CaliKlines
Well-Known Member
Don’t forget to add Tim Santoro from NC State. After 6 seasons with State, he’s been to tournament 3 times including two Sweet 16 appearances. Complete overhaul of an underperforming program.
Cal... What happened?
- Thread starter Supermodel56
- Start date
Love them.
TexasWave
BRONZE
Thank you Ricky. Seems like the Board likes the program. My daughter met the staff and left Malibu believing she found her new home. So we are passing on College Station, Austin, Fort Worth and Lubbock for Malibu. Only girl on her team to not join a SEC or Big 12 program. Can’t say I’m not excited about regular flights to SoCal and the rest of the WCC campuses come Fall 2021.
oh agree. I just was listing west coast schools. If you expand that nationwide you will find coaches who win very quickly when taking over. EVEN if some of them win, then take a step back, then win...etc. They make an immediate and tangible impact on the culture of the program and bring in knowledge and savvy that makes a difference in win loss record. So when a coach has been at a school like Oregon for Pete's sake and can't even manage one winning season it's pretty telling. I honestly don't root against anyone so I am not hoping she fails....it's just taking a long time (and she has yet to do it at any program she's been at).
CaliKlines
Well-Known Member
Kat has a lot of tangible support around her program with equipment, facilities, and academic programs. (The Jaqua is quite a building!) Those brick and mortar facilities attract top players. The intangibles are harder to develop.
MakeAPlay
DA
Those two seasons were far from comparable. UCLA was coming off of an elite 8 and a national championship and lost 8 or 9 starters and due to a coaching change they only got 3 recruits that made it past their freshman year. So not a typical UCLA recruiting class. Also my focus wasn’t a one off season it is more the fact with the same caliber of talent that the other California PAC 12 schools get they haven’t advanced past the 2nd round whereas the others all won national championships in the last 6 years.
Let’s put it another way. Cal had the #1 recruiting class for 2017 committed and for some reason 4 of the top 5 players chose to go elsewhere and they are all doing well including one of them winning the MAC Hermann trophy. There has to be a reason why...
eastbaysoccer
GOLD
Bottom line NEIL has underperformed. Cal could reach down south and grab Hanson who Would jump in a heartbeat. Give her 130k which is less than Neil’s 150k and more than she’s making at SJSU.
Or you could go after cal alum HAMM who took sf state to new heights and just joined Davis provided she can do some damage in the big west over the next two years.
Neil moves over to take over at ST.marys or pacific.
SpeedK1llz
GOLD
Amazing! Couldn’t ask for a better staff. Focused more on building women of character knowing that with that, great soccer will follow. High level of integrity. They are honest with each player and do what they say they’ll do and keep their word. The staff is what sold my player on committing to the program.
dk_b
GOLD
Yes, what we are saying is not radically different: “My point is not that . . . UCLA’s down year in 2015 was comparable to Cal’s 2018 (UCLA was down but Cal’s was worse). My point is that the margin is thin and there’s a reason why the consistently elite teams are few in number.” And, as I noted in my reference to Cal’s loss to SCU, it was an explanation - as you have provided here re 2015. The coaching change did not hurt UCLA in 2013 and 2014 but did in 2015 - that’s an explanation. (And I accept that). Cromwell seems to have done a great job in keeping the program at an elite level - again, one of the consistently elite teams that are few in number. A winning program is not an elite program - a program that is consistently in the top 10, consistently makes the college cup, can weather an odd down year without it snowballing into years . . . those are the elite ones. And even a 1st or 2d round loss in the tourney is limited to “disappointment” rather than real questions with those few programs (think about UNC’s incredible legacy - when they lost in the College Cup semis in San Jose, it closed the door on the first senior class to never have won an ncaa championship since the class of 1981 and that class never had an ncaa championship to win!). What makes the PAC-12 great (well, one of the reasons) is that there are so many really good programs, a number of them consistently successful. But even in the pac-12 there are only a couple (2 or maybe 3) “elites”. And that’s the big challenge for any of the programs at the bottom - it is not enough to just play competitive games against the league, you’ve got to win those close ones. And that’s where - going back to my earlier comment - you will have a hard time without an elite gk or a real scorer (preferably both). I’m biased because of my own personal interests but I do hope that regaining that element will make a big difference for Cal (still needs to have tourney success) and adding that will soon be a turning point for Oregon.
(@SpeedK1llz can confirm this or correct any details I get wrong - he and I first connected when I had Stanford-SCU 2d round tix that I could not use (the game Stanford lost in 2OT right after Sullivan went down) (the other game was Pepperdine v I can’t remember (NC State maybe?)). That loss really stunk for any Stanford fan - before the injury, Stanford had dominated and it seemed that this was going to be a special run but SCU’s gk was sensational. Of course a 2d round loss proves to be a blip with an elite program.)
Enjoy it.
It goes by quick!
So in your opinion... why?
MacDre
PREMIER
I will admit that I have a strong bias towards Cal. However, I can’t recall Cal teams in any sport ever being that good. When I was in High School, I hung out with the Cal football team because one of my best friends older brother Je’rod Cherry played for Cal. My law school roommate Na’il Benjamin played for Cal and was one of the Players Marruuci took to the 49ers with him. My little cousin Beast Mode also played at Cal. Everyone in my inner circle transitioned to the NFL seamlessly despite playing on mediocre teams at Cal. In fact, Je’rod recently auctioned one of his super bowl rings for charity. So, from where I’m standing it looks like Cal is a good option for those that have a decent chance of going pro. But I have to admit you and MAP are in my head and making me reconsider a few things.
MacDre
PREMIER
I follow CM very closely because her soccer foundation is similar to my players. I assumed she chose Stanford because they offered more money. What are your thoughts as to why 4 out of 5 top players chose to go elsewhere?
There are some people on this forum that have direct experience with what happened with the 2017 class. Maybe one of them will chime in...
I seriously doubt CM was offered less than a full ride anywhere.
Know it quite well. Really a different story for each player. The initial 4 players, including my DD, went up as a group and all committed early their sophomore years. The virtues of the arguments against early commitments. As for mine, Berkeley looked cool and "eclectic" during that initial visit, then when she turned 15 she thought it was a "weird" city and had an appetite to leave Coast and go explore the Midwest/ACC. That was pretty much it. Then she went to a late summer game at the Big House.....and now attends Ann Arbor.....the Berkeley of the Midwest. Had nothing to do with money offered, pretty sure that was true for the entire group. But it would definitely have been a heck of a recruiting class.
SpeedK1llz
GOLD
All correct sir. Your memory is impeccable!
I googled "Berkeley of the midwest" and got mostly references to Madison, Wisconsin.