As I said in the first blog, our goal is to give you all of the dirt that you need to either move up (or in this case move down) in this business, or get into it. If you are looking to get into college coaching, this story may give you an insight into how ruthless the business can be.

Brian Blaney recently accepted the second assistant spot under Head Coach Ed Cooley at Fairfield. A good job for most, but considering he had been the Associate Head Coach at MAAC rival Loyola (MD) since 2006, it seems like a strange move – a step down if you will. Here’s a quote from Coach Cooley that appeared in the Connecticut Post on 7/12 as to why it happened:

"Brian’s about to get married and (Loyola Head Coach) Jimmy (Patsos) wants some younger, single guys that will run around and go crazy and Brian’s trying to settle his life down. He’s trying to start a family."

That’s CRAZY!! A guy can’t have a life?? Also, it’s not like Blaney is some random coach without a lot of experience. He is a veteran DI coach with a great basketball pedigree. His father is current UCONN Associate Head Coach and former Seton Hall and Holy Cross Head Coach George Blaney. Brian has coached at Miami of Ohio, George Washington, Fordham and Stony Brook. He has worked under some excellent Head Coaches in Herb Sendek , Mike Jarvis, Tom Penders and Nick Macarchuk. This is a guy with some big time credentials in the business, and he was not retained because he wanted to get married! WOW!

Also, It looks like Patsos got what he wanted in an assistant (a young, single guy). He hired Greg Manning, a former Greyhound player who graduated in 2008. I guess you can’t hire someone much younger than him!

http://loyolagreyhounds.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/manning…

Take this for what it’s worth, but if you are looking to get into the business, it’s definitely not as glamorous as it seems sometimes…….

Here’s a link to the Hartford Courant article about Blaney’s hiring. Seems like a nice article – until you dig a little deeper and get the real "dirt!"

http://www.courant.com/services/newspaper/printedition/sport…