Coaching Change Updates - 6-5-26

St. Scholastica has found its man - Rob McDonald - to take the reigns of the Saints program.

 So wanted to provide everyone with an update on the latest coaching changes happening in and around the MIAC.  Just two days ago (Wednesday 6-3), St. Scholastica filled the vacant spot left by Jason Schmitz and hired Rob McDonald to take the reigns of the Saints program.  McDonald comes to the Twin Ports after spending the last four seasons at DII Saginaw Valley St in Michigan where he was an assistant there.  McDonald has had previous stints at other DII schools as well (Saint Leo University and Lincoln University) but he has MIAC ties as he was both a basketball and football standout at St. Olaf so he knows the conference.  All in all this appears to be a pretty solid hire by AD Jessica Cherry and unlike a number of other institutions across the country in DIII, McDonald isn't inheriting a moribund program - far from it in fact as the Saints posted a solid 16-10 record this last season - good enough to snare the sixth spot in the MIAC Playoffs and a (presumably anyway) pretty solid nucleus returning.  So he's coming into a very good situation up at St. Scholastica.  

But the bigger news on this day was over in the WIAC where UW-Oshkosh Head Coach Brad Fischer announced that he is stepping down after 14 seasons at the helm of the very successful Titans program that saw him lead the program to numerous WIAC regular season and Championship Game titles along with numerous NCAA Tournament appearances as well - including runs to the Final Four in both 2025 and this last season.  Fischer is headed out to Lincoln, NE where he has accepted an Assistant Coaching position with the Nebraska Cornhuskers.  I'll admit that this is one that I did not see coming.....I wouldn't have expected it anyway.  But I can understand it the more I think about it as DI opportunities simply don't come along that often and he probably had to take it while he could get it.  And hey, Lincoln's a great university town and a big BNSF stronghold too so I can understand why he made the move.  The big question now is who does UW-Oshkosh target to fill the vacant position?  You can bet that this job is going to attract a number of highly-qualified candidates.  But the timing of this is what makes it difficult for UW-Oshkosh Assistant Chancellor For Intercollegiate Athletics Darryl Sims and the UW-Oshkosh Administration.  Had this happened, say, two or three months ago, you'd be working with a much wider window of time.  In this particular case, the window has narrowed considerably and that could affect the number of potential replacement candidates for the position.  But this whole process will be interesting to watch to say the least - especially in what has already proven to be a true coaching merry-go-round offseason over on the WIAC side.