College coach taunts HS runner during race

The indication of a preference is not the making of a contract. If the recruiter is merely upset because the guy did not decide to ratify his inclination then he is stupid as well as exhibiting bad behavior that is more reprehensible because he is a professional coach (at least he is professional in the sense that he gets paid for doing it).

I guess that is the point. Why is there even an "indoor" season when you live in an area that does not have harsh winters? Why isn't "winter track" just run outdoors?

Still struggling to understand how the kid is in any way at fault here. He can't change his mind about where he wants to attend college?

I do love fake Johnny Gray on here, though. PREACH!

ok for your own coach or teammates to yell stuff - even borderline things - but no one else should be yelling at an athlete.

Johnny Gray wrote:

I'll be damned if you low-life bastards tell me what i can or cannot say at a track meet. I am johnny gray and i have earned my right to say what i want, when i want to whoever i want.

I have run some of the fastest 800m times the U.S has ever put out there and you try to treat me like this? F that

i have coached khadevis robinson to do some amazing things in the 800m, representing the U.S on numerous occasions at world and olympic events.

now i coach some very respectable kids at UCLA and duane soloman.

If you don't like what i say then u can kindly close your ears and turn the other way. Thank you

no doubt you are by far the best american 800 meterrunner ever, i was a fan of your front running style.

you have run 1:44.00 or faster 28 times.

this said, i find it very disappointing that you would stoop to degrading a high school kid, a kid who may idolize you and can probably only dream of being half as good a runner as you were.

why did he pick a different school? who knows maybe he has a girlfriend who goes there or maybe an academic program or maybe any of hundreds of reasons.

as a collegiate coach you wont get everyone you recruit regardless of how good a coach you are, i am sure john wooden in basketball, bear bryant in football, dan gable in wrestling it does not matter without exception no coach has gotten every recruit.

i think degrading the kid at the track meet was bad enough, but even then you could be forgiven as coaching is stressful and maybe you just had a meltdown and said some stupid things.

but to go worldwide on the internet a few weeks later after you have had time to reflect and claim your actions were justified, and saying you are right based on the fact you were a great 800 runner who has developed a few good athletes and one great athlete in khadevous robinson, well that speaks for itself.

johny gray as a person you lack class.

douglas burke wrote:

this said, i find it very disappointing that you would stoop to degrading a high school kid,

i think degrading the kid at the track meet was bad enough,

What the hell did he say that was degrading?

Yes, I think it is okay to tell a kid to beat his competition, it is a race!!!

Anybody can pretend to post wrote:

Is this seriously the real Johnny Gray posting on here? I seriously doubt that a man with his record would stoop to this idiocy in posting.

I really hope you're not serious. If so you are wanted in the Alan Webb thread.

Unbelievable.

As usual, it looks like there has been some editing on this thread. Good thing old douglas burke was able to get his post up before Johnny had the original rant removed, and yes, there is a good chance that it was the real JG. Our word for the day is cesspool. Please use it in a sentence.

I'm Rick James, Bitch. Next week Carl and I sing the National Anthem at a Laker's game. Hate on that.

[quote]Former College Coach wrote:

Our word for the day is cesspool. Please use it in a sentence.

Cess pool open or do I have to wait to do my water running until the swimmers are done?

poor johnny gray got his feelings hurt. since when does denying your going to school 'A' qualify as everything bad is acceptable. "Both people are at fault here. First, Miles Andrews went on his UCLA visit and almost committed after his visit." ... or 'almost committing' This happens all the time and has for a looooong time. Very disappointed in Johny Gray, the person assigned as coach, and Johnny Gray the person who stooped so low at a public athletic event. Take away his free passes to track meets. His athletes must be saying to themselves "I want to be like him some day" ... OK, I'm done.

xc955 wrote:

here's a question I always wondered about then; what do you all think about coaches that yell at their runners "get him, he's dying!". okay to say? okay to say if the "dying" runner can't hear? not okay period?

I thought about this as well. I've said this to my athletes before, but I usually say it quietly to them so the "dying" runner doesn't here. But I do this because I don't want to motivate the other athlete, not because I don't want to degrade him. I know when I raced and another coach said something about me, it always motivated me to make sure I beat the other kid.

I was at the meet and it went down nothing like this: Coach Gray is very loud and passionate about the sport and he was wildly cheering for an athlete he has known for a long time and who recently committed to UCLA. He was cheering for his future athlete and not against anyone in particular. Also, JG has much more class than to come on here and rant on the message boards, anyone with a brain knows that was not really Johnny Gray.

SlowJo wrote:

I was at the meet and it went down nothing like this: Coach Gray is very loud and passionate about the sport and he was wildly cheering for an athlete he has known for a long time and who recently committed to UCLA. He was cheering for his future athlete and not against anyone in particular. Also, JG has much more class than to come on here and rant on the message boards, anyone with a brain knows that was not really Johnny Gray.

Nice spin. Everyone is so classy, except for that one time when they aren't. This happens routinely on here. Coach screws up in public and is outed on this board for their bad behavior. Defends themself in an inappropriate way/rant on the board. THEN everyone claims "It couldn't have been them...they would never act THAT way." One last thing, even IF an athlete has committed to a school it is not ok to cheer for them, which is in essence against another/all others in public. It is bad form because you never know who is watching. In the next recruiting cycle, EVERYONE is a potential recruit, so why risk pissing off the members of a team or others by acting in such a manner? The athletes from the other teams in any given race might produce a 1:50 guy the next year, and because of bad form, you are now behind other schools based strictly on how you acted. It is a much better idea to speak/congratulate the athlete after the meet or race in the long run-remember you've already landed them! Just opinion, the LA high school running community is a fickle, fickle crowd.

It all seems that the adult should act like an adult. The 50 year old coach is expected to take the high road against the 17 year old boy. Lets not kid ourselves. They are both not at fault. Recruiting is a very lucid experience. Kids are impressionable and change their minds all the time. I dont care if this kid gave a verbal to UCLA. The 50 year old coach should know better. You dont stoop that low to show up an athlete who said no to going to your school.

Johnny Gray wrote:

I'll be damned if you low-life bastards tell me what i can or cannot say at a track meet. I am johnny gray and i have earned my right to say what i want, when i want to whoever i want.

I have run some of the fastest 800m times the U.S has ever put out there and you try to treat me like this? F that

i have coached khadevis robinson to do some amazing things in the 800m, representing the U.S on numerous occasions at world and olympic events.

now i coach some very respectable kids at UCLA and duane soloman.

If you don't like what i say then u can kindly close your ears and turn the other way. Thank you

----

I’m a former teammate of Johnny and this is not his train of thought. The post does not display his vocabulary.

The post says …{I have run some of the fastest 800m times the U.S has ever put out there and you try to treat me like this? F that}

The person who wrote the post should have said….. I have run some of the fastest 800m times in the world and have an Olympic medal. I’ve been a world class athlete for 20 years and still hold the American record.

I really do not think Johnny would add KD to his accomplishments in a post like this.

I’ve known Johnny for many years and never heard him say the “F” word.

If my kid runs in college, which he probably will, and a "coach" does that? I'll show him toe to toe what taunting really is.

Coach Gray never talks or writes like that. If anything he is enormously positive and encouraging to all athletes. He has a booming voice, he is excited watching his athletes do well. He rejoices when someone PR's even if it is not his athlete.

This is all nonsense and mis-interpreted.

taunting an athlete is nothing. you all think that you're too good for any criticism and that it is the worst thing ever for a coach to taunt even a grown man (an 18 year old), but in other sports, the coaches are tough from an early age and they will scream obscenities at you nonstop and no one blinks an eye.