Future coaches should really consider Valenti’s route…

[wrestle87]

Valenti is a very polished coach and a very polished administrator.  He might be the best spoken (future) coach in the league right now.  Coaches at similar institutions should really take a listen and consider sending some of their guys into the AD administration trees, it clearly has prepared Valenti VERY well to become the future helmsman of the Penn program.  He’s very smart in the way he is constantly giving credit to other people with just about every sentence that comes out of his mouth.

[gimpeltf]

Although the decade or so away from coaching is unusual, Matt is one of the few people that have the ability to handle both the CEO side and the best guy in the room side.

[wrestle87]

1 hour ago, gimpeltf said:

Although the decade or so away from coaching is unusual, Matt is one of the few people that have the ability to handle both the CEO side and the best guy in the room side.

Listening to his intermat interview gave some very interesting insight into the depth of the "CEO" side of things that head coaches have to handle outside of the room.  If that's what it's like for all head coaches it's remarkable they have more than a few minutes to be in the room coaching at all.

[Dark Energy]

I’m thinking that this is a premature post.  Let’s see how he actually does before declaring this a great path.  

You may very well be right, but given his complete lack of results, can’t tell right now.  

That said, I get the logic and can see why optimism is very high.

[wrestle87]

3 hours ago, Dark Energy said:

I’m thinking that this is a premature post.  Let’s see how he actually does before declaring this a great path.  

You may very well be right, but given his complete lack of results, can’t tell right now.  

That said, I get the logic and can see why optimism is very high.

I’m just talking about his level of polish.  There is a 1/2 hour interview with him that intermat put out, and the dude truly sounded like someone who knows how to navigate the institution, he sounds like an administrator as much as a coach, which is the primary point of difficulty for most wrestling programs, they are unable to build and maintain a positive relationship with their own schools in a meaningfully positive way.

Agreed on the results part, but if more coaches sounded like Valenti(which only comes with gaining real institutional knowledge), shutdowns of programs wouldn’t be such a concern.

[lisa morales]

He can't possibly believe the nonsense he's spewing about leaving the EIWA.  The Ivy tournament will take about 1/2 hour and it will be a Penn / Cornell dual meet.  

[juniorvarsity]

It's an interesting route for sure. It will never happen again. You gotta keep up with the times and the cutting edge by being in the room. Assistant coaches do a lot, but the head coach needs to know how to manage the room, not the admin responsibilities. You have to be able to organize, motivate, and build culture. If you're worried about admin stuff the whole time, you could be lacking in important areas.

[ScarletKnight]

On 4/27/2024 at 7:44 AM, lisa morales said:

He can't possibly believe the nonsense he's spewing about leaving the EIWA.  The Ivy tournament will take about 1/2 hour and it will be a Penn / Cornell dual meet.  

Columbia tied Penn last year in the EIWA tournament.  

Cornell will continue to dominate based on coaching and recruits, but the #2 position isn't nearly as clear.  

 

[1032004]

1 minute ago, ScarletKnight said:

Columbia tied Penn last year in the EIWA tournament.  

Cornell will continue to dominate based on coaching and recruits, but the #2 position isn't nearly as clear.  

 

Yeah it will just be a dual meet of Cornell vs everyone else

[lisa morales]

A 6-team tournament is a joke.  They might draw 50 people and it could be held in the basement of any junior high school.

[Elevator]

4 hours ago, lisa morales said:

A 6-team tournament is a joke.  They might draw 50 people and it could be held in the basement of any junior high school.

Nobody asked me and I did not like the idea of leaving the EIWA.  But it is not without benefits and its no joke.  The 6 man bracket is a feature and not a bug - minimizing injuries and puts the pressure on the wrestlers to earn AQ's during the season rather than try to steal one earned by another in the conference tourney.   

I do not think the Ivy coaches or AD's care that internet posters do not support the idea of a Ivy only conference tourney.

[lisa morales]

Reina was violently opposed to leaving the EIWA but Tanelli and Ayres led the charge because they thought it would make things easier for their wrestlers to qualify for the NCAA tournament.  Now all three are gone.  Harvard & Brown are on life support and Cornell is ambivalent.   It's a travesty.

[TexRef]

6 hours ago, lisa morales said:

A 6-team tournament is a joke.  They might draw 50 people and it could be held in the basement of any junior high school.

For years the Big 12 conference tournament was a 5 team tournament. 

[wrestle87]

4 hours ago, lisa morales said:

Reina was violently opposed to leaving the EIWA but Tanelli and Ayres led the charge because they thought it would make things easier for their wrestlers to qualify for the NCAA tournament.  Now all three are gone.  Harvard & Brown are on life support and Cornell is ambivalent.   It's a travesty.

Reina’s stance made a lot more sense when the EIWA was…good.  The EIWA is going to be a corpse after the Ivy’s leave.  Then, if Lehigh goes somewhere…bye bye conference altogether.  The EIWA that Reina defended was the tournament that was arguably #2 in the country in terms of difficulty, had rutgers in it, had a very very good american team in it.  Those things have all left.  

I think this is more beneficial for the growth of Ivy programs not just in terms of qualifying, but schedule flexibility.  Instead of being obligated to a bunch of trash duals, in a conference that has fewer teams, the schedule is opened up for more national exposure.  

The Ivy’s used to be trash comparatively, they are now much less so, and a small, competitive conference will allow them to get their guys better, bring more AA’s in and grow total allotment.  The remaining EIWA may well shrink to a “finals or you’re done” tournament…and those conferences are just terrible to be in.

[Elevator]

8 hours ago, wrestle87 said:

Reina’s stance made a lot more sense when the EIWA was…good.  The EIWA is going to be a corpse after the Ivy’s leave.  Then, if Lehigh goes somewhere…bye bye conference altogether.  The EIWA that Reina defended was the tournament that was arguably #2 in the country in terms of difficulty, had rutgers in it, had a very very good american team in it.  Those things have all left.  

I think this is more beneficial for the growth of Ivy programs not just in terms of qualifying, but schedule flexibility.  Instead of being obligated to a bunch of trash duals, in a conference that has fewer teams, the schedule is opened up for more national exposure.  

The Ivy’s used to be trash comparatively, they are now much less so, and a small, competitive conference will allow them to get their guys better, bring more AA’s in and grow total allotment.  The remaining EIWA may well shrink to a “finals or you’re done” tournament…and those conferences are just terrible to be in.

skeptical of this analysis

Lehigh and the other Patriot League Opponents will be fine and also avoid injuries from a too many match qualifying tournament.   It will not be finals or you are done - I'd bet more than half the weights have auto qualifiers at least 3 deep.  

I do not believe there was any requirement for EIWA teams to schedule matches with other EIWA teams - so schedule flexibility will not change much.  Ivy teams have an overall date restriction on the number of competitions.  This is why they often schedule multiple duals on the same day or choose tourneys to get more matches. 

American had some glory years and a few top competitors but do not recall them as a team being "very very good" at least not for very very long.  How many times was American in the top 3 of the EIWA team race - do not think it was very many at all.

[Voice of the Quakers]

Five Patriot League schools (American, Army, Bucknell, Lehigh, Navy) sponsor wrestling within the EIWA.

If a 6th Patriot League school were to add/return wrestling, they all would be gone in a heartbeat.

From a wrestling perspective, it makes too much sense to guarantee 10+ NCAA entries for the smallest number of schools possible. And, a league only tournament would be more content they could feed to their media partners (which I believe includes ESPN+).

[lisa morales]

LOL...I'm sure ESPN is clamoring for the TV rights.  They would get more interest in a marbles tournament.  

[NM1965]

On 4/26/2024 at 4:12 PM, wrestle87 said:

Valenti is a very polished coach and a very polished administrator.  He might be the best spoken (future) coach in the league right now.  Coaches at similar institutions should really take a listen and consider sending some of their guys into the AD administration trees, it clearly has prepared Valenti VERY well to become the future helmsman of the Penn program.  He’s very smart in the way he is constantly giving credit to other people with just about every sentence that comes out of his mouth.

Not everybody can follow Valenti's route, winning two D1 NCAA titles is a pretty big ask

[wrestle87]

1 hour ago, NM1965 said:

Not everybody can follow Valenti's route, winning two D1 NCAA titles is a pretty big ask

Hahaha, very accurate, I was referring to getting some experience within an athletic department as an administrator of some sort