Stags' Men's Lax Coaching Update

I recently talked to Joe Lombardi again from the Journal News about the Fairfield men's lacrosse opening. He agrees (and so do I, for that matter) with Matt DeSilva's article in Lax Magazine that Fairfield needs to move quickly to avoid having to play too much catch-up in the fall.

He also sees a high-profile coach as a distinct possibility: "I think Gene Doris will proceed the way he did with the men's hoops opening - namely aim high. As you recall, Fran Fraschilla and Pete Gillen were some of the names that first surfaced after Tim O'Toole's departure."

Here's his thoughts on some of the top candidates in the vacancy:

Scott Marr, Albany: "I think Marr would certainly consider it but probably we need to see that there is administrative support of the program and a few other things, etc. My sense though is that he may have taken Albany's program as far as it could go and he may be interested in a new challenge."

Mike Pressler, Bryant: "I'm not sure how locked in Pressler is at Bryant. I know he is loyal to them because they gave him the opportunity after the Duke situation - and he and his family love Rhode Island. But he is a Wilton High grad and Fairfield could very well be intriguing for him"

As for some top assistants from premier programs (i.e. Ed Cooley three years ago), Lombardi mentioned Hopkins associate head coach Bill Dwan as a hot name among in D-I circles as an up-and-coming stud head coach.

Clearly Cleary is reading the Mirror Blog

A few days after our post on Mr. Blaney, Tom Cleary (who is now the Executive Editor in 'The Mirror' hierarchy) puts out a fantastic article in the Hartford Courant on the newly acquired assistant coach with deep New England routes. Interesting fact: Papa George Blaney, UConn's associate head coach, was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003, and boasts 459 wins in his career.

Not a bad pedigree.

Best Cooleyism in the article: "Knowing the league is important, and (Loyola Md.) beat us twice in the quarterfinals, so hey, if you can't beat 'em, take someone from them." Let the rivalry talk continue.

An early peek at the Stags' schedule

Currently Scheduled Games:
Nov. 14 - @ Memphis
Nov 20-23 – Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic (Seton Hall, Virginia Tech, Memphis, Xavier, USC, Missouri and Hofstra)
Nov. 26 – Western Michigan
Dec. 1 - @ Holy Cross
Dec. 10 - @ Fordham
Dec. 27 - @ UConn

Yet to be scheduled games for the Arena at Harbor Yard:
Sacred Heart
St. Francis (Alumni Hall?)
America (AH?)
Drexel
TBD (Army, Cornell, Rhode Island are distinct possibilities)

A few thoughts: First of all, talk about back-to-back home runs for the season opener - last year at Winston-Salem for Skip Prosser Night, and now on the road vs. Memphis for the team's first game since the National Championship. Wow.

As for the actual schedule, I noticed that the majority of "tough winnables" or games against top teams from premier conferences are still there, as in Cooley Year 1 and Year 2, but the majority of games against other mid-majors come later in the out-of-conference schedule (with the exception of UConn). In past years, games against Holy Cross, Yale, and Central Arkansas were jumbled with games against BC, UConn, and Providence. Translation: inconsistency.

I'd like to think that getting the most challenging games "out of the way" first to boost up the confidence and experience levels can only be a benefit. One person close to the team told me that the order of games in the schedule "is no coincidence".

Cooley: "There are some heavy hitters (early on) and I hope the people at the university know that there's a good chance I could come out of (Puerto Rico) 0-4." Throw in Memphis and that could be rough early season start #3 for the Cooley era.

Still, if the team can somehow upset, say, a Seton Hall type, or at the very least is ready to roll and building confidence come Holy Cross, Sacred Heart, and, eventually, the MAAC schedule, it will be well worth the trip.

Welcome to the crew, Brian Blaney

Thought I'd change it up a little bit and blog about men's basketball for a change... given that it is the preeminent sport on North Benson Rd. anyway.

Referring back to that Sunday Q&A Chris Elsberry did with head coach Ed Cooley, it was officially revealed that the Stags have hired former Loyola associate head coach Brian Blaney to take over for Aki Collins as an assistant coach.

Locally, Blaney is renown for being the son of UConn associate head coach George Blaney, who has been Jim Calhoun's right hand man for going on eight years. Ironically, Fairfield is scheduled to head up to Storrs to play the Huskies on December 27.

What I found fascinating was the manner in which this hiring went down. According to Cooley's words, Blaney called him "out of the blue", and cited his new marriage and family as a reason to settle down home in the Connecticut area. Cooley said that Blaney wasn't even "on (his) radar".

So Jimmy Patsos' main assistant gives a call to Ed Cooley to come join his staff, even though its a lesser position? Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but I do find this to an interesting way to add fuel to the Fairfield/Loyola fire. Maybe Cooley and Blaney are indeed good friends who go way back, or maybe Blaney felt that a change of scenery (a.k.a. somewhere away from Jimmy) was needed for more than just family reasons. But it's worth noting that Cooley is known around coaching circles as a well-respected voice. Patsos, on the other hand, is sometimes not viewed in the same manner (just ask Joe Mihalich).

My favorite Cooleyism in this article: "Brian's about to get married and Jimmy (Patsos) wants some younger, single guys that will run around and go crazy and Brian's trying to settle his life down."