Coaching Change at Mizzou

by **Matt_Gardiner** on Mon May 14, 2007 1:51 pm

Kyle will most definitely be coaching somewhere next year. It is sad news, but I am sure that Kyle will land on his feet. It seems that the players were not looking for a team that required such a strong time commitment. The players may very well regret this decision.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/s ... enDocument

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by **StrykerFSU** on Mon May 14, 2007 2:15 pm

Wow!!! It would appear from the article that the Mizzou players just aren't willing to do what it takes to be competitive in the MCLA. Aren't we always hearing that the way to being competitive is strong, consistent coaching?

Good luck to Coach Hawkins with his job search. I think that Coach is going to benefit from all this while the team suffers from their short sightedness and poor decision making.

by **Beta** on Mon May 14, 2007 2:50 pm

StrykerFSU wrote:...while the team suffers from their short sightedness and poor decision making.

Not trying to spark a riot...but how is it poor decision-making? The school/team made a decision based on certain facts (8 apparently)...while 2 of them were unhappiness with practices and the other with the personality of the coach.

Teams get/release coaches all the time.

by **sohotrightnow** on Mon May 14, 2007 2:54 pm

Not trying to spark a riot...but how is it poor decision-making? The school/team made a decision based on certain facts (8 apparently)...while 2 of them were unhappiness with practices and the other with the personality of the coach.

Teams get/release coaches all the time.

Here we go again.

by **NKlaxguy** on Mon May 14, 2007 2:57 pm

I heard they were gonna be on outside the lines

by **Beta** on Mon May 14, 2007 3:02 pm

sohotrightnow wrote:Here we go again.

Not every decision that is made in this world is based on political correctness (or lackthereof). If it truly had to do with whomever he chooses to date...why didn't they fire him when the story broke in 2006? Why would he be immune to getting fired whereas every other coach in the world isn't?

by **StrykerFSU** on Mon May 14, 2007 3:07 pm

They are certainly allowed to do whatever they wish within the law for whatever reasons they may have and I am sure they are comfortable with their decision but in my opinion it was a poor decision to release a coach who has brought 8 winning seasons in the past 9 years.

This is not big time college football where coaches are hired and fired seemingly without any rhyme or reason. In the MCLA, the dominant teams year in and year out are those with coaches who dedicate themselves fully to coaching their team and are given the time to build continuity. Coach Hawkins seemed to fit both of these criteria. I'm not trying to bash the Mizzou players and I'm willing to take them at their word that this did not have to do with his sexuality.

The unfortunate side effect of this decision is that what might be the first MCLA headline to ever grace the front page (or any page for that matter) of ESPN.com says, "Mizzou fires gay lax coach after 1st losing season".

by **sohotrightnow** on Mon May 14, 2007 3:12 pm

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2870106

Front page, indeed. I'd be willing to bet there are not many coaches on any level of lacrosse who have been fired after having 8 winning seasons and only 1 losing season. I don't have any insight into how good of a coach he is/was, but it does seem a bit odd that he was let go months after it appeared he had the unequivocal support of his team, not only regarding his sexuality, but his coaching ability.

by **pstirling** on Mon May 14, 2007 3:14 pm

Before this thread spirals into a bashing of the Mizzou team, I'd like to add some insight.

I played at Mizzou for Coach Hawkins from '99 to '03. I consider Kyle a mentor and a friend. I have tried to stay as active as possible with the Mizzou team since graduating.

I just want to make it known that this decision was not a hasty one. The Mizzou leadership team went through much deliberation and were very thorough in getting the thoughts of all players, alumni, faculty advisors, and others associated with the program, and they kept an open mind to differing opinions.

The overriding sentiment was that the Mizzou Lacrosse team was underperforming for the lacrosse talent at the school.

Personally, I feel this move will benefit both Coach Hawkins and the Mizzou Team.

Pete Stirling

by **sohotrightnow** on Mon May 14, 2007 3:21 pm

The overriding sentiment was that the Mizzou Lacrosse team was underperforming for the lacrosse talent at the school.

You do realize that this completely contradicts the notion that Kyle pushed the players too hard and wanted lacrosse to be a bigger part of their lives, right? If they are underperforming now when they have a passionate coach who expects them to place lacrosse near the top of their priorities, how will they perform when they have a less enthusiastic coach who feeds into the "club sport" mentality that a lot of programs do?

by **pstirling** on Mon May 14, 2007 3:36 pm

what I am saying is that sometimes news reports don't always get the facts exactly right. The players of the team are very dedicated to the team and the sport, and want to get all of the talent at the school to play to their maximum level. I could be wrong, but those are my opinions on the situation.

by **scooter** on Mon May 14, 2007 3:48 pm

i don't see how this is an issue.....Mizzou wasn't a factor in conference play, let alone the National scene. Lindenwood and Illinois have dominated the competition the past two seasons. The players probably thought they weren't getting enough out of their coach, or he wasn't capable of getting them to the next level

by **Jolly Roger** on Mon May 14, 2007 4:00 pm

sohot,

Not all the talent enrolled at Mizzou is on the roster.

I hope Kyle lands on his feet and the Mizzou team get what they want out of the change.

by **nhoskins** on Mon May 14, 2007 4:33 pm

StrykerFSU wrote:Wow!!! It would appear from the article that the Mizzou players just aren't willing to do what it takes to be competitive in the MCLA. Aren't we always hearing that the way to being competitive is strong, consistent coaching?

Good luck to Coach Hawkins with his job search. I think that Coach is going to benefit from all this while the team suffers from their short sightedness and poor decision making.

I think the University of Washington came to the same conclusion a couple years ago when they decided to fire Dejon Hush, who was the first coach there to really turn the UW "club" into a "program". I guess there will always be a seperation between teams that want to treat it like a club, and those that want to treat it like virtual varsity. You can't see this seperation at Nationals because the club guys are at home not playing :roll:

by **bste_lax** on Mon May 14, 2007 4:41 pm

I wish Kyle Hawkins the best, he is an important piece to the birth of the Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference.

There just happens to be a job opening at Iowa if he reading this. :wink: