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Mocs Wrestling Disappoints


Ummmno
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But the perspective remains the same.  Wrestling is much bigger and a more mature sport in the NE, Midwest, and some western states than it is in TN.  

I think some solid goals for UTC would be:

1.  Win SoCon every year

2.  Create a culture in the room of commitment and dedication to the program to keep kids all 4-7 years

3.  Capture all elite talent from TN and throughout the SE by being more involved in youth and HS wrestling (camps, clinics, social media)

4. Consistently produce AAs

I think by establishing themselves as the premier D1 school in the SE for wrestling, they can create a higher level room which will in turn create more SoCon Championships and more AAs, especially if the culture changes to where kids who start at UTC and become good enough to transfer to a higher level D1 school stay for the room and for the team believing the room they help elevate will also help elevate them.  

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Just my opinion here, and it may be an unpopular one, but I think when Eslinger left and we hired a new coach it should've been one from in state. 

 

We have one FROM this state who competed at the highest levels and isn't currently coaching at the NCAA level. Phillip Simpson. 

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50 minutes ago, Ummmno said:

Just my opinion here, and it may be an unpopular one, but I think when Eslinger left and we hired a new coach it should've been one from in state. 

 

We have one FROM this state who competed at the highest levels and isn't currently coaching at the NCAA level. Phillip Simpson. 

We took the long way around to get there. Regardless who the coach is, the challenges remain. In this day and age you can’t just be a good technique coach, you have to be a marketer and a salesman. Someone that can cast a wider net and create a vision of the program that will get more higher level talent in the room. I have no idea if the current coach is that guy or some other guy is that guy. 

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3 hours ago, Ummmno said:

Just my opinion here, and it may be an unpopular one, but I think when Eslinger left and we hired a new coach it should've been one from in state. 

 

We have one FROM this state who competed at the highest levels and isn't currently coaching at the NCAA level. Phillip Simpson. 

There is no way that the powers that be from "the Mecca of wrestling in this state" were gonna allow UTC to bring in a coach from Middle Tennessee. Especially a Simpson.

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15 minutes ago, wrestler04 said:

There is no way that the powers that be from "the Mecca of wrestling in this state" were gonna allow UTC to bring in a coach from Middle Tennessee. Especially a Simpson.

They should. His wrestling credentials, quite honestly, are better than Kyle Ruschell's. Kyle is from Ky and it wouldve been better served to keep that hire in state. 

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Here is the list of schools that produced AAs in 2022. Tennessee isn't cracking this list on the regular or anywhere close to on the regular regardless of who the coach is (unless they drag Gable, or some other legend, out of retirement).

Appalachian State
Arizona State
Cal Poly
Cornell
Illinois
Iowa
Iowa State
Lehigh
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
N.C. State
Nebraska
North Carolina
Northern Iowa
Northwestern
Ohio State
Oklahoma State
Oregon State
Penn State
Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh
Princeton
Rutgers
Stanford
Virginia Tech
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

 

Edited by oceansize42
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It is not the coach.  Chattanooga is not going to attract the talent to compete with the powerhouse schools.  National champ J. Leen did not choose Chattanooga and he went to school at Baylor.  Unless his dad coached that team, no way he goes to UTC.  I am not sure how funding is going to attract the talent either.  It will help run the program, but great kids are not setting the bar at UTC to complete their dreams.  

And Ghouse is right,  set the metrics and measure.  The one win that was earned was UTC guy beating someone seeded above him.  

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14 hours ago, texas23 said:

It is not the coach.  Chattanooga is not going to attract the talent to compete with the powerhouse schools.  National champ J. Leen did not choose Chattanooga and he went to school at Baylor.  Unless his dad coached that team, no way he goes to UTC.  I am not sure how funding is going to attract the talent either.  It will help run the program, but great kids are not setting the bar at UTC to complete their dreams.  

And Ghouse is right,  set the metrics and measure.  The one win that was earned was UTC guy beating someone seeded above him.  

I'm not sure if a different coach would help or not, I mean Campbell wasnt some big deal and they hired Cary Kolat and he moved them to top in SOCON and into the national rankings. So maybe if UTC did the same they might have a chance to get it back on it's feet. As far as Leen not going to UTC, don't think there was any chance of that happening after his dad no longer coaching there. UTC should be able to pick up good wrestlers out of GA and Florida as well as maybe keep some in this state. Wished we could go after Leen for head coach or maybe Ward from Army. 

 

I don't know if Ruschell is a good coach or not, don't know a ton about him. Give him another 2 years or so and if they arent making any progress at that point, maybe it's time to move on.  

Edited by cobrakid8
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On 3/23/2022 at 10:00 AM, Ummmno said:

Just my opinion here, and it may be an unpopular one, but I think when Eslinger left and we hired a new coach it should've been one from in state. 

 

We have one FROM this state who competed at the highest levels and isn't currently coaching at the NCAA level. Phillip Simpson. 

Not only is he not currently coaching at the NCAA level, but it also doesn’t look he has much experience in that field at all. 

 

How often do DI programs hire people from the Construction Manufacturing industry?  For one, he probably makes 4x what a college coach gets paid.  Secondly, running a DI program is a very specific skill set.  Fundraising, recruiting, organizing training cycles, handling crazy wrestling dads, dealing with admin/boosters, and working with compliance office are all skills that are only honed in the business.  Teaching the best finish to a single leg is the least important skill of a D1 head coach; they hire assistants to do that.

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27 minutes ago, BobCorker said:

Not only is he not currently coaching at the NCAA level, but it also doesn’t look he has much experience in that field at all. 

You must not know who Phillip or his family is. It's ok, we're all new to the state at one point. 

 

He comes from the most qualified family in the state. He himself is an NCAA runner up. If you don't think he's ever coached you're either willfully ignorant or, like i said, new to the state. 

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32 minutes ago, Ummmno said:

You must not know who Phillip or his family is. It's ok, we're all new to the state at one point. 

 

He comes from the most qualified family in the state. He himself is an NCAA runner up. If you don't think he's ever coached you're either willfully ignorant or, like i said, new to the state. 

And yet he is working in the construction industry! Maybe he just doesn't want to coach, maybe he didn't take after his family and like coaching or do a good job at it. I mean just because your family is a great coaching family in high school doesn't mean they would be good in college. I mean UT hired Dooley as head coach and he was a disaster but yet his dad was a good college football coach.

 

There is a lot that goes into a good college program, you have to be able to sell the program because the lifeblood of the program is recruiting, Jimmy and Joes is what it boils down to. Get those and you are well on your way to setting up a good program. I would look into someone like Tony Ramos at UNC, Or look at a top 25 program with an assistant coach that is a known good recruiter. 

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44 minutes ago, Ummmno said:

You must not know who Phillip or his family is. It's ok, we're all new to the state at one point. 

 

He comes from the most qualified family in the state. He himself is an NCAA runner up. If you don't think he's ever coached you're either willfully ignorant or, like i said, new to the state. 

 

58 minutes ago, Ummmno said:

You must not know who Phillip or his family is. It's ok, we're all new to the state at one point. 

 

He comes from the most qualified family in the state. He himself is an NCAA runner up. If you don't think he's ever coached you're either willfully ignorant or, like i said, new to the state. 

I’m pretty familiar with them.  Their family has produced coaching legends in TN; that goes without saying. They are also fantastic humans.  I was in St. Louis when Philip lost to Zack Esposito in the finals. 

None of that has to do with the fact that Philip Simpson chose to go into the private sector after he was done competing.  There is no doubt that he could have made a fantastic DI coach. It would appear that he chose a different route and never spent years coaching at the college level and making 30K a year while he worked his way up the ladder. 

I guess my question is, what do you think the resume of a DI coach should look like?  Simply be a great wrestler from that state? My argument is that many of the intricacies of being a DI coach are only learned from being in the industry.  I think the current coaching staff needs more time, but if it doesn’t work out then Kevin Ward might be a good place to start. 

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