I'm about to take on a job as head cross country coach at a school that has a program already, but they're terrible. The #1 boy on the team can break 23 for a 5k on a good day. The current coach, who is stepping aside, is really a basketball coach and doesn't know anything about XC. Basically, what's going on is I need to completely change the training philosophy on this team. I know how to coach cross country; I've been watching it done for over 10 years now.
The problem here is how to get more bodies out for practice to work with. I'm interested in hearing anyone's thoughts on why they started running, if it was in high school, and if a coach did or could possibly have helped convince you to make that decision. I'm pretty sure this team generally consists of only about 7 kids, and I'd like to do a better job recruiting than the old coach. So, anyone got any advice?