Pappy wrote:
I had experiences with 7 different coaches from high school, junior college, D1, and D3. Some of the these coaches, coached "Elite" runners. The best coach I had was the junior college coach. It was rumored every year D1 schools were recruiting him but he never left.
This suggests the best coaches are in d1 or are at least actively recruited to be d1 coaches because d1 has the best coaches.
Couldn't be further from the truth.
Some of the best coaches at developing runners are at D2 and lower.
Damon Martin, George Williams, Al Carius, Jud Logan, Jerry Baltes to name a few. They don't get the most talented kids, but they develop them to be MUCH better than they were expected to be by any other coach.
Or, as in George Williams case, he may get some very talented kids who nobody else wants to put up with or gave the time of day for one reason or another, and makes them national to international caliber.
Maybe those coaches like the school and/or the area they live in. D1 schools are actively recruiting d1 talent athletes and coaches because they want the best for their programs. Being fast might help getting your foot in the door but it won't help you stay there. Just looking at our top Olympians, they are all former d1 runners with Nick Symmonds being the only exception. How many Olympians/national champs were/are coached by d2, d3, etc?
FacePalm wrote:
Couldn't be further from the truth.
Some of the best coaches at developing runners are at D2 and lower.
Damon Martin, George Williams, Al Carius, Jud Logan, Jerry Baltes to name a few. They don't get the most talented kids, but they develop them to be MUCH better than they were expected to be by any other coach.
Or, as in George Williams case, he may get some very talented kids who nobody else wants to put up with or gave the time of day for one reason or another, and makes them national to international caliber.
[quote]Beast of the Best wrote:
Just looking at our top Olympians, they are all former d1 runners with Nick Symmonds being the only exception. How many Olympians/national champs were/are coached by d2, d3, etc?
[quote]
You are referencing the difference in the caliber of athletes not the quality of coaches. There are loads of DI coaches who are good but there are just as many small coaches who are just as good if not better.
Superstar HS athletes most often go to DI schools, the ability of that coach to develop an athlete tells you a lot about how good of a coach he/she is. There are DI coaches who develop kids and there are ones that get by on talented kids. There are a lot of small school coaches who take average kids and turn them into pretty good kids on a regular basis, occasionally finding a kid who has the genetic attributes to become great and compete at a very elite level.
But to your point - Joe Vigil was a D2 coach who coached a load of athletes on the stage you referenced, many of them DI athletes who turned to Vigil after their college careers.
No. There aren't that many jobs for college coaches, so you can find good coaches at all levels. This has been compounded by a lot of schools dropping men's XC and track programs for Title IX or budget cuts.