On Tuesday, February 5th, Old Dominion Athletic Director Wood Selig announced the school’s decision to part ways with men’s head basketball coach, Blaine Taylor. Taylor had been the head coach of the ODU team for the last 12 seasons and had compiled the most coaching wins in school history with 239. The Monarchs are in the midst of an abysmal season and the team was 2-20 at the time of the change.
Longtime assistant coach Jim Corrigan was named as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Under Coach Corrigan, the Old Dominion team responded to the firing with a 78-66 victory Thursday night over Drexel.
With the Monarchs in the market for a new head coach, many are beginning to speculate on who Taylor’s possible replacement could be. I have assembled some names that could be on the list to become the new head coach at Old Dominion. The following names are simply a product of my own speculation and are not in any way an official list.
Jim Corrigan
Coach Corrigan is currently in his 19th year with the Old Dominion program. In 2012, Corrigan was named as one of the nation’s top assistant coaches by Bleacher Report. Throughout his tenure, Corrigan has been involved in all aspects of the Monarch program.
With Corrigan’s familiarity with the program and the players, he could be one of the strongest and most likely candidates to replace Taylor. If the players respond positively to Corrigan, he could coach his way into a head coaching position with the Monarchs. If Thursday is an indication of what to expect under Corrigan, he could find himself as the Monarch’s new head coach.
Milan Brown
Milan Brown is currently the head coach at Holy Cross University. He is currently in his third season at Holy Cross and has a coaching record of 33-47 at the Patriot League school. Prior to Holy Cross, Brown was the head coach at Mount St. Mary’s where he had a 95-120 overall record.
Old Dominion Athletic Director Wood Selig is known for making hires that have connections to the local area and Brown has those connections. He was formerly an assistant coach at William and Mary. He was also a former assistant coach at Old Dominion under Jeff Capel from 1995-1997. He also began his coaching career at Kecoughtan High School in Hampton, Virginia.
Dave Macedo is currently the head coach at Division III Virginia Wesleyan College. He is currently in his 13th season as the school’s head coach and his overall record is 283-91. In 2006, he led Virginia Wesleyan to a Division III National championship and lost in the National Championship game in 2007. His 75.6% winning percentage ranks him first among Virginia Wesleyan head coaches and is one of the highest winning percentages in the country.
Macedo could be a sleeper pick to replace Taylor, if he is interested in leaving Virginia Wesleyan and taking the position. Macedo would bring with him the ability to recruit the local area – 13 of this year’s 18 players on the Virginia Wesleyan roster are from the Hampton Roads area.
By all accounts, Macedo loves coaching at the Division III level, but if he is interested, he could be a nice fit for the Monarch program.
Other Potential Candidates
I’m sure the list of interested candidates in the ODU coaching position will be longer than the list of candidates that I have provided. Honestly, none of the names here may even be strongly considered or even interested in the position. However, ODU is in an interesting position as they move forward into the next stage for the program.
With the recent success of mid-major teams such as Butler and VCU, there is more pressure on a team like ODU to make that type of progression as a program. The right coaching decision will determine the success of the Old Dominion program for years to come. Butler and VCU found a solid blueprint by finding young coaches, such as Brad Stevens and Shaka Smart. The success of these programs has allowed these schools to keep their young coaches.
Based on the recent success of Old Dominion, their head coach position could be very attractive to any interested candidates. Old Dominion Athletic Director Wood Selig could be looking to copy the blueprint provided by Butler and VCU. In either case, the pressure is on the Old Dominion administration to make a solid choice to lead the Monarch program into the future.
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