Green said the job change was “the hardest coaching decision I’ve ever made.”Read the whole article:That’s understandable considering what he had accomplished at Charlotte the past six years, turning the 49ers from an unheralded program into one of the country’s most successful.
Consider that in 2002-03, the season before Green took over as Charlotte’s coach, the 49ers were No. 162 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings. Within three seasons, they had reached No. 26, and in 2007-08 they finished in the No. 8 spot.
Green, a 1993 graduate of Ohio Wesleyan, guided Charlotte to top-10 finishes in the last two NCAA Division I Men’s Championships, including a third place in 2006, matching the highest national finish by Charlotte in any sport. The 49ers have won the Atlantic-10 Conference crown the last three seasons. Overall, Green’s teams won 17 tournament titles.
So you bet it was difficult for Green to leave Charlotte and head down the road to Durham, N.C.
“What Charlotte has done with support of the program has been phenomenal,” said Green, a three-time Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year. “Everything we asked, they delivered. So it is very difficult to leave. But my wife, Heidi, has some ties in Durham, and we talked this over at great length and felt it was the thing for us to do.
http://www.golfweek.com/college/columns/story/balicki-011609
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