National Championship Coach Fired - Arcadia Coach Jim O'Brien Fired From Track Team

XC Athlete.. you are absolutely ridiculous. I ran under O'Brien, as well as under Schultz back in 2004 track when O'Brien wasn't coach. Since graduating in 2007, I have also helped as an assistant coach. If you know anything about O'Brien, he does NOT take credit for the hard work of all the athletes. I hear him at practice every day, preaching to the whole team about how hard the kids work and how many miles they did over summer and how many hours they put in, etc etc. Yes, you might see me as being biased but I'm not even saying anything about Schultz. You are also absolutely ridiculous when you say that he only focuses/care about kids that are varsity (or 14/15 minute guys). This seriously sounds like you haven't even been to a practice because, in my opinion, the most impressive thing about O'Brien is his ability make every kid feel just as important as the others. He spends so much time on each athlete and expects the same amount of effort (on and off the xc course) from his s/f and JV athletes as he does from his varsity. I'll bet you don't even know the half of what is going on.

I don't think you realize that there are some athletes that opt out at the opportunity of racing FL for NXN (specifically California runners, however there are also some others around the nation).

Obviously17 wrote:

I don't think you realize that there are some athletes that opt out at the opportunity of racing FL for NXN (specifically California runners, however there are also some others around the nation).

NY is especially glaring. All about NXN now.

Top NY boy at FLNE was 28th.

In 2006 (last year before NXN regionals), there were 6 NY boys in the top 15.

I know both coaches too, and coach O'brien is by far a superior coach in every sense of the word. He works tirelessly to improve his program. He continues to educate himself by attending clinics and classes because he admits that he is still a student of the sport. Anyone who goes to XC or distance clinics knows this, because he is always there. He cares about ALL of his students. He sets goals and keeps stats for All of his athletes. You can find him in his office well after practice is over, working on something. He never takes credit for what his athletes achieve. He is a good person who always stands up for what is right, even if it makes administrators at his school furious. He is an advocate for students. He is passionate about what he does. He is a master motivator. He is an eternal optimist. Although he is obviously an excellent distance coach, it is important to note that he is an even better "life" coach. He is more interested in turning out good,ethical people into society than he is in turning out distance runners. In short, he changes young people's lives. He gives them opportunities they would otherwise never get. It is a huge disservice to the student athletes at Arcadia to fire coach O'brien. Shultz has a huge ego. He has fired coach O'brien before and was forced to hire him back by the old AD. If the current AD at Arcadia actually cared about the students, he would step up and do something. He is pretty much incompetent though, so I don't see it happening.