I’m starting a new thread because I don’t want to turn the 2025 NCAA women’s tournament thread into a referendum on Casey Moon or any other coach.
You’re right, PoloPositive, one never knows. I said it won’t surprise me if USC makes a coaching change if they don’t beat Stanford or UCLA in this year’s NCAA tournament, not that they will necessarily make a change. Here’s a brief history of Moon’s tenure as the head coach and interim head coach at USC.
USC was undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the country when USC dismissed Jovan Vavic on March 12, 2019, and named Casey Moon the interim head coach. Under Moon, USC was 9-2 in 2019 and lost to Stanford 9-8 in the NCAA championship game. Among other players, the 2019 USC team featured Maud Megens, Paige Hauschild, Amanda Longan, Tilly Kearns, Denise Mammolito, Bayley Weber, Kelsey MacIntosh, Alejandra Aznar, Mireia Guiral, Grace Tehaney, and Verica Bakoc. (Playing with many of the players listed above, USC won the NCAA tournament in 2018 under Vavic, beating Stanford 5-4 in the finals.) USC’s 2019 team was one of the most talented teams in NCAA history not to win the NCAA tournament.
In August 2019, USC named Marco Pintaric the head coach of USC’s men’s and women’s teams. Moon was named the associate head coach of both teams. USC hasn’t won the NCAA men’s tournament since 2018. USC won the NCAA women’s tournament in 2021 (an Olympic year), beating UCLA in the finals. Stanford was missing Mackenzie Fischer, Aria Fischer, and Ryann Neushul because they were training with the U.S. senior national team in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics. USC hasn’t won the NCAA women’s tournament since 2021.
In June 2023, USC named Moon the head coach of the women’s team. Moon stepped down from his role as associate head coach of the men’s team. USC finished tied for 5th in the 2024 NCAA tournament, losing to Stanford 9-3 in the first round. (The last time USC didn’t participate in the NCAA semifinals was 2003.) Stanford lost to UCLA in the semifinals. Stanford’s 2024 team was missing four players from its 2023 team because they were training for the Olympics. USC was missing two players. I watched the Stanford/USC first-round game with several coaches. The consensus was that USC didn’t play well and had underachieved during the 2024 season.
“He won when he had the talent.” Dante Dettamanti discussing Pete Cutino. Dettamanti would have said the same thing about himself and other coaches he highly respected. If we’re judging Casey Moon’s tenure at USC, we would have to say he had the talent in 2019 and 2025. If USC doesn’t participate in the NCAA finals this year, I think it’s fair to ask questions about his coaching (not his character).