2019 College Track & Field Open Coaching Positions Discussion

April is trash

April is twice the man Cale is!

Posted this on the thread about Milt taking over at UNC already but I love throwing fuel to the fire so I decided to post it here for the sharks to devour as well.

Here are the best/most realistic candidates for the Stanford job in my mind and why or why not they might be interested.

Andy & Maurice Powell - Stanford Alums. But just got to Washington last year and might not be ready to make that change right now. I would also think they could have gone in 2012 had they wanted to but didn’t show any interest.

Mike Smith - Could he have any more success at NAU than he’s already had? That kind of success is not sustainable so he could head to Stanford to put himself in a position to compete for Championships year after year. However he seems to fit the NAU/Flagstaff culture and is probably tested like a King there. That along with academic standards being much lower at NAU makes recruiting a little easier.

Joe Franklin - Probably wants out of UNM now that his program’s funding is being slashed. But Stanford’s academic model doesn’t fit his strategy of recruiting foreigners.

Ed Eyestone - Has made BYU a consistent distance power and since becoming director has seen an improvement in other event groups. Maybe a fun way to end his career? But most likely a BYU lifer.

Jerry Schumacher- someone else mentioned this and I actually wouldn’t be shocked by it. If he wants to get back into the college game, this is a great opportunity. Timing is bad though with the Olympics just one year away.

Michelle Eisenreich - Was associate head coach at Stanford for a few years before taking the head women’s job at Princeton. Also has director experience at Brown. Obviously knows how to handle the academic rigors for the students. But hasn’t done anything spectacular with the team at Princeton and Stanford can probably attract a more accomplished candidate.

A few others that seem less likely to me but could be possibilities are Jon Gondack at Penn State, Beth Alford Sullivan at Tennessee, Mike McGuire at Michigan, Diljeet Taylor at BYU, Tonja Buford Bailey who has head coach experience at Illinois and Texas, and Martin Smith at Iowa State.

Love the speculation!

I could definitely see Joe Franklin. He would do well there. Smart guy that only recruits primarily international due to where he is. He could easily do well at Stanford.

Schumacher is possible but with a HUGE group at BTC, would he move there?

Eisenreich - Highly doubtful. Likely would have been fired at Stanford if she didn't leave on her own. No personality at all. Could never be the face of Stanford.

Mike Smith - can't see him leaving Flagstaff but would do fine there

Dave Smith - could see him going. Like Franklin, he is smart and would do well. Would he leave the high pay and low cost of living for likely less money and super high cost of living. I say no.

Powells - too soon? Probably but interesting to think about

Alex Gibby - would do well there. Does he want to be a Director?

BAS - Maybe? I could see it with the right contacts that she has.

There will be some surprises here. It is a dream job for many people until they finally get into the position that 5th place at NCAA ain't that good for Stanford. Most want that pressure until it comes. Will be fun to watch this one!

statsguy wrote:

Given the article regarding Tennessee earlier this week, wonder if BAS would jump ship and return to the farm

Harlis was called out on here for being on the hotseat last year for nearly the same poor results as BAS. It's also well documented she didn't have the best start at Tenn and the relationship with recruited scholarship athletes already there at the time. Compound that with lack luster performances and finishes. I see her on the hotseat. Does she preemptively jump before the axe?

Schumacher to Stanford

Yes I posted weeks ago that Jordan would be the Head Coach at Missouri State, but no one listens.

All this speculation is overlooking critics factor in success at Stanford...high academic standards. The next coach will come from somewhere with great academics who has shown the ability to succeed anyway.

My top candidates:

Steve Dolan at Penn- he has made them an absolute beast in 7 years. Probably the only thing that keeps him from leaving is that his one son runs for him and the other is about to go to Villanova. He is the best person for this job

Kenna Tolbert- Harvard

Has the name recognition. Is he face of the program? Obviously can really recruit and coach kids to the big stage from the iVies

Gabe Sanders- does the longtime assistant get his shot?

Marcus O’sullivan- would he leave Villanova for Stanford?

Patrick Henner- great coach. Ton of success at Georgetown. Victim of a

Bad situation at Georgetown. Is on the west coast already. Has he rehabbed him image enough?

Does anyone foresee Jerry Baltes at Grand Valley State ever leaving for a top tier D1 program?

WKU Jenkins discussion:

Poor placing because of lack of development or the team just used all walk ons?

These are some solid choices, personally I think Gabe Sanders is a good shout, if he doesn’t follow Milt to UNC of course.

Why would Jerry Leave GVSU? He’s paid well with excellent bonuses with great support and facilities. Only way is if he wanted to get out of the frozen Tundra one day.

Kebba Tolbert would be an amazing choice for Stanford. He’s had extremely high levels of success at every stop in his career, and has made elite sprinting a real thing at Harvard, of all places. Since he can recruit elite academic/athletic athletes to Harvard without the aid of scholarships, imagine what he could do with them! With the natural success of distance running at Stanford, coupled with his prowess in the sprints, there would be a rise nationally in their overall program. His coaching connections are about as good as they get, and he would get an amazing staff together. This would definitely be a slightly off-the-main-radar hire, but very well deserved. And the Cardinal would be taking a big step forward.

ADs don’t care how many ncaa champs you have if it doesn’t say division 1

I’d bet with bonuses Jerry made 150k this season

Gabe Sanders is already headed to Boston U as Robyne Johnson's replacement

Stanford already has their hire, they started advertising for an assistant a couple weeks before the announcement. Just like ASU did before Kraft retired. I think they hire from within, but idk who it is.

Same thing can be said for Fresno, they started advertising for an assistant before the announcement of the HC's retirement.

google goggles wrote:

statsguy wrote:

Given the article regarding Tennessee earlier this week, wonder if BAS would jump ship and return to the farm

Harlis was called out on here for being on the hotseat last year for nearly the same poor results as BAS. It's also well documented she didn't have the best start at Tenn and the relationship with recruited scholarship athletes already there at the time. Compound that with lack luster performances and finishes. I see her on the hotseat. Does she preemptively jump before the axe?

If she’s in the hot seat for how poorly Tennessee is doing, why the hell would Stanford hire her. Isn’t everyone saying Stanford is all about winning championships, she’s oh so close to doing that in Tennessee right.... stop recycling the same lame coaches. There’s too many good coaches coming up that we can leave all the common name drops off the list.

Noooooo wrote:

Why would Jerry Leave GVSU? He’s paid well with excellent bonuses with great support and facilities. Only way is if he wanted to get out of the frozen Tundra one day.

"Frozen tundra" for maybe 2 months a year