After 12 years at Fordham, Nick Macarchuk is set to leave for Stony Brook.
“They are finalizing negotiations and unless they hit a snag, it should be a done deal,” Fordham AD Frank McLaughlin said last night. “We’re disappointed to be losing Nick, but at the same time, we’re happy for him.”
Stony Brook is set to begin its first year at the Division I level, as an independent. After first talking to Macarchuk about the availability of his son, Nick III, the conversation turned to the elder Macarchuk.
“Nick is very well-respected by everyone,” McLaughlin said. “So naturally, when anyone talks to him, they usually ask about whether he would be interested. I’ve known Nick for a very long time and I don’t think he was actively looking.”
McLaughlin believes that the 57-year-old Macarchuk – who couldn’t be reached for comment – couldn’t say no to the security of the five year deal Stony Brook has offered him. The deal is worth roughly $250,000 a year, about twice as much as his Fordham contract, which has two years remaining.
“I don’t think we’ll try to match [the offer],” McLaughlin said. “It’s gone too far at this point. I don’t mean that in a bad way. My phone has already been ringing off the hook and we expect everything to shake down by the end of the week.”
Still, despite the attractiveness of the Stony Brook offer, it seems a strange time for Macarchuk to leave The Bronx. After guiding the Rams through the difficult transition from the Patriot League to the Atlantic 10, his team finally seems ready for success. Fordham won just 16 games from 1995 through 1998 before finally breaking through last year with a 12-15 record, including five wins in the A-10. Those accomplishments earned Macarchuk A-10 Coach of the Year honors.
“I was definitely caught off guard,” said McLaughlin, who first spoke to Macarchuk about the Stony Brook job last Wednesday. “But we have to move forward.”
And that means preparing to hire a new coach. Among the names being tossed around are Jay Wright from Hofstra, Paul Hewitt from Siena and Fran Dunphy from Penn.
“We haven’t been looked anywhere officially ourselves yet,” McLaughlin said. “We want to make sure it happens before we make any moves. “