Gordon Thomson Resigns at SFU

they had 3 distance runner all americans before the university had: an out door track, a strength and conditioning coach, and dedicated athletic weight room. They need an energetic coach who is able to develop athletes; not someone who just expects them to develop with a little water and miracle grow

The head and asst position are not linked - Thomson inherited his throws coach from Moreno. And they are advertising for a throws-specific coach. Unless they have promised her the head coach job. Seems fishy to me.

http://francis.edu/Employmentopportunites.htm#acmw

word...heard they were hiring another full time assistant and that the strength coach is not involved with lifting at all...the new coaches that came in this year got recruits though

RedFlash wrote:

The head and asst position are not linked - Thomson inherited his throws coach from Moreno. And they are advertising for a throws-specific coach. Unless they have promised her the head coach job. Seems fishy to me.

http://francis.edu/Employmentopportunites.htm#acmw

I have heard otherwise from a credible source, so unless you are part of the staff or administration I find it hard to believe. And I guess you could say he inherited her, but then again he definitely wasn't bringing any other staff in with him so I don't know why he would pass up on someone with her credentials.

And why would they promise her the job then advertise for a position that she already specializes in? It does seems strange but I'm pretty sure the university isnt advertising two positions for throws coaches.

RedFlash wrote:

Three coaches (Scott Catone, Felix Moreno, and Gordon Thomson)have "resigned" in the last 6 years. Rumors are that all of them had no choice. Why would anyone want to go there when they are getting rid of track coaches left and right. Their website even has an ad for their current asst coach's position so I guess she's gone too?

Obviously they had no choice, you idiot. Thanks for the inside information though.

Way to keep it classy with the name-calling. If you don't have anything to contribute to the discussion, please don't waste our time.

does anyone have actual inside information about this?

was it just a case of 'screw this, i'm out'? was there an issue with administration?

gordon thompson has actually done a pretty decent job.

their team has gotten better and was runner up last two years in xc.

shukhov wrote:

does anyone have actual inside information about this?

was it just a case of 'screw this, i'm out'? was there an issue with administration?

gordon thompson has actually done a pretty decent job.

their team has gotten better and was runner up last two years in xc.

There definitely was an issue with administration. Although over the past two years he seemed to lose interest, and I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't have any intentions of returning after this year since his contract was up. There were a ton of complaints about his behavior/comments and there were some administrative problems with meets. Some of these may have been out of his control, but I don't think there are any excuses for the complaints about the behavior.

From an outsiders point of view he has done a decent job and I suppose its all relevant. They were able to get second the past two years in XC with a talented roster (for the NEC) but the distance squad hasn't had much long term development if you look at the results in track. Aside from Chris Mills, the distance guys seem to be stagnating. And even Chris Mills hasn't developed as well as many thought. It will be interesting to see if he finally breaks 30:00 in the 10k, as its long overdue. In addition, they lost two of their better recruits in the Gibsons last year and it doesn't seem as if SFU has been reloading on guys to fill their roster.

Relative sorry not relevant

RedFlash wrote:

Way to keep it classy with the name-calling. If you don't have anything to contribute to the discussion, please don't waste our time.

You're an idiot!

The Gibsons? Two of their better recruits? Thats a joke right? They have achieved little to nothing. Please leave the conversation to people who know what they're talking about.

the who??????? wrote:

The Gibsons? Two of their better recruits? Thats a joke right? They have achieved little to nothing. Please leave the conversation to people who know what they're talking about.

The last time I checked, Kyle scored multiple times for SFU while competing. Nick did not have the best freshman season under Thomson, but he was a 4:15 miler in high school and didnt respond well to Thomsons training.

So with all this said - can people closer to the SFU area and university begin to give me some reasons why someone would want to apply for the Head Coaching position at SFU as well as any potential reasons why they would not?

I don't live anywhere close to that area, but have coached for many years. Just curious of the pros and cons of a position there. Thanks -

----------------- wrote:

So with all this said - can people closer to the SFU area and university begin to give me some reasons why someone would want to apply for the Head Coaching position at SFU as well as any potential reasons why they would not?

I don't live anywhere close to that area, but have coached for many years. Just curious of the pros and cons of a position there. Thanks -

Well I have never been a coach at the university and cannot make a fair comparison to any other university. However I can give you some observations from a student athletes perspective.

The school generally attracts some bright and hard working student athletes. In addition they are pretty good with scholarships and generally award some help for academics. And they have some of the best health science programs in the area with their PT and PA programs along with a new life science building being constructed this summer.

I've come to appreciate the close community of SFU. The administration and faculty do a fantastic job of helping students get the most out of their education and athletic experience. The professors really seem to take an interest in their students, and are always willing to help students in any way.

The team has some talented athletes that will be returning next year. Although the mens roster for xc will be thin, the runners they do have returning next year are previous all conference performers and I would expect them to be near the top of the conference again with the right coach. They have a great area for training as well with the country roads and trails around the campus.

Obviously one con might be the location of the university. Loretto isn't a thriving metropolis and the area doesnt fit well with certain personalities. If you dont live anywhere close to the area and are not familiar with the farmland of pennsylvania, then the location might come as a shock to you.

Number 1 thing SFU has going for them is tradition. Not many mid-level D-I programs can claim an Olympian (Brian Sell) as an alum of the program. Not too mention many previous AA's.

Tradition wrote:

Number 1 thing SFU has going for them is tradition. Not many mid-level D-I programs can claim an Olympian (Brian Sell) as an alum of the program. Not too mention many previous AA's.

I agree with this statement. Although the previous All Americans weren't studs coming into the program. It seems as if SFU has had success in the past with taking hard working local recruits and developing them into competitive runners after a couple of years. The past 2 coaches have strayed from the mark and it would be nice to see a knowledgeable coach come in and pull some of the local talent to SFU rather than the surrounding schools getting them.

Nice to see the SFU team run pretty well at conferences that Thomson is gone. Im sure the team morale is a lot better now! hopefully they can hire a good coach that will bring the program back to where it was.

Gordo Thom wrote:

Nice to see the SFU team run pretty well at conferences that Thomson is gone. Im sure the team morale is a lot better now! hopefully they can hire a good coach that will bring the program back to where it was.

BUMP... word is that team morale is higher under the interim coach. But lets get the discussion going! Anybody want to share if they applied or might be thinking of applying?

Rumor is that Ronny \"Ride or Die\" Ruff has applied as well as a few other guys such as an assistant from Texas? Does anybody think they have the knowledge to bring SFU back to where it was, or will another coach with cookie cutter workouts take the reigns at SFU?

Whats the word? any moves on this job yet? haven't even seen a post for a distance/head coach yet