Presbyterian College

[laxer4life70]

I'll delete my own post

[LaxFanSE]

No real insight into the coaching situation, but coaches come and go and programs continue.

The school appears to have solid facilities and a solid commitment to lacrosse. All of PC's sports are transitioning to DI since 2008 and it simply takes time. The school is a tier I liberal arts school and honestly is not that much smaller than many schools with DI programs (a large number of DI schools have less than 5,000 undergrads and several are really no bigger than Presbyterian), so I don't know that size has anything to do with it. We should all be thankful that schools like Presby try to expand Division I lacrosse. It's not like BCS schools have any chance of adding programs with Title IX and the current economic conditions.

[jimmy_the_crickett]

they are currently looking for a head coach... childs left...

[juicespringsteen]

Rumour has it he left PC for a job at Mercer University in Macon, GA. Mercer is starting a D1 program in 2010-2011, so he'd have time to recruit, etc.

[juicespringsteen]

So what's up with this school? I really think a small school like this (1200 students) shouldn't have gone D-1. It seems their coach has been let go or quit who knows? Does anyone know the future of this program?

Remember PC did not choose to go to Division 1 for the sake of growing lacrosse. Football reigns king in the south, and PC had a fairly established D2 program that moved up to 1AA. As you know nowadays, if one program moves up, they ALL move up, and lacrosse got dragged along like a child at an airport. They didn't have a say in the matter.

[DakotaDan]

Rumour has it he left PC for a job at Mercer University in Macon, GA. Mercer is starting a D1 program in 2010-2011, so he'd have time to recruit, etc.

We haven't received a release, but Mercer has announced on their web site that he's the new head coach.

[DakotaDan]

Release arrived:

MACON, GA – Mercer University Director of Athletics Bobby Pope has announced the appointment of Jason Childs as the school's first head men's lacrosse coach.

“I would like to thank Mr. Underwood, Mr. Pope and the entire search committee for this opportunity,” Childs said. “I am very honored to be chose as the first men's lacrosse coach at Mercer and I cannot wait to get started.”

Childs, who comes to Mercer from Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C., will take over the University's club team for the 2010 season and then move the program to NCAA Division I status for the 2010-2011 academic year.

“We had some excellent candidates for the position but we felt that Jason was the person best suited for the job,” Pope said, “because he started the program at Presbyterian and should be aware of all the challenges facing him. He is very familiar with lacrosse in Georgia and the Southeast and that will be a major asset to him in recruiting the first class for intercollegiate competition.”

A native of Baltimore, Md., Childs was a four year starter and two year team captain an attackman and midfielder at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa. where he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in American Studies.

“I look forward to bringing in young men of high character who have a high ability of lacrosse talent,” Childs said. “I know I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I am very excited to begin shaping the Mercer Bears Lacrosse program.”

Prior to taking the head job at Presbyterian in 2005 he served as an assistant coach at Limestone College in Gaffney, S.C. from 2003-2005 and taught and coach at Darlington School in Rome, Ga. from 2001-2003.

Jason and his wife, Mary, have one child.

[juicespringsteen]

I had assumed that it would be released shortly. As of my post this morning, Mercer had not posted anything, and Childs was no longer listed as a coach on the PC athletics page. It was only a matter of time before the actual release came out.

[juicespringsteen]

On another note, didn't Childs also recently have a son?

[SoutheastLaxFan]

I think it is good for both schools. Mercer gets a person who has built a program from scratch and has that experience and PC gets to interject some new life into the program with a new coach who will hopefully take them to their next level of development. Good luck to both Mercer and PC.

[BigLaxDummy]

Timing is really bad to have to fill the Head Coach position. Any speculation on the Head Coach prospects for Presbyterian?

[laxer4life70]

I was told that the assistant coach Gongas is going to fill in as head until they find someone else. But who would want to go there if they cut the budget , the salaries and the assistants?? If you're going to play D-1 you have to be able to travel to schools that have D-1 sports and there aren't that many in the South. What are they going to do car pool?? They just need to go back to D-2 and forget about playing with the big dogs.

[SoutheastLaxFan]

But who would want to go there if they cut the budget??

Probably every lacrosse program has cut their budget this year with the possible exception of some of the top tier programs. Facts of life in a lousy economy.

[corkscrew]

Before a coach can take them to the "Next Level" they need to get to the level of a top 50 Division III program.

[SoutheastLaxFan]

The same would be true for many of the lower tier DI schools. All I meant was continued improvement. PC has been at this for 2 years under somewhat of a forced conversion from DII to DI along with all their other sports. They should be better this year and they will continue to improve. It is what it is, but I continue to pull for them. They actually are deploying a decent number of scholarships, they have pretty good facilities and it is a Tier I academic school with a fairly sizable endowment. All of those things fit with lacrosse. $100k a year in additional funding would go a long ways in correcting any perceived deficiencies. My only point was that change is not necessarily a bad thing.

I'm not trying to be the bastion of support for PC lacrosse, but I am pulling for them. If DI lacrosse is going to grow, it is going to grow with schools of the type of PC, Jacksonville, Mercer, Detroit, Bellarmine, etc.

[jhu6569]

Absolutely correct, SoutheastLaxFan! Teams like Presby,having entered DI, need consideration, time, and support from fans outside the mere venue. Want to have DI lacrosse spread in influence - well, support teams like Presby/Detroit/Jacksonville!

Therein lies the future of the game. Success for teams like these, within some relatively short-term interval (say 5 years?), means a major boost to the game of collegiate LAX nationwide. Success, by my definition? - playing competitively, winning some games against higher ranked opponents, garnering national news attention, and maintaining poster interest here on LP!

[ifimust]

These schools have a few benefits... 1) teams who can afford it will pay for a win, meaning teams like UVa and Cuse could be convinced to pay to play them (offering travel expense costs) and 2) teams wanting a place to play on spring break that gets them down to the south (sorry Detriot) during their spring break period...

If I was the coach of Jville or Presby, I would have 75% of my games in the first half of the season... playing mid-week and weekend games from mid february to late march... it gets northern teams playing earlier and in warmer climates to get ready for the season, but it will also favor these southern teams because it is their best shot to steal a win from a team before a mid season groove

[BigLaxDummy]

Any "word on the street" about a new Head Coach?

[laxer4life70]

Does anyone think that the coaching change will help or hurt PC"s chances?

[jhu6569]

Presby news. Their current AD has just today stepped out to accept a job elsewhere. Based upon his bio he was knowledgeable regarding lacrosse. How this might or might not effect the Presby lacrosse program remains to be determined. The College has announced that a nationwide search will be held to hire the new AD.
http://www.thestate.com/sports/story/1012046.html