Xavier University
ACHA M3 • ICHC
Date: May 3, 2025
Would Recommend
Tags
Coach Decker coached me at University of Hartford. Meg Decker is an honest person with good intentions. However, during her time at Hartford, she lacked professionalism and often tried to mix concepts of "business models," psychological theories and political views into our training as division I athletes. This approach did not help us succeed. She cried after we lost a game against Holy Cross, while we were still on the field, while telling us that "our business was failing." This was a complete projection of her shortcomings as a program leader. There were many dramatic moments on this team, perpetuated by coaching staff and especially perpetuated by Decker, that caused our team to suffer. Many players entered practice in "fight or flight" mode, prepared to be forced to reps until they finally succeeded. Obviously this method of training was not effective because we continued to lose. And yes, there was an incident where marijuana was brought on a team trip, a concerned player brought this to coaching staff, and Decker brushed it under the rug and allowed this player, who brought drugs to our in-conference game against UMBC, to remain on the team. This was before the drug was legalized in Connecticut or Maryland. For the people that claim that she was just trying to get her footing... she had years at Hartford to learn how to do this. After experiencing division I level coaching under a new staff, I can say that Decker's coaching style was not productive compared to what the rest of the NCAA has to offer. I can say nothing about what happened at Xavier. However, when there is such intense discourse about whether a coach is a good leader or not, it is safe to say that the coach has some responsibility for the reputation he/she has gained.