Apparently, 2014 is the year other teams and organizations came calling for Idaho coaches. Out are the soccer team’s winningest coach in program history Pete Showler, 16-time WAC title winner Wayne Phipps of track and field and cross country and men and women’s tennis’ Jeff Beaman who led both his teams to WAC Championships in the spring. In are Derek Pittman, Tim Cawley and Mariana Cobra as Idaho heads into a new conference in the Big Sky. Football coach Paul Petrino also added some new faces to his staff as his team heads into its first season back in the Sun Belt.
Soccer
Out: Pete Showler, assistant Ashley O’ Brien
Showler left Idaho with more soccer wins than any coach before him, but he also leaves with a losing record of 50-119-9. He coached the Vandals from 2005 to 2013 with his final team earning a 4-16-0 record. Showler, originally from England, left to take the position of sporting director at Eastside Timbers in Gresham, Ore, a youth development program for soccer players ages 5 to 18.
O’Brien, an assistant under Showler, took over as interim coach when Showler departed but has since taken an assistant position with the soccer team at Brown. O’Brien coached at Idaho for four seasons.
In: Derek Pittman, assistant Josh Davis
Pittman became the fourth coach in Idaho soccer history when he was hired in February. He coached the Vandals through the spring, and now his team opens the official fall schedule Friday. Before joining the Vandals, Pittman was a four-year associate head coach at Gonzaga. He has a total of 13 years of collegiate coaching experience on his resume.
“I think the biggest thing we tried to focus on since day one when we got here was just changing the overall mentality,” Pittman said. “Changing the culture to get the players to believe in themselves and believe in their teammates and do things as an entire unit. The situation I walked in to was a little bit disjointed. Players being a little bit too individual so we’ve really tried to hone in on working on that culture and making sure everybody’s bought into our team goals … our team identity — everything that we want to basically portray when we’re on the field.”
Pittman also hired new assistant Josh Davis over the summer. Davis was most recently an assistant coach at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne in 2013. Pittman also retained assistant Laura Jackson from Showler’s former staff.
“Josh (Davis) has been a great addition to our staff,” Pittman said. “Ashley O’Brien was fantastic in my transition here. We obviously wish her well at Brown and her shift to the East Coast, which is closer to her home, but the opportunity to get Josh in onboard and to work well myself and Laura Jackson, our other assistant coach, has been tremendous.”
Pittman said Davis’ primary role is working with goalkeepers and the defense, but he also brings recruiting ties from California.
Cross country, track and field
Out: Wayne Phipps
Phipps left Idaho with 16 total WAC Championships over men’s and women’s cross country and men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track during his time with the program. Phipps moved eight miles west to take over the coaching roles for Washington State’s cross country and track and field programs. He was with the Vandals for 19 years and held the title of director of track and field/cross country from 2010 to 2014. Phipps also earned 14 conference coach of the year honors while at Idaho. Associate head coach Julie Taylor and assistant coach Allix Potraz-Lee joined Phipps at WSU.
In: Tim Cawley
Cawley took over Idaho’s cross country and track and field teams after spending 11 years as an assistant track and field coach at Colorado State. Cawley has also coached at the highest level coaching Olympian Janay DeLoach to a bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympic Games.
“We are very fortunate to have attracted Tim Cawley to lead our track and field and cross country programs,” said Director of Athletics Rob Spear after the hire. “Track and field is a very technical sport. Tim is known as one the best technical coaches in the entire country and has coached athletes at the highest level. As we transition into a much stronger track and field and cross country conference it was important to hire an experienced coach to lead our program.”
Tennis
Out: Director of Tennis Jeff Beaman
Beaman was the second Idaho coach to head to WSU over the summer, taking the spot as associate head tennis coach. Beaman left Idaho after eight seasons with the Vandals where he accumulated a combined record of 269-158. He led both the men’s and women’s teams to WAC Championships in 2014. Beaman coached both teams after women’s coach Myriam Sopel left for UTEP.
In: Mariana Cobra
New women’s tennis coach Mariana Cobra said Idaho is still in the process of hiring a new men’s tennis coach. Since Cobra was hired under former Director of Tennis Jeff Beaman, she also has to re-apply for the new women’s coaching position. She currently holds the interim coaching role. Assistant Art Hoomiratana is also helping coach the men and women’s tennis teams heading into the fall season.
Cobra joined Idaho after most recently holding the coaching position at Northern Iowa where she also played collegiately. Cobra, originating from Sao Poalo, Brazil, recently spent time back at home working for a recruiting agency before taking coaching job at Idaho.
“I think Idaho women’s tennis had a great season last year and so did the men,” Cobra said. “So obviously it’s a pleasure to be here with them. It’s not any women’s team or men’s team that’s a top 50 in the country. Obviously having the season we had last year — winning the WAC, going to nationals — I think it’s a very strong place to be. We should be very strong this year if not better than last year.”
Football
In: Assistants Charley Molnar and Ashley Ambrose
Football coach Paul Petrino also added a couple assistants to his staff over the summer. Charley Molnar joined as Idaho’s wide receivers coach after most recently being head coach at Massachusetts. Ambrose, a former NFL standout, joins as Idaho’s secondary coach.
“We’re a work in progress but I think our guys have improved over the course of camp,” Molnar said. “We still have a long ways to go to be game ready but I think we have just enough time to get our skills sharpened that we can go out and do our very best.”
Stephan Wiebe can be reached at [email protected]