July
2, 2003
Pearl
Changes Mind, Returns to Holy Cross
By
Nate Ewell
Five days
after announcing his intentions to leave Holy Cross to accept
a position at Milton Academy, Paul Pearl has changed his mind
and will remain as the head coach of the Crusaders, he told Inside
College Hockey on Wednesday.
“My heart is
here,” Pearl said. “It’s still a very good situation
and the school has made a strong commitment. Milton was such a
great place, it made me start to forget how special Holy Cross
is.”
Pearl had
cited family reasons in his initial decision
to step down, but said that his family supports his decision
to stay at Holy Cross. Although no contract extension or terms
were disclosed, the university issued a press release stating
that Pearl had "recommitted to Holy Cross for several years."
He has extensive ties
to the Worcester, Mass., campus, dating to his time as a defenseman
for the Crusaders. He graduated in 1989 and spent time as an assistant
coach at Brown and Connecticut before returning to Holy Cross
as the head coach in 1994. This season will be his ninth as the
head coach of the Crusaders.
“It’s
kind of a part of you,” he said. “I’ve been
here a long time, and I hope to be here much longer.”
"I am
very happy that Paul will be with us for quite a bit longer,”
Holy Cross athletic director Richard Regan, Jr., said. “He
is a great coach, a great recruiter, and perhaps most importantly,
he understands what Holy Cross is all about.”
Pearl has led Holy
Cross from its roots as a Division III program to its position
as a contender in the MAAC and now Atlantic Hockey. (He said that
this week’s changes in the league’s governance structure
had “absolutely no” impact in his decision.)
Even as he discussed
his initial decision to move on last week, Pearl expressed excitement
about Holy Cross’s prospects in 2003-04. That excitement
was evident again Wednesday as he discussed his decision to stay
on campus. Among the team’s top 12 scorers in 2002-03 only
Brandon Doria graduated, and a senior-laden lineup returns this
year.
“I think we have,
first, a great group of kids here who have been together for a
couple years of real hardship,” Pearl said, noting the untimely
death of junior Glenn Crane in December after a battle with Hodgkin’s
Disease. “I feel like I’m a big part of those guys’
lives, and I have a hard time thinking of not being here with
them.
“Also, we’ve
got a very talented group. We play in a tough league and you never
know what can happen, but we’re very deep at every position.”
The Crusaders
finished third in the MAAC last year, their second of back-to-back
17-win seasons after they had been limited to eight victories
in each of the previous two years. Pearl, who was named the conference’s
coach of the year in 2001-02, is 116-114-19 in his head coaching
career.
Pearl led
Holy Cross to the first MAAC tournament championship, in 1999,
and has coached each of the last two MAAC Offensive Players of
the Year (Doria and San Jose Sharks minor leaguer Pat Rissmiller).
