The Precipitous Decline of William & Mary's Men's Program

John was a great coach and is a great person. He is the only reason why many people stuck around on the team in the hope that Walsh would realize that he can't coach and elevate John to be the primary coach. Without John being the only outlet and buffer against Walsh next year the team is going to struggle even more than it already is. John was given almost no autonomy to actually coach any of the runners. Don't judge his coaching ability based on Walsh's insecurities.

Give recognition to Matt Gutridge as well. Matt is personable, motivating, and charismatic. He is a coaching talent hidden in the shadows of a struggling program.

not exactly wrote:

John was a great coach and is a great person. He is the only reason why many people stuck around on the team in the hope that Walsh would realize that he can't coach and elevate John to be the primary coach. Without John being the only outlet and buffer against Walsh next year the team is going to struggle even more than it already is. John was given almost no autonomy to actually coach any of the runners. Don't judge his coaching ability based on Walsh's insecurities.

Does this mean that Jefferson is not being brought back next year? Or is is just a hypothetical if John was not there.

I believe this was just an example of the solace some of the athletes sought with him.

From what I understand, after being berated by Walsh, Jefferson would often try to explain or alleviate the situation. This was a common occurrence when I was on the team, except that Guttridge played that role.

Apparently Jill is leaving for Wisconsin. Now, there will be no more hiding behind her success.

So with Jefferson and Miller now gone. Any word on who Walsh plans on bringing in to replace these two? It sounds like they were holding the program together.

William and Mary will be a good team this year, regardless of the coaching situation. We are young, motivated, and persistent. Give us the worst cross country coach in the nation and we'll still be a contender at the regional meet. Our coach doesn't define us and our success.

Rock Bottom Riser wrote:

William and Mary will be a good team this year, regardless of the coaching situation. We are young, motivated, and persistent. Give us the worst cross country coach in the nation and we'll still be a contender at the regional meet. Our coach doesn't define us and our success.

lol

The problem is that your chief recruiter for men's distance is not able to recruit potential All-Americans. (some say it is his first impression and awkward personality)

The days of bringing in a Brian Hyde, Paul Vandergrift, Matt Lane and Christo Landry are over without a change at the top !!!

sad. Doesn't matter how motivated you are. You need a good coach as part of the equation. Everyone in the country is motivated and most team have more talent...

I'm glad I read this thread. I'm a high school junior who was looking at applying to W&M, but I have no desire to run for a toxic coach. There are way too many better situations out there. I love running, and it's one thing to have a coach who pushes you to be your best. I'm all in for that. It's another thing to have a coach who makes you hate the sport. College is tough enough.

Then why wouldn't you still apply since the "toxic" problem is leaving...?

Do you make any sense...? wrote:

Then why wouldn't you still apply since the "toxic" problem is leaving...?

Because this thread is 2 year old.

Several people in this thread have credited Gerard with WM's long term success. However, the program was already performing well under Drenth before Gerard inherited it. Drenth recruited Lane and Christensen, which gave Gerard lots to work with during his first few years at WM. Gibby ran for 4 years under Drenth. Drenth also supported the philosophy, which WM became know for, of having a large distance team with mostly non-bluechip athletes (without it Gibby would have never been allowed to step on the track).