Best Small DI Coaches

David Granato at Washburn is doing a great job. Took Washburn from 2nd last at the MIAA meet in 2019 to 26th at D2 Nationals in 2022. If you look at the recruits they've gotten, he's done a great job at steady development.

I can’t believe no one has said Iona and the multiple coaches they have had over the years. Send athletes to nationals every year and at one point had the longest streak of making NCAA’s as a team in XC (ended in 2021). They have won the MAAC like 30 something years in a row, which is also pretty crazy even despite the rest of the conference being super mediocre, the fact that they NEVER lose is crazy.

I don't accept this. Air Force has leniency on athletes. They get out of a lot of minor things that the regular student population does. I have friends who went there. One thing they don't get out of is structure and overall fitness. This is something that other schools simply cannot mandate like a government school can. AF also can basically recruit an infinite amount of people because they don't have to worry about scholarshipping the athletes. The teams are large and they can train at altitude, you're always going to have decent teams just by default. It's basically "hey here's free school take it or leave it." That is a luxury most schools don't have.

Neither the Ivy-League nor Big East are P-5 Conferences and both have more small schools with higher ranked teams. Colorado State has 32,000 students. Why omit the answers to OP's question?

...and it's Ray Treacy.

This question is a very intruiging one but almost impossible to come to a decent conclusion on. The thread is useless without knowing how much money they're working with. Case in point:

Cal Baptist

Furman

Iona

Tulsa

Boise St

New Mexico

Lipscomb

Vintage NAU

Etc etc etc.

These are all programs that just dump every cent into distance and say "look at me and how great I am!" I know some phenomenal coaches who have almost no scholarship budget and therefore are mid-conference at best but get no recognition for doing VERY well with almost zero resources.

This is also speaking to the disaster that is the structure of the NCAA's track/xc rules. It's unbelievable that it's set up to allow teams in the same sport to literally play by different rules.

This guy is nailed it! ^^^

Who loves you, Baby!

Not sure about those conferences. I live in Alaska. Coach Chas Davis is your man.

What about the women? Also 4 out of top 5 guys are international

The answer to this question in 2025 will be Ryan Vanhoy.

Coach Connor's Portland Pilots-three podium finishes in last 10 years (2014; 2017; 2018).

Why are people listing programs that have the maximum amount of scholarships (or close to the maximum)????

That is NOT what the thread was created to discuss.

Yes those may be non-power 5 schools that are doing well but they have more scholarships into distance than MOST power 5 schools - do you really think Florida, LSU, and even Oregon are putting all their scholarship money into cross country? Hell no. 20% or less goes to distance.

Speaking of MACtion....Clayton Murphy U (i.e., Akron) just reinstated Men's Cross Country this Fall & are ranked pretty high in the Great Lakes region already!

and all those scholarships!

My alma mater from the late 70's. Gary seems to do well with local athletes. He has put out a few good All Americans.

He does nail it. These schools that throw every single cent into cross country and distance are a joke and their coaches just aren't that good. It is so lame how it is set up.

The one bad example is NAU. They don't do that. They put a lot into distance sure, but they also win conference track & field titles. That is legit. All those other schools are all distance and trash in track & field or don't even have a conference championship in track. Can't dog on NAU the same way.

It's embarassing those other schools are throwing everything at distance and still can't beat NAU. Some other offenders: the entire West Coast Conference. They shouldn't even be allowed to compete in track & field if they aren't going to have a conference championships.

I find it funny how we always have this conversation of "they're only good because they put all their money into it!" as if the studs going to traditional power-5 programs are not getting full rides 😂

I also know for a FACT that several of the programs mentioned are NOT fully funded. Do they put the scholarships they do have into distance, of course, but they are not putting 12.5 and 18 into them.

How many scholarships do ya'll think Oklahoma State, Iowa State, North Carolina, and Syracuse put into distance? Are their coaches now "bad" because they also "buy" athletes?

These mid-major programs also can not offer the additional funding that is now allowable by the NCAA. The biggest example being Alston Money, a $6,000 yearly award that schools can stack on top of a full ride.

Sorry for preaching but the argument that many make of "they're good because they put more money into it" just is not correct when you are comparing to the other XC teams in the top 20. Do these small schools have bigger budgets and allocate more scholarships to distance than other mid-majors OF COURSE! But they still have much smaller budgets and resources than that of an Oregon, Duke, Virginia, etc.

There are so many variables way beyond how much actual scholarship money a team puts into an event area. Have you asked how much money the student athletes on each team pay on average? Perhaps that influences their decision. Stanford is about 80k. If an athlete is offered 50% then they are still paying 40k. Consequently, at a state school the cost is way less on average than a Stanford or Duke. They can load up with books kids at Texas then give them 6k in Alston money and maybe meals. Does that make a coach better? Are LSU, Texas and Florida bad at coaching because they find ways to get athletes for less, stack speed power events on men’s side and also can get athletes to quit or transfer when they are not performing at a high level?
There are WAY too many factors on why someone appears to be a good coach or not. Most of these reasons are not mentioned here. Admin support for a program is understated. Also, the ability to be successful at multiple types of programs - private, public, big or small.

Wofford

Curry