Marquette Head Coach Joe Amplo Is Staying

After being connected to recent openings for the second straight season, Marquette Golden Eagles head coach Joe Amplo is staying at the school. He tweeted out his commitment to the back-to-back Big East champions Saturday afternoon.

Amplo, a member of the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Committee and an assistant coach on the U.S. Men’s National Team, has been at the school since 2011 and led the Golden Eagles in their inaugural season back in 2013. He’s built a 40-37 overall record in his five seasons with a 16-11 record in conference play. Marquette had made four appearances in the Big East Tournament and won the last two Big East championships, resulting in two NCAA Tournament appearances, losing both to ACC schools (North Carolina at home & Notre Dame on the road). He was named the Big East’s Coach of the Year back in 2014.

In the school’s press release, Marquette’s Director of Athletics Bill Scholl praised Amplo’s passion to the school and their lacrosse program, and how Amplo has become one of the best head coaches in the entire nation.

Amplo was connected to job openings last season, specifically Princeton. That resulted in a contract extension that the school announced a year ago tomorrow (June 11).

Unlike some of the bigger college sports like football and basketball, it’s much more harder to get a head coach from a good team in a conference like the Big East or CAA. Pay is one reason, but many of these coaches are comfortable at where they’re at and also want to help grow the game. It plays a part in why non-blue bloods are competing in the regular season and tournament every season.

Here’s a reminder of what the Coaching Carousel looks like:

The only big opening that Amplo would have gone to is Michigan. So with Amplo out, who does Michigan go after? Richmond’s Dan Chemotti signed an extension last month, so he’s out of the picture. Could they still target a head coach? Some that come into my mind include Bryant’s Mike Pressler, Drexel’s Brian Voelker, Hobart’s Greg Raymond, and Providence’s Chris Gabrielli. I don’t think Shawn Nadelen will leave Towson, and I don’t think Andy Shay will leave Yale. And this is me pretty much just throwing names out there, as I have no knowledge who Michigan might be looking at.

The more possible route is going for top assistants. Notre Dame’s Gerry Byrne, Denver’s Matt Brown, Maryland’s Kevin Conry, and Johns Hopkins’s Bobby Benson come to my mind. North Carolina’s Dave Metzbower was just promoted to associate head coach at the end of the season, so he’s out of the picture. The most likely candidate that’s gotten a lot of talk is Byrne. He’s been at Notre Dame for 11 seasons and seems like he’s prime to take the next step forward if he wants to. But according to his bio on the Notre Dame website, they’ve already updated his info to say he’s entering his 12th season with the team next season. So does that mean he’s staying? I don’t know.

Hopefully we find out who Michigan’s coach is by the end of the month so we can write stuff about it!