Wesleyan coach Geoff Wheeler called this a seminal moment in NESCAC soccer, while Bates coach Tyler Sheikh dubbed it a milestone moment. Bowdoin coach Scott Wiercinski was a little more cautious, and Amherst coach Justin Serpone followed a similar tone.
It really depends on who you ask around the NESCAC, but it’s clear that the tides of the Division 3 conference changed Monday when it was announced that Josh Shapiro had left Tufts for Harvard and the Ivy League.
In a conference that’s been defined by staying power, both in quality and time, it was a rare move up the coaching ranks. There was also the instance of Fran O'Leary, now the UMass coach, going from Bowdoin to an assistant at Toronto FC (MLS) in 2012, but those cases are more irregularities than commonplace.
