Streamers
Professor
Posts: 8308
Loc: NW Philadelphia
Reg: 11-21-04
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04-25-18 11:25 AM - Post#255857
Great piece in the Athletic today on his transition plan. Here is an excerpt:
https://theathletic.com/328135/2018/04/25/aft er-29-years-in-coaching-f ran-dunphy-gears-up-for-o ne-last-go-round-at-templ e/
Exits are never easy, and often messy, which is why Dunphy was so frustrated that he couldn’t choreograph his own departure. He has spent his career above the fray, never linked to a scandal or embarrassment. For years, when the combustive Big 5 coaches sparred in the city, Dunphy served as Switzerland, called in to find a neutral ground that everyone could be happy with. The leaked news, he believes, made it seem that the exit wasn’t his idea, or at least opened the door to speculation and skepticism that he was nudged, if not altogether forced, out the door. That the results — one NCAA Tournament berth in the last five years, no second weekends in his tenure — haven’t been what anyone had hoped for didn’t help. “That’s not the case. It just isn’t,’’ athletic director Patrick Kraft says. “I get it. People will be 50-50 about this, no matter how it works, but we can’t control what other people’s narratives are.’’
Instead, Dunphy and Kraft say this was a mutual decision made over the course of a few weeks. They met immediately after the Owls were ousted from the NIT by Penn State and discussed what’s next. “Dunph is wonderful,’’ Kraft says. “We were both disappointed with how the year ended, and we talked about where do we go from here.’’ That, both men say, was the first of many protracted conversations that led them, along with university president Richard Englert, down the same path. They believed that a transition plan would work best, preserving program continuity and above all else, assuring the players knew what was coming.
The only wrinkle in this neat exit strategy is that Dunphy also stresses he’s not retiring. “I hope I never retire,’’ he says. “I always want to be working.’’ In fact, he is willing to concede just one thing about his future. “In one year, I will be finished coaching at Temple University,’’ he says. Does that mean he could be a head coach again? Would he take a spot on a bench as an assistant? Or move into athletic administration? Will he add more courses to his teaching load? (He has taught an honors business course for the past 11 years.) Dunphy isn’t saying, not to be coy but because he says he honestly doesn’t know. He views his future as a blank canvas awaiting a design.
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