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Penn State’s oft-maligned head coach, Ed DeChellis will be named the head coach at Navy.
According to sources within the Penn State athletic department, DeChellis will replace Billy Lange who left Navy to become the associate head coach at Villanova in what can essentially be defined as a demotion. DeChellis is leaving Penn State, a BCS program and member of the Big Ten for Navy, arguably considered one of the more difficult jobs in college athletics due to its admissions and post-graduate service requirements as a military academy. The move also comes with it’s very own paycut. A loss of more than $200,000 in fact.
An open-records request in 2009 showed DeChellis made more than $642,000.
Salary, according to a dependable source at the U.S. Naval Academy, will be a mere $450,000 per year… But not only was he under jeopardy of not being renewed after his contract ran out in 2014 but he clearly believed a sub-par season in 2011-12 would result in his firing. He apparently decided job security was worth a dip in salary.
At Penn State, Ed DeChellis was mediocre at best. In 8 seasons he managed to compile a underwhelming 117-139 record including an atrocious 41-95 conference mark. And if the measure of a good coach is his ability to qualify for the NCAA tournament, DeChellis failed in that regard as well finally leading Penn State to their first NCAA tourney appearance under his watch in his 8th and final season eventually losing in the first round.
To make matters worse, DeChellis was an even worse recruiter than he was a coach. For a Big Ten program situated just a couple hours away from the recruiting hotbeds of metro Philadelphia and New York City, DeChellis was never able to successfully recruit against the rest of the Big Ten (sans Northwestern) even struggling against regional programs like Temple, Villanova and Drexel whose annual operating budgets are dwarfed by Penn State’s.
Though his resignation should delight many Nittany Lion basketball fans who grew critical of DeChellis’ direction of the program, the timing couldn’t be worse. The pool of candidates to replace DeChellis is far more smaller now than had this happened in March or late April. Almost all the possible replacements that would have energized the Penn State fanbase to succeed DeChellis are long gone, most having already been rehired elsewhere. Tim Curley now faces a tough reality of a struggling coach who left on his own terms and a dried up pool of candidates to take over a program that is losing all it’s significant contributors from last year’s squad.
Tough break for Curley whose blind, unrequited loyalty to Ed DeChellis seemed to have backfired. A NIT Championship and a single NCAA tournament appearance in 8 seasons is simply unacceptable for a Big Ten program situated mere hours away from metro Philadelphia and New York City let alone the basis for a contract extension. But that is exactly what Tim Curley offered DeChellis following the 2009 NIT Championship despite 3 previous seasons in which the Lions finished 10th or lower in the Big Ten.
But it soon became pretty clear even Curley could not escape the mounting pressure from fans and donors eager for a coaching change.
Multiple sources close to DeChellis said he was told prior to last season that he would be fired if the Nittany Lions didn’t make the NCAA tournament. Penn State did earn a No. 10 seed and lost to Temple in the second round [really first round] of the NCAA tournament.
When DeChellis returned he expected to receive some sort of assurances that he would be protected going forward after making the NCAAs. But that didn’t occur and no extension was offered again.
Consider it a lesson learned. Following the 2009 contract extension, Ed DeChellis led the Lions to a last place finish in the Big Ten including a 3-15 mark (2 wins came against Northwestern).
Tim Curley should embrace DeChellis’ resignation is a opportunity in disguise. The financial possibilities of 2 successful revenue generating sports at Penn State can’t be lost on the administration and they now have the perfect opportunity to commit to the future of the basketball program.
According to sources within the Penn State athletic department, DeChellis will replace Billy Lange who left Navy to become the associate head coach at Villanova in what can essentially be defined as a demotion. DeChellis is leaving Penn State, a BCS program and member of the Big Ten for Navy, arguably considered one of the more difficult jobs in college athletics due to its admissions and post-graduate service requirements as a military academy. The move also comes with it’s very own paycut. A loss of more than $200,000 in fact.
An open-records request in 2009 showed DeChellis made more than $642,000.
Salary, according to a dependable source at the U.S. Naval Academy, will be a mere $450,000 per year… But not only was he under jeopardy of not being renewed after his contract ran out in 2014 but he clearly believed a sub-par season in 2011-12 would result in his firing. He apparently decided job security was worth a dip in salary.
At Penn State, Ed DeChellis was mediocre at best. In 8 seasons he managed to compile a underwhelming 117-139 record including an atrocious 41-95 conference mark. And if the measure of a good coach is his ability to qualify for the NCAA tournament, DeChellis failed in that regard as well finally leading Penn State to their first NCAA tourney appearance under his watch in his 8th and final season eventually losing in the first round.
To make matters worse, DeChellis was an even worse recruiter than he was a coach. For a Big Ten program situated just a couple hours away from the recruiting hotbeds of metro Philadelphia and New York City, DeChellis was never able to successfully recruit against the rest of the Big Ten (sans Northwestern) even struggling against regional programs like Temple, Villanova and Drexel whose annual operating budgets are dwarfed by Penn State’s.
Though his resignation should delight many Nittany Lion basketball fans who grew critical of DeChellis’ direction of the program, the timing couldn’t be worse. The pool of candidates to replace DeChellis is far more smaller now than had this happened in March or late April. Almost all the possible replacements that would have energized the Penn State fanbase to succeed DeChellis are long gone, most having already been rehired elsewhere. Tim Curley now faces a tough reality of a struggling coach who left on his own terms and a dried up pool of candidates to take over a program that is losing all it’s significant contributors from last year’s squad.
Tough break for Curley whose blind, unrequited loyalty to Ed DeChellis seemed to have backfired. A NIT Championship and a single NCAA tournament appearance in 8 seasons is simply unacceptable for a Big Ten program situated mere hours away from metro Philadelphia and New York City let alone the basis for a contract extension. But that is exactly what Tim Curley offered DeChellis following the 2009 NIT Championship despite 3 previous seasons in which the Lions finished 10th or lower in the Big Ten.
But it soon became pretty clear even Curley could not escape the mounting pressure from fans and donors eager for a coaching change.
Multiple sources close to DeChellis said he was told prior to last season that he would be fired if the Nittany Lions didn’t make the NCAA tournament. Penn State did earn a No. 10 seed and lost to Temple in the second round [really first round] of the NCAA tournament.
When DeChellis returned he expected to receive some sort of assurances that he would be protected going forward after making the NCAAs. But that didn’t occur and no extension was offered again.
Consider it a lesson learned. Following the 2009 contract extension, Ed DeChellis led the Lions to a last place finish in the Big Ten including a 3-15 mark (2 wins came against Northwestern).
Tim Curley should embrace DeChellis’ resignation is a opportunity in disguise. The financial possibilities of 2 successful revenue generating sports at Penn State can’t be lost on the administration and they now have the perfect opportunity to commit to the future of the basketball program.
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