Starting programs old hat for new coach

Florida Gulf Coast University athletic director Carl McAloose needed "a program builder."

Jim Blankenship might as well put it on his business card.

McAloose tabbed the Florida Atlantic assistant, a founding coach at three in-state universities over the past 20 years, to be FGCU's first-ever women's soccer coach on Monday.

The hiring filled the last remaining vacancy among the three "necessary sports" added to finalize the school's jump to Division I and the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2007.

FAU assistant Neil Studd was named the women's swimming and diving coach on May 31, then Pennsylvania assistant Bob Butehorn was named the first men's soccer coach last week.

"It's very much a relief," McAloose said after finalizing Blankenship's three-year agreement. "It feels pretty good to, first, have such a quality field, then to bring in three incredible coaches to build our programs."

In Blankenship, the FGCU women start with a five-time National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Coach of the Year and a three-time NAIA national champion.

Blankenship

He compiled a career 241-70-9 mark over 18 seasons as the first head coach at St. Thomas University, Lynn and Miami, and spent the past three seasons under another candidate, Brian Dooley, at FAU. The Owls went a school-best 16-4-1 last season and advanced to their first NCAA College Cup by winning all their games via shutout, a .792 percentage that ranks as the fifth-highest in NCAA history.

"A lot of his ability to build programs has to do with having the personality to recruit," said McAloose, who chose Blankenship over Dooley, Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne coach Jim Stefankiewicz, Massachusetts coach Jim Rudy and former Toledo assistant Carrie Terrill. "He understands there will be ups and downs, and the biggest question I had was, 'After you've done this three times, do you still have the energy to do it a fourth?' You've got to be an extremely hard worker to do what he's done."

Blankenship's teams reached the NAIA Final Four in 10 of his 12 seasons at Lynn, where he developed 40 All-Americans, 18 Academic All-Americans and won national titles in 1992, '94 and '95.

In addition to starting the program, Blankenship handled Lynn's transition to Division II in 1996, leading the Fighting Knights to the D-II national championship game in their first season after the jump. He won 39 of the program's first 43 games in Division II, departing for Miami after helping build the team that won the national championship under successor Rocky Orezzoli in 1998.

In Coral Gables, Blankenship built a national power from the ground up, going 42-34-3 over the program's first four seasons from 1998-2001. The Hurricanes climbed as high as No. 14 nationally in Blankenship's last year, which saw the program reach its first NCAA Tournament behind some of the country's highest-rated recruiting classes.

Blankenship spent the 2002 season as a training/recruiting assistant at Jacksonville University, then joined Dooley's staff in Boca Raton.

"It's a tremendous amount of responsibility, vision and good fortune," he said of starting from scratch. "You've got to trust that people will build it the way you want because you're buying a dream. There, with Carl's passion and his vision ... he kept saying, 'Let's build something special.' I'm excited for that opportunity."

Blankenship will officially take the reigns in July, when he and Butehorn will start recruiting and, among other start-up duties, help McAloose design the facilities to be located between the aquatic center and Swanson Stadium.

"The biggest thing is just educating the soccer community that FGCU is now a player," McAloose said. "He has so many contacts that I don't think it will take him long to get the word out. He'll bring some national recognition, and we think he'll be a heck of a first coach."

Said Blankenship: "I walked away saying this (school) is a hidden secret. I'm very impressed with the facilities, the success of the other sports and I think we have the ability to attract high-level players there. There's just a lot that I think will help us in the process, and I can't wait to get my claws into it."