Dave Cecchini has been let go by Bucknell.
I had checked Bucknell earlier in the year and they were winning at the time. Apparently folded over the last half of the season. The Patriot League only had two teams over .500 in league games. Tough to do.
It is somewhat amazing he survived 7 years given a 33% winning %. The last 2 years were his best but they never were better than .500.
After the previous Carlson debacle, I developed a pretty personal relationship with Dave and many of his assistants. Those guys were great. Being a former player, if I had to transport myself forward in time, I’d play for those coaches. The program, despite the last year downturn, was moving forward. What he needed was to hire a Landon kinda guy and. between his O instincts and a really good DC we would have rocked.
IMO, he made a big mistake taking the lure of a Patriot team in need of a big rebuild vs. a bit of patience, hiring a very good DC and winning a lot of PFL games. His staff could recruit. They could coach by position, he got a weight room and new locker rooms in place (I bought a locker) but on the field they always missed the D component. There were so many times when I wanted to whop him upside the head and remind him that we need to also play better defense (and, yes, I know, we had some great individual defensive standouts during his tenure but……). But, BTW, please do not confuse what I just said about the Cecchini Ds with the kids (and their coaches) who were the Valpo D under Carlson who did not even have defense in his vocabulary.
Dave’s a good guy. I wish him luck
Great analysis @vulb62. Cecchini also was coach of the year in the Pioneer conference when they finished an amazing 6-5.
I wonder if Cecchini thought the 6-5 finish was the high water mark of what could be accomplished at Valparaiso. If so, that's a shame.
Bucknell will probably have 2 head coach openings as his wife is the head Women's Tennis Coach, just like here.
I wonder if Cecchini thought the 6-5 finish was the high water mark of what could be accomplished at Valparaiso. If so, that's a shame.
I don’t think so. I think he thought he could make it work at Valpo given enough financial support. However, I have no idea how hard MLB worked to try to keep him. So, I think the siren song of a Patriot League job at a prestigious school, in a region he grew up and played in (Lehigh) with it’s long tradition, well-established reputation, much better facilities and larger budget had to have been a very powerful draw.
