Got to have a brief chat with him at the meet on Saturday. He was glad to take photos with all the people that approached him to ask, he took time to talk to me about my upcoming participation at Chicago, and he just all around seems like a super positive person to have in the sport. I hope he gets a shot to coach and it works out well for him.
If you are looking for a leader, you'll probably be disappointed
If you are looking for a technician, you'll probably be pleased (as he worked with the best technical coach in the business in Alberto Salazar.
My conclusion is he would make a great assistant under someone else's leadership, but not necessarily be a great head coach.
Whether as an assistant or head coach, I think Rupp's greatest value would be helping blue chip recruits with the mental aspects of running: handling pressure and high expectations, managing disappointment when they're not the best in college right out of high school, navigating injuries, and rising to the occasion for championship meets.
All the "Haters" of elite runners turning coach say the same thing, "Just because you were a great runner doesn't mean you'll be a great coach". Which is true to an extent, but not necessarily accurate. A lot depends on the athlete turned coach experience with their own career. Did they have success at high school, college, and pro? Were they athletes who just did what they were told, or did they actively participate in planning workouts and race strategy? Did they understand "why" they ran certain workouts and races? These are the things that determine the success of an elite runner turned coach. Can they communicate their experiences to young runners? Or will they become the "Bernard Lagat" of coaching?
My odds that Galen will be a successful college coach are 50/50. Alberto had a lot of control over Galen and was the end all be all during his running career. He also ran the sh^t out of his athletes, which can be a tough sell to younger inexperienced runners. You have to remember that Alberto built Galen from the ground up, Galen was a prodigy and was trained differently from most elite young runners. His training will be very difficult to translate over to younger runners.
I don't know why people thin he would automatically be a good coach.
He might be good, but...what is going to say about cheating, taking pills from a coach when you don't know what it is, using shoes in an Oly trials and games to win medals which were not legal (you can't wear shoes that aren't available to the other runners - see 2016 trials and 16 games shoes), claiming he had answered every question about doping when he has actually answered almost no questions about doping and running for a coach who got banned from the sport.
He may know how to make out a workout and about recovery, but don't expect him to be great on teaching morals (right from wrong), learning to speak up when you see something wrong, taking stand on issues that impact the sport, etc.
If you are looking for a leader, you'll probably be disappointed
If you are looking for a technician, you'll probably be pleased (as he worked with the best technical coach in the business in Alberto Salazar.
My conclusion is he would make a great assistant under someone else's leadership, but not necessarily be a great head coach.
Can we get clarification on what is being said here about the 2016 prototypes in competition? I don’t think this was illegal.
Smith and Cornfield are highly competent coaches and mentors to their athletes. there's no way they'd let Rupp around the team unless he was a positive influence. also, he's just a "volunteer" coach, you guys already projecting him to be a future NCAA head coach are jumping the gun a bit. looks like he's just dipping his toes in the water to see what coaching is all about.
Maybe this is the 1st step for him to be an assistant with Smith when he starts his new pro group.
This for sure. Nike will keep him in house.
The poster is correct, Galen never once cared about anybody but himself. This kind of selfishness is exactly what created cheater, sexual abuser Alberto Salazar. Winning at All Costs (read the book) is a horrible attitude. Frankly, from what I know about Mike Smith's character, I can't believe he a) agreed to coach Rupp after the Nike doping scandal, and b) would take him in as an assistant coach. Do better, Mike. Do better.
This would be a reason for me not to send my son or daughter to NAU
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