UTPA Broncs Men's Head Soccer Coach

[Admin]

UTPA has hired Paul Leese to lead the men's soccer team set to begin WAC competition in 2015.

[Sean]

My understanding is that the UTPA coach was hired for the 2014-2015 season, in which there will not actually be a team. The only competing team for the 2014-2015 season will be the team at UTB. Has it been announced yet whether the current coach at UTB will be staying on to coach at UT-RGV?

[Admin]

Head Coach Paul Leese was to have arrived on campus Tuesday March 4th. The men's soccer team is scheduled to begin competing in the fall of 2015. I have not heard any news regarding the head coach at UT-Brownsville.

Link

[Sean Preston]

Thanks. I guess what I'm trying to understand is that UTPA will never play a men's soccer game. Then UT-RGV will have a team in the fall of 2015, following the merger of the UTB and UTPA. It appears there will be two quality coaches and an unhappy ending for one of them. Do you know how or when the UT-RGV coach will be announced or is it confirmed that the UTPA coach will move into the position? I can't seem to find a firm answer regarding this. It would seem silly for a coach to move move to UTPA, never coach a game, and then leave, but it seems even worse to dismiss the UTB coach after 8 years of service. I was hoping you may have the contacts to clarify this. Thanks

[Sean.......]

I was trying to look into whether or not there will be scholarship Men's soccer athletes on the UTPA campus in the fall of 2014. I'm pretty sure that there will not be.
1. Scholarship athletes are unlikely to want to come in the fall of 2014 when there will be no team and essential use up a year of eligibility.
2. I suspect the WAC would not allow a team of scholarship athletes to be brought in during the fall only to be red-shirted (avoiding the loss of eligibility).
You had mentioned earlier that there would be soccer scholarship athletes on campus at UTPA in the fall of 2014 and I wanted to make fairly certain there wasn't before I suggested that you may be wrong on that point.
But, this is what discussion boards are for. If I'm wrong about the above please let me know.

I'm also posting here my most confirming piece as to why I think the UTB coach is being treated unfairly:

It's worth noting that when other schools change divisions they generally keep a current and successful coach. Here is an example of a team that moved up to Division 1 to join the WAC and kept their successful coach:

www.gculopes.com/coaches.aspx?rc=418&path=msoc

another example of a team moving to Division 1 and not dismissing their successful soccer coach:

www.ncaa.com/news/ncaa/article/2011-12-08/northern-kentucky-moves-di


here is an example of a school from the same conference that UTB plays in now, that moved to Division 1 and did not dismiss their successful coach:
www.hbuhuskies.com/staff.aspx?staff=28
Note: This is the same conference that Dan won coach of the year five years out of seven!
There are numerous other examples out there and I can’t find a single one in which a successful coach was removed simply because of a restructuring.

The general precedent indicates that successful coaches do not get dismissed simply because a team is changing affiliation.

[Sean_]

I continue to follow this closely and it still appears that there are decision still to be made.
There is a lot of interest Q&A to be found here:
www.utsystem.edu/news/topics/project-south-texas/ask-a-question

One particular item seems to imply that both coaches, Dan from UTB, and Paul from UTPA will each have the opportunity to apply for the UT-RGV job:

Question posted:
Staff and faculty currently working at UTB and UTPA will they be rehired? or their jobs will be terminated?
Reply:
All jobs at UTB and UTPA are being eliminated because both entities will cease to exist next year. We will follow the law creating UTRGV and dissolving UTB and UTPA, which states that "the board of regents shall facilitate the employment ... of as many faculty and staff of the abolished universities as is prudent and practical."

[Bob]

Dude, you got to get over this! It is over. UTB athletic department does not exist everyone is fired. The UTPA athletic department is the UTRGV athletic department. This has been decided by the board of regents. Why can't you leave it alone?

Dan should of already been looking for a job, he should of applied for the number of NAIA and D2 jobs that are out there and he will land one. Women's coach saw the writing on the wall and got out once the merger (and the fact he did not get the job) and now has a good job. Dan should do the same.

May 29, 2014 13:42:59 GMT -6 Sean_ said:

I continue to follow this closely and it still appears that there are decision still to be made.
There is a lot of interest Q&A to be found here:
www.utsystem.edu/news/topics/project-south-texas/ask-a-question

One particular item seems to imply that both coaches, Dan from UTB, and Paul from UTPA will each have the opportunity to apply for the UT-RGV job:

Question posted:
Staff and faculty currently working at UTB and UTPA will they be rehired? or their jobs will be terminated?
Reply:
All jobs at UTB and UTPA are being eliminated because both entities will cease to exist next year. We will follow the law creating UTRGV and dissolving UTB and UTPA, which states that "the board of regents shall facilitate the employment ... of as many faculty and staff of the abolished universities as is prudent and practical."

[sea....]

Bob, thanks for replying.
I think Dan is the best option of the two coaches to lead UT-RGV.
It's hard to argue against the success he has had at UTB.
Dan was coach of the year for the conference 5 out of 7 seasons! It's unmatched, really, look it up.
Perhaps you support the coach at UTPA. That's ok. I simply disagree, but that is what a discussion board is for, right?
I think the discussion is worth continuing.
Your participation is optional, but I enjoy any feedback regardless of the opinion or source.

[Sean ..]

It's official. Dan Balaguero will be joining Brown University as the Associate head coach for Mens soccer. This will be my last post, but I have enjoyed the discussion and thank all who participated. My final thoughts:
1. It's a shame that a coach who dedicated 8 years to the valley, built a team from scratch, and went 24-0 last year was not afforded the opportunity to continue what he started in the valley. A loss for the Valley and a gain for Brown.
2. To Chris King UTPA AD - In my opinion you've made a lot of bad hiring/firing decisions but pushing out a coach that went 24-0 is probably the worst and most cold hearted decision of them all. Even trumps the firing of other coaches who "don't fit the culture". I do wish you well in your job search, I'm pulling for you, and I suspect I'm not the only one. I just hope you aren't filling out those job applications during normal office hours. I also think the expensive trip to Hawaii for the golf team while you were applying for a job there is a little questionable. I've also wondered about the details of the check written to the golf coach you fired as it's surprising that the coach would even get a check and that the school wouldn't just pay the WAC fees directly.
3. To Paul Leese: I wish you all the best, enjoy it, it's a great opportunity.
4. To the coaches and staff in the Athletic department: You have the talent and resources to do great things for the Valley. Don't let Chris King UTPA AD hold you back. I'm sure it can get tough when you know that you could be fired on a whim and that your leader is ready to jump ship to whatever is the dream job of the month. Stick together, don't get bullied by Chris and good things will happen.