The pipe dream dies: Gait staying put

My morning opened with a text message hinting that Gary Gait would not be taking the Maryland men's lacrosse job.

Within minutes, Inside Lacrosse had this report up with comments from Gait himself.

So Gait remains with the Syracuse women's program, stays where he went to school and doesn't uproot a family with a daughter in high school and a son almost there.

All of which --- combined with a salary plenty of sources indicate is extremely healthy for a women's lacrosse coach --- makes a ton of sense.

And maybe now, Maryland fans can finally give up the ghost about Gait ever becoming the Terrapins' coach. It isn't happening. Realistically, that ship sailed almost nine years ago, and it would have taken a ridiculous amount of money to lure it back into port.

While Gait is the most accomplished player in the game's history, there's no way to tell just how good a college coach he will really be. Yes, there's a couple final four trips with Syracuse's women. There's also only a dozen or so women's programs actually putting the necessary resources into getting that far. On the men's side, it's double that total.

Could he turn out to be a great men's college coach down the road? Sure. But it could just as easily go the other way, and that's a big reason why this isn't the worst thing to happen to Maryland.

Nevertheless, Maryland has now absorbed its first direct rejection in this search, and you can't help but to get the feeling there are some people in and around College Park who will be flat-out shocked by this. But they shouldn't be.

And it could happen again.

Gait isn't the only guy with a fairly comfortable family situation, an appreciative employer and more job security than Maryland is going to offer.

It's easy to forget that in nonrevenue sports, these things still tend to be important. Money's nice, too. But when the financial upside is much more limited than in football or basketball, the (pardon the cliche) right fit matters a lot.

It'll be interesting, then, to see who fits at Maryland. Gait, with a nice setup in Syracuse, no men's college coaching experience and a rejection nearly a decade ago in College Park, was never a logical option unless Maryland was just dead-set on ripping open the checkbook simply to secure some name recognition.

Instead, the Terrapins will keep looking. The fit is out there; it just isn't Gait.

Comments

[jon stover]

I don't think this is about money or security. The way he was treated by Md 9 yrs ago was appalling. Don't forget, the players revolted too. Surely, Kevin Plank could buy Gait Bros. lacrosse and truly make Gary secure. There may be a fit lurking, but there is no one in Gait's league as a player, coach, human, you name it he's the greatest figure in lacrosse.