason Henderson, in March of 2015, for recruiting violations. Marco Born was working at La Tech.

 

Alan Edwards was fired by Jason Henderson, in November of 2017, Born was working at La Tech.

 

Holly Bruder and her wife, assistant HC Allison Honkofsky, were replaced by Born, in November, of 2018. You suggest "questionable reasons", however, her overall record of 167–174 (.490), and her conference record of 86–72 (.544) were reasons enough to replace them. The "questionable reasons" were just the final nails , in the coffin.

 

Robin Harmony had the best case against firing or being allowed to leave but even that case was weak. In her 6 years, at Lamar, Coach Harmony compiled an overall record of 115–66 (.635) and a conference record of 83–25 (.769). Her teams did win the regular season conference title 3 times but what did her teams do in the conference tournament? They collapsed. In 2019, Harmony's team was the #1 tournament seed. Once again, they were one and done with a loss to #4 seed ACU. Her teams could never win when winning really counted, plus her being 57 years old, and then wanting a contract extension. Maybe, under Jason Henderson, but not in Marco's world. His next job is based on what he does at Lamar and retaining a so-so Harmony, with no record of success in the money games, ain't going to to happen.

 

I think thats SportsGuy is right.

[puddin tane]

The argument that Lamar is a stepping stone for better coaching jobs SHOULD be a valid argument but, sadly, history seems to prove otherwise. In fact, only former men’s golf coach Brad McMakin has moved on to a substantially bigger gig, the University of Arkansas, and enjoyed success. So let’s take a look at some of the coaches who are no longer with us:

 

Ray Woodard - fired; now coaches high school football.

 

Jim Gilligan - retired after being here nearly four decades; no longer coaching.

 

Pat Knight - fired; no longer coaching.

 

Brian White (men’s golf) - fired / resigned; found guilty of multiple NCAA violations.

 

Holly Bruder - fired for questionable reasons after being told to resign by little lyin’ Marco; no longer coaching.

 

Robin Harmony - resigned. Three SLC championships and two-time SLC Coach of the Year. WANTED to stay at Lamar but also wanted the security of an extended-term contract (as anyone her age would want) and little lyin’ Marco refused.

 

Alan Edwards (women’s volleyball) - fired; never came close to winning.

 

Yet an extension was given to Mike Schultz, who is no spring chicken by any means, despite lagging ticket sales / attendance and no serious contention for an SLC title. So little lyin’ Marco can’t have it both ways - he can’t say that Lamar wants to be a place where young aggressive coaches come in, win championships quickly and often, before moving on to bigger programs yet he retains / extends one of the oldest coaches in the department, who hasn’t won a championship, while allowing a three-time champion to walk away over something as easily resolved as the duration of a contract.

 

Little lyin’ Marco isn’t the “new sheriff in town” - he’s Barney Fife. Evans is the sheriff, Born is his yes-man puppet doing the dirty work of purging the athletics department of people for reasons totally unrelated to improving the overall success of the department.

 

 

im confused .....so youd like all the above to still be our coaches?

[Dracula]

To be continued, but first I have post holes to dig. Any volunteers?

[Dracula]

Digging post holes is so much easier when you let your son do the work. Where were we? Lamar needs supporters like you and Lamar is lucky to have supporters like you but I don't agree with your assessments.

 

He allowed a three-time conference winning coach to walk because she wanted the security of a multi-year deal. Among recent Lamar HC's, she has been the most successful coach. However, How many games has she won, in her 3 trips to the conference tournament? How many games has she won in consolation postseason tournaments? I think that she is tied with Coach Woodard at -0-. She wants a long term deal based on -0-? No AD is going to make that deal.

 

my sources tell me that over 30 coaches and staff have left since he arrived - that is a ridiculously high rate of turnover in my opinion - and I have heard rumors, unconfirmed, of title IX violations and complaints being filed with the NCAA. If they have left Lamar, what's the harm in publishing the list?

 

and I have heard rumors, unconfirmed, of title IX violations and complaints being filed with the NCAA. You haven't heard anything negative about him because the media refuses to do their job and challenge anything that comes out of his mouth Here's your shot to break the story and do the job, that the local media will not do.

 

Yet an extension was given to Mike Schultz, who is no spring chicken by any means, despite lagging ticket sales / attendance and no serious contention for an SLC title. So little lyin’ Marco can’t have it both ways - he can’t say that Lamar wants to be a place where young aggressive coaches come in, win championships quickly and often, before moving on to bigger programs yet he retains / extends one of the oldest coaches in the department, who hasn’t won a championship, while allowing a three-time champion to walk away over something as easily resolved as the duration of a contract.

knowing the numbers, I don't see how you can suggest that Robin Harmony should have been extended and Mike Schultz not. Harmony had been WBBHC for 6 years. Yes, she won 3 regular season titles but then what? 3 runs in the conference tournament and 3 one and dones plus 3 trips to postseason tournaments and 3 one and dones. That's 0-6. Schultz was left a trainwreck by Woodard. In just 2 seasons, Schultz ripped the guts out of a bad coaching staff and turned the program around from 2-9, 1-8, and 10th, in conference, to 7-5, 6-3, and 3rd, in conference, plus getting invited to the FCS playoff tournament, for the first time in school history.

 

To me, it looks like Born is doing his job just like Schultz did, when Schultz let go basically the whole football staff. It's not pretty and I feel for those fired coaches but both Born and Schultz are trying to upgrade their staffs. that's the name of the game.

[puddin tane]

@Dracula you are cherry-picking my comments to try and make a defense of little lyin' Marco and, in doing so, distort the arguments I have made. First of all, I stated that more than thirty members of the athletic department staff have left the university since Marco was hired - it has absolutely nothing to do with anyone who left prior to his arrival. You can very easily do an FOIA request to get that information.

 

Secondly, in terms of the coaches I listed that left, you have misconstrued my point into the false premise that I was making it a referendum of some sort on little lyin' Marco, when I was not. The point I was making was to debunk the false opinion that Lamar is a "stepping stone" to better jobs - it had nothing to do with LLM. With the exception of Brad McMakin, the coaches who have left have either done so involuntarily or have gone to schools of comparable size, or smaller. This goes right back to the heart of geezer's original post.

 

Third, neither you, nor Sports Guy, have said one word about little lyin' Marco telling a blatant lie to the fans with regards to the women's basketball coaching search. Maybe you guys are OK with being lied to, and that's your prerogative, but I am not. And I have to wonder if he lies about something so minor and easily debunked what big things has he lied about or will he lie about in the future? The bottom line is this - Lamar and LLM don't give a rat's behind about a guy like me, except that I'm sure they'd like for me to shut up and go away. "Season ticket guys", to quote your prior comment, "come and go."

 

Lastly, I do not necessarily agree with your assessment that the football program is "on the rise". One season where you catch lightning in a bottle and make a good run to end the season does not mean in and of itself that the program has "turned the corner". And if we're being completely honest here, Schultz was outcoached against UNI - I watched the game and it is my opinion that Lamar had the better, hungrier athletes. Also, you referenced winning the "money games" - how many "money games", exactly, has Schultz won? As I recall, Robin Harmony and her squad beat #17 aTm of the SEC in College Station - that's one more than Schultz! There was no reason to extend him after one good season. Pat him on the back, tell him to continue the success and improvements, see what he does this year, and then start talking about extensions. Regardless, football is only one sport at Lamar - a historically under-performing sport at that. The "crown jewel" of the athletic department can be any sport the university chooses to get behind and support - look at UConn which has built athletic success around the "minor" sport of women's basketball. Lamar has had multiple nationally-recognized golf and baseball teams - why not hitch your wagon to those sports to build excitement around the university? The reality is that Lamar football, at this point, cannot compete in any way at all with all of the great high school programs in the area. If you're going to put all your eggs in the football basket and spend the kind of money that goes into it you damned sure need to make certain the stadium is full. If 20,000 people are willing to camp out overnight to go see PNG vs. Nederland why in the hell can't Lamar, with all its resources, create an atmosphere where 20,000 people want to come watch NCAA football? It's because the product has stunk and, quite frankly, the university really doesn't care about the little people who have limited discretionary funds for entertainment.

 

We're clearly not going to agree - I'm not going to change your mind, you're not going to change mine. SETX needs for Lamar University to be successful in all aspects - academically, athletically, and socially - and as an alumni and longtime resident of Beaumont I want them to succeed. But you cannot be myopic about what's going on out there and someone needs to be asking some tough questions about where the athletic department is, where it is headed, how we're going to retain good talent, and why we have an AD that would blatantly lie to the fans. Until that happens, I will cheer for the Cardinals from the comfort of my sofa without spending my hard-earned money doing so.......but my pockets aren't nearly deep enough to make Evans or little lyin' Marco care one iota, and that is the type of arrogance that is holding Lamar back from going to the next level on anything.

 

you could have the swedish bikini team doing naked pole dancing on the 50 yard line and youre not gonna get 20k.

 

And the reason is what you used as an example. Most of the area, probably all of mid county, are strutting around in their old letter jackets reliving glory days. Never been to LU in their life and stick on their aggy jerseys on Saturdays.

[puddin tane]

Andddddd, for what its worth (not alot), i hate that we lost Harmony and think the Aqua hire sucks. Hell, i dont like schultz. Hes boring, predictable and its rained since he got here and we stopped passing. Yes. I blame him for the weather! Im glad Bruder got canned and could give a hoot about the comings and goings of a womens golf coach.

[puddin tane]

Also....who are the successful coaches that have left? I can think of tubbs, foster, (no way to hold them here) and harmony. Oh..and tidwell. Im not trying real hard, who am i missing

[SportsGuy]

Harmony gave it her all, there’s no point in being bitter over her exit. I hope Aqua takes this program to the next level.

[Dracula]

you could have the swedish bikini team doing naked pole dancing on the 50 yard line and youre not gonna get 20k.

 

And the reason is what you used as an example. Most of the area, probably all of mid county, are strutting around in their old letter jackets reliving glory days. Never been to LU in their life and stick on their aggy jerseys on Saturdays.

 

Dude, this is not 1990. If you had the Swedish Bikini Team performing naked pole dancing, on the fifty, the only people showing up would be their chiropractors and those Acadian EMT guys, who like to use their gurney for seats while watching the game. Are we talking about the solid maroon home jerseys or the white road ones. I like the solid maroon, which one is your favorite. Gig 'em.

[Dracula]

I'm with you. She's worked hard and I wish the best for her. I can agree with some of your 3-4 year predictions. Schultz will probably have retired and Price is on the hot seat so that could go either way. Franklin has a lot going for her, youth, college and pro experience she can sell to a recruit, and her staff looks pretty good too. If Davis is the baseball coach, I don't see that as being voluntary. Born is not going anywhere until he wants to go

As for you, give it a rest will ya. Your attitude toward Born can't just be over some numbers. Did he run over your cat, whattttt? You have been raising hell over some numbers yet your additional "proof", of his crimes against humanity, is based on "sources" and what you admit is "unconfirmed rumors". You said that your sources gave you a list of some 30 coaches and staffers, that have left after Born became AD, lets see it, part of it, any of it.

[geezer]

If (and I am not questioning the number) thirty people have left the athletic department since Born arrived, most of them have been assistant coaches or some kind of administrative staff member. To me assistant coaches hiring and firings belong to the head coach with the exception that I'm not sure the HC can do much about their salaray or benefit packages. So most likely they're are leaving for one of three reasons. The HC doesn't think they're doing the job needed, they get a chance to go work for a better program and improve their resume or the money is better. Again I'm not questioning the quoted numbers, but will allow for a possibility that there were informal inquiries about the Women's HC job that might not show up on paper. Back to the original premise, is there anything that LU can do to improve the retention of successful coaches. The ones going to similar size schools or conferences.

[spoonbill]

If (and I am not questioning the number) thirty people have left the athletic department since Born arrived, most of them have been assistant coaches or some kind of administrative staff member. To me assistant coaches hiring and firings belong to the head coach with the exception that I'm not sure the HC can do much about their salaray or benefit packages. So most likely they're are leaving for one of three reasons. The HC doesn't think they're doing the job needed, they get a chance to go work for a better program and improve their resume or the money is better. Again I'm not questioning the quoted numbers, but will allow for a possibility that there were informal inquiries about the Women's HC job that might not show up on paper. Back to the original premise, is there anything that LU can do to improve the retention of successful coaches. The ones going to similar size schools or conferences.

 

There's no telling how many phone calls Born made during the search for the WBB coach. He may have referenced that in addition to make his numbers seem inflated. Just because they didn't submit a resume or "put their hat in the ring" doesn't mean they weren't considered. I don't don't know at this point what kind of job he's doing. It's much too soon. I didn't agree with the Bruder deal but her record in her last year sealed the deal. A few of her players were studs that transferred to bigger, "better" schools afterwards. She should have gotten more out of them I believe. Coaching is a wishy washy profession. Coaches know that. Harmony was great but couldn't get over the hump and played her cards, no pun intended, too soon and it bit her. One thing I do know is that Born is at virtually every sports event walking around handshaking and talking to people. That's one of an AD's job. It may be fake but he's always around talking to fans. It's called fundraising. The nutrition center happened because of his people skills/networking. I'll hold off judgement on him for a while but he's WAY better than Henderson and I'll take that. Your infatuation with him is weird and actually unhealthy mentally.

[geezer]

Obviously something sparked your concern a whole lot than mine about the numbers, so what all have you filed FOIA documents for? Attendance numbers have been false in basketball for years and anyone that attended the games new that. I believe most places count tickets sold as opposed to trying to count people in their seats so that never concerns me. Really except for curiosity as to who might have applied the number applicants doesn't bother me either and some applicants don't want their name on record as they may not have told their respective school or HC that they are looking to move. I suspect that's why the media hasn't asked any questions. I'll grant you exagerating the number of applicants by four times seems a little excessive but again what kind of reputation do you think LU has as a place to move up to even for less talented coaches and AD applicants? A school with a midiocre reputation has to get lucky or get the right person who is willing to take the time to make the improvements. I have no idea if Born fills that slot. The same thing is true for coaches and individual sports. Even if you get a talented coach, to some degree their ability to recruit outstanding players to build a program is luck and or time. As far as Price is concerned the incoming players for this year and 2020 commits look decent on paper so maybe there is hope, all be it in my opinion faint hope. Won't say that I expect LU to make the FCS playoffs again necessarilly but do expect improvement which can happen and still not make the playoffs. For the women's basketball program I expect some fall off as a few players transferred when Harmony left and the new coach is unproven. At least Born didn't go hire a name.

[Skinny1]

Wow! All this over the athletic director. Born is a young, first time AD, so like young first time head coaches, he is going to make mistakes. He will learn, but in my opinion he at least appears to be trying and is ahead of the guy he replaced.

As for golf coaches, how much coaching do they do? They are predominately recruiters/ travel agents. Same can be said about tennis. So the key to their success is having the contacts to recruit top players, from wherever. Tennis has been dominated by foreign players for over 30 years and golf, track/field, and cross country are also beginning to be dominated by athletes not from the USA.

[Skinny1]

In my experience with Lamar, which goes back to 1971 and JB Higgins was the AD. We have never had a men’s or women’s AD with any experience from another school.

[spoonbill]

Dead horse beat to second death over number of candidates misstated. Media isn't covering this because they try to report on stories that interest people, not just for you unfortunately.