Keeler not hired at Albany

[Hal Kopp]

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnf ... id=4646790

Heard he is not in running at Rhody,also the coach at Sacred Heart is not?

"The Kingston insider"

[Brian]

Hal, I just sent you a private messages...

[jcru]

That is a weird hire. An assistant coach at Maryland. Not the OC or DC, some random assistant. Why?

I really hope that isn't the direction URI goes here. Wasn't that pretty much Trainer to a T? He was going to become the DC at Bowling Green?

URI needs something much greater and more solid than that.

[TruePoint]

That is a weird hire. An assistant coach at Maryland. Not the OC or DC, some random assistant. Why?

I really hope that isn't the direction URI goes here. Wasn't that pretty much Trainer to a T? He was going to become the DC at Bowling Green?

URI needs something much greater and more solid than that.

He was the assistant head coach, meaning that he shared some of the head coach's administrative duties. Not saying this was a great hire but I'd have to think the nature of this guy's role at Maryland helped make him attractive to Albany. Also, you have to think that Albany (probably like URI) isn't exactly the most attractive job in the country. It isn't like you're going to get the OC from Baylor to come here to coach. Getting a higher level assistant from a BCS program probably make Albany pretty happy.

[RhowdyRam02]

Might not be a bad hire. 51 years old, head coach at Duquesne from 93-04, compiled a record of 97-32, only one losing season and that was his first year. After the 2004 season he became an assistant at Pitt. It seems like he tried to take his shot moving up the ladder hoping to get a head coaching job at the FBS level and when Albany came calling he figured he might not be able to get there, so why not come back and run his own program at the FCS level again.

Contrast that with Trainer who was 13-20 at Millersville University with no winning seasons. When Rizzi announced he was leaving on 2/21/09, I think Thorr was in a tight spot and might have in hindsight made a bit of a panic hire. Just one month before spring practice, getting on the coaching carousel much later than every other school, and thinking that Rizzi had the program moving in the right direction. Trainer did leave for Bowling Green in December, but in 08 he was our DC and assistant head coach, so Thorr must have been hoping he could keep whatever progress we were making going.

[rhodyrudder]

I've said this elsewhere: rhody was at least competitive under trainer until the nec pump-fake.

Is it mid-december yet?

[Brian]

I've said this elsewhere: rhody was at least competitive under trainer until the nec pump-fake.

Is it mid-december yet?

I do think it would be unfair to judge Joe's time here without acknowledging the NEC "pump fake" (great description)....but with all due respect to Joe, it could also be noted that Rizzi recruits and the 2 Hofstra players that fell into our laps played a big role in us being competitive. Since then, our offense has consistently been among the worst in FCS/1-AA. It takes a lot more than being handicapped during 2 recruiting cycles to be that bad.

[Rhody74]

Admittedly, I only saw a handful of games while Trainer was coach. I thought his game coaching/management was atrocious. And that has nothing to do with conference affiliation or level of talent.

[rambone 78]

Well, like Thorr said, it's not all on the coach, it's a program issue.

Given what a coach has to work with here, it will take a very special staff to get the most out of it.

I am just as interested in what we end up promising the new coach, in terms of program upgrades, as I am the identity of the new coach himself.

Like Rod said with Dan's hire, Rome wasn't built in a day, but it's got to start now.

74, you're right about that, I think it was a combination of lack of player AND coaching talent.