Tennessee Track: WTF?

OK - Frazier is an amazing coach - he has had serious success at basically every stop - he is a very respected coach.

They will not fire J.J. unless he does something to get into trouble. UT has great alumni for track but they don't have the giving power of Oregon's alumni.

I think J.J. is a total asshole but there is no way he gets fired. Maybe at some point they would split the programs back up, but even that seems doubtful.

He has won 2 national championships. If he runs a clean program, he is safe.

You can be as passionate as you want in hating J.J. But he ain't going anywhere unless he wants out.

Thanks for the post J.J. Lets be frank, J.J. , you have lived off your sisters' and wife's exploits to become a reasonably respected middle-distance coach. Beyond that you have done nothing. You should be ashamed of yourself for what you have done to the proud UT men's track and field program. Blaming others for your profound shortcomings only magnifies how truly incompetent you really are. You are nothing more than a charlatan and a fraud who should be shown the door for the good of the Vol TF nation.

In pointing out some of the coaches you mentioned that JJ has hired, I have to and can speak on one of them...The Sarcasm in the Powerhouse that you have mentioned (Brown) obviously was no powerhouse. Romain is an excellent coach who made 51 footers out of 45 footers, 43 footers out of 40 footers, 41 footers out of 36 footers and the list can go on. If you know the guy, he is one of the most briliant jumps coach in the NCAA and time will tell. As for his experience, he was coached by the best jumps coach in the WORLD while at ARKANSAS...and helped the Wisconsin jumps crew to many Big 10 titles. So your Sarcasm should be checked....Experience in this case is a GREAT TEACHER. Frazier on the other hand, gets these international kids who are already developed and they never really really improve...He recruits by accident. Seagrave, I imagine has never coached before, but I am sure that her husband writes or can send her the work outs. He published some crappy videos back in the 80's which she must think is gospel since she has never coached and was some sales lady for some bs shoes...Watts and Norbert started somewhere so you can't knock these other coaches who are trying to pay their dues....What was your point anyways.

Gold Five: Stay On Target wrote:

JJ Clark is a great coach of middle distance women- this is an undeniable truth.

Quite likely, given his record, including developing Phoebe Wright from an also-ran into a champ.

Wonder why Chanelle Price hasn't improved, though.

Wonder why Chanelle Price hasn't improved, though.

Not everyone does.

You are clearly going to be a better women's coach since they have more scholarships. Lets stop talking about his success with the women's team, because men's teams are completely different.

NoVol wrote:

Martin Smith @ Oregon - he produced a lot more AAs and titles than the current regime, but he did it with non-distance athletes. Alums revolted, and there was regime change.

Sounds like Iraq.

If your superiors offered you a promotion would you take it? Yes. If your superiors put pressure on you to make a decision, you or them... who would you choose? Now, this personal HATRED for JJ Clack is disgusting. He is a man who took advantage of an opportunity that was presented to him. So don't attack him, attack the administration. Apparently the Athletic Department is in shambles there, so why crucify Clark.

All most of you can say is that he can coach middle distance. Are you all that...not smart? So that's all he's coached? Look at his resume, there are more than 800m runners who have produced in past and current years. Some of you just do not want to admit that he has produced distance runners.

He got last in Cross Country last year, is he the only coach who has had a down season?

So what he coach at Florida, almost EVERY coach has coached at another school before. JJ went to Villinova..fyi.

For some of XC runners to say Clark did't reach out, ask yourself....did you reach out or did you already have a biased opinion due to the fact your coach and him didn't see eye to eye?

Did Bill Webb give out a lot of scholarship's? By the way they won off of the Deca, Throws and sprints. For George Watts to sign these new talented athletes... one would think that he had money.

At the end of the day, it was a business decision. I don't know what really went on, and you all don't know what really went on. It's all gossip and hatred.

My argument is with the Athletic Department, seem as though they just put JJ Clark in a tough situation and after 2 years they wanted results. 2yrs? It took Texas A&M about 3-4 years to get where they are. The admins sent him up the river with no paddle. So don't fault Clark, it's your Administration at Tennessee!

It seem like George Watts and Norbert Elliot are great men, and it's unfortunate what that entire staff is going through now. Peace & Love

I met Coach Watts when my son took a visit to TN. My son ended up running for another SEC program. For four years I would see Coach Watts at SEC and NCAA regional or national events. He always seemed like a nice personable guy and seemed to have a kind word for everyone. I grew to have a lot of respect for him. Not sure what happened? Did he resign? Was he forced out? Is he retiring?

JJ will have quite a battle getting Watts' athletes to trust him at all. George's runners would go to war for him and will not respond well to the man responsible for firing him, even if there hadn't already been distrust before the firing.

Yes, Clark has had some great performances with his middle distance runners that have remained healthy. But when you have 6 of the last 15 finishers at SECs in cross and are last by 47 points, it's hard to justify that you need to be coaching the men's cross country team as well. His 5k/10k record isn't as impressive as his middle distance, so he shouldn't be coaching runners over 8k and 10k.

The benefit for the men's program will be JJ will give himself more resources/scholarship than he was giving to George.

Clark's cross country coaching may be questionable, but the bigger problem will be the reaction from Watts' runners that obviously don't like him (as proven by this thread).

Yeah, good luck with that. Maybe he is just looking for a clean slate--lose all those pesky alumni.

Observa wrote:

Seagrave, I [imagine,] has never coached before, but I am sure that her husband writes or can send her the [workouts]. He published some crappy videos back in the ['80s] which she must think [are] gospel since she has never coached....

If she follows Loren's "crappy" videos, then her athletes are likely to do pretty well. Those videos were some of the finest ever produced concerning sprint/hurdle training.

Ok so good thinking right there....Hire the colored lady with no experience and pay her more than the coaches who are already there so that her non-colored husband can send her the workouts....Brilliant....Then fire the Coach who has produced the most All-Americans for the program in his 7 years!!!!!

Here is a power hire for You....Dick Booth to Alabama....Now Dan W is a man that knows how to win and is not afraid to be over shadowed by an assistant Coach.

This is the best argument I have read by JJ supporters. I still think JJ being promoted, not taking responsibility for his failures, and firing two great coaches to cover his ass is bullshit but at least you provide some argument for it.

It is my honest belief that JJ had no intention of retaining Coach Watts or Coach Elliott but had to keep them for a couple of years to put on his facade.

Regardless, thanks for your point of view and, while I don't agree fully with it, it's better than the bullshit I have heard from those close to JJ such as "JJ made a directors decision" or "you havent heard both sides of the story" or some other ambiguous comments.

George Watts, in his area had 3.1 scholarships. Next year, with his 2 excellent middle distance signees, he (would have had) 4.6. Out of 12.6, that is way more than his coaching warranted at SEC/NCAA meet!

webbs ghost wrote:

George Watts, in his area had 3.1 scholarships. Next year, with his 2 excellent middle distance signees, he (would have had) 4.6. Out of 12.6, that is way more than his coaching warranted at SEC/NCAA meet!

Has Coach ever had that many scholarships? I was under the impression that you could cut that number down by a half.

You must be VERY well-connected.

webbs ghost wrote:

George Watts, in his area had 3.1 scholarships. Next year, with his 2 excellent middle distance signees, he (would have had) 4.6. Out of 12.6, that is way more than his coaching warranted at SEC/NCAA meet!

Paul Cook wrote:

Gold Five: Stay On Target wrote:

JJ Clark is a great coach of middle distance women- this is an undeniable truth.

Quite likely, given his record, including developing Phoebe Wright from an also-ran into a champ.

Wonder why Chanelle Price hasn't improved, though.

It is a shame. She was such a dominating force back in her HS days. She's been plagued with injuries since she came to Tennessee though.