The thing I love about this situation is, UCLA is a good enough set-up for him to succeed, but no so good that he can coast on it's prestige. If he took over Stanford for example we'd never really know how much was him vs the school's built in advantages. At UCLA we're gonna find out exactly how good a coach he is.
I think this next year and a half is crucial in recruiting. He has to start building momentum while high school kids still recognize him as the Newbury Park coach.
Its almost like he thinks that repeating the exact same bs phrases he used about NP years ago, its going to happen again, just with this new UCLA team.
Spoiler alert: You don't have 5 extremely talented kids, that a monkey could have made good runners out of, so no, its not going to happen again, sorry Sean.
but if he gets a hold of one top runner this year or next it can definitely get the ball rolling. Nico was the first kid to place NP on the map and everyone else after wanted a piece of the pie. The same can happen at UCLA if there's one that can help him get things moving. The girls are starting to roll..
Hate him or hate him, he is still the greatest hs distance coach ever by a long shot.
That + $1 is worth $1, as far as being a top-tier college coach goes.
I've said it before, he has a few years before we can judge whether he can be successful at UCLA or not. It's too soon to say. But to me, this video smells more like desperation than strength.
Not sure he consulted with anyone on this. He should have as it clearly needed some work. As some others have mentioned it's directed towards recruits. I can't blame him for wanting to take an aggressive marketing approach. Beyond UCLA being a desirable college choice the weather is generally favorable for distance running. The question is why despite being a favorable destination in other respects UCLA has never been able to consistently establish itself as a destination for top distance recruits. They've had some good runners here and there but nobody has ever mentioned UCLA in the same conversation with the historic powers in the NCAA. Brosnan I'm sure has spent time scouting the area for training venues so he'll make do there. He has a big challenge ahead.
Is it just me or does it seem like Sean may have some sort of aspergers. He seems pretty nice but his lack of self awareness and occasional awkwardness leads me to think its that.
The mods or letsrun must really want to protect this guy. My post was removed and all it was pointing out was how weird it was he was so excited to visit the site where two people were murdered….and it was like a recruiting pitch….and he said Jessica Simpson instead of Nicole Brown. Not sure what justified it being taken down…
Keep protecting him so we can watch “The Rise” I guess.
I LOL'd when he said Jessica Simpson as well. The video editor could have at least probably obscured that error. I would find it hard to believe that neither the video editor nor Brosnan caught the mistake before sending it out.
After further reflection, I rate this as a bigger FAIL than I first thought.
Why?
Ask yourself, what was the central message of the video, and what evidence supports it?
I have no idea. If your answer is "consider UCLA" then I would ask WHY?
Based on that video, can you list several compelling reasons for a top recruit to pick UCLA?
I can't list a single reason presented.
Based on that video, do you think UCLA has more interesting or pretty places to train than other schools?
No.
Did Brosnan articulate a clear goal for the program?
No. "Making the podium some day," is about as clear as mud. I have no idea what they are trying to accomplish, let alone how, and whether he is talking about the men, women or both.
It's like they made a video without ever asking themselves why, what the central theme should be, how it would reach the target audience with a clear and compelling message, or how it would present UCLA as particularly special or unique.
The mods or letsrun must really want to protect this guy. My post was removed and all it was pointing out was how weird it was he was so excited to visit the site where two people were murdered….and it was like a recruiting pitch….and he said Jessica Simpson instead of Nicole Brown. Not sure what justified it being taken down…
Keep protecting him so we can watch “The Rise” I guess.
The mods are HEAVILY moderating perfectly acceptable posts. I've seen posts that were deleted that only called the video cringey, nothing else. Why do they protect him so much?
I'm not so sure that the vid was as bad as most are making it out to be. I would say I'm neutral on Brosnan as a coach. I don't really believe that he was a super coach, per se, that made pretty good runners into sub4 types. HOWEVER, I think he does have to be given credit that he didn't get in their way! Often, as a coach, that is an excellent quality to have.
Yeah, I found most of the video that centered around him (the coffee brewing, the Jessica & OJ sightseeing, etc) to be cringe AF. BUT, a lot of the video looked pretty good, imo. The runners in slow-mo and change-of-speeds looked good. The aerials looked sunny and California-like. Nice weather. LA is a place known to attract dreamers, and it had that vibe.
As much of a self-absorbed goof he can look to be, I think there could be something appealing about an out-there coach that almost demands attention. In a hard-to-describe way, I think a coach like that kind of takes pressure off the athletes. Also, as much me-me-me that SB appears to do, I believe he actually is all-in for his athletes, and I bet he does work pretty hard and does not "phone it in". The video made it look like there is a good natural rapport, and I bet there is.
The video seems to say "this is the "movie trailer" of all the awesome things we're going to achieve. So, come join me if you want to be apart of creating / building something special." He likely believes that he can work with a top-25 HS runner talent (his target audience - who are already at least a little familiar with who he is) and make them into a champion. If this video nudges just a few of these types to consider UCLA, so that they give him a call, then this video will be totally worth all the effort, expense and criticism.
I think he is making a compelling offer that differentiates the program from the other great ones already established. He is plainly saying "I am at UCLA. Come run here and be the first to begin the construction of the next great program." I mean, he and the female runner basically come out and say this. Maybe even the cringe parts make it look like the beginnings of a quintessential underdog story.
In a sense, I admire how he puts himself out there. He'll probably fail (and probably already has) time and again, and we'll laugh and laugh at his expense. But, it's people like that who DGAF who just keep getting back up that someday ends up with Youngs and Sahlmans at the same time and manages to not F it up.
I'm not so sure that the vid was as bad as most are making it out to be. I would say I'm neutral on Brosnan as a coach. I don't really believe that he was a super coach, per se, that made pretty good runners into sub4 types. HOWEVER, I think he does have to be given credit that he didn't get in their way! Often, as a coach, that is an excellent quality to have.
Yeah, I found most of the video that centered around him (the coffee brewing, the Jessica & OJ sightseeing, etc) to be cringe AF. BUT, a lot of the video looked pretty good, imo. The runners in slow-mo and change-of-speeds looked good. The aerials looked sunny and California-like. Nice weather. LA is a place known to attract dreamers, and it had that vibe.
As much of a self-absorbed goof he can look to be, I think there could be something appealing about an out-there coach that almost demands attention. In a hard-to-describe way, I think a coach like that kind of takes pressure off the athletes. Also, as much me-me-me that SB appears to do, I believe he actually is all-in for his athletes, and I bet he does work pretty hard and does not "phone it in". The video made it look like there is a good natural rapport, and I bet there is.
The video seems to say "this is the "movie trailer" of all the awesome things we're going to achieve. So, come join me if you want to be apart of creating / building something special." He likely believes that he can work with a top-25 HS runner talent (his target audience - who are already at least a little familiar with who he is) and make them into a champion. If this video nudges just a few of these types to consider UCLA, so that they give him a call, then this video will be totally worth all the effort, expense and criticism.
I think he is making a compelling offer that differentiates the program from the other great ones already established. He is plainly saying "I am at UCLA. Come run here and be the first to begin the construction of the next great program." I mean, he and the female runner basically come out and say this. Maybe even the cringe parts make it look like the beginnings of a quintessential underdog story.
In a sense, I admire how he puts himself out there. He'll probably fail (and probably already has) time and again, and we'll laugh and laugh at his expense. But, it's people like that who DGAF who just keep getting back up that someday ends up with Youngs and Sahlmans at the same time and manages to not F it up.
After further reflection, I rate this as a bigger FAIL than I first thought.
Why?
Ask yourself, what was the central message of the video, and what evidence supports it?
I have no idea. If your answer is "consider UCLA" then I would ask WHY?
Based on that video, can you list several compelling reasons for a top recruit to pick UCLA?
I can't list a single reason presented.
Based on that video, do you think UCLA has more interesting or pretty places to train than other schools?
No.
Did Brosnan articulate a clear goal for the program?
No. "Making the podium some day," is about as clear as mud. I have no idea what they are trying to accomplish, let alone how, and whether he is talking about the men, women or both.
It's like they made a video without ever asking themselves why, what the central theme should be, how it would reach the target audience with a clear and compelling message, or how it would present UCLA as particularly special or unique.
I thought the zoo long run was cool at least but yeah the rest was pedestrian
I cannot understand why they do most of their runs at Griffith Park when are so many good trails closer in the Santa Monica Mountains, especially in the summer and fall when it get hot and it is much cooler as you get closer to the beach.
There are so many options the team wouldn’t get bored.with the same routes. the only downside is lack of public restrooms on a lot of those trails.
His comments while grinding the coffee were hilarious. "You want it coarse but still want to have some whole pieces of bean in there." LMAO, what? Good grinders are engineered specifically to achieve as close to even particle size distribution as possible. The video is trying to paint him as some kind of coffee geek, but he really ends up looking like a moron.