The overwhelming tenor of tweets and e-mails I've received in the last 24 hours concerns one topic. Namely, who the next lacrosse coach at Maryland will be.
My answer? Your guess is as good as mine, and that's why any list of candidates won't be worth the pixels needed to make it appear on a screen.
For any name brought up, there's a good reason why he would be an unlikely candidate. And it goes well beyond Xs-and-Os; if it didn't, Dave Cottle would almost certainly still be employed.
It's been an interesting day, judging from the reaction of coaches who remain stunned at Maryland's decision. The early intel is inconclusive, though as one coach warned, "Things never work out the way you think they will."
Which is a wonderful way of saying there should be some interesting twists along the way.
Maryland is remaining mostly mum, though it was possible to wrangle two nuggets at this stage.
First, the school is required to wait two weeks before making a hire. But Maryland doesn't have a timeframe to select a new coach, so this might not matter. At the least, it'll be a minimum of two weeks, and a maximum of ... well, when does next season start, again?
Second, Division I coaching experience is not going to be a requirement. So those who want to scour through the Division II or Division III ranks --- or, perhaps more wisely, a list of the best Division I assistants --- can go ahead and do so.
It's worth pointing out there are only two Division I jobs open at the moment. Penn State coach Glenn Thiel --- who was in Happy Valley so long, he very well might have hitched a ride on a triceratops on his first day on the job --- retired earlier this month. That's always looked like a fascinating gig, but the Nittany Lions have reached just two NCAA tournaments over the years.
Despite the intriguing potential at Penn State, Maryland is a superior lacrosse job. At the moment, it will be the epicenter of any coaching domino effect this year (unless pressure stemming from the tumult of the last three weeks in Charlottesville somehow forces a change at Virginia).
But the question soon becomes who, if anyone, among the sport's elite coaches are going anywhere? And just as significantly, how much will Maryland's high bar deter those who would understandably like more modest expectations from their superiors from expressing serious interest?
The good thing for Maryland is it isn't seriously competing with anyone for whatever coaches might be interested. The bad thing for Maryland is every day it doesn't have a head coach, there's a real chance that someone (or a few someones) from its group of committed juniors will jump ship to an equally appealing school with a greater sense of stability in the present moment.
In any case, Maryland has created a crucial moment for its lacrosse program. Where it's headed, though, no one can know for sure.
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