Turnbull's contract not renewed

[OW88]

Just seen on theopenmat.com that WVU is searching for new coach.

[aacoach62]

Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Turnbull out as head wrestling coach at West Virginia

3/28/2014
West Virginia University Sports Information

Craig Turnbull (Photo/WVUSports.com)MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- West Virginia University Director of Athletics Oliver Luck announced today that Craig Turnbull's contract as head wrestling coach will not be renewed for next season.

"Craig has spent the last 36 years as the head of the Mountaineer wrestling program, and we appreciate his many years of service to West Virginia University," Luck said. "He took over at the helm of the WVU wrestling program in 1979 after serving as an assistant coach here under Fred Liechti, coaching hundreds of Mountaineer wrestlers along the way. We wish him the best."

Turnbull guided the Mountaineers to a 287-214-9 career record. This season, the Mountaineers posted an 11-7 overall record and a 0-3 mark in the Big 12.

A national search for a new wrestling coach at WVU will begin immediately.

[Gator]

Come on home Zeke Jones!

[dunbar76]

Cody Sanderson. Let him go head to head with his brother.

[aacoach8]

Nate Carr.

[Crusty1]

So, who we going to get? Do we go out and get a blue chip? Or do we let Greg take over the program and continue with the same old same old? Just going to throw some names out there not that any or all of them would come. Zeke Jones, Kolat, Colman Scott (this is who I would like to see), would Jake Varner be interested? Wouldn't want Cody Sanderson, I'm sure that he would be ok, but I really feel that he is just riding big bros coat tail. Let the discussion begin!

[Matofficial]

John Hughes from Lehigh is looking. He is an NCAA champ from Penn State with great recruiting skills. I believe he was a 4X Pa. HS champ as we'll.

[rodrego]

proven products (coaching) are needed.....#1 candidate....Zeke Jones..enough said....#2 candidate..Damion Hahn....has learned the ropes at Cornell......that program is sick........#3...Donnie Pritzloff....proven at wisky and meatchicken.....he is good....#4...the bull Henson.......enough said.....#5 mark perry.....winner.........#6...john hughes......seasoned......bring them in interview...... and pick the best fit.......

[dunbar76]

Heck, the way Oliver Luck spends money, let's get a proven product. Offer Cael Sanderson a big raise and get him here. Hope Luck's hire is more successful than the football coach hire.

[aacoach55]

Long over due.

[armyscot0873]

http://www.timeswv.com/wvu_sports/x7872 ... d-to-coach

Apparently this has been in the works for awhile. From the sound of it doent look like Greg Jones will be taking over.

[aaacoach17]

Clearly this is good news for WVU wrestling fans.
Whoever is hired will need the ability to bring quality assistant coaches with them as well. I think Eric Guerrero, the associate head coach at Oklahoma State would be a good candidate and he could bring along Coleman Scott as an assistant.

[dunbar76]

Guerrero would be fine.

[aacoach8]

As a former wrestler at WVU (Practice squad if I'm being honest), I respect what Turnbull has done over the course of his career there and wish he had not been given the brown box and security guard treatment. Craig Turnbull is a good person who cares about the sport and his athletes - all of them. That being said, I can't help but be hopeful that the team can make a quick turnaround under new leadership. So I'll continue to support the program with hopes that Luck has the foresight to bring in a man with the same kind of integrity that Coach Turnbull brought to the wrestling complex.

I keep bringing up Nate Carr. I understand that he's happy where he is right now, but I believe he is one of few men with that mix of integrity, teaching skill, and recruiting juice to put WVU squarely back into the picture as a contender on the national scene.

[armyscot0873]

What about somebody like Jeff Jordan?

[dunbar76]

Do you think Nate Carr is interested? His past behavior has said he is not.

[dunbar76]

Hmmmm, Bill Stewart a man of integrity, Mike Parsons, a man of integrity, Craig Turnbull, a man of integrity. I think I see a pattern here. LIsten, I think I said in a previous thread, I said make Turnbull Coach Emeritis, keep him for a while doing something. He bleeds Gold and Blue, been a total positive influence for the community and WVU. This is no way to be treated. Period. Anyway, it appears to be done, I hope Luck can hire someone of these three men's integrity and keep the program moving. I have my doubts.

[aacoach8]

Carr is a dream candidate. I think it would be very difficult to leave his congregation who rebuilt his house in a weekend while he was away.

That being said, I've been exchanging emails with Oliver Luck today. He's been mum on any candidates, but he has asked me to agree that there was a sharp drop off when Nate and Zeke left. All I could really do was dodge the question and say that whoever he chooses, I will continue to support the program.

[Excoach]

Gotta disagree about all of the men who were listed as men of integrity. Bill Stewart - I'll leave that one alone, as I feel he did have integrity. But Mike Parsons most certainly doesn't fit into that category. He was hired as a financial person, and except for his ties to John Raese, he did an "adequate" job with that. That, however, does not put him into a high integrity category, as many who have had dealings with him can attest. I'll stay away from the character traits of Turnbull for the most part, but he really isn't the most admirable guy in the eyes of a lot of people who know him. The bottom line with him is that he has performed poorly as a wrestling coach without the services of Nate Carr and Zeke Jones. As he stated in an article, his idea was to retire after next season, collect a very favorable retirement package, as well as social security, and then turn the program over to Greg Jones. I know of no one who thinks that would be wise. Great wrestlers do not necessarily make even adequate coaches.
Turnbull should have been wise enough to step down several years ago, but refused to do so. The wrestling program has sunk to a very low level with no hope for improvement. He has had top-notch wrestlers on his team and has "coached" them down to mediocrity. As an ex-coach, I know of no high school coaches in WV who hold in him in high esteem - at least not the ones I have had conversations with regarding him.
He was asked to retire, just as the inept volleyball and baseball coaches were asked to do. The baseball coach refused to do so, despite running a miserable program, so his contract was terminated. I fail to see how sports fans will howl in displeasure with poor performances in football and basketball, yet will accept the same in wrestling and other Olympic sports.
So, I now hope that Luck will make a good hire and we can have a wrestling team which will make us all proud. I think he will, as he seems to be taking advice from many close to the program and who have WVU's best interests at heart. I am not trying to offend anyone who does like Coach Turnbull personally, as it is rather a sad ending for him. But, it appears this was the only way he was going to step down. I also would not be surprised if he files a law suit regarding this dismissal, using some sort of age discrimination basis. I don't think anyone cares if he would be 80 years old and still coaching if he would get the job done! I appreciate his years of service, but I am very happy to see a new beginning for the team. It is long over-due!

[dunbar76]

Luck fired a football coach who was 27-9 over 3 years. Check the current coach's 3 year record and we still have him, paying him a bunch. I thnk the firing of Turnbull was not handled well, Period. Has there been a drop off? Fair question. Nelen had a drop off after 1988 and 1993 also. Hugs is in a drop off right now. Look at your own work evaluations . Are they always "Outstanding". Mine certainly are not. LOL. I'm a good employee. Save lives daily. Average evals from my boss. Should I be treated like a piece of kaka after 25 years of faithful service? My boss can remove me from a position, not treat me like I hve not contributed to the success of the organization. I hope Luck hires the right man. I will continue to support the program. Wrestling means too much.

[Excoach]

Good post, Dunbar.
The firing of Stewart was handled clumsily at best. I thought at the time the coach in waiting thing was not going to work out well, and it certainly didn't. I think Holgorson was a very good offensive coordinator, but he wasn't ready to be a head coach at the time. It seems like he is trying to correct things by bringing in top notch assistants to take care of areas which he obviously did not have a good handle on, as well as trying to connect to the fans a lot better. Time will tell on this one. As for Huggs, I am not sure what to think. He is certainly at a crossroads in his career, but it seems like he would do well to reevaluate his assistant coaches as well as his own approach to coaching. It is very hard to question him, as I know how much he loves the university and the state, much like Bill Stewart did.
And, like you, I have not always had what I would say are stellar years in my career, as sometimes it just doesn't seem like all the pieces fall into place. However, those who are placed in charge of a business or organization are not usually allowed the time to have many substandard years in their careers - at least not in this day and age. From what I have heard from a few who are close to the program, the pressure has been on from many fronts to rectify the situation, including past and current wrestlers. Luck will be the first to acknowledge that he has not followed wrestling, but he is a fact finder and tries to get to the bottom of the situation. I know he has talked to numerous people regarding what goes on behind the scenes.
I see how it would be perceived that Coach Turnbull was treated poorly, but he seemed to be determined to stay until he was sixty-two and then turn it over to Greg Jones. While his loyalty to his assistant could be looked at as admirable, it also led to his downfall, much like others, i.e. Bill Stewart and perhaps even Huggs. (Which I hope does not occur.) Turnbull was offered and encouraged to simply retire, but he arrogantly declared that he was NOT going to do that, and that he wanted the program turned over to Jones when he decided he was ready. He knew this was coming, but for some reason he chose to ignore it and go on as he has for quite a while.
Now, I'm anxious to see what transpires. Frankly, the program has nowhere to go but upwards!

[dunbar76]

Could we lure Kerry McCoy from Maryland?
Nate Carr Jr. is an assistant there too.

[Excoach]

I don't know if McCoy would leave Maryland, since he is probably fond of the Big Ten ties which Maryland will have. I was wondering if maybe Joe Heskett or Casey Cunningham might be interested. I also wonder if Zeke Jones possibly would come back. We do have the facilities for an Olympic Training Center, which we lost sponsorship for a year or so ago, so that might be something Zeke could get reinstated, if he is interested in running a college program again. There are lots of possibilities, and hopefully we will have some highly qualified coaches with high energy who will make a push for the job. I also think that Coleman Scott would be a good young choice, if he is interested in taking over a team. He may be still too much into the competition himself though to give that up as a head coach, but he'd probably make a great assistant.

[dunbar76]

LOL, for the right omount of money, we should be able to get anyone.

[indywvu]

Hearing one candidate might be off the table. Rumblings of Zeke Jones to Arizona State.

[kerrya44]

What candidates are left?

[aacoach8]

I a video of Zeke being interviewed by an Arizona paper. Done deal to AzState.

Carr - happy where he is. Looooong Shot.

I'd be up for just offering the whole staff from Cornell everything they wanted... But they'd have to find a way to get Dake in the room for recruiting and camps.

Besides that, I think a team of Kolat/Dake could be a good thing. Luck seems to like guys who are up and coming and is willing to gamble on them. Kolat needs his first head coaching position and Dake could probably stand to be paid for working with wrestlers instead of volunteering his services as he currently does (Let's be fair. He has endorsements.)

[mscoach72]

Jones to ASU
Hinkel resigns at Purdue

[dunbar76]

hmmmm, thanks aacoach8. I think in a previous thread I mentioned a Dake/Cornell possibility. I was told I was crazy........

[aacoach8]

I'm still doing the dream coaching staff thing... But I was referring to Holgorsen/Mazey as Luck's up and comer gambles. Kolat/Dake would be amazing.