Pete Dolan is officially out as head coach at UCSB

A friend of a friend of another friend who knows a stranger who knows a custodian that works for the UCSB Athletics department has tentatively confirmed that the reason he was fired was because a fellow custodian reported to administration that they were offended by seeing red M.A.G.A. hat in coach Dolan's office. Just another case of the deep state liberal lefty commie pinko fascist machine taking out an innocent person in name of their evil ideology.

M.A.G.A...

My parents are friends with a number of old high school coaches. They identify the problem in youth sports as the parents. The parents are the ones being overly involved, demanding, whiny, pushy, etc. If people are going to blame the teenager for every bad coaching situation, that's short sighted. Kids often are responding to their environment that is shaped by family, community, and peers than more than anything.

But I also had a number of experiences with coaches that were sort of nuts with crazy, intense yelling act. It's sport, so i don't expect a group therapy session, but it was a little over the top, in retrospect. What that ends up doing, more than anything, is engender fear and destroy confidence.

I had two high school running coaches, one that was old school and probably practiced what would now be considered improper behavior. The other was very positive and did not take the yelling and super critical route. The first coach had some early success, but he lost control of the program after awhile, and left more runners than not with a bad tastes in their mouth. The second coach had immediate success with runners of dubious talent and the program in more popular and stronger than has been in 15-20 years. In my teenage years, I would have defended the first coach because I had success in his program, but we lost a lot of talent because he was a passive aggressive a-hole. As the years wore on, i realized why his coach style no longer was effective.

The fact of the matter is that if a coach wants to be a raging a-hole today, there might be consequences. Sure, they might have some success that smooths over the rough edges, but if more people are having a negative experience with the coach than anything resembling growth in athletics and life, that might be a problem.

Trump2020OP-the real one... wrote:

A friend of a friend of another friend who knows a stranger who knows a custodian that works for the UCSB Athletics department has tentatively confirmed that the reason he was fired was because a fellow custodian reported to administration that they were offended by seeing red M.A.G.A. hat in coach Dolan's office. Just another case of the deep state liberal lefty commie pinko fascist machine taking out an innocent person in name of their evil ideology.

M.A.G.A...

+1

Good enough for me!

Calicoach wrote:

My only guess is he went head to head with an ultra feminist superior and did not back down. The sad thing about that is it was most likely over something petty that he did not want to let go and vice versa. Then they used every reason to let him go.

I believe it's very hard for an actual man to function in the effete-dominated (how is that even possible?) altered reality of academia. Football is the last bastion, and that's only tolerated for $ and alumni support, which is basically $.

oldcrowbar13 wrote:

I disciplined a grade school kid 10 minutes of his recess time for goofing off in PE.

Another first class A hole.

Kids are kids. Let them be, and STOP picking on them.

If you feel so full of yourself then go out in the world and pick on people your own size.

fanjam23 wrote:

And my niece goes there

Pics?

HEARTvivalareplica wrote:

You give me hope. White men over 40 are cancer.

I can't tell if you're serious.

basephaseforever wrote:

I was a 922 two-miler in HS who ran for Pete. There was certainly a high attrition rate at UCSB, and it was tough to get one-v-one attention, but his program was generally solid if you stuck it out and were fully committed. Personally, I struggled in the program because I ran too many miles too hard, and partied my a** off. Better mentorship could have corrected some of that, but ultimately it’s on me. A lot of talented guys in my shoes were the same, yet everyone blamed Pete. He could be a jerk, but who cares. You get out what you put in.

^^ Solid honest post. I'm not so sure the "better mentorship" is out there at the D1 level.

I knew Pete, but only as a high school recruit who chose not to attend UCSB and saw him every now and then at CC and track meets:

The good: He recruited well, was honest with me about his high mileage expectations and what it would take to excel there. Fantastic recruiting trip. I left thinking this was the school for me.

The (sort of) bad: He implied (no promises or guarantees of any sort) I would get some $. Very little of course with a UC school, but still something. When the rubber met the road, there was no $, only a long, last-minute, pressure-packed phone call saying he had already allocated all the $ and I had to choose now because he was holding an admission spot for me (my grades were crap - no way I get into any UC school without the coach's help). I told him I had other offers (I actually did) and was not willing to commit as a walk-on. To his credit, he admitted me anyway and I eventually chose another school. The whole last-minute pressure thing soured me on what I might be walking into. Looking back, the admission alone for a B- student like me was worth it's weight in gold. However, as a know it at all 4:16/9:15 18 year old who thought he would rule the world, I failed to see this.

Back to the good: After I chose another competing school, Pete was respectful, complimentary and kind every time I saw him. I did make it a point to smoke the runners he recruited (and ostensibly offered $) over me every chance I could. There was always a little extra hate when UCSB was on the starting line. The petty mind of a 20 year old male; if I only knew then what I know now . . .

I went through a series of coaches at a small college. I remember it was very cliche to rip on the crusty, old coach, who came out of retirment. Some alums were hanging around town and they felt he "ruined" them as runners. Some of us took their cues and complained about the guy. Yeah, he was very old school, sometimes embarrassing you at practice, pulling you off the track or getting on you in front of teammates.

Some guys really thrived under him, however, and looking back, he was a pretty sound coach. He was brought up in the tough-guy era of grind it out and if you faltered a bit, you weren't tough enough. Distance runners have a propensity to complain, it's their nature. I was part of that. The coach pushed people hard, one very smart guy was getting burned out so he decided to let up in some practices. This helped him in meets, so the coach didn't get on him as he was the No. 1 guy. Sometimes it's best to listen to your body and

Dolan sounds a lot like this guy, but with more success and certainly a great track record. Yes, athletes should have a voice and shouldn't get abused in any way. But it seems to me that the crybaby distance runner is still with us. People, this is nothing new, Baby Boomers and pre-Baby Boomer runners did their share of whining, they just hung in there (or quit/transferred) and didn't go running to the administration or media.

basephaseforever wrote:

I was a 922 two-miler in HS who ran for Pete. There was certainly a high attrition rate at UCSB, and it was tough to get one-v-one attention, but his program was generally solid if you stuck it out and were fully committed. Personally, I struggled in the program because I ran too many miles too hard, and partied my a** off. Better mentorship could have corrected some of that, but ultimately it’s on me. A lot of talented guys in my shoes were the same, yet everyone blamed Pete. He could be a jerk, but who cares. You get out what you put in.

Appreciate your honesty. The only thing I'd suggest was that since you were a 9:22 two-miler, it was on you to figure it out...not on Pete to mentor you better. His mentorship needed to be on those 4:14/9:10 guys who were riding the bubble...if he had time left over, maybe the 9:22 guy gets a sniff. Really appreciate you admitting that "ultimately it's on me." Most are never going to admit that.

Everyone posting against Pete keeps suggesting he was a jerk...yet no one provides more than that. Sure kids are going to call him a jerk if he cuts them, holds them accountable for bad workouts/races that result from the "Santa Barbara Lifestyle"...of course 18 - 22 year olds are going to claim he's a mean guy if he doesn't accept their excuses & is honest with them. Obviously there can be a thin line between tough no-nonsense mentorship & mean-spirited bullying...but NOTHING we've heard so far has crossed that line. Just a bunch of kids calling him a jerk.

I was a head coach at a small college & got fired for requiring practice & competition. I never once blew up at the kids, called them names, exhibited inappropriate behavior, crossed any lines or bullied them in anyway. And I'm not aware of any kid or administrator who claimed otherwise. But I absolutely did tell them in no uncertain terms that if they weren't willing to come to every practice & competition, not to bother with the team. Of course the ones that felt entitled to be on the team no matter what complained the loudest and eventually won. I of course had more supporters than detractors...but that didn't matter in the end. They did me a huge favor because I was quickly hired by a much better school. But I know, sooner or later, no matter where I go from here, that I'm going to be fired again for holding kids accountable. This is perfectly fine because I have a great network who will pick me right up AND a back-up plan to get out of this sh!t show. But it's just a fact of this profession now (maybe it always has been but AD's didn't want to bother before social media and before kids realized they ran the asylum). Let this be a warning to every coach out there - young and old - always have a back-up plan no matter what if you're going to hold your athletes accountable. Unless you want to be a glorified baby-sitter...which is what most administrators want out of a non-revenue sport coach anyway. Cheers!

When your 18-22 and go to USCB you should know what your getting into academically, athletically and socially. Not the school for everyone to be an athlete. Don't blame any coach for your short comings you are adult!

As for pate, long ruie my friend 30 years coaching and an Alum, but has Someone who remembers how he got the head job way back when , Karma is a .....

Od Gaucho wrote:

When your 18-22 and go to USCB you should know what your getting into academically, athletically and socially. Not the school for everyone to be an athlete. Don't blame any coach for your short comings you are adult!

As for pate, long ruie my friend 30 years coaching and an Alum, but has Someone who remembers how he got the head job way back when , Karma is a .....

I take it that you did not major in English.

What exactly do you remember about how he got the head job way back when? What was the issue? Why is karma coming back to get him? Please explain you jackass.

dsrunner wrote:

W's?

This program hasn't progressed in 25 years. And every year I've been astounded he kept his job.

poorly funded program

Hey tough guy how is an elementary PE teacher a first grade A..hole for disciplining kids who are disrupting a class and not doing what is being asked of them? And the big punishment is to give up 10 minutes of their recess time. Seriously are you a seventh grader on here or just a clueless duche? Have you ever tried to teach a class of 25 third and fourth graders? You are precisely what is being discussed here. Probably one of those dads that runs to the phone every other day to defend poor Junior from all those teachers and coaches who are picking on him. Get a clue jerk.

As someone who ran with Pete Dolan at UCSB back in the early 80's I would just like to say thanks for all your service and dedication to the program.

Things change , and I think this tread as most on Letsrun has run it's course.

As someone who ran for Dolo, F Yeah! About time.

I can finally donate to the program. It's been a long time coming for that d bag.

Ole ole ole ole, Gauchos, Gauchos! Ole ole ole ole, Gauchos, Gauchos!

Viva!

Sun Devil disciple wrote:

From reading the attorneys statement. He was fired from allegations made by guys that were cut after a pre season time trial because they didn’t meet the standards and that he was blamed for something done by someone else.

You... believe a press release/propaganda statement from an attorney meant to make their client look as good as possible?

It's absolutely about the permissiveness of the parent(s). If kids are acting out, it's because they're allowed to act out at home/learned it from the parent(s). Teenagers might be a different story, as they become more autonomous, but especially pre-junior high the behaviors are basically repeated from what they see elsewhere. As a college instructor it's amusing to see the 18, 19, and even 20 year olds who were coddled and had mommy and daddy going to bat for them all the time, complaining to admin, etc. These are the ones with no sense of consequences, who fail my classes (which are hard to fail) because they simply don't do the work, then beg me to offer extra credit the week before the final. It's too bad they had to wait until now to learn it, but it's not exactly their fault.

I had three coaches in HS and three in college. The one that was a hot head was the worst one by far because he failed to develop people to reach their potential. When your top priority every day is to not get screamed at by your coach, when every decision you make will be dissected and potential grounds for more verbal and physical abuse, when the only thing you want is to get practice over with, when you avoid going into the coaches office because you know there's a good chance you'll leave feeling like garbage about yourself even though you're the top runner on the team, you're not going to live up to your potential. Although some people - including me - did well under the guy with anger management problems, we didn't do as well as we could have done if we had the same training but less (literally) insane coaching. A lot of people seem to think that because they did well under the strain of an abusive coach, nothing was wrong. But there's a high probability that those very same people could have run even faster and been happier had they not been constantly under threat.