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An Open Letter to Coach Umile

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  • #16
    Re: An Open Letter to Coach Umile

    Some of you guys might want to be careful what you wish for..........new coaches doesn't necessarily mean more success. The program easliy could turn in the UMass and UML of Hockey East........I would hate to see the thread then... whoa ha!
    PSW
    watching from the stands, saying little

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    • #17
      Re: An Open Letter to Coach Umile

      Geezus H Cehrist Chuck, I would think raising your kidz would have taught you that less words is better....some habits never die. Howya been?

      You gotit all wrong as usual...keep Umile, he's doing a fine, fine job ....but I wish he and his crew would stay off NCAA probation........roflmao
      I believe in equality of effort. In life, in hockey in everything.

      Comment


      • #18
        Re: An Open Letter to Coach Umile

        Originally posted by Slasher7 View Post
        No, Skinner was fired last Wednesday and the school honored his request to keep it quiet until after his interview with St. Johns. He interviewed with St. Johns because he was unemployed.
        ah, right on

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        • #19
          Re: An Open Letter to Coach Umile

          Remember we at PC hated what Pooley was doing here.....so we got Army who is about to lose his 100th game ..... we are so blessed

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          • #20
            Re: An Open Letter to Coach Umile

            Originally posted by satyking View Post
            Remember we at PC hated what Pooley was doing here.....so we got Army who is about to lose his 100th game ..... we are so blessed
            Well, Umile lost his 100th game years ago (in fact, he's up to 234), so what does that have to do with anything?

            Comment


            • #21
              Re: An Open Letter to Coach Umile

              I try to look at this problem from a view point of what is right from the program. What I would do if I had the power...

              1) Keep Umile as head coach. He has earned it. However, there needs to be an understanding of when he plans to retire and a succession plan put in place.

              2) Churn the staff below Umile. I don't know either Borek or Lassonde but I don’t see them as successor. I have asked them questions and have impression about how wonderful they are as people. To me this is not about them but about the program. UNH needs one of the assistants to be a young coach, to groom. There are former (Umile) players out there that could be an assistant. There are some choices, but you might not hit it the first time so the plan needs to start sooner than later. I personally would leave Foley where he is and probably go after Walsh in Bow. That to me potentially adds an iron to the fire in Walsh while leaving one already there Foley. Also Walsh's bow kids note they won the title this year for him, where he says it is all about the kids; that is the right kind of guy.

              3) I don't know who would be replaced but as Walsh would be my target and the other targets I can think of were forwards that leaves Borek odd man out.

              4) With proper planning this would not be huge issue, could happen next off season for example - all depends on Umile's time line.

              I don’t take a man’s job lightly but if I am the “GM” evaluating the program it is what I would do.

              I agree with Chuck and hope Umile has already considered it. There needs to be a plan in place so the train doesn’t come off the tracks. Holt had it steaming along but as he aged, he was unable to hold it together. Umile had to put the train back together then get it on the tracks after it crashed. I hope there has been thoughts on how to keep it moving.
              "Now Progress Takes Away What Forever Took To Find" Dave Matthews Band, The Dreaming Tree

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              • #22
                Re: An Open Letter to Coach Umile

                Oh the irony. Sumbuddy named Walsh coaching at UHN. Do it!
                I believe in equality of effort. In life, in hockey in everything.

                Comment


                • #23
                  Re: An Open Letter to Coach Umile

                  Originally posted by JB View Post
                  I try to look at this problem from a view point of what is right from the program. What I would do if I had the power...

                  1) Keep Umile as head coach. He has earned it. However, there needs to be an understanding of when he plans to retire and a succession plan put in place.

                  2) Churn the staff below Umile. I don't know either Borek or Lassonde but I don’t see them as successor. I have asked them questions and have impression about how wonderful they are as people. To me this is not about them but about the program. UNH needs one of the assistants to be a young coach, to groom. There are former (Umile) players out there that could be an assistant. There are some choices, but you might not hit it the first time so the plan needs to start sooner than later. I personally would leave Foley where he is and probably go after Walsh in Bow. That to me potentially adds an iron to the fire in Walsh while leaving one already there Foley. Also Walsh's bow kids note they won the title this year for him, where he says it is all about the kids; that is the right kind of guy.

                  3) I don't know who would be replaced but as Walsh would be my target and the other targets I can think of were forwards that leaves Borek odd man out.

                  4) With proper planning this would not be huge issue, could happen next off season for example - all depends on Umile's time line.

                  I don’t take a man’s job lightly but if I am the “GM” evaluating the program it is what I would do.

                  I agree with Chuck and hope Umile has already considered it. There needs to be a plan in place so the train doesn’t come off the tracks. Holt had it steaming along but as he aged, he was unable to hold it together. Umile had to put the train back together then get it on the tracks after it crashed. I hope there has been thoughts on how to keep it moving.
                  Umile also has an ego, borderline arrogant, so I wouldn't assume he's even thought about any sort of replacement plan.

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Re: An Open Letter to Coach Umile

                    Originally posted by Chuck Murray View Post
                    Dear Coach Umile:

                    It is very much with mixed feelings that I've decided to write to you in this manner, and I truly hope that you take my thoughts with good grace and an even temperament. As a long-standing UNH Hockey fan and supporter going back almost 35 years now, I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly, and I can say without qualification that no one has been more responsible for the good moments than you. And that's no small accomplishment, as you've had to eclipse the Hall of Fame career your former coach and long-time mentor Charlie Holt to make that claim ... although I know you'd never make such a claim, given your modesty and your great reverence for Coach Holt. But as unlikely as that all may have seemed to have been when you first took the head job at UNH just over 20 years under less-than-ideal circumstances, it is now very much a reality, and ALL UNH Hockey fans owe you a great debt for all you have done to first restore the UNH program to the heights attained by Coach Holt, and in fact eventually surpass your great mentor's achievements.

                    You've earned the right to call your shots, and although some would call for your unceremonial dismissal from the program and institution that owes you so much ... I'm not going to be one of those folks. As someone who's been involved in coaching over 700 games in the last decade, and coached both teams that have experienced the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat in their last games of the season in tournament competition, I can at least begin to appreciate the amount of hard work and dedication required to have had the impact on your program that you've undeniably had.

                    I'm sure you would agree that some of the most important lessons any coach can stem from adversity, and when things don't turn out the way you'd like them to. You were already well on your way towards the top when your health became an issue in the late '90's. But you adjusted and overcame those problems, and took UNH to the next level in the years that followed. And after coming oh-so-close in '99, you made some other adjustments to take UNH to the pinnacle of its long hockey history in the '02-'03 seasons.

                    The years that have followed have hardly been a fall from grace ... but it's admittedly been a stretch where your teams have seemingly fallen back from the edge of glory that you had consistently gotten them to on either side of the millennium. There have been several "false dawns" that ended badly in the final game of the season, and the hope and faith placed in you and your teams by the UNH faithful has gradually waned ... as you can sometimes see (and no doubt often hear) up in the stands, at the arena that someday may rightfully bear the names of you and your legendary mentor. Things have gone stale. You are not a self-centered and ego-driven man. You are not blind. You can see/feel the gradual backslide of your beloved program, and you want more than anything else to arrest that backslide.

                    You now have the opportunity to learn one final lesson from your mentor, and it's the lesson of the graceful transition to cap off a fabulous UNH career, and to ensure that the Holt-Umile legacy lives on in Durham for generations to come. You know how the end of Coach Holt's UNH career saw a program fester at the bottom of Hockey East in its early years, and then struggle with tragic circumstances during Coach Kullen's all-too-brief UNH career. It took you almost a decade to rebuild things, but the school had seen enough of your promise to have invested in the Whittemore Center when you'd first begun to return the program to its former prominence. You've rewarded the university several times over for that faith and commitment to the program you'd put back on the map, and eventually took to its apex a few years ago.

                    You know that the program is badly in need of fresh blood and leadership, and you know that's the only piece that Coach Holt failed to successfully navigate. The best part is that the options are out there, and several were your most reliable and inspirational players in the "glory years". They are doing what you did after your UNH playing days ended ... whether it be as college assistants or high school head coaches, there are people out there that you know and love, and know you can trust, just as people who knew and trusted you eventually gave you a chance to succeed your mentor.

                    You have always been loyal to your assistants, and I know that setting up things for the future in a way that might not involve them causes you no shortage of consternation. At the end of the day, that might be the most difficult hurdle for you to negotiate here. But you can see as plain as the nose on your face that the talent that used to come to Durham isn't at the same level it's been for quite awhile. And you and your assistants aren't getting any younger. You know this is the best argument for "new blood".

                    And just as Coach Holt was always there for you after he stepped away from the limelight ... you can be there for your chosen successor(s). It can be a gradual transition - one that would allow you to re-assure yourself and your school that you've made the right choice(s), and one that would allow your would-be successor(s) not to have to dive in at the deep end - a luxury you certainly were not afforded when you took over 20 years ago.

                    In any case ... that you've earned the right to continue to be calling the shots for your beloved program is in my mind undeniable. UNH has shown unshakeable faith in you over the years, and all in all, that has been for the best of the program and the university. You have benefitted from that trust and faith, and you know you owe it to your beloved program not to allow it to backslide in the final years of your glorious career. Everything you've done at UNH has surpassed the accomplishments of your legendary mentor, and it only would be fitting for you to cap off an amazing legacy to the UNH program to succeed now in the only area where Coach Holt arguably failed.

                    You know this has to be done. Please do the right thing, Coach Umile.

                    Sincerely,

                    Chuck Murray
                    Self-appointed WIS President-for-Life
                    Long-time admirer of Coach Dick Umile
                    Well done and welcome back Mr. WIS President -for-Life.

                    Any self respecting, serious UNH hockey fan has doubts at this point about Umile getting over the hump and winning it all. But as that great sage and all things UNH hockey, Greg Ambrose, has said, Umile will leave on his own terms. Not that Ambrose has any more insight on these matters than anybody else but he's probably right.

                    I think the best we can hope for would be for Umile to bring in some young coach who could maybe beat the bushes and uncover those diamonds in the rough UNH hockey so desparately needs.
                    UNH Hockey: You can check out any time you like but you can never leave!

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Re: An Open Letter to Coach Umile

                      Originally posted by acs64 View Post
                      Oh the irony. Sumbuddy named Walsh coaching at UHN. Do it!
                      Didn't even cross my mind. Funny!

                      Originally posted by Slasher7
                      Umile also has an ego, borderline arrogant, so I wouldn't assume he's even thought about any sort of replacement plan.
                      Any well run (big) business does succession planning. I would hope the A.D. would do the same, particularly for the schools flagship program.

                      Then again look a Michigan football. Turns out in hind sight Lloyd Carr wasn't that bad. Then again that didn't appear from the outside to be a well planned succession but instead a "****" hire. The best well planned one I can think of was North Dakota - if memory serves Hakstol was on Blias's staff. UND may not have won a title under Hakstol but they haven’t fallen apart and crashed either.
                      "Now Progress Takes Away What Forever Took To Find" Dave Matthews Band, The Dreaming Tree

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Re: An Open Letter to Coach Umile

                        Originally posted by e.cat View Post

                        I think the best we can hope for would be for Umile to bring in some young coach who could maybe beat the bushes and uncover those diamonds in the rough UNH hockey so desparately needs.
                        I'm sorry, but Standbrook is retired. And he's too old anyway.
                        I believe in equality of effort. In life, in hockey in everything.

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Re: An Open Letter to Coach Umile

                          Originally posted by acs64 View Post
                          I'm sorry, but Standbrook is retired. And he's too old anyway.
                          he was the best at it wasn't he?

                          hey, you guys did allright this year without him though
                          UNH Hockey: You can check out any time you like but you can never leave!

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Re: An Open Letter to Coach Umile

                            Originally posted by WildShawn View Post
                            Well, Umile lost his 100th game years ago (in fact, he's up to 234), so what does that have to do with anything?
                            Army did it in 6 years

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Holy dilemma, Batman!!

                              Originally posted by acs64 View Post
                              Oh the irony. Sumbuddy named Walsh coaching at UHN. Do it!
                              Now that my kid is a UNH student, we could definitely use a little bit of that good ol' "retroactive financial aid" Walshy pioneered up in the Downeast.


                              (signed) Chuck Murray
                              Self-appointed WIS president-for-life
                              Missing "Walshy" since circa 2001
                              Sworn Enemy of the Perpetually Offended
                              Montreal Expos Forever ...

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Re: An Open Letter to Coach Umile

                                just wanted to say Hello Chuck

                                hope your well

                                - Jenna
                                FLOCK THIS...

                                ~KNOW YOUR ROLE~

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