Post by elp525 on May 10, 2010 4:46:42 GMT -5
Monday May 10, 2010
by Mike Casazza
Daily Mail sports writer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - When word spread last week Penn State was given permission by West Virginia to speak to men's soccer Coach Marlon LeBlanc about bringing him back to coach his alma mater, LeBlanc was, quite simply, startled.
"I was surprised it got that much attention," he said.
What he did in response was just as shocking.
Nothing.
LeBlanc told his team Thursday night he wasn't leaving and confirmed it publicly a day later. Also, he didn't engage in any of the self-serving shenanigans that often turn good relationships between a coach and his school into ugly ones.
"For me personally, this wasn't a situation where there was really anything being leveraged," he said from his office Friday before the school released a statement reaffirming LeBlanc's commitment. "With it being my alma mater, I felt a moral obligation where I did not want to use it as an opportunity to try to better my situation. At the end of the day, it was more about me knowing where I was going to be for a long, long time and I know I'm going to be here for a long, long time. From a personal standpoint, that's what matters most."
LeBlanc played at Penn State and was an assistant coach there from 2001-05, all for former Coach Barry Gorman. He makes no secret about how fond he is of Happy Valley and his memories from a career built there, but he's just as candid about WVU and how much he values the school's support of his program.
"It's also a special place to me," he said, "and I really do believe the next couple years are going to be big."
WVU was very good very quickly under LeBlanc. The Mountaineers went 29-9-5 their first two seasons with LeBlanc. In 2006, his first season, they won the Big East regular-season title and LeBlanc was the conference's coach of the year, as well as the FieldTurf-Tarkett and Soccer America national coach of the year.
Ranked as high as No. 3 that season, WVU made the NCAA Tournament and the Sweet Sixteen a year later.
The past two years, though, have seen young teams combine to go 12-14-11 and miss the NCAA Tournament twice.
The recent past was building to the immediate future and it's the opportunity to see the process through that anchored LeBlanc to WVU.
"Nobody expects us to win here and be a great men's soccer program, but that's always the type of challenge I want to embrace," he said. "We're finally getting up to where everyone else is in terms of resources being afforded to us. The goal is not just to be an OK coach. I want to do what Bob (Huggins) and Mike (Carey) are doing here. I want to win championships. That's the goal of our program."
LeBlanc took control of the team a day before preseason camp began in 2006. For his first two seasons he was made to deal with NCAA penalties for recruiting violations committed by his predecessor, Mike Seabolt.
The Mountaineers weren't allowed to play spring soccer in 2006 or practice and work out at the team's facilities that summer. Official paid recruiting visits were cut in half to 17 for the 2007-08 year and WVU was prohibited from recruiting international players until May 31, 2008, which for soccer is a bigger hurdle than many realize.
After the Mountaineers lost to Wake Forest in the 2007 Sweet Sixteen and the limitation on official visits went away, LeBlanc and WVU agreed to make a commitment to the program.
"Four years ago we were entrenched in a pretty awful time with the probation period and the violations," he said. "Not a lot of people know we actually had to deal with some pretty significant things. Once we got out on the other side and got some things back, West Virginia decided to fully fund the program."
The first step was funding the NCAA maximum 9.9 scholarships.
"That's for the entire team," he said. "When you think about it, that's less than the full (11-player) starting lineup you put on the field. We weren't at the limit when we got there. We weren't at the limit until this year when we finally had the full complement and basically what everyone else has to work with, like UConn, Louisville, Notre Dame and everyone else we're competing against."
Working for the first time with the full allotment last year, WVU recruited a top-15 class. LeBlanc believes the incoming class can be just as good.
The second step was reaching another NCAA maximum and funding a salary for a second full-time assistant, which also went into effect this past season. In between, LeBlanc signed a five-year contract that started in 2008-09 at $95,000 and goes through 2012-13 at $134,450. The contract also removed the buyout that was in his first deal.
The Mountaineers have relied greatly on freshmen the past two seasons. The 2008 team replaced seven seniors. WVU recruited a full class last year with the new funding. The 2010 Mountaineers will, for a change, feature upperclassmen and returning starters. They figure to compete again for the conference title.
"This is why a lot of kids over the last two years have come here," LeBlanc said. "When they came here two years ago after we got past all the issues, I promised them that they were coming here to build something great. Last year, same thing with the full complement of scholarships. That was a big, big part in me determining that I wanted to stay. I wanted to stay loyal to the kids and I wanted to make sure they understand and appreciate why we're all here."
by Mike Casazza
Daily Mail sports writer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - When word spread last week Penn State was given permission by West Virginia to speak to men's soccer Coach Marlon LeBlanc about bringing him back to coach his alma mater, LeBlanc was, quite simply, startled.
"I was surprised it got that much attention," he said.
What he did in response was just as shocking.
Nothing.
LeBlanc told his team Thursday night he wasn't leaving and confirmed it publicly a day later. Also, he didn't engage in any of the self-serving shenanigans that often turn good relationships between a coach and his school into ugly ones.
"For me personally, this wasn't a situation where there was really anything being leveraged," he said from his office Friday before the school released a statement reaffirming LeBlanc's commitment. "With it being my alma mater, I felt a moral obligation where I did not want to use it as an opportunity to try to better my situation. At the end of the day, it was more about me knowing where I was going to be for a long, long time and I know I'm going to be here for a long, long time. From a personal standpoint, that's what matters most."
LeBlanc played at Penn State and was an assistant coach there from 2001-05, all for former Coach Barry Gorman. He makes no secret about how fond he is of Happy Valley and his memories from a career built there, but he's just as candid about WVU and how much he values the school's support of his program.
"It's also a special place to me," he said, "and I really do believe the next couple years are going to be big."
WVU was very good very quickly under LeBlanc. The Mountaineers went 29-9-5 their first two seasons with LeBlanc. In 2006, his first season, they won the Big East regular-season title and LeBlanc was the conference's coach of the year, as well as the FieldTurf-Tarkett and Soccer America national coach of the year.
Ranked as high as No. 3 that season, WVU made the NCAA Tournament and the Sweet Sixteen a year later.
The past two years, though, have seen young teams combine to go 12-14-11 and miss the NCAA Tournament twice.
The recent past was building to the immediate future and it's the opportunity to see the process through that anchored LeBlanc to WVU.
"Nobody expects us to win here and be a great men's soccer program, but that's always the type of challenge I want to embrace," he said. "We're finally getting up to where everyone else is in terms of resources being afforded to us. The goal is not just to be an OK coach. I want to do what Bob (Huggins) and Mike (Carey) are doing here. I want to win championships. That's the goal of our program."
LeBlanc took control of the team a day before preseason camp began in 2006. For his first two seasons he was made to deal with NCAA penalties for recruiting violations committed by his predecessor, Mike Seabolt.
The Mountaineers weren't allowed to play spring soccer in 2006 or practice and work out at the team's facilities that summer. Official paid recruiting visits were cut in half to 17 for the 2007-08 year and WVU was prohibited from recruiting international players until May 31, 2008, which for soccer is a bigger hurdle than many realize.
After the Mountaineers lost to Wake Forest in the 2007 Sweet Sixteen and the limitation on official visits went away, LeBlanc and WVU agreed to make a commitment to the program.
"Four years ago we were entrenched in a pretty awful time with the probation period and the violations," he said. "Not a lot of people know we actually had to deal with some pretty significant things. Once we got out on the other side and got some things back, West Virginia decided to fully fund the program."
The first step was funding the NCAA maximum 9.9 scholarships.
"That's for the entire team," he said. "When you think about it, that's less than the full (11-player) starting lineup you put on the field. We weren't at the limit when we got there. We weren't at the limit until this year when we finally had the full complement and basically what everyone else has to work with, like UConn, Louisville, Notre Dame and everyone else we're competing against."
Working for the first time with the full allotment last year, WVU recruited a top-15 class. LeBlanc believes the incoming class can be just as good.
The second step was reaching another NCAA maximum and funding a salary for a second full-time assistant, which also went into effect this past season. In between, LeBlanc signed a five-year contract that started in 2008-09 at $95,000 and goes through 2012-13 at $134,450. The contract also removed the buyout that was in his first deal.
The Mountaineers have relied greatly on freshmen the past two seasons. The 2008 team replaced seven seniors. WVU recruited a full class last year with the new funding. The 2010 Mountaineers will, for a change, feature upperclassmen and returning starters. They figure to compete again for the conference title.
"This is why a lot of kids over the last two years have come here," LeBlanc said. "When they came here two years ago after we got past all the issues, I promised them that they were coming here to build something great. Last year, same thing with the full complement of scholarships. That was a big, big part in me determining that I wanted to stay. I wanted to stay loyal to the kids and I wanted to make sure they understand and appreciate why we're all here."
