Transition was set for the expiration of SG’s contract. Apparently Hahn has had a bunch of offers but is happy/comfortable where he’s at = sounded like RU/B1G/NJ was enticing enough to make the move. The other names mentioned seemed kind of random and did not include JB or Green - not sure what to make of that part of the rumor.
Damion Hahn was first choice not Ashnault
- Thread starter RUSpider
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Why couldn’t RU send Goodale a confirmation letter that his contract will not be renewed. And then enter into an AHC contract today with a “promotion to HC clause” that takes effect the day after Goodale’s contract expires. my source did say that Hahn will still be a top candidate when SG contract expires but RU will also has the flexibility to survey the coaching landscape at that time. May not be a terrible move assuming Hahn is still in play.
And to that point , how much longer is the new jersey fan base going to put up with this? There is zero tradition with Rutgers wrestling. Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Ohio kids dream of wrestling for Penn State Iowa , and Ohio St. There is real no major sales pitch... It's a no brainer. The results, the tradition and the accolades are all there. We had one solid year with AA and Suriano. And let's be clear here , Suriano came here because of Donnie, AA came here because his brother Billy was offered employment. I just think that the fan base who is on the fence about goodell's employment , are going to finally get so aggravated that they're going to request that he's removed. And let me tell you , Zimn will not lose her job over that. I think the dead weight right now is obviously goody,pollard and kiss. Right there is an over four hundred thousand dollar headache. You're telling me Hahn , wouldn't take that kind of money as head coach and relocate back to his hometown. I still think it's asinine that they did not offer him a guaranteed contract. Goodale and Hahn are not even in the same sentence.
It's almost like the state school has to post the job openly to the public first before offering it to anyone.
Hearing similar things. But heard this is far from over. Things still in the air and conversations are still ongoing with Hahn. Heard if he was coming for second fiddle AHC. H wanted to have control of assistant hires and RTC immediately not a year from now.
If that's the case , we can't let this one go again, like donnie. We need to give him what he wants (within reason), and secure the future of this program.AA Is nowhere near seasoned enough, or has the experience to take over the head coach position in the next 3 to 4 yrs. Ultimately, I would love to see Hahn as head coach, Anthony as associate head coach. Maybe in 10 years,Hahn can move into a director's position at Rutgers and Anthony takes over as head coach. My only real gripe is, I don't want to lose mikey labs. I think he's a very sought after man as an assistant. I'd be hard pressed if he stayed another 3 years just as an assistant. I can see him going directly into an associate head coaching job and then eventually head coach.
I truly hope there's still a chance. Hahn would be a home run here.
Who knows what’s true and what isn’t? Lots of conflicting opinions from “insiders”.
What I believe is true is that most NJ fans want Goodale to immediately retire and be honored for what he achieved.
I like labs but he hasn’t helped any upperweights get over the hump and AA so if getting Hahn means Labs is gone I’ll help him pack
Why can't Rutgers think a little out of the box? If Rutgers hired Hahn as co-head coach, similar to what Iowa did with the brothers, he would already be in place when SG leaves. That is an implied guarantee. The soft understanding would be that Hahn is in charge, SG transitioning. An alternative is to make it part of the contract, where he would have to show measurable improvement with recruiting and results, but I prefer to see him take charge from the beginning. He should be confident in his ability to do that. AA is not ready to run a program. He's a great coaching add and needs to mature under a good leader; then management can choose between him and Labs. It's no different from other career development in business.
So far, the new AD has done a great job politicking, saying all the right things. Now she needs to show that she can cut through the BS and make a hard decision that is best for the program. She can get some good ideas here that she isn't getting internally. I'm not as confident as I'd like to be.
Forget Donnie; he's found his place and is doing a good job there. Green already found his spot. If JB isn't a possibility, go for Hahn big time.
So far, the new AD has done a great job politicking, saying all the right things. Now she needs to show that she can cut through the BS and make a hard decision that is best for the program. She can get some good ideas here that she isn't getting internally. I'm not as confident as I'd like to be.
Forget Donnie; he's found his place and is doing a good job there. Green already found his spot. If JB isn't a possibility, go for Hahn big time.
I don't know why Mikey would have to leave in order to get Hahn. Hahn is a big man coach.
Except for the associate head coach thing. AA should be an assistant until he has proven himself and earns the Assoc-HC.
Even that we're having this conversation shows that she has taken a keen interest in the wrestling program. Which is good news and it was said that her and the President had a great time at the matches they attended. I believe the President said, "I'm hooked". She has already raised additional NIL funds for wrestling (Hobbs raised $0) so it's much more than "politicking" as you state.
I’m sure she realizes wrestling is one of the easiest sports to fix. 10 weight classes and 4-5 coaches. Piece of cake. few studs AA and the program has legitimacy. Same goes with MBB and WBB = need a few studs and competent role players to compete. However, Football is a nightmare and financial black hole. men’s soccer has gotten stupid as international players are taking over. Baseball players want to play/train in warm weather in the South. Lax doesn’t have the money to tempt kids from going to the Ivies and lax facilities are underwhelming.
Iowa didn't hire Terry as co-HC. He's clearly the associate and makes $205k, while Tom is the HC making $750k+.
I'm confused. If SG is not extended, will he be spending the next season as a lame duck? How does that affect recruiting.? Thanks for input. $$$$
Yea that was my response also. But from what I’ve heard about Keli is she was not impressed by current contracts and how they are structured. Would rather start with new contract than extend existing. Is giving all current coaches time to right the ship but will not extend for the sake of extending. And as I said in the tournament thread. She was at the national tournament less to root on the team and more to rub elbows with the powers that be.
No sнit. She is politician and geared towards money first, and the school comes second. With that said , if she wants to keep that salary rolling , she better start making some changes. Us, Jersey and former Jersey people are ruthless.But we are always on the money when it comes to our athletics. She'll be gone very quickly if she doesn't start making changes. She just has to pӏss off the wrong person. Hobbs was doing a great job and then he got caught playing stinky finger with the gymnastics coach. At this point I think our jersey fans would be more forgiving of him playing hide the pickle as opposed to us being embarrassed repeatedly like we were the last couple years. Who cares if he likes to get his lance wet. Don't we all. But we're sick and tired of dumping money into a program and being the laughing stock.
The solution is easy. Call up Jordan. Tell Goodale it’s time to go. Back up the brinks truck and call it a day. Top 10, that’s lame, would be batting out with PSU and OSU for national championships the most decorated wrestler in US history, also from New Jersey, would be DT level hire in terms of program. The fact is you want to learn from the people that have done it and the top kids aren’t aiming to be NCAA champs but Olympic gold medalist. This would instantly change the makeup of the ORTC as well. All of which are important to the talent you need to be a top team. The fix is easy but who’s got the ….. to pull the trigger in the AD?
Maybe it will improve recruiting. Oftentimes, stock prices for underperforming companies will jump on the news of a change at the top. Of course, having a big-name successor could help too. If only she has the ____s to do it. I'll believe it when I see it.
Hobbs was doing an awful job. Hobbs was the politician. And appointed by a politician. So not sure what you mean but that. Kelli has done more in 9 months raising funds than any and all of our previous AD’s combined.
Where's the Brinks truck coming from? You have the $1M/yr for him, another $1M/yr for the assistants and SKWC athletes and coaches, and then $1M-$3M+ for the roster? Never gonna happen unless he's willing to take a lot less $.
Honest question and I don’t have any dog in the fight. Without talking about their accolades achieved as wrestlers, does anyone have any proof that Pollard isn’t a good coach, or that Labriola is better, or any kind of criteria that makes a coach good or bad? We all know what they did/didn’t accomplish as wrestlers. That doesn’t make someone a good/bad coach.
There are plenty of guys that are good coaches that weren’t national champs and there’s plenty of accomplished wrestlers that didn’t become good coaches. While I’m sure being a high level wrestler is a huge plus, that’s not the end all be all.
For what it’s worth he also accused me of being a relative of Pollard. I’ve never met the guy and I’m not Mineo. Mineo has posted here under his real name in the past, and last time got into a hilarious argument where he bodied Crackers.
I’m just a former high school coach who has maintained relationships with many people in the wrestling community.
Ungar looks like he has some really good wins (Including Dean Peterson). He looks like he is easily a NCAA qualifier and hopefully will be there at the blood round.....where you never know.
Yes, Peterson had some good wins and dumb losses. NCAA qualifier isn't good enough. Rd of 12 in '23, hasn't done as well since. I'll take Gibson if he gets serious.
Name a team that’s relevant that isn’t headed by a highly decorated coach? The fact is recruits know wrestling is different and unless someone has done it before, meaning actually knows the work, the tricks, the actual path and such to get to the top of the heap you are guessing. The top coaches have done it themselves. When Goodale said I’m a dual meet guy at heart, he said he doesn’t have the right attitude. This isn’t HS. No top level wrestler goes to a school to win duals and the elite of the elite aren’t even looking to win NCAAs, it’s a given to themselves they’ll be nvaa champs, they are looking to be Olympic gold medalist and world champions. I’m not saying this is always the case but Goodale has done extremely well but he’s reached he’s peak and secondly I question he actually knows what it takes to get there. He doesn’t get the elite level talent, and he doesn’t even have elite level coaching surrounding him. Donnie was that guy and you can see in 2 years what he’s doing with Columbia. And his staff is already better than Rutgers. But he’s not at the right school to really take it to the next level or have the draw on his own to bring the talent necessary, my point Goodale is at the right school and took Rutgers to levels above where it was, but there are still more levels to this …. And he is not the right guy to go to the next step.
I agree with this. I've been coached by accomplished wrestlers who couldn't teach what made them successful because they don't know and/or teaching is a different skill than performing and/or athleticism accounted for success more than technique.
With that said, there is some evidence current coaches are not developing wrestlers well. Its not as clear or definitive as some make it out to be but the lack of post season success is evidence that current coaching staff as it is made up isn't succeeding. I don't think you can honestly isolate one specific coach as the reason but a shakeup would be warranted iI think. Upper weights had some success and you could draw at least a correlation to Labriola.
Change for changes sake is often unproductive but trying the same things that dont work even harder is equally futile. I think its true that coaching skill isn't the same as wrestling skill. Coaching success isnt the same as wrestling success. When coaches arent having success and arent showing results, its fair to consider replacements, even if there is no true way to show who is and who isn't coaching well.
I think most fans think there is a recruiting and excitement advantage to having successful coaches around and those who have walked the walk generate more interest and respect.
Crackers was doing well in his last few posts, but then the Hobbs comment. What did Hobbs ever do for wrestling? Zinn has reportedly raised money, which is great. Lack of money has been a big go-to excuse here for many years. Now let's see what she does with the funds and how she addresses the coaching issue. If we see Hahn or Burroughs come in, I'll join her fan club. If she extends Goodale's contract or does the typical Rutgers hiring of someone else's assistant coach (with a hope and prayer), then she missed the opportunity. Some good things have been happening; don't stop now.
You have just echoed what I've been saying for years. The majority of people here think a skilled and successful wrestler will be a good coach. Maybe, but not necessarily so. That is a major reason for my comments about elevating Ashnault too quickly. They are related, but different skills. Goodale hasn't put all the pieces together. I spent my career at a large R&D company and saw it firsthand. People who were technically excellent would get promoted to management positions and not transition well.
In this analogy. Imagine if the trainer had no experience at that actual job. It’s hard to train someone to do something you have never done. To say to a wrestler, the night before your national championship match this is how you should eat, sleep and train, resonates more coming from someone who has actually done it.
Agreed. Raising money and funding programs properly has been the excuse for 50 years. She has done those things in 9 months. Now she needs to start making coaching changes in multiple underperforming sports. Looks like the first hire has some buzz. If I’m an Olympic sport coach I would be polishing my resume. Because those are easier fixes with less buyouts than the revenue sports. I’m thinking if Hobbs didn’t have a propensity for rewarding underachieving coaches with long term contracts and ridiculous buyouts. There would have been changes in the revenue sports as well.
Based on all the data we have. Which is all of the national champs and their coaches. How many champs were coached by someone that never won a national championship vs someone that has?
No one could be drunk enough to believe that BS
Hobbs was doing a great job? Are you high?
so ungar credentials aren’t enough for you but Mason Gibson and his 0 career wins over NQs and getting bonused 4 times last year including by a guy who was 12-17 is?
7 out of the 10 ncaa champs this year were coached by national champs if you count Manning being a 2x D2 champ. Of the 3 others Eggum is an ncaa finalist and multi time world medalist , Pat Pop was 4x NQ 2x AA and was ranked #1 at his weight most of his senior year and then Chris Ayers just a NQ
in 2025 7 out of 10 were coached by nationals champs and the other 3 coaches were Pat pop, Ncaa finalist Mike Poeta and ncaa finalist Tom Ryan