What is Pete Dolan the UCSB head coach like?

I looked at UCSB when I was in high school. I am female and at the time their girls team was very good. I was barely under 20 minutes for a 5k and Dolan still took the time to meet with me personally and set me up to spend the day with the team. In my meeting with him he was very straightforward in telling me that I was not a top recruit for them and that if I didn't make the time trial I wouldn't get the freebies and go to as many meets, but that I could still run with them. He also told me he didn't tolerate partying and that I had to be down with high mileage. I appreciated his honesty and bluntness, and also the fact that he still took the time for me. I ended up going to a school that was a better fit for other reasons and improved greatly. What really got me is that Dolan saw my coach at a meet and complimented my improvement to him. When my coach told me that I was really surprised/flattered- not all coaches would remember a slow potential walk-on who still wasn't really anything super special.

And to th person who said Dolan has made some girls cry - HAHA. I think every collegiate female xc runner will cry to/at/because of their coach at some point no matter what school she's at. We are wrecks! :)

As for the anonymous character assassinations, I can tell you that Pete was a pretty good guy when I "ran" for UCSB in the late 80s. I was fairly abrasive because of my underachieving, and Pete really had no reason to meet me and a few others out for dinner a few years after I returned to SB, but he showed up, jovial and congenial. I will always remember that.

As for coaching, I think it's pretty obvious he's gotten results over the past decade+. When I ran, he was still pretty "green" and I went through my entire career with an undiagnosed iron deficiency, which I felt like a coach should've "caught." I finally starting realizing my potential after the anemia was diagnosed. Even ran a progression-style solo time trial 10k in 30:20 at UCSB's track some six-eight months post diagnosis and was probably in 29:40 shape before getting injured, which is precisely when I needed a coach.

Felt like I could've delivered for Pete had this been figured out before and I liked his Lydiard-style approach, but I'm sure things have long since evolved since I graduated. UCSB is a great school for engineering and hard sciences. Not so sure about the rest.

He is one of those coaches who will only accept people on the team who will be top 7 possibilities. He has no interest in improving hard working runners, up and comers, who do not have good times just yet. This says a lot about the type of coach he is. And has disheartened a couple people I know (who were good enough for the team, they just didn't like him as a coach) from being on the team. The fact that there are so many mixed reviews for him, should say something about his character. SB is a great place to live and go to school. But not the best environment for a good runner who is looking for a positive experience working with a coach. My opinion: SLO is a better, as are other UC schools. Good luck!

Question for you (Former X&Track member): Regarding the continuous run until he said stop, how did he decide the members of the team based off of that if only 3 of you were left? Did people just drop out once they fell too far back?

from what I've heard wrote:

He is one of those coaches who will only accept people on the team who will be top 7 possibilities.

You're right. He should be hosting a running club. Like all the college basketball coaches that host open gym rather than recruit talent and work with that.

I've heard that he welcomes walk-ons, and does try to develop runners...

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Check out Southern Oregon University, NAIA National Champs, and fill out a questionarre if you want to be contacted by the coach.

Why the hell would you come to Letsrun to find out information on a coach?

Every decent NCAA coach has been thrown under the bus on Letsrun at some point... look at it this way, good enough to get attentionc called to them...

(This IS a great place to find out about a coach) During my time running for Dolan, I'd never experienced so many people quitting the sport they'd loved for years. It's true, he gets results from a select few individuals.. What coach with a brain in his head doesn't? The people who ran well were already good/talented, joined a program with other good runners to finally run with, and excelled because of it. I didn't experience his improvement of me, or any of my teammates. If you were disciplined and did the workouts, didn't get injured, and improved, you were on your way to being a better runner (only natural). If you weren't top 7, were trying to come back from injury, or didn't have the personality of an automaton.. you were screwed. And, I mean screwed. Dolan is, at heart, a complete asshole. Do not misunderstand. If you want a drill sergeant for a coach who doesn't give a crap about anything but his own opinions & ego, UCSB's the place for you. While I was there, I was highly jealous of the Cal Poly program. When I transferred to UCSB, I'd already experienced an array of different coaches & personalities. And, I was definitely tricked into walking on to his program. Like any coach, he'll grin, treat you right, and try to get you on as a recruit. Once you're in, you're dog meat. And, you won't even notice the beauty that surrounds you in Santa Barbara until you decide you're not going to take it anymore.

Dolan needs to stop his runners from acting like immature brats.

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So the OP is now going into college, I wonder if she chose UCSB? Who is UCSB getting for recruits this year anyway, haven't heard too much?

bump, come on there have to be more people affiliated with this program..

i think the guys/girls that are currently on the team are smart enough to not reply to some of these statements

all4s wrote:

(This IS a great place to find out about a coach) During my time running for Dolan, I'd never experienced so many people quitting the sport they'd loved for years.........

you've never experienced so many people quit? yes.. obviously. i've been to ucsb several times, as well as meeting with the team and dolan. i do not go there but i've also experienced enough of it to understand what really goes on. some the people that quit the team already go into ucsb because they plan on partying or doing other things. ucsb is a great place to do all sorts of things because of its absolutely beautiful location on the beach. the other ones that quit are the ones that started partying. this is what dolan has to deal with: recruiting people blindly (he has no idea if these fast or not so fast recruits are just going to come in for the partying or the running). many other schools do not have to deal with this.

as far as only making fast people good.. i highly doubt that. i can think of an old friend at the top of my head that i know (jd krawczyk) that proves your statement wrong. 9:56 high school 2 miler that turned into an XC all-american? there are definitely other cases similar to this:

bump, good thread. Any more info? I'm a senior looking at possibly going to UCSB next year.

Got an email?

The posts in this thread are spot on. He does not care about anyone who is not scoring for the team, and actively discourages walk on runners (and doesn't give a crap about you if you aren't scoring). There is a reason why the program has at least a 50% attrition rate.

- Former Gaucho