The Kasper/Ashton Stranglehold

It’s Akron Coach Caleb Porter’s world, we just live in it: Five of the first eight selections were from the NCAA champion Zips, and two more went in the second round. (Goff)
So was the FO's failure to land him last year due more to something they did (or didn't do) or to his desire to stick with his program (or the college ranks in general)? Could have been money, could have been security, could have been a bad pitch on the FO's part. But the dude can obviously pick talent. And that makes me wonder if the Kasper/Ashton stranglehold on personnel decisions was the breaking point.

6 comments:

  1. Interesting concept... I looked at the snub as if he didn't want to leave a team he knew could win it all and that he had assembled. I thought it was more of a timing thing initially. But this adds a very intriguing dimension to the whole thing.

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  2. Seeing as Porter just signed a new contract through 2020, I'd suggest that his reason for not going to the pros were not DCU-specific. He would have plenty of offers in MLS now (but that's a heft contract to buy out).

    http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/soccer/12/17/akron.extension.ap/

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  3. I'm sure there were lots of factors, but you nailed one of them. I think Porter knows that he's built something great at Akron and isn't quite ready to move on yet. He'll move on when the time is right, but he doesn't think its time quite yet. He's willing to wait for the perfect situation to move on. And having Dave Kasper oversee all personnel decisions isn't the perfect situation.

    But on the flip side, Kasper seems to be giving Olsen far more power than I anticipated, which we should all be very happy about.

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  4. We'll see; Olsen doesn't exactly have a track record on talent acquisition yet, but the Wolff signing makes me a bit gun shy about jumping on the bandwagon.

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  5. the problem is not kasper or ashton. you try working with kevin payne. the only reason kasper and ashton are around is because they can deal with him. I don't blame porter for not taking the job. there's a reason why no big name coaches come to d.c. olsen's just riding the opportunity that was conveniently presented to him. he's not experienced enough to make personnel decisions anyway.

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  6. Do you speak from personal experience, Anonymous?

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