Strickland left abruptly right before the season, because he couldn't stand Lonergan. 

A view held by many people, players, staff, opponents etc.

Shame of it is, had ML Strickland and Sutton stayed the course together, GW could have been a top A10 program for years, that's the trajectory things were heading on

 

Last edited by The Dude (5/20/2021 7:20 pm)

I don't feel comfortable allowing blatantly untrue statements to be made here without any type of challenge.  First, I have already given reasons for why Pete left just weeks before the start of fall practices.  I have no idea whether Pete hates Mike or Mike hates Pete, and am reasonably certain that The Dude does not know either.  As mentioned, our recruiting did not suffer due to Pete leaving the program.  It was largely because Pete wasn't willing to recruit hard enough, based on Mike's expectations, that Pete left.

Coach Sutton most definitely did not abruptly resign.  He left GW at the end of a season, when the vast majority of coaching changes are made, to accept a higher paying job at Georgetown.  More money, better conference, (presumably) more talented players to coach, and no relocation.  Not a very hard decision for most in the coaching profession.

Players could not stand Lonergan?  Let's discuss this.  As we know, a college team will have somewhere between 13 and 15 players on its roster, and maybe 7 or 8 at the most get to play for as many minutes as they feel they deserve.  7 or 8 is probably being very generous.  It's natural for those who rarely get to play, or who play far less than they feel they deserve to be playing, to harbor negative feelings towards their coach.  After all, it's the coach that's standing in the player's way of being a star, a hero, or more modestly, simply playing the sport that the player loves at a competitive level.

I experienced this myself, many, many years ago.  Playing on my high school team, I knew that I was one of the two worst players on our team.  I was one of 4 juniors on the team, along with 8 seniors.  Along with everyone else, I busted my ass in practice.  As for games, along with the other "worst" player, we remained planted on the bench.  We did not enter 20 point blowout wins or losses.  By season's end, I had not played a single second.  So how did I handle this?  At first, I was fine with it.  It was expected.  Then, as our season wasn't going anywhere, I began wondering whether it would kill this coach to put me and the other guy into the game for the final minute or two of a blowout?  By the end of the season, I grew to hate this coach.  His refusal to allow us to play a single second struck me as some power trip which amounted to nothing more than mental cruelty.

So yes, I do believe that ML coached some players who couldn't stand him.  Matt Cimino was slow to recover from injuries and even while healthy, did not come close to resembling the player projected by high school scouts.  He barely played and I am sure grew to dislike ML immensely.  So did Dan Guest who, come to think of it, did not play very much for Karl Hobbs either.  I don't think that Paul Jorgensen appreciated the decision to bring Alex Mitola in for a season while Paul was a sophomore.  My guess is that others who felt cheated by ML thought poorly of him as well.   

And then, you have Zeke Armwood and Pato Garino and Mo Creek and Joe McDonald and Tyler Cavanaugh and Yuta Watanabe and Jordan Roland and plenty of others.  Guys who revere Mike Lonergan.  Guys who did not have complaints over playing time and subsequently helped him win games.

None of this is rocket science.  It is disingenuous to suggest that ML's players, as a whole, could not stand him.  Several could not stand him, for reasons similar to why someone like me back in high school grew to despise his coach.  Plenty of course admired and respected him as well.

DudeAnon?  I like it.  Sadly, some very obvious similarities.

Strickland, like many have, loathed ML, that's a fact, and quit because he couldn't stand him.
It was a reaction shared by most of his players. 

Recruiting fell off a cliff without Sutton and Strickland, also a fact.

Final fact, most of the good recruits came from direct ties to Sutton and Strickland, plain facts, and that dried up with both men leaving.