Long Time D1 Coach thinking of Hanging it UP because-WOKE is too much

yawnjawn wrote:

“Did you have a nice birthday?” = fine and nobody would have a problem

“You look like you party hard. I bet you know how to have a good time” to a female athlete = creepy innuendo.

The problem is the second coach would then phrase that as “all I did was ask about her birthday!” And then gullible trolls would shriek about how you can’t even say happy birthday any more.

Talking about Hadsell, Emma?

They were letting you down softly, Reed. Your qualifications were unimpressive, middling to mediocre. You also lacked the connections, nobody of note would vouch for you.

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

I coached 19 years, with 11 years Division 1. Can’t imagine it now. Twenty-six years ago I applied for a job at a woke school. I was the most qualified applicant, the job went to a woman with little experience. I was viewed as too regimented. Today? Geez.

I can sympathize with someone dealing with the new attitudes on campus, as resiliency does not seem to be part of the value system nowadays.

I try to look at the root cause of these new attitudes and ask myself what has fundamentally changed since my college running days.

Here is an example. My brother and I have a friend whose kid is going to a modest PA state school (97% acceptance rate). A great kid. We looked up the school on "Niche" and it had a very average rating and its net cost AFTER aid is $15,000 a year! Imagine taking out $60,000 for a degree that offers very little advantage unless the student takes on of the very few practical majors they offer (i.e., nursing). In 2021 terms, this type of degree might have cost $5000-$10,000 over four years in my day. The stress is different.

In any event, this kid chose to run and I hope the best. We think he should have chosen to work hard on one of the few majors that are worth this cost, but he likes to run!

Adding to the skewed cost-benefits is the expectation that young people work good internships and the appeal of an exhausting sport like running becomes even more limited.

Given the paucity of minor sports scholarships (note that most universities cannot max out in track since there is a total minor sport limit and the other sports will take priority if they have a successful history), running and all minor sports are about rich kids or very poor kids who can get it paid for. Even then, the athlete suffers from a lack of good work experience. In my day, being a successful D1 runner looked good on a resume, today, the labor market is looking more for work experience, not a successful extracurricular.

I was shocked at how easily my daughters found work through their college work. It matters quite a lot. Although their grades were great, no one seemed to care. Employers are simply looking at whether you can handle the industry.

The point here is that the sacrifices one has to make to run are much greater and this decision affects one for the rest of your life. Even today, I have friends who are clever but ran too much for too long. It's not nice to say, but since I know these friends and they are smart it seems they are paying for all this running by being underemployed.

The benefits of the sport are still there, it just is that the costs are greater. Young athletes are asking what they get in return?

zikes wrote:

I think this is a troll thread but it pertains to a very real concern among coaches.

This generation of student athletes is different. They will proactively try to get their coaches fired for essentially no reason. I know a female coaching D3 out West got fired for calling the women's team "girls" instead of women or ladies.

It's more coddling than it is coaching.

I work as an assistant athletic director and I agree 100%. In my 20 years of experience, here is just a small list of BS things I've seen coaches get in serious trouble for:

-A male soccer coach get in trouble for NOT hugging his male athletes

-Trying to take a scholarship away from a student studying abroad during the season

-Not allowing athletes to join sororities or fraternities and certain other clubs that directly conflict with practice/games

-Benching athletes for low grades (even though they were technically barely academically eligible)

-For not saying "good job" to athletes after a game

-For yelling "what are you doing?" to an athlete during a competition

-For having monthly individual meetings with athletes instead of weekly individual meeting

-Not allowing athletes to skip practice to study for a test

-For not buying the team shoes

-For sending an athlete home from practice for smelling like marijuana

-For telling an athlete he was disappointed in his performance

And that's a VERY small list. Some weeks I get 6+ phone calls from parents of student-athletes complaining about things.

tlm1959 wrote:

The benefits of the sport are still there, it just is that the costs are greater. Young athletes are asking what they get in return?

Awesome thoughtful response! Unfortunately it appears too many of these kids were never taught that you can’t have your cake and eat it too. They’re SURE they’re OWED a “running experience” when in reality, they just shouldn’t be running (or should be on the club) for all the reasons you noted. Unfortunately by the time many of their parents have pushed them this far, and their coaches told us they’re “great kids”…it’s too late.

This post is horribly written. Probably best you step away, if you coaching is anything like your writing no wonder they are confused.

There are so many bullsh*t jobs out there. Coach is not really a great example of one because I think we still have a pretty basic desire to compete and coaches help structure that. Also young people need mentors - this has been the case forever.

Something like “data analyst” is a bullsh*t job or sales anything. I work a sh*t job (retail) but I run around like a chicken w my head cutoff getting ppl what they want and sometimes even need (big orange hardware store).

I agree that the stakes are higher due to rising costs of getting an education but you couldn't be more wrong about running having negative impacts on employability and success later in life. Your anecdotal friends who are paying for their dedication and perseverance to a healthy lifestyle and activity aside, I'd be shocked if runners aren't the highest achieving cohort in any longitudinal study.

Can anyone help a brother out (don't get your panties in a wad I'm not a coach)?

I’m still cracking up about the coach who bangs in at 9, takes 2 hour lunches, calls it a day at 4 and has summers and holidays off. The kicker was him talking about his “friendships” with some of the challenging athletes. I would love to read his letters of recommendation for them😂

Then go get a real job bud. Seriously, your post says way more about you than it does about any athlete…

accurate wrote:

Some weeks I get 6+ phone calls from parents of student-athletes complaining about things.

A long time ago when I was in university, I was chatting with my favorite professor during hours and they mentioned they would receive phone calls from parents of adult students, very angry that their precious angel failed the course. My prof was head of their dept, was tenured, and had no qualms telling said parents that their precious baby earned that failing mark and they turned in no work and rarely showed up to class. The parents would still whine and scream that it wasnt fair, it wasnt their kid's fault, there were circumstances, blah blah blah...prof wouldnt budge and just point to the gracious two-week long drop/add period. Usually would shut up the parents up.

I couldn't imagine doing the job now, with social media being as prevalent as it is.

Just woke up and realized I forgot to update and WOW has there been a lot of comments on here. So, here is what happened:

Weights went well. the mood was upbeat and positive. We let the athletes choose the music and they enjoyed that. However, I had my laptop connected to the super old sound system since we don't have modern equipment, and one of the guys who is a pretty good runner/student/person, minimized my Spotify on accident and this fricking post was what was open for him to see! I almost spit and quickly yelled over at him to come over to where I was standing.... I don't think he saw anything. WHEW!

After practice I spoke to my team captain and just let him have it straight- "we don't have the budget for team bonding, but I'm happy to set up some games we can play.... maybe a fun game of campus tag or something cool like that" and he loved the idea. ok back to bed

This thread is great and I love the updates! I can’t wait to hear what tomorrow brings. Are y’all practicing again, or did you cancel due to the rain?

I like his style wrote:

I’m still cracking up about the coach who bangs in at 9, takes 2 hour lunches, calls it a day at 4 and has summers and holidays off. The kicker was him talking about his “friendships” with some of the challenging athletes. I would love to read his letters of recommendation for them😂

Why thank you. Don’t get me wrong, I do try to challenge my athletes to be the best versions of themselves, I do attempt to hold them accountable when they’re in the wrong, I do help them set ambitious goals and map routes to achieve them. But the moment they drop the phrase “…but my mental health,” the second they utter “…but my student-athlete experience…,” the moment I see them reposting from “voice in sport” is always the same moment I never hold them accountable ever again. I stop bothering to challenge them beyond their comfort zone. I never again ask them to sacrifice for something greater than themselves. Not because I don’t enjoy a good fight…oh no, I savor winning those battles, because I almost always do. But I’ve found time and time again that I only end up losing the war when my boss with her fake on-line masters from northwest south central U, or my fart-sniffing failed-lawyer of an admin, or their boss of a “never-was-an-athlete-a-day-in-their-lives” AD with an “MBA” who uses phrases like “synergy,” “best practices” & “circle back around” calls me into their office asking why one of my kids is telling them I “have not allowed them to flourish as a student” or “am keeping them from learning their body” or “don’t appreciate my well-being needs,” I bag it. Because I do that a few more times and I’ll be front and center on their Instagram, getting crucified up-side down on fire. And then before I know it, Runners World is calling. And dye stat is doing an expose. And some “freelance journalist” from “women’s running” (Andrew Cooper) is asking for an interview. And my boss is going to demand to know why they hell they’re having to put up with my losers when they need to be focused on one more donation from people they actually think are their buddies who actually succeeded in the corporate world. Or how they’re going to get the football coach one more walk on when our Title IX numbers aren’t already perfect. Or how their going to get the basketball team one more “academic advisor.” It’s just not worth it man. Just not worth it. That’s when it’s time to punch our, take a nap and then go back to planning my three month summer vacation.

This is a lot to digest.

deuces bum coach wrote:

coachingProbs wrote:

You're welcome to take over. - then in a few years I'll be here trolling you back

I don’t have to take your crappy job to know you’re a crybaby whose team would be better off if you quit.

Case in point. This is a great example of what the OP detailed.

As long as you keep your job about the kids and not your ego you shouldn't have the problems this guy just listed. Go join the military if you want blind follow through. These are college kids, they can see through your BS.

coachingProbs wrote:

You assume I'm an a-hole. I'm not. In fact I have a great relationships with the kids and them me- but it's because I'm ALWAYS further bending the knee year after year from coach to van driver to the kids who don't care but now have the admins in their pockets and I can't even say "You had a bad race" because it will be bad for mental health. Nice try troll.

Kids are different now. You can still tell them they had a bad race, but you don't have to be a jerk about it. There are ways to get your point across successfully without dumping on them. You're a coach, isn't this what you would tell your athlete?

"I think you did this right, but here are a couple things I saw that we need to work on"

"Hey, that was a tough one. That happens sometimes and you just have to shrug it off and move on to the next one"

"How do you think that went? I want to hear your thoughts first and then I'll tell you what I think"

"You didn't look like yourself out there, we'll have to work on something together to make sure this doesn't happen again"

Idk, there's a lot of ways besides "YOU had a bad race"

While I doubt this is a real post from a real coach we had people on my team like that back in the 80's, they just didn't have social media as a means to spread their poison. Also, all my coaches dealt with them and moved on. It wasn't some big huge confrontation, or "my way or the highway" old school rant, but normal interaction between coaches and athletes.

Eventually bad people will filter themselves out, they quit the team, some quit school. Anyone that is lucky enough to land a collegiate coaching gig should be deft enough to navigate through these waters, keep your head about you and move on.