I'm not saying she's proven to be a great in-match coach. just I do not understand or agree that she's a 'bad' in game coach. I mean to that standard, Robyn has been 'bad' this year lol. they beat some good teams, cmoing back from some poor sets.
granted, not sure what she would have done differently at the end of the Irvine match, which was glaring but that was player performance and goes to training for that. Tyler at times did not make some in-game adjustments. My point is I can't really judge how well she can become or how bad she could be, which I do not agree she's actually 'bad'.
2) I see the 'in-game' issues as a product of not preparing enough options to actually try with in-game. Aside from the OH, where she subbed in and out a lot, she hasn't made a single sub. that is a prep issue, not an in-match issue. and never preparing to sub out Chacon or Velucci when things went poor. IMO, the biggest improvement she can make is training/options to be prepared, not in-game.
3) why is associate coach her limit?, based on what? so you are saying she has ZERO room for growth? I mean Joy in hindsight had a limit to be an associate coach. Heck, Tyler has gone back to the associate coach path.
4) You mention options. Well, I guess it depends on what options. that's nebulous. I guess if he's actually talked to coaches? depends on what options means. I'm sure he's had discussions, but to what end ?- 'options' is speculation. Will Tom Black remain at Georgia? I mean that's the type of guy you actually want, or at least to me, to think you've got a high chance at upgrade. Hilliard type? took 4 years for SDSU just to compete for upper tier MWC. I'm skeptical of options, not that we couldn't get a solid coach
I guess I disagree with the train of thought she's just 'overwhelmed' in her performance. Her retainment of players, recruits, performance without AGi. When I add it all up, I don't think a 3 or 4 year deal is necessarily a 'bad' decision. And yes, the AD would be betting on the ceiling of her. 
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It's pretty clear that Natalie Reagan is not a very good in-match coach (She's probably pretty good as an Associate HC, but that is her limit imo.) That in itself supports posting the job and doing a real legitimate search. Why is dropping the interim title early and giving her a 3 year contract a better alternative? It's really not.
The argument that Smitheran isn't very volleyball savvy begs the question of whether he's capable of hiring a good coach in any circumstance, which is not a good situation either.
I do know that Smitheran has been considering other options, although I don't know how serious he is about pursuing them. Previous Message
what is the better solution?
really interested as to why anyone would think Smitherin would have a better long-term hire if Reagan is not retained.
it's easy to say one could get a really good coach. the counter argument is look what happened with Joy.
I've said it's a bit of a gamble/bet on Reagan
If Agi was healthy I'd agree the the evaluation of Reagan might be a bit different.
I'm not sure Tyler would have done any better. Definitely do not think Joy would have done better.
look at HIlliard at SDSU, he was a hot commodity a decade ago, success at USD, and he's struggled at SDSU
it's not like it's been all negative this year
just interested in what people think will sell the LBSU VB program to the alternate, a tried and true retread or an 'up and coming assistant' - the latter type hire is littereed all over sports Previous Message
I honestly have no idea how you think it's a good idea to give an interim coach with no prior head coach experience who is struggling to make the Big West Tournament any kind of contract. Previous Message
assuming we make the BWCT.
the only team we have the tie-break edge with is UCSD.
pretty much now have to beat Irvine @ Irvine, given these last 3 losses. a lot of things could still happen. but that is close to a must win match....just to get into the BWCT Previous Message
Well actually I spoke to Misty at a match 2 years ago. Asked if she would have any interest in coaching and she said she would when her kids were older.
It's hypothetical of course but it never hurts to check in with her if a coaching change is being considered. I agree Bobby needs to make a decision soon for a multitude of reasons. Don't want to see him make an unwise panic move should we finish 5th or 6th and exit the BWCT early. Previous Message
around that time would be the best time to make it permanent, if it's Reagan
I'm not a big believer in waiting to see what happens in the last 3 weeks of a season, or waiting for a BWCT
we've seen coaches get hot for a week, and then ADs lock in a stupid overreaction decision
I also Doubt Smitherin has some other coach locked in or anything close.
He does not come off as some guy that came in with some sort of high level VB background. I'd bet he's talked some to Knipe about the programs, he'd have to be an idiot to have not had those conversations with Knipe.
if you bet on Reagan, then you know enough now to see what has happened well and where there's been some dissapointment. The culture is positive, I think long-time supporters wish for more some more tight/disiplined play cause of being spoiled by BG's tenure and attention to detail
yes, you could sign a 4 year deal (which would be 5 because she already got 1 year), and yes still possible the team could not make the BWCT, it's a real possibility. right now given the position, getting to the finals of the BWCT would frankly be solid given where they are. They really have to win the next 4 games to put themselves back in a solid position to get a top 3 seed.
the landscape from when Joy and even Tyler were hired vs. today is significant in how the LB job is viewed, and sorting out who could be a very effective coach. It took Knipe almost two decades to win a NC.
yeah, if Misty wanted to coach, lol. not gonna happen.
if the signing period passes, then that leaves a lot of time potentially to mid-February without a coach. Hence, IMO more information sooner is better than later. As an AD, can't leave it to the last week and BWCT as if you'll really learn anything more than you already know now. And stuff like saying well if the team has some bad losses, then that's that. They've had a bad loss (Irvine) already. If the AD has decided to go outside, then heck, just make it known now, and take that pressure of uncertainty off - either way there's a different pressure anyway whether she's retained or if it's a new start/coach. Anyway, gotta hope than can somehow get in to the BWCT then win 3 matches this time. Previous Message
What if Bobby already has a deal done with a coach of his choice? It's not awful to be proactive. What if Misty May is suddenly ready to begin coaching? It would be risky to install a new coach. At least half of the players elegible to return next season would leave and most if not all the 2025 recruit class would decomit. It would be a total rebuild for the new coach. I would not want to see that occur. Previous Message
Agree with removing the interim tag and extending a 3-4 year contract. Given how the change occurred and her relative inexperience, she has done well. Extending her sooner (while season is in progress) than later communicates commitments to the existing roster as well as recruits....of which some boosters are high on the quality of incoming recruits. Previous Message
Assuming Bobby is happy with the progress made by Reagan this year, shouldn't he remove the interim tag soon, so maybe that provides an emotional boost to the team down the stretch, not to mention help with recruiting for 2025? Previous Message
it all starts with fundamentals --with that skill you improve as the year goes by ---- go 49ers --- Previous Message
I would like to see Reagan get a 3-4 year deal. 5 is standard.
the last couple weeks have been rough, especially the Irvine and SB matches, that literally the team is 2-3 points from being 8-2 in conference. but being 2-3points from being 8-2 is meaningless right now.
IMO the receive pass got a little better, but then against SB they simply could not close out on a couple tough points, and Glenn missed two key points she had been converting earlier in the year.
they simply have not seemed to progress much in the last month aside from Maxwell and Harris develop.
most concerning is Glenn is not at the level she was, she's struggled more in her serve and simply not as crisp. I've been concerned as the season wore on she would wear a little given she plays year round. One major dissapointment is not holding her out for for the Fullerton game especially and maybe Riverside.
with all that said, I still vote for Reagan, she'll learn, she's recruited, they've done some things well.
frankly, not sure I trust Smitheran with a 'snoop around and back-channel' method of coaching selection. Ackers was a one-off. I really do not think Smitherin knows volleyball enough to gauge how some coaches might pan out. And so a new coach would be a crap-shoot. If she leaves it'll be a total re-build again.
Reagan will have to learn, she's been stubborn a bit, lol, with player rotations lately even though she would experiment with the OH early in the season. And now it seems she's boxed herself in a bit. The lack of experiment with DS/Libero just seems a bit odd.
it's a tough gig.
and now they can't afford to not lose and perhaps not even let Glenn rest a bit.
the two losses this last week were really damaging, they only play Poly & SB once, so now they will lose out on any tie-breaker to those teams for seeding or to even make the BWCT, they are very uncertain at this point to even make the BWCT, they need to beat some top teams aside from beating the lower teams which is no guaranteed. The team had a huge advantage with their home schedule after a nice start, and that's now been squandered as well
they have to find a way to dig out of hole
just seems they have not built enough on fundamentals to lean on in crunch time to heklp them in crunch time. BGs teams got continuously better. Previous Message
I agree that serve receive and ball control has been the key all season. The only issue is that this was a known weakness since the end of last season and the staff did not recruit another player to shore this area up. This problem has magnified the other roster issue, no out of system terminator. Agi was the best returning out of system hitter and she is out this season. The good news is the 2025 class has a couple of really good back row players that should help immediately.
IMO the coaching staff has done a pretty good job this season and has put the players in the position to win matches. The team breaks down in key moments and that is something that they need to over come. Plenty of season left, along with the conference tournament, to make things right.
I also like the coaching staff but they need to keep the team in contention. The UCI loss was a killer and the one that I just cannot get around. Previous Message
Serve receive and back row play have been our weakness all year. However the matches against Irvine and Santa Barbarba were winnable. The seniors need to step up in those clutch situations and sorry to say they failed to do so. Natalie can only coach them she can't play for them. Somebody needs to step up and be a leader for the remainder of the season. Previous Message
Up until the HI match, I've thought WVB has played reasonably well and Natalie, in spite of her inexperience, has done well. The program has had some decent non-conference wins while playing a challenging schedule.
The disappoint since HI has been an inability to adjust and adapt service receipt and back row defense. Too many out of system plays. And while watching the upper Big West teams playing Long Beach really covering the court....not letting the ball drop. That and physical play. The Long Beach roster is almost entirely made up of lean players not able to match up against the physical/heavy arm play of HI, Cal Poly and UCI. Previous Message
I'm not suggesting we can afford a sitting P4 coach, but I recall the school saying Tyler was amongst the 10 highest paid coaches in the sport when he was hired a few years ago. That type of compensation package should still be able to attract a quality P4 assistant or rising head coach from a mid major school. Bobby puts a lot of weight on connections with Long Beach State, but that wouldn't be my first priority. But, despite the late season tanking, I tend to agree that Reagan is worth taking a chance on for the next 3 to 5 years. Previous Message
It would be silly for Bobby not to gauge interest in the job. Question remains can we afford to pay a "great" candidate. Also this candidate won't bring the networking Tyler did. It's not just missing Agi. The seniors have to take some responsibility for their failure to close out matches when they are up 2-1 or leading 13-9 in a fifth set. I wouldn't do a 5 year deal with Natalie but a 3 year deal is reasonable. Joy had a full 5 years to prove she was unable to successfully coach in D1. I wouldn't kick Natalie to the curb after 1 year.
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Reagan isn't going to sign a 1 year deal and the A.D. can't extend her interim tag another year. Unfortunately, the decision is either a 3-5 year commitment to Reagan or go look for another coach. I'm sure Bobby has used back channels this year to guage interest in the job. If there's a great candidate or two in that informal search, that might be it for Reagan. Otherwise, I think she'll be given a standard 5 year deal. There have been some negatives exposed this year but she didn't recruit most (if not all) these players. She has commitments from a bunch of players next year and she can still recruit an experienced veteran from the transfer portal this off-season. Not having Agi this year was a big deal. They don't have a consistent terminator to stop opponent rallies. Previous Message
our past history in very good - but - it is today and tomorrow that we should be looking forward too -- i would give her 1 more year to see what she can do with this team and the newcomers coming in next year -- time to make some player change to see what they can do -- mad max and the big O should get some playing time along with our small setter getting playing time in the back row -- giambi is doing a good job but lets also try another libero when she goes out --- also it is time for a player to step up and take control of the team on the floor -- it seems a team with low energy level -------------- GO 48ers ---- BEACH --- Previous Message
My own preseason pics had us finishing 2nd behind Poly and ahead of Hawaii. Now it's 5th or 6th at best. I'm guessing they will be looking for a new coach as Natalie clearly isn't ready for coaching at this level. Unfortunately don't see anyone they could hire that would positively impact the program. Worst case scenario we have a glorious past to look back on.
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