UConn's JJ Clark to Stanford

Clark also served as the head coach and Director of Track and Field/Cross Country at Tennessee from 2001-14, leading the Lady Vols to NCAA indoor championships in 2005 and 2009.

Under Clark's leadership, Tennessee captured three SEC indoor championships and five SEC cross country titles.

During his tenure at Connecticut, Clark... guided the Huskies to back-to-back American Athletic Conference women's indoor track and field titles (2015-16), in addition to the school's first AAC women's cross country crown in 2017.

How is this a bad coach again?

big fail wrote:

aside from 1 mid distance athlete (who transferred in) and some throwers the UCONN team was on a very rapid downward spiral.

Here are the fastest times in distance events at UCONN this outdoor season:

800 - 2:03.41

1500 - 4:34.10

5000 - 17:06.30

10k - 35:26.26

steeple - 10:43.80

They had a good 800 meter runner but their #2 800 runner only ran 2:12. JJ's results were garbage at UCONN.

He will be able to Recruit higher caliber Athletes at Stanford than he could at UCONN, Not everyone is like Alberto Salazar who can watch a pick up Soccer Game and tell a kid, you have a good stride, you could be a good runner and then take that kid TOTALLY FROM SCRATCH to American Records and Olympic and World Championship Medals. Still it is Impressive that JJ Clark took an NCAA Division 2 Long Jump Champion and turn them into a Great 400 Runner and A Longtime American Record Holder in the 800.

sprinters scored all the points

Clark has been handed the golden keys. Flotrack ranked Stanford the number one incoming distance freshman class for men and women. Stanford has a very deep group already and is poised to do very well in men’s XC.

Stanford athletes are not typical. They are very intelligent, they are very driven athletically and academically (all of them), and because of that it takes a uniquely qualified individual to coach, motivate, and understand how to individually create balance around striving for excellence in multiple directions.

If one were to look at this hire from a business standpoint, JJ Clark doesn’t have background in coaching at a rigorous academic institution and he himself doesn’t have a strong academic background. How will he relate to these Stanford student athletes? How will he understand what motivates them and what demands they have? He can’t.

Yes, agreed, and you said this part much better than I did in my earlier post. He seems like a poor fit for Stanford. This hire feels like a huge roll of the dice at best.

Bad hire wrote:

If one were to look at this hire from a business standpoint, JJ Clark doesn’t have background in coaching at a rigorous academic institution and he himself doesn’t have a strong academic background. How will he relate to these Stanford student athletes? How will he understand what motivates them and what demands they have? He can’t.

Lol @ all the Cardinal alums realizing their sh!t stinks for the first time! First Vin says “hell naw,” then Mike Smith says “naw, I’d rather coach at a mid major,” then Diljeet Taylor says “naw, I’d rather be an assistant at a mid-major.”

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahHhHahahahahahah

sprinters scored all the points wrote:

sprinters scored all the points

He won five xc titles in the SEC and one in the AAC with a teams dominated by sprinters? This guy sounds horrible.

Basura wrote:

sprinters scored all the points wrote:

sprinters scored all the points

He won five xc titles in the SEC and one in the AAC with a teams dominated by sprinters? This guy sounds horrible.

It would be great if more high quality sprinters could get into Stanford but they can’t. Stanford, the Ives, Norte Dame have some sprinters that can be successful in that kind of academic environment. The southern schools in the SEC and ACC with lower academic requirements have high quality sprinters. Just the facts.

Bad hire wrote:

If one were to look at this hire from a business standpoint, JJ Clark doesn’t have background in coaching at a rigorous academic institution and he himself doesn’t have a strong academic background. How will he relate to these Stanford student athletes? How will he understand what motivates them and what demands they have? He can’t.

————————————————————

Rojo (I think) mentioned hiring someone whom would ‘fill the void’ as it relates to coaching the long distance group. Maybe it would be a good move to also hire some coach(es) with experience and know how at vigorous academic institutions. Hopefully there are candidates who can also coach their event area.

Of course, Clark would have to balance when to listen to his way, when to lean on them, and when not to be a bat wielding coach at all times!

So who are good coaches to fill this “opening” if JJ does in fact hire 2 more distance coaches and keep the same staffing model as Milt used? Let’s also keep in mind that pay versus housing for assistant is a real concern. Go!

———————————————————

Stop adding crap to a point made. The comment didn’t refer to “Milt’s model”...it simply piggy backed off the idea of meeting the concerns expressed on academics and the SAs at a place like Stanford. Which could be addressed with any event coach with proven experience in that type of arena!

Who? Well that would depend on the list of candidates Clark is considering!!

Clark did fine coaching only the women at UT. Once he became the director, the program fell apart. He pitted the teams against each other and it became a toxic environment. When they won their last indoor title, the men’s team didn’t even show up for the women’s trophy presentation. They instead cheered Arkansas only for the men’s championship. He’s a divider.

Stanford taking a big chance with this guy.

"Stanford could've done better, Stanford should've done better...etc. etc."

You have to remember that as soon as Stanford opened up, every distance school got to work protecting their interests. Martin Smith signed an extension to stay at Iowa State until 2024, Sean Carlson was promoted to Head Cross Country Coach at Notre Dame, and Scott Dahlberg was promoted to Head Cross Country Coach at Wyoming (To me, Smith seemed like the most likely choice for Stanford.) Many schools with top, "Stanford Worthy" coaches, sweetened the pot to encourage their staff to stay right where they were.

at olive garden wrote:

drove ten into the ground, did nothing at uconn, will destroy stanford.

Oh PUH-LEEZE

No one, but no one on this distance site is going to endorse a (black) sprint coach taking over at Stanford.

Basically, these are the only two hires that LRC posters would NOT bash at Stanford:

1. Vin

2. The Powells

Someone added that such a coach "can't relate" to the upper middle class distance athletes comment. Listen to yourselves. "It's true," may be coursing through your minds. Have you met this person? And how important is it for a coach to relate to the distance squad, when a strong XC/distance coach will be hired anyway? Do you realize the rest of every team is not thrilled that distance head coaches can't relate to their events?

Distance coaches are hired as directors because they have more spare time than event coaches, distance coaching takes 2 hours a day with athletes and throws or jumps event coaching takes 6.

Now this is the explanation ever! There are real reasons people don't like JJ Clark, some good and some bad. You totally discredit yourself by saying "Distance coaches are hired as directors because they have more spare time than event coaches".

Yikes. Those are bad. You'd figure walk-ons could do better.

It’s true distance coaches do have a lot more spare time. Especially when there is more than 1 on staff. Technical event coaches have a lot more when it comes to time demands. Don’t kid yourself.

He did the exact same on the women’s team at UConn and it resulted in the track teams loss. Distance squad was always taken care, they were treated like princesses, their every need was met, training room they took precedence on, their injuries ment more. He belittled the track side and the distance squad did the same. They looked down upon the rest of the team. They returned to ‘high school girl’ behavior. He truly turned a bonded team into a completely toxic environment and I’m surprised there weren’t more losses, and im not talking about on the track.

Ok children, listen up.

I'm not going to weigh in on JJ Clark's positives and negatives. There are plenty of both. No shortage of material on both sides to continue this thread for awhile.

But let's at least attempt to stick to the facts as we debate this hire. To call him a sprint coach is not just wrong, it's stupid. Issues and roles aside, he's an extremely accomplished women's middle distance coach.

And to say or imply that he was hired because of the color of his skin is not just stupid, it's racist. How many of Stanford's previous head coaches / directors were people of color? It's not like they had a box to check.

Carry on with the debate. But at least act like you're grounded in reality.