Ed DeChellis is buoyed by the prospect of coaching at the United States Naval Academy.
And why not? The odds of being pulled under by the tsunami that is big-time college basketball are a lot less.
Leaving Penn State after eight years as its head basketball coach wasn’t about contract extensions, fans and alumni, money, respect or athletic administration support, DeChellis said at a farewell 15-minute press conference inside Bryce Jordan Center Monday night.
“It’s not about a (contract) extension,” said DeChellis, 52, who will become Navy’s 19th head basketball coach. “It’s about what I want to do with my life.
“Navy will be a different lifestyle, a different way of life. The basketball will be competitive, competitive as heck. But it won’t be about the other things any more.”
The other things, presumably, are the pressure that comes with:
Winning just three out of every 10 Big Ten Conference games, the sport’s millions and millions of dollars, the microscope of being on your league’s very own TV network, the constant of playing before a half-empty arena, the competing against Top 25 teams night after night, the losing streaks that often extended beyond 10 games and the constant questioning.
All at your alma mater.
For Penn State fans, doing it the right way was not enough. Wins on the court did not often follow. For DeChellis, doing it the right way was the only way he knew how – and the wins did not often follow.
DeChellis knows his move is a trade-off of sorts. He’ll be making a couple hundred grand less a year, but the diminished pressure and increased job security may be worth it.
The Middies, it seems, have had 18 men’s basketball coaches before Mister Ed — and they didn’t fire a single one of them.
NAVY A SURE FIT
DeChellis and his close cadre of family and assistants think the Naval Academy will play right into DeChellis’ strengths.
“Kurt (Kanaskie) and Danny (Earl) understood,” DeChellis said of his two longest-serving assistants at Penn State. “They said, “Coach, this is who you are.’ My wife Kim, driving home after visiting the academy, said, “This is who you are.’
“It’s ethics, values, hard work and determination.”
At the Naval Academy, that is enough – as if it damning those virtues with faint praise in some way. At Penn State, they were not enough – not when your teams lose more than they win, when you never finish higher than fourth in your league, when going Oh-fer-January or One-fer-February is always a possibility.
‘Not to be too philosophical,” DeChellis said, drawing a breath and fighting back tears, “but this is more like calling. This is something I needed to do and somewhere I need to be.”
That message was driven home when DeChellis went to Mass on Sunday.
“At Mass the father talked about walking down the right path,” DeChellis said. “Sometimes the path is presented to you and sometimes you have to walk down it.”
On Monday, DeChellis – for the third time in his professional coaching life – took the path out of Happy Valley.
And this time, he’s not coming back.
STATEMENT FROM TIM CURLEY
Tim Curley, Penn State’s director of athletics, publicly – via a press release — thanked his fellow PSU alum for his efforts and wished him well.
‘On behalf of the Penn State and State College communities, I would like to offer my sincere appreciation to Ed DeChellis and his staff for their efforts with the men’s basketball program the past eight years,” Curley said in a statement. “Ed and his staff built a strong foundation for the program and then were able to see all their tireless efforts result in winning the 2009 NIT championship and advancing to the Big Ten tournament championship game and the NCAA Tournament this past season.’
‘Ed is a person of great integrity who is committed to his student-athletes, and their development in all aspects of life, including academic achievement and giving back to the community. He has made a positive impact on the Penn State and State College communities and will be missed.’
‘We will quickly begin a national search for new leadership for the Nittany Lion basketball program. It will be a comprehensive search focused on finding the best candidate to lead Penn State basketball into the future.’
THE END OF THE ED ERA
In DeChellis’ final season, the Nittany Lions were 19-15 overall and 9-9 in regular-season conference play in the Big Ten Conference.
Paced by all-time leading scorer Talor Battle, the Lions reeled off three straight wins in the postseason conference tournament – over Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan State — that led to the Lions’ first-ever appearance in the Big Ten Conference championship game, a 71-60 loss to Ohio State.
The run earned Penn State an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The March Madness appearance was Penn State’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament in DeChellis’ eight seasons in Happy Valley, as the Lions fell 66-64 to Temple in the first-round game in Arizona.
DeChellis arrived in 2003 as Penn State’s 11th men’s head basketball coach after his predecessor, Jerry Dunn, was fired after consecutive 7-21 seasons. A 1982 graduate of Penn State, DeChellis was a grad assistant at PSU from 1982-84 and an assistant coach at Salem (W.Va.) in 1984-86. He returned to Penn State as an assistant coach to Bruce Parkhill from 1986-1995 and Dunn in 1995-96.
DeChellis left Penn State to become head coach at East Tennessee State, where his teams went 105-93, with a berth in the NCAA Tournament. His career record as a head coach is 222-232.
AT A LOSS FOR WINS
While at Penn State, DeChellis had a 117-139 overall record (.457 winning percentage) and a 41-95 record (.301) in Big Ten play.
The Nittany Lions finished no higher than tied for fourth twice in that span with records of 9-19 (2003-04), 7-23 (2004-05), 15-15 (2005-06), 11-19 (2006-07), 15-16 (2007-08), 27-11 (2008-09), 11-20 (2009-2010) and 19-15 (2010-2011).
His teams suffered through double-digit losing streaks in four of his eight seasons – 11 consecutive losses in 2004, 12 in both 2005 and 2010, and 13 in 2007. The 2007 squad last 15 of its last 16 games.
The 2008-09 squad was DeChellis’ most successful at Penn State, winning a school-record 27 games and earning five straight victories to win the National Invitation Tournament in Madison Square Garden.
DeChellis was named the 2009 Big Ten Coach of the Year, and earned a three-year contract extension from Penn State following that season, reportedly extending his pact with the school until 2014.
DeChellis’ legacy may well be for what he did off the court at Penn State.
A cancer survivor himself, DeChellis grew Penn State’s fundraising efforts for Coaches vs. Cancer to record levels. Led by DeChellis, Nittany Lion CVC boosters raised $207,500 in 2009-10. DeChellis, who lost both parents to the disease, was named the 2006 National CVC Man of the Year.
MAKING WAVES AT NAVY
DeChellis inherits a Navy squad that went 11-20 last season, and 24-37 over the past two seasons while playing in the Patriot League. The Midshipmen were 6-8 in conference play in 2010-2011, finishing in a three-way tie for fourth in the eight-team league.
Chet Gladchuk, the Naval Academy director of athletics, said he was happy to have DeChellis aboard.
‘To have one of the most highly respected coaches and educators in the sport join our Navy family is a great day for the program and the academy,’ said Gladchuk on the academy’s website, NavySports.com. ‘Ed’s maturity, integrity, character and accomplishments at Penn State have made him one of the most respected role models in the coaching ranks.
“His career is all about building programs with educational priorities in place, including graduating every senior that has ever played for him, and in the end achieving team goals that resonate with competing for championships. Ed will make a positive and impactful impression on Navy basketball in short order.’
Penn State fans will have the opportunity to see DeChellis next basketball season, less than an hour away on Route 45 in Lewisburg. Navy plays in the Patriot League and will face Bucknell in a home-and-home series.
NAVY: SO LONG LANGE
DeChellis’ predecessor at Navy, Billy Lange, left after seven years at the helm with an overall record of 92-115. Lange resigned to become associate head coach at Villanova under is close friend, Jay Wright. Lange was an assistant at Villanova from 2001-2004.
Lange, now 39, took over the Navy head coaching position when he was just 32. When arrived in 2004, he inherited a team that had won just five games in the previous season.
In each of the five succeeding seasons, Lange’s teams improved their win totals – going 9-19 in 2004-05, 10-18 in 2005-06, 14-16 in 2006-07, 16-14 in 2007-08, 19-11 in 2008-09, 13-17 in 2009-2010, and 11-20 in 2010-2011.
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