Background: I'm going into my sophomore year at a D1 school that I like a lot. Back of the pack on the team- PR's of 15:40 5k, 9:05 3k, 4:31 Mile. Above average training knowledge, i.e. principles of Canova, Lydiard, Coe, Daniels etc. Trained myself before college with success. Entered freshman year of college injured, and only got in 4 solid months of training in the spring. Currently 100% healthy.
I usually don't ask for advice over letsrun, but I'm in a bit of a pickle and think it would be fair to have some outside opinions.
I'm considering quitting my college team (but not quitting competitive running) because I strongly disagree with the coach's training/attitude/philosophy. Over the course of my freshman year it became apparent that the team's training was very suspect, and that the attitude of the coach towards athletes was negative to the point of demotivating.
When I was being recruited the coach made training seem very sophisticated and geared towards coaching champions and championship teams. However, I quickly learned that the philosophy was nothing more than racing every workout and hammering out intervals 'till you drop. In addition, our team hasn't gotten better at all over the past few years, when it was virtually promised that we would start living up to potential (based on landing good recruits).
To add to that, the coach seemed like a cool knowledgeable guy when I was being recruited. However, over the course of freshman year I came to realize that he's really just a dick who is more interested in recruiting kids than being a good coach (or in some cases, being a coach at all).
Normally my decision to quit the team would be easy to make. Even though I'm one of the slower guys on the team right now (due to past injury), I am one of the few who have a good knowledge of training, and I am confident that I will improve if I choose to train myself rather than stick with the coach's BS plan. My problem lies in the fact that I really like my teammates a lot. There are several friends/teammates on my team who were also on my high school team, and I really enjoy having them in my life. Unfortunately, those guys would not be open to quitting the team, as it is a huge pride issue for them to be on a D1 team. At this point, being on the team as a runner doesn't matter much to me, as the coach/athlete relationship just is NOT working for me or for my teammates. However, being on the team as a social college kid matters a lot to me. I enjoy my social life being part of the team, and I am conflicted because I feel that I may lose a good deal of friends who I was very tight with my freshman year if I choose to quit the team.
The whole decision would be a lot easier if the coach was open to new ideas, but it is damn near impossible to communicate with the guy, as he shoots down the slightest question of his principles (just because he's managed to get a few talented HS guys run 14:2x in the past). Like I said he's basically an all around jerk who I would NOT be happy training under for 4/5 years of key development as a runner/person.
The decision would also be easier if the team wasn't so tight knit/closed. Most of the guys/girls on the team are only good friends with each other, while I've opened up and have a decent amount of friends outside of running at school. It’s very much an "our way or the highway" attitude on the team, which again, I disagree with heavily. However, I do genuinely like almost every guy/girl on the team.
So what do you think? Should I quit the team/train myself and run the risk of losing my good running friends? Or swallow my pride and suck up to a coach I disagree with at the expense of training like garbage but keeping my good friends?