D1: The Managerial Merry-Go-Round

Opening Day is still far off: April 6th. The eight Division 1 clubs are slowly releasing information on their websites and social media about their new players and managers. While we don’t know much yet, we can already confirm that 50% of the managers from 2023 won’t be in place for 2024. Let’s break it down together.

Those Who Stay:

The dominant teams of 2023, Montpellier and Montigny, naturally kept their general managers. Owen Ozanich, who led his Barracudas to victory and got his own jersey dirty in the final, continues his journey and will attempt to repeat as champions. Over at Montigny, Jose de Araujo is also still in place. He’s often assisted in important decisions by his ace pitcher: Yorfrank Lopez.

Next up is Toulouse, who also retained Randy Perez, the brother of Keino, who leads the French national team. After a strong first half of last season, he’ll need to improve the team’s consistency and maintain their high level. He’ll also have to navigate the new JFL rules, which will force him to make tough roster decisions.

Metz, finally, kept the faith in Shane Priest. He was the number two after Pierre Cézard, who retired. The season was complicated for the Cometz, but they held on and maintained their ranking. The announcement of the recruitment of a player-coach in the form of Yeixon Ruiz, who comes from S2nart and previously from Savigny, will strengthen the team’s offense and help them worry less about their standing at the bottom of the table.

Those Who Arrive:

Sénart announced early the arrival of Julien Brelle-Andrade to replace Mathieu. The Sénart side finished ‘not far off’ in 2022 (they ended 7th), and the third-place finish in 2023 reassured them. Julien Brelle-Andrade will need to do even better in 2024.

Rouen also changed, with Boris Marche departing and Quentin Becquey arriving. Supported by the club’s sports director, Sylvain Virey, the team has already shown its work by recruiting numerous foreign players, who we’ll talk about later.

Savigny also changed and promoted a trusted player who will also coach while playing: Ivan Acuna. The manager-player role is always more complicated to take on, but Acuña listens to his staff.

Finally, La Rochelle let go of Kirk McNabb, who had been with the club for two years. He is replaced by Pablo Ossandon, the man who led the regional team to Division 2 as a pitcher. In 2023, he assisted the coach, notably managing the pitchers. He too will have to navigate the JFL rules to build his roster well.

The 2024 season will see plenty of changes in team management on the field: only one pool of eight teams, the JFL rules, no limit on foreign players, the extra-inning rule with one player on second base, a stricter pick-off rule… Each of the old and new managers will have to fight to keep their ranking. This 2024 championship has never been so open, with the 2023 results in the background and the new rules as constraints.