How did Donavan Brazier go from running 1:43.55 and winning NCAAs to bombing out of the US Trials 21 days later?

'BullSlacker" did you even bother to look up how many times Brazier raced during the 2016 track season? Or, just throwing crap out there?

I can't believe this question is being posted by the creators of a running website. Obviously, they can surely speculate at a good number of logical explanations as to why DB ran poorly at the trials. The theory I would put forward first is that he suffered from a bit of a dip in mental focus. After a hard fought indoor and outdoor NCAA campaign CULMINATING with a national championship and breaking a record once held by THE MAN, Jim Ryun, it's natural to experience a denouement. DB's focus most likely was not to peak for the olympic trials. This is my theory, and I believe it is the one that will hold up. I think Johnny Gray needs to go away. He is pompous and exceedingly boisterous who doesn't know what he's talking about, coaches poorly, and has really no good running credentials as I would speculate, considering the era he competed in, was most likely doped to the gills. He also ran like an idiot. I say we page Khadevis Robinson for some thoughts. Also, just bring DB along slowly. Yeah, he probably needs more mileage, but bring it up slowly. No need to drastically change anything at the present time. Overall, his season was a success.

Case of no Base wrote:

I can tell you in 3998 less words. No base.

I can answer that in ONE word!

PEAKED

LetsRun.com wrote:

On Jun 10, 2016, Donavan Brazier broke Jim Ryun's legendary, 50-year-old NCAA and US junior record by running 1:43.55 to win the NCAA title for Texas A&M.

21-days later, running as a professional, Brazier couldn't even make it out of the first round of the US Olympic Trials. What the heck happened?

We tell you in this 4,000+ word piece by Jonathan Gault:

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2016/12/growing-pains-donavan-brazier-went-breaking-50-year-old-ncaa-record-bombing-olympic-trials-21-days-later/

I think this was quite simply a failure of his agent, and maybe Nike (being too busy with the trials to see there was a void, and maybe the kid nor shouting it from the rooftops loud enough... "Hey, I need a coach who can take over here, look over my past training and craft a plan that works with it for the next 3 weeks.

Ideally after signing the agent would have done the lead work with the college coaches seeing what they needed $ to continue coaching their charge, what fences needed to be mended etc. all for the greater god.

To be out in the wilderness that way with so much on the line coming uo...sucks.

Feel for the kid, hope things are squared away for a great season this year.

Good luck to him, sounds like solid person.

As long as he stays away from Johnny Gray he will be alright.

I could not believe the slow jog Solomon was going on with his stupid backwards cap talking about Xbox claiming he does this for 80 fricking miles a week.

Garbage.

Call Me Snake wrote:

I think Johnny Gray needs to go away. He is pompous and exceedingly boisterous who doesn't know what he's talking about, coaches poorly, and has really no good running credentials as I would speculate, considering the era he competed in, was most likely doped to the gills.

I say we page Khadevis Robinson for some thoughts.

I guess you don't know that Johnny Gray coached Khadevis.

Sorry, he wasn't doped. Neither Merle nor Joe would ever allow it, knowing them both. His workouts, particularly some of the ones I participated in, were unbelievable even at standards seen today. His tactics may have left much to be desired, but doped he was not. Unless you have proof, firsthand knowledge, or trained with him then zip it. Or better yet, just go away as you so eloquently stated previously.

So how do you guys think he would have done if he had not gone pro but still ran the trials?

Indoor? wrote:

So how do you guys think he would have done if he had not gone pro but still ran the trials?

Hard to say, but I suspect he would have done better. How much better I couldn't say. His entire support and coaching system appears to have been disrupted, along with the confidence that comes along with that. The mental aspect is huge in these big races, particularly with a young kid. I also think there is validity in what JG says, relative to the inability to compete at a high level on the minimal mileage he was doing. We will never know, however. What matters now is what he does in the future.

This is dumb wrote:

He would have been fine if the A&M coachesd didn't get so butt hurt after he went pro. It would have been dumb for him to continue competing collegiatwky.

Anyone might be "butt hurt" if they had Pat Henry's bonus structure. I'm sure it helps incentivize caring about the welfare of each athlete.

OLD SMTC SOB wrote:

Sorry, he wasn't doped. Neither Merle nor Joe would ever allow it, knowing them both.

Ahhhh, so because you knew Merle & Joe that meant there was no way there was any doping going on. Do you sell seaside property in Montana as well?

dopstersamok wrote:

OLD SMTC SOB wrote:

Sorry, he wasn't doped. Neither Merle nor Joe would ever allow it, knowing them both.

Ahhhh, so because you knew Merle & Joe that meant there was no way there was any doping going on. Do you sell seaside property in Montana as well?

Exactly. Very poor reasoning by this self-proclaimed old sonofabitch.

For two easy ones, there was Burrell, with his HGH deformed teeth, and Lewis sporting the SMTC jerseys.

Yeah, no doping in SM...

dopstersamok wrote:

OLD SMTC SOB wrote:

Sorry, he wasn't doped. Neither Merle nor Joe would ever allow it, knowing them both.

Ahhhh, so because you knew Merle & Joe that meant there was no way there was any doping going on. Do you sell seaside property in Montana as well?

That's correct..........both were of the highest integrity, and the President of the SMTC board, Ed Stotensberg would have bounced them both had he even thought there was an issue. There was not even a suggestion that there was any doping going on within the ranks. Had there been, I and the others would have known about it. As for the seaside property in Montana, I'm sure Al Gore would be more than willing to sell you some.

that was a very interesting and thorough article; would be interesting to compare and contrast his training , races and support with that of clayton murphy.

Obviously brazier has a lot of talent, but his lack of running knowledge hurts him. He simply did what he was told, and it got him an ncaa title. But when no one was there to hold his hand 24/7 telling him how to run/workout/warm up/race, he wilted. As a pro he needs to be able to stand on his own 2 feet and fend for himself, and not blame his lack of success on working out by himself or warming up by himself.

Take charge of your training. Know your sport. Don't just be a mindless robot running workouts and splits that the coaches programmed into you. Know the purpose of each workout. Know your opponents prs and race strategies. Get in touch with your body and know when to push and when to back off.

He kind of reminds me of Andrew wheating. Pretty naive but got by on talent for a while. When his sport demanded more wheating continued (and continues) to follow his same college patterns but without the same success.

He was 19. End of thread. That's all there is to it. He will be fine a year or two.

Texas A&M needs to teach its athletes how to deal with failure, I reference this guy, that girl intermediate hurdler at the trials, and Jonny Manziel.

Agreed

Simple answer, the kid doesn't love the sport and doesn't like to run.

Merry Christmas