As our new head baseball coach. He is reportedly the first African-American head coach in division 1 college baseball, and it's great to see NU being a champion for diversity. Out of 295 D-1 programs, it is somewhat startling that Allen is the first African-American head coach. Regardless, Allen seems to be a great get for the Cats.
OT: NU hires Spencer Allen
- Thread starter NUHockey
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Wow. You hear about a lack of black coaches in football, but for Spencer to be the 1st in baseball is amazing.
Love this hire. Allen has got guts, taking over the traditionally poor NU program. But with new facilities on the horizon (I stopped by Wells Field last week, and it is surrounded by construction barrier fencing) and a fresh attitude toward recruiting, NU could be decent in a couple of years. Best of luck to Coach Allen!
I don't think that's exactly correct. The article I saw said the first "in a major conference in college baseball", however that's defined. I don't have time to research this thoroughly, but off the top of my head, I remember Tony Gwynn as the head coach at San Diego State, which as far as I know, is a D1 baseball program. But regardless of the semantics, it's still apparently a groundbreaking hire for NU, and he sounds like a great young coach.
You're correct. I suppose major conference would mean power conference? Still pretty remarkable
I have a buddy who plays at u of I right now. Chuck Naso. Said Allen is a "great guy, great coach and great recruiter." I also have a friend who played for him at Purdue and he said the same thing. Good get for the Cats
Yes indeed. Even if we're talking "power conferences", it's still absolutely astounding to me that this is a first, here in 2015.
Have to also hope he is allowed to use all of the allowed scholarships. This would seem to be one of our big problems in being able to compete effectively.
Who would be the most logical for him to keep? Who served as recruiting coordinator on the previous staff?
Mikrut has been the recruiting and he is great. He is young, played in the program, and therefore knows the school in and out. Stoddard also has a ton of experience and is very well liked. Both are good coaches and have a different coaching style than what was implimented under Stevens.
Stoddard was the first (and maybe only) athlete to win a world series and an NCAA basketball championship. Whenever that trivia question comes up, I think of how cool it is that he's at NU.
It will be interesting to see how things turn out...it would seem like Mikrut would be the more likely of the two to stay. I'm sure Allen is very familiar with both. I've always felt the baseball program was a "sleeping giant" - hoping Allen can turn things around.
Is hiring the best person for the job being a champion of diversity? I hope so and believe that's just what we did. Congrats Coach and we wish you all the best as a 'Cat!!!
I think it is. So often those doing the hiring get caught up in making the safe hire. The hire who looks like what that position has always looked like. How else could you explain that even in sports which has always been ahead of society in diversity, there had never been a black coach for a major conference baseball team?
Congrats to NU for looking beyond the stereotype. And congrats to Coach Allen for putting himself in position to be that right choice. I see good things ahead for NU baseball.
I like Tim but I would guess the new coach will go in a different direction. I am sure the annual baseball weekend will be Oct 3 and I'll get to meet the new coach then
I hope he leveraged full scholarship quota as part of his contract
I hope he leveraged full scholarship quota as part of his contract