Coaching is a cruel business in college basketball and another head coach has found that out the hard way. Keith Urgo has been relieved of his duties after just three seasons as head coach at Fordham as the program experienced a backwards slide towards the end of his tenure.
Born in Washington DC, Urgo played collegiately at Fairfield, graduating in 2002 before beginning his coaching career. He spent a few seasons coaching high school ball in DC before catching on in the college game. He spent half a decade on Jay Wright’s staff at Villanova in various roles before a longer stint with Pat Chambers over at Penn State.
The big step forward in Urgo’s career came in 2021 when he followed former Villanova assistant Kyle Neptune to Fordham, becoming his associate head coach. The Rams had a pretty solid first season under Neptune’s leadership, but he would then bounce back to Villanova, succeeding Wright after his retirement. As a result, Urgo was promoted and began his first job as a head coach.
The initial results were outstanding for Urgo and his staff, as Fordham won 25 games and tied for 2nd place in the A-10 in his first season. This was the most wins they had notched in a season in more than three decades, while also getting their first finish above .500 in conference play in sixteen years.
Unfortunately, that great season did not set a trend and Fordham fell back into irrelevance. His second season saw a 13-20 mark, buried near the bottom of the standings. This past season the Rams won just 12 games and were dead last in the A-10, causing the administration to make a change.
While he was responsible for that fantastic 2023 season, Urgo is out of a job after he couldn’t maintain that success. Life is not easy in the A-10, especially at a program like Fordham without recent or historic success and support. It also likely didn’t help that he couldn’t carry the momentum from Neptune’s impact with the program, as his Rams faltered these last two seasons with newer players.
The hunt begins for another head coaching search at Fordham and there’s any number of directions the program could look. After Urgo’s disappointing finish, the Rams could look to bring in someone with prior head coaching experience, though that didn’t work a decade ago with Jeff Neubauer. Which direction do you think this program should look for its next leader and can that new coach actually make Fordham a threat in the A-10?