The upcoming 2016 season marks the final campaign for Villanova coach Andy Talley, who will retire after 32 years and hand the job over to assistant head coach Mark Ferrante.
Talley's impending departure leaves William & Mary's Jimmye Laycock (set to embark on his 37th season) as the dean of the 12-team Colonial Athletic Association. Following Laycock are New Hampshire's Sean McDonnell (18th), Stony Brook's Chuck Priore (11th) and Towson's Rob Ambrose (eighth).
Ambrose, who was once recruited by Laycock before playing for the Tigers, grinned when asked about being in the upper half of the CAA coaching ranks in tenure.
"The first year I was here [in 2009], I was like, 'Wow, they actually invited me to this?' I was like somebody's little redheaded brother," he said Tuesday during the conference's media day at M&T Bank Stadium. "Now when Andy leaves, I'll be one of the old guys. I don't even know how that happened. Really, I don't know how that happened. I've seen guys come and go from multiple institutions, and I'm still here. So I'm very fortunate to be able to do this at a school and in a town that I clearly love. The kids make it all worthwhile, and my kids get to grow up here. It's not a bad place to be."
Only the fourth coach in Towson history, Ambrose's star might have burned brightest during the 2013 campaign when he guided that squad to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision championship game, where the team fell to North Dakota State, 35-7, on Jan. 4, 2014. Ambrose might have been tempted to move onto greener pastures elsewhere, but he chose to sign an extension through the 2020 season after the loss.
"If you were to follow my career, I'm not the job-chasing guy," he said. "I've had phone calls about going to other places, but from Towson to Catholic University, where I didn't move my family, to UConn, where I had to move, but then to come back here where my daughter was born. It's just a different way of living. I've seen too many stories of coaches' kids having screwed-up lives because their fathers were out egotistically chasing the next big thing. [Clemson coach] Dabo [Swinney] might have said it best: 'Bloom where you are.' Just do the best you can, and you'll be happy with yourself.
"Towson is home. If I have a chance to re-invest in myself in a way that makes a positive difference for our university, how can I not do that? It's not about the money, it's about making a difference."