Remember that this is a little unique in the case that the Arcadia Invitational is a cash cow and they probably don't want to change the status quo as it pertains to that. Pretty sure kids have been kicked off the track team before for taking a spring break or college visits and not participating in the required manual labor of setting up for the meet.
If you think that the AD or administration has the right to make the changes necessary to keep O'Brien on staff, you're right. If you think the AD or administration actually cares about what's going on, you're wrong. This is where the problem lies. It's not about how successful O'Brien is, it's that nobody cares what's best for the kids except O'Brien.
Jim does his thing. Sometimes it gets him in trouble, but he works his tail off for his kids and it shows. Love him or hate him he has proven that he puts his kids first. The only people the head track coach is hurting is everyone else on the Arcadia track team. The admin should care about that if they care about kids. I'm guessing they don't.
Okay, I was obviously wrong. This guy seems like a class act and I feel bad for him. What a shame.
So WHY specifically was he axed?
Sometimes, some things don't make sense when it comes to egotistical people. This seems to be one of those cases where we may never find out the entire story unless we get it out of O'Brien himself or the Athletic Director. Some of the posts on here have explained a bit of what's going on.
I was coached by Coach O'Brien some time ago.
He was an excellent coach. He pushes his kids, but listens to them as well. There is tough love, but he gets the most out of most athletes and those athletes are better for it. He absolutely dedicates himself to coaching and spends as much time as any coach on trying to make his athletes better. He doesn't look for any praise himself and I have appreciated that more and more since I left.
However, he is opinionated on what is right and wrong in terms of training. I could see there might be issues with Coach O'Brien "under" another coach, especially when that coach feels he is in charge of the team and/or disagreed with Coach O'Brien's training methods.
Eugene, OR is the only Track Town, USA !
That's true but O'Brien doesn't try to overstep his boundaries by telling other coaches what to do. He only expects to be able to train his distance athletes the way he feels they should be trained.
If true, this is sad. O'Brien cares about the athletes. He inspires them and helps a lot to D1 schools. Really invokes Joe Newton's comment, "When you have a lot of success in any high school athletic program, about 90 percent of the staff at the school tends to hate you." Before anyone questions O'Brien, remember that two years ago McAllister transferred and gave up CIF rather than run for Schultz.
In response to Need More Coaches Like O'Brien:
You are absolutely right. Catrina did transfer for that exact reason (she was training under OBrien during xc but was not allowed to during track so she left).
It's funny you mention that quote by great York HS coach Joe Newton because a lot of O'Brien's philosophies have stemmed from Newton.
Anybody find it interesting that after O'Brien was re-hired to the track team in 2005, he then led his xc athletes to a first ever California state meet appearance where they finished 3rd? They've gone to state every year since..
Are You Serious? wrote:
Yes, FM is clearly a stellar group and Saugus has won 7 state DIVISION 2 titles. Both are INCREDIBLE
Hats off to Saugus, but they do not even belong in the same sentence or paragraph with F-M.
Are You Kidding Me? wrote:
It is clearly obvious the O'Brien is a great track and xc coach. I find this pretty ridiculous. O'Brien has led Arcadia to 8 straight California Div. 1 State Championships, the longest current streak in the state. He has won 2 state and 2 national championships, along with multiple CIF championship. Yet somehow this track coach still decides to fire O'Brien (arguably the best coach in the country)?
Dana Hills won the Boys D1 California State XC Championships in 2007-2009, defeating Arcadia in those years. O'Brien is a great coach, but he has NOT won 8 straight CIF State Championships and has not won 3 straight like Tim Butler at Dana Hills.
When I was in High School,I ran against Arcadia many times in track and I can say that the distance team has always been their saving grace. Those sprinters cannot score points to save their lives and if not for O'Brien and his distance guys, we would have won against them instead of losing. I can't even imagine how that track team is going to be able to compete without O'Brien and that dominant distance crew.
What he meant to say is that they qualified for 8 straight California D1 state meets. Which is the most ongoing for any boys team in California that I know of. Its kind of obvious that Arcadia is hands down the best Boys program in the State.
Coach D, it was obviously clarified in this thread that the poster meant to say "8 straight California Div. 1 State Championships APPEARANCES." It was also implied that they did not win 8 times in a row because the OP said "He has won 2 state and 2 national championships."
There's no need to rep your team over here. Don't be but-hurt that Dana is dead and gone.
0/10
With those credentials he will not have a problem finding & building another great team.
Dana Hills, especially Coach Butler, is an incredible coach. I know that Coach O'Brien praises the great work Butler has done with Dana.