Oregon made a smart move Monday by adding women’s lacrosse to the school’s lineup of sports beginning
in 2004.
Crew, gymnastics and swimming are all good sports, but the sport that is a combination of hockey and soccer will fit in fine.
But now comes the hard part — the part that could help define the new sport at Oregon in the next five years, the next 10 and possibly the next 20.
The head coach search is on. And Oregon must be smart in its selection.
In 1996, a new set of Ducks began putting on the green and yellow, and leading them was new soccer coach Bill Steffen.
Having come from national power North Carolina, Steffen immediately began to put a stamp on the sport at Oregon that has carried over. He is still at Oregon, and although the Ducks finished 2-14-2 this past season, he has brought the program a long way.
So Oregon needs to get out the old blueprints and study up on how they want women’s lacrosse to look.
The sport is anchored deep in East Coast roots, so looking that way wouldn’t be a bad choice.
No one is saying Oregon can be like national power Princeton soon, and even trying to equal what the Portland women’s soccer team has done — winning a national championship in 2002 after beginning play in 1992 — would be a stretch.
But thinking big time will deliver Oregon to the national rankings sooner rather than later.
So why not go after someone big time?
You could pretty much throw out any head coaches in the top 20 in the nation, simply because leaving at what could be the peak time of a program would be like committing coaching suicide.
So there goes Jenny Grapp from Cornell, Chris Sailer from Princeton and Ken Simons from Georgetown.
Those three constituted the coaches of the year in the North, Mid-Atlantic and South regions, respectively, last season. And even though building a new program might intrigue even the most recognizable coaches, it’s not likely.
So, look deeper; there are some more interesting choices that could definitely benefit the Duck head coaching search.
Missy Holmes has a winning track record at Princeton, having won three national titles while at Maryland as a player in the mid-1990s and won another with the Tigers as an assistant last year.
But even more of an intriguing selection resides with the name Colleen Smith. One of the assistants at Virginia, Smith has already done what Oregon is looking for.
After a stellar career at Rowan, Smith started her coaching career as the head coach at Wagner College. She took over the Seahawks in the team’s first season as Division I competitors.
In 2001, Smith led Wagner to a 9-7 record, which shows she knows how to build a program and keep it competitive.
Because she is at Virginia, Smith may be a hard sell to the advantages of starting up a new program.
For that matter, most East Coast coaches would be the same way. But out there is the coach that is perfect for the job at Oregon, that could bring the Ducks to national prominence.
Isn’t that what all D-I programs are ultimately looking for?
Oregon needs, more than anything, to be wise in its search.
The names are out there, but the head coach Oregon chooses must be more than just a name.
It matters because this one decision could resound in the walls of the Casanova Center for years to come.