Huffins out at Cal

he claims to know more about cal than the people on the team. i don't understand it. ive never heard of him in real life, nor talked to him, but he has made false statements about me and others on the team in the past... he always claims to be "in the know"

former wrote:

he claims to know more about cal than the people on the team. i don't understand it. ive never heard of him in real life, nor talked to him, but he has made false statements about me and others on the team in the past... he always claims to be "in the know"

Track Dude, AKA "Wags", is a Cal insider and is accurate regarding his access to the program. He writes for The Bear Insider:

So there!

79Bear wrote:

Some of you people need to get a real life instead of your continued bashing of the CAL program. Cal is sending 16 athletes to NCAA's this week, Stanford 20.

One would think that people would be talking about the NCAA's coming up this week, but instead we have some very pathetic people making personal attacks, anonymously on the Internet. Takes a whole lot of balls to do that, eh?

for those of us who have connections to the program, i think what you see posted is reflective of years of frustration with the Cal program. changes have been necessary for years, as the program has dominated the basement of the pac-10. many of us thought that might change with a new coach (although i never felt changing the head coach alone would solve the problem).

but nothing changed. sure, Cal has had some great individuals. but the cross country program has underperformed terribly. the talent is obviously there (how many times did we hear what a great recruiting class they had?), but the results have been the same, except for the 3rd place finish. but that is the exception rather than the rule. when you examine all of the variables--athletes, level of competition, injuries, and coaching--you realize that tony is not getting it done. the same way erv didn't get it done, and the same way huffins did not get it done. it's time for change.

i don't have money to throw around, but if i did i would never give money to the Cal program because i don't think it would be used effectively. huffins had money thrown at him like no other Cal track coach has had, yet it was basically all for naught. ask former bears how they felt about the program when they were there and how they feel about it now. right now you'll get a mix of hope (now that a new coach will be hired) and indifference (will they really hire someone who can turn the program around?).

i'm rooting for the Cal athletes at NCAA's. but the sad thing is that i believe their success will be viewed more as a testament to their coaches abilities rather than their own. that is why Cal has gone so long with inept coaches (some, not all). "look, we have X number of athletes at NCAA's. we're good!...never mind the fact that we placed 9th at pac-10's."

to the athletes competing this weekend, best of luck. i hope you all run/jump/throw well.

I'm not sure that Ed is thinking of retiring yet. I believe that one of the main reasons he did not apply for the head position was he did not want to miss time with his son- now an incoming freshman at Cal. Ed is the "Al Ragan" of the current generation, not only a great coach but a fine individual whose positive influence on his athletes stays with them forever.

Given the budget, facilities, academic standing of Cal, plus weather and various other things there is no reason why Cal cannot be a top program, but it needs leadership.

I am a little puzzled how any track program can justify having a coach for a single event or does Scott Slover coach other events too? I also note that Jennifer Joyce had responsibility for hammer, discus and shot but not javelin. From what I hear, and results bear it out, throwing at Cal is of a pretty low standard.

Let's hope for the athletes' that the Athletic Director hires a dynamic leader, irrespective of age, sex, religion , race etc.

Go Bears

Old Bear wrote:

I am a little puzzled how any track program can justify having a coach for a single event or does Scott Slover coach other events too? I also note that Jennifer Joyce had responsibility for hammer, discus and shot but not javelin. From what I hear, and results bear it out, throwing at Cal is of a pretty low standard.

I don't know why you are so puzzled over Scott Slover's hiring as the vault coach. His hiring is attracting a ton of recruits. Anthony Curran is a big draw too down at UCLA, and he does not coach any other event besides the pole vault. So what can you be puzzled about?

As for the Javelin, I do believe that Cal's Paul Teinert earned All-American honors last year, throwing 236 for 5th place in the finals.

Get your facts straight.

sj quik wrote:

i don't have money to throw around, but if i did i would never give money to the Cal program because i don't think it would be used effectively. huffins had money thrown at him like no other Cal track coach has had, yet it was basically all for naught.

You claim that "Huffins had money thrown at him like no other Cal track coach has had" yet you fail to mention that the overall Cal track and field and cross country budget ranked 2nd to last in the Conference (as of 2005). That's a fact.

Oregon's budget is now at $2.6 million.

UCLA's budget is now at $1.9 million.

Care to tell us all where Cal's budget is since you know that "Huffins had money thrown at him like no other Cal track coach has had"?

Please feel free to back up your claim with facts, instead of throwing out generalizations as if they were fact.

sj quik wrote:

i'm rooting for the Cal athletes at NCAA's. but the sad thing is that i believe their success will be viewed more as a testament to their coaches abilities rather than their own. that is why Cal has gone so long with inept coaches (some, not all). "look, we have X number of athletes at NCAA's. we're good!...never mind the fact that we placed 9th at pac-10's."

to the athletes competing this weekend, best of luck. i hope you all run/jump/throw well.

I disagree with your claim and your assessment as to who will take the glory of successful performances.

Everyone that has watched Cal athletes such as Ed Wright, Kevin Davis, David Torrence, and Alysia Johnson know that they have incredible talent. Their performances in Sacramento this week will not be perceived as a testament soley resting on the shoulders of the coaches.

On the otherhand, I agree with you that finishing at the bottom of the Pac-10's is not something to be happy about. The women's program has obviously suffered from the 25 points that Antonette Carter has contributed each and very year of her collegiate career. Unfortunately, Huffins did not act soon enough in recruiting a sprinter/jumper to replace her. Recent commit, Mt. Eden's Cherrelle Garrett (11.4/23.7) was a year away . . . Given the incoming recruits and transfers, I believe that next year will be quite a bit different for the women's team.

It's also fairly easy to point out that the men's squad has suffered from kids going ineligible and not making the academic standards at Cal. Also, the lack of sprinters and jumpers, most specifically in the LJ and TJ has been very apparent. Take a look at Stanford, they have zero sprinters (100,200,400) or hurdlers on the men's team but Edrick Floreal has recruited a number of jumpers and this has made a big difference for the formerly distance based Cardinal.

But then again, no matter how you slice the Pac-10's the goal of all programs is to send as many athletes to the NCAA's as possible. In that regard, Cal continues to be successful.

Go Bears!

Interesting points.

I'd like to suggest that we keep our tone civil in this discussion. Seems like we all feel passionate about seeing the Cal Track & Field program be successful. I'm guessing many of the posters are some of my former teammates, or Cal athletes from other eras, and thus, teammates as well. Teammates who each gave it there all at Edwards Stadium (and elsewhere) on a regular basis.

It also might be nice if people stopped using screen names like B Hamilton, Brutus Hamilton, Dave Maggard, etc., etc., unless you really are one of these well respected figures in Golden Bear History.

Let's try to be positive at this point. We have in front of us a tremendous opportunity for positive changes.

How can we be supportive of the current athletes? The instability and negativity certainly can't be helpful. What can we do to show them our support and be encouraging?

How can we be helpful to the current administration during their search for a new coach? Write letters to support the candidates you recommend? Volunteer to help the search committee? Help raise money to hire the best candidate?

What are the systemic issues at Cal that both Erv Hunt and Chris Huffins found challenging and is there anything we can do about them?

trackdude may write for the bearinsider, but he still made a number of statements about me and some others that were horribly inaccurate. in fact, they were probably just rumors that he heard or made up and passed off as his "insider" news. Huffins said to the entire team that he had over a million dollars to spend on "just you guys". I don't know where it all goes when they only get two pairs of shoes a semester, maybe a t-shirt if they order enough, and a four year old uniform that gets re-issued each week. trackdude is still a bum, and i'm glad huffins is gone.

Current Bear wrote:

to the athletes competing this weekend, best of luck. i hope you all run/jump/throw well.

I disagree with your claim and your assessment as to who will take the glory of successful performances.

Everyone that has watched Cal athletes such as Ed Wright, Kevin Davis, David Torrence, and Alysia Johnson know that they have incredible talent. Their performances in Sacramento this week will not be perceived as a testament soley resting on the shoulders of the coaches.

Go Bears![/quote]

i'm not saying the coaches will take the glory. but, i do feel they will get credit even though they might not be deserving of it. no doubt, tony is a good middle distance coach. and he deserves credit for that. but the reason i worry is because he always has had at least one athlete qualify for NCAA's. and i wonder if that's the reason that he has been allowed to continue despite his record.

"dave maggard", i don't know the budget for cal, but i do know that i see the team walking around in nike gear on and off the track, with the air bubble backpacks, and such. i also know that cal never had such a heavy indoor schedule nor did they travel to penn, texas, or any of those other meets across the country. that tells me that the budget increased greatly.

I guess it's a matter of perspective. If one has an unlimited budget then one can "afford" the luzury of specialized coach. I was only asking if Slover does in fact have other responsibilities. I have no question about his experience / ability as a coach of pole vault. One event doesn't make a team, but in an era where dual meets are very limited then success is measured in terms of conference, NCAA regional and national standings so perhaps specialized coaching is justified.

Re Paul Teinert, I am quite familar with his achievements. However, in the conversations I have had with him and other javelin throwers they indicated that they had received little or no coaching at Cal. In fact, when I asked about the use of video analysis they laughed out loud.

As far as depth in the throwing events at Cal, two athletes qualified for the NCAA nationals, both in the womens' discus, coached by......?

I'm sorry, but its difficult to comprehend what you are saying. Your thoughts seem conflicted.

On one hand, you state that Coach Sandoval is a "good middle-distance coach", but then you go on to question that perhaps he has been allowed to stay "despite his record" because he gets atleast one athlete to qualify for NCAA's???

Please correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Richie Boulet become a 6-time All-American under Tony? Didn't Erin Belger come in 3rd at the NCAA's under Tony? Didn't Chloe Jarvis win the Pac-10's? Didn't Alysia Johnson come in 3rd at NCAA Outdoors last season? Didn't she follow that up just 2 weeks later with a 4th place finish at USATF Outdoor Nationals? Didn't Alysia win the NCAA Indoor title this year, along with the Pac-10's and NCAA Regional in Eugene on Rebekah Noble's home track? Or how about David Torrence becoming eligible again and running the mile this season in 3:58.62? Or JC transfer Francis Gadayan making the podium at Pac-10's this season? What about Cal grads Magdalena Lewy and Peter Gilmore and Steve Moreno in the Marathon???

And now you back up your earlier claim that "Huffins had money thrown at him like no other Cal track coach has had" by pointing to the fact that the team walks around in Nike gear with air-bubble backpacks???

Your kidding, right?

What does Nike gear and some backpacks have anything to do with the overall track and field budget? Nike comps equipment to just about every team in the nation. It's called Advertising!

Old Bear wrote:

Re Paul Teinert, I am quite familar with his achievements. However, in the conversations I have had with him and other javelin throwers they indicated that they had received little or no coaching at Cal. In fact, when I asked about the use of video analysis they laughed out loud.

As far as depth in the throwing events at Cal, two athletes qualified for the NCAA nationals, both in the womens' discus, coached by......?

Old Bear wrote:

I also note that Jennifer Joyce had responsibility for hammer, discus and shot but not javelin. From what I hear, and results bear it out, throwing at Cal is of a pretty low standard.

Huh?

Do you even know what you are talking about?

You really need to have a much better handle on the facts before you make ignorant claims.

Cal qualified 3 throwers for the NCAA's, not 2 as you say.

Johnson in the hammer, Strot in the discus AND Shot ( not just the discus as you claimed), and Anyanwu in the discus. And for what it's worth, Strot went to Regionals in the Javelin.

You say that you are familiar with the All-American Paul Teinert. If so, then why did you leave him out of your previous post?

Furthermore, it's not like the Pac-10 is the bread-basket for Javelin throwers . . . Do you even realize that there are ONLY 2 female athletes that coincidentally are from the same Pac-10 school (Oregon) that are representing the Pac-10 at the Nationals in your beloved Javelin event? On the men's side of the Pac-10, there are ONLY 3 javelin throwers qualified for Nationals, and again, two are from the same school (ASU).

You also state that "throwing at Cal is of a pretty low standard".

Well, if that is true . . . then how come Art Venegas, the HEAD COACH AT UCLA who is also a well renown throws coach has only 4 athletes qualified for NCAA's in the throws, while CAL has 3?

Please feel free to explain that one.

so I missed Carrie Johnson in the press release I am sorry.

Did J.Joyce have responsibility for coaching the discus this year ?

I did not omit Paul Treinert, but prior to Paul when was the last All American Cal in any throwing event?

Bottom line is that if you think that Cal's throwing program is up to Div 1 standards that is your perogative.

By the way J Joyce did coach the two women discus throwers!

Let's hope that whatever the decision regarding thecoaching changes that the athletes, who are the important people in the equation, get the coahing which will allow them to develop to their potential.

Stay well

I don't see anything conflicting about SJ Quick's statements. CAL always has some good individual performances in the middle distances every year. Tony is a pretty good at coaching events in the 800-5000m range.

My guess is that some of the alumni (of which I am not one) are disgruntled by Tony's inability to produce precious few good results in XC.

All the success stories you mentioned above in the longer distances really didn't run all that spectacularly while at CAL. It was after they left that they really took off.

Old Bear wrote:

I did not omit Paul Treinert, but prior to Paul when was the last All American Cal in any throwing event?

Rhuben Williams, 2004.

And I believe that during his senior year he won the NCAA Western Regionals in 2005 with a throw of 63-04.75 and placed 2nd at the Pac-10's with a throw of 64-02.50

midwaste wrote:

I don't see anything conflicting about SJ Quick's statements. CAL always has some good individual performances in the middle distances every year. Tony is a pretty good at coaching events in the 800-5000m range.

My guess is that some of the alumni (of which I am not one) are disgruntled by Tony's inability to produce precious few good results in XC.

At the end of the day, Coach Huffins is the one responsible for slicing up the scholarship money and choosing how to allocate it. Huffins has always embraced running a "balanced" program as opposed to something that is more distance focused, like Stanford, Wisconsin, Colorado, etc.

Just because Coach Sandoval is the XC head coach, doesn't necessarily mean that he has been getting the FUNDS from Huffins to go out and recruit top cross country talent. Huffins was the boss. And he was the one that allocated the scholarship money as he saw fit.

That having been said, Cal Men's XC placed 3rd in 2005 and would have come back with yet another solid result in 2006 had it not been for Ghebray having to drop out at the 4 mile mark with exercise induced-asthma; an illness that he had never been previously diagnosed with. Chavez also had to drop out at about that same point due to an inability to breathe comfortably because of a strained diaphragm. None of these health issues had anything to do with Coach Sandoval.

And for what its worth, USC doesn't even have a Mens cross country team and I don't hear any 'SC alumni being upset with Coach Alice.

Cal Alum, stop making excuses for that sorry ass program! It's ridiculous that Sandoval hasn't done better with outstanding talent. Matuszak and Yosef Ghebray should be all americans by now.