HS Coach With Letsrun Ties Fired Over Runners Running With Their Shirts Off

Coaches,

If you think your district needs any warnings or paperwork to dismiss you on the spot, you are sadly mistaken. There is no tenure or protection for you as a coach. Your only real protection is a strong AD that backs you and wants to keep you, and if you don't have that you probably won't be around if you aren't 100% on board with the administration's or parent's wishes.

Do not waste your time with a lawsuit over a coaching job, leave and find a different one. Find one where you are supported and you can make a difference.

actually i was there during all of this, and what tom did was the right thing. many people here are forgetting context, and this is why tom did the right thing. karl fogel is in fact dangerous and, as he was in the process of provoking a kid who would likely have mouthed off and likely been attacked, the tables were turned and tom was assaulted and fired.

He was asked to leave the property, yet went for a three mile cool down and when he returned was met by the school administration and escorted off the property. Going for the cool down also show arrogance on Tom's part.

Tom and Fogel both are both egostistical assholes. It was going to happen regardless of this particular incident.

To the boys on the team, concentrate on your running and do not get distracted by Tom and Fogel's pissing match.

i like seeing high school girls run shirtless. no complaints from me.

Interesting read, especially where he slams the previous coach and insults Miller.

http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=16384663&postID=6538562970521238141

All you alums and current athletes: You should be ashamed of yourselves for posting anonymously. You want to support/bash your coach/AD yet aren't man/woman enough to stand behind your comments. Shame on all of you. You're all a bunch of cowards. If I was your coach (former coach) I would be embarrassed that I coached you. Posting anonymously? Are you serious? What has this country become when you feel like you can't even stand up and take ownership of your support/ridicule? So what happens... the AD "suspends" you from the team for making comments about what you saw or what your opinion is? Great... sounds like a law-suit defending your first amendment right (as long as you are no defaming and rather just recounting events as you saw them). An AD who suspends you because of your support of your former coach is one who will soon be out the door. He can't do that. OR, your kids see that you aren't afraid to hide behind a screen name? The horror! You may actually make someone proud of you.

Anyway, you all (alums and current athletes) are completely and utterly embarrassing cowards if you ask me. Post under your real names, shameless trolls, and go to bat for your side with a voice that matters (your own).

Live and Die by the blog wrote:

Interesting read, especially where he slams the previous coach and insults Miller.

http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=16384663&postID=6538562970521238141

Boy, this guy has some real issues, and he is full of poop. 14 All-State Champs by the time he was 20? Who the hell were they and what State? If he did have 14 by age 20, how many since then?

He's got a rep, and it ain't a good one.

Informed wrote:

Tom covered the Cape course in 2:27:38. I know this because I was there biking many points of it to watch him. However his time was slower because he stopped for three bathroom breaks and at every water stop he came to a full stop as he was using the race as a workout. "Covered the course", not "finished in."

I actually had some empathy for the coach until I read this crap above. Tom should have done a bit more research, and he would have realized that he cost himself $1,500 by doing a "workout". I'm sure the winner Sammy Nyamongo (multiple NAIA XC champ, former Mayors Cup Course record holder and 2:18 marathoner) was relieved that Tom was just working out.

Does this kid think anyone actually buys this "work-out crap". That is the oldest excuse in the book. When you put a number on, you're racing! Don't claim times you haven't run or were "on-pace" to run before the shit hit the fan.

I agree with those who are thinking that this isn't the first incident. I have a feeling that this may be "the last straw" kind of thing.

I coach at a school where shirts are required for all sports. We have an excellent AD who still prescribes to the idea that a little modesty goes a long way. There have never been any issues. My distance guys ask, on very hot days (>80) to go shirtless and I remind them of the rule. The always comply, knowing, that we have an AD who constantly advocates for track. BUT, more importantly, I remind the guys that they HAVE to wear a singlet during their races. My philosophy is ... why practice what you can't do in competition. It makes sense to me, but more importantly it makes sense to the kids.

And as a life lesson, doing what your told is often a necessary part of life ... most everyone will have a boss someday.

You are clueless about the first amendment. You are clueless about how old boy's clubs work and you are clueless about power mad bullies with anger problems.

What is your real name btw?

you are an idiot wrote:

You can't be serious. Run topless. See how far you get. I hope you are a troll because any actual ("100percent")female would not find this comfortable unless this is your idea of minimalism and want your boobs to sag to their natural shape.

I am by no means defending this whacko, but I think she meant "sportsbras" for the girls, not literally "topless."

She was complaining that sportsbras were too revealing and that while some of the skinny girls might look okay in them, the girls who are more "well endowed" might toe the line of decency.

She goes on to talk about fat football players and she loses me...

Another coach wrote:

I think the school could very well be brought up in a successful and publicly damaging law suit for providing an unsafe environment for the student-athletes.

I hope you're kidding. OSHA violation?! Unsafe environment for the kids?! Although I think they should be able to run without their shirts, I'm not buying this unsafe bullsh*t that so many posters are claiming. Thousands of people train everyday with a shirt on in the heat without negative consequences.

This is Tom's running club over the summer for HS kids. I did think this paragraph was kind of funny...

On average, athletes coached by Tom Davis see an average improvement of roughly 14 seconds per mile. This is an average, but with high school athletes, the improvement can be much more significant. If you put in the right work at the right effort over the summer, you can look to improve upwards to 2 minutes in the 5k (Westwood high school averaged over 2 minutes per 5k in Tom's first season of coaching there) depending on your background and level of previous training.

More from that...

Out of the many summer running programs available, what makes The Massachusetts Summer Running Program for Boys and Girls unique?

Many things, but primarily the resources and knowledge of me, Coach Tom Davis. From an early age, I was an ardent student of the sport of running, reading every possible running book, training information, coaching information and anything else running related that I could get my hands on. Then, at the age of 18, I moved in and lived with letsrun.com (arguably the most popular running website in the world) founders Robert and Weldon Johnson for two years. During these two years, my grasp of training knowledge and the reality of running grew immensely. I also was fortunate to be exposed to some of the worlds best coaching minds. It is my goal to spread this knowledge to anyone possible in an effort to help stimulate everyone's potential.

On top of all of this, I believe that my best ability outside of training knowledge is how to apply it to the individual. In the sport of distance running, there is no "one-size fits all", and this is where I know that our training program will differ from others. You will not be thrust into what everyone else is doing, which is usually a receipt for disaster in the early stages of training, but instead you will be coached and trained individually, based on your strengths, but most importantly your weaknesses. All other training programs in the state will give you a very generic and basic training foundation, which is not going to do you much good. To get to the next level, you have to go well and beyond that, which is another thing that separates us from the rest.

It is a fact that you will not find another training program that will be designed fully to help you get from point A to point B in the best possible way for you as an individual. I also believe that we at MSRP have the best ability to motivate athletes to believe in themselves to get to that next level. I have seen plenty of other training programs throughout my life, and none matches ours. If you enjoy working hard, you will enjoy nothing better than being a part of our group in the pursuit of excellence.

Thus, if you are looking to be a part of a great group for your summer training, and if you're looking to learn how to train like the best, then you have found your new summer team!

conceited and full of himself could be mistaken for confidence and self-assurance.

So, the AD hit a student and suffered only a brief suspension, whereas the coach had a student take off his shirt in practice and the coach got fired. That's high school for you. A disgrace.

Wow, he is full of himself.

Eevn lies about his girl friends HS accomplishments, 12 time state champion. Not even close, did she win even one individual title? She was on one relay champ, but what else, usually didn't get it done at the big meets.

He is a master of self promotion.

As an AD, you have got to show some better professionalism than motoring up on a Golf cart and berating a coach in front of his team. If it's that big of an issue, then you pull him into your office and just explain the situation.

"I know you don't agree with the rule, but it's the rule, so please obey it and enforce it. If you don't, they're will be consequences up to and including termination."

It's amazing to me how terrible people are at managing their staff, especially people who should be considered professionals. The AD directs personnel, he isn't a coach and needs to separate his duties from the people who work under him. When you see athletes not obeying the rules, you take it to the coach and he deals with it, not you.

You don't step on the toes of the people you hire to do their job, and berating kids and coaches in front of everyone is about as unprofessional as it gets.

I don't know Tom, he may be a great guy or complete dickhead, I don't think it really matters. What matters was he was doing the job they hired him to do and instead of addressing administration issues with him, even as he requested to do so numerous times, they fired him over a heated exchange that was the result of an aggressive AD acting like a brat instead of an educated professional.

That's sad. Kids will always be smart asses and be dopes and push the limits of your patience, their teenagers, it's what they do... but it isn't hard to turn the tables on them and get them to respect the rules... but punching them or screaming at them in front of there peers is no way to go about it... it just proves that guys like that shouldn't be involved with high school athletics.

This thread is well on its way to Jimmy Wyner status.